Halloween Greetings!

A special Halloween greeting from Pierre! :-)

Pretty Pony

Sometimes you have to post a photo simply because it's cute. :-) Such is the case with this recent photo of Miracle Minute Maid (Mt. Ridge Yellow Jacket x Miracle Maid to Order by Gallimaufry Jaguar). "Cadi" is a yearling Sec A Welsh Mountain Pony filly, and of course we think she is pretty special.

The Leaves are Falling

What a warm day we had today----warm by October's standards, that is. Temperatures in the 50's felt quite toasty as we worked outdoors today. The winds picked up this afternoon and the rain has returned, and the leaves from our Sugar Maples are falling swiftly.

As we mentioned earlier, the autumn colors were not quite as vibrant this year as they usually are; nevertheless, the leaves are still a myriad of autumn-y shades, ranging from bright gold to peach to rusty red, and some brilliant oranges as well.

Check it out!

We've been working on a brand-new bunny blog, so "hop" right over and take a peek: http://www.howtoraiserabbits.blogspot.com/ There are articles, photos, links, reviews, and more, so be sure to bookmark the page and check back from time to time. Also don't forget to vote on this week's poll. (Above: "Bonnie," tort Holland Lop senior doe. . . isn't she cute?? :-))

Interior projects

While the rain and snow filled the air last week, we were hard at work indoors, where it was warm and dry and cozy. This was quite unlike the outdoors, where it was cold and wet and unpleasant. It was an easy choice to make. :-)


For our project, we decided to paint the foyer a brand-new color. After much deliberation (emphasis on the "much"), we settled on Benjamin Moore's "Thornton Sage," and we're really pleased with the color and how it turned out. In this photo, you can see part of the scaffolding we needed to reach the highest portions of the ceiling. It was a tricky job, but it's all finished and everything looks super.

Of course, now we're making plans for painting another room---stay tuned as we deliberate over the next color choice! :-)

As Promised---No Snow!

We're having a bit of a reprieve from the wintery conditions. . . . temperatures in the 40s today and no snow in sight. :-)

The autumn colors weren't quite as vibrant this year as they usually are, but Dan snapped some nice photos showing some of the golden Sugar Maple leaves against the bright blue sky---beautiful!

The forecast for tomorrow is sunshine and 50s---and we're glad, as we have a list of outdoor chores to get through while the weather holds.

Leaves 'n Snow

The snow is gone again, but these photographs from yesterday are so unique that we can't resist sharing them with y'all.

The trees still have the majority of their leaves---this is not something that we usually see in conjunction with snow. :-) Thus, it makes for unusual and interesting photography.

We promise----we'll post something besides snow photos tomorrow! (at least, we think so . . .)

More snow

We woke up to more snow again this morning, but the sun finally came out at around noon, so most of the snow has melted again.

We're still working on finishing up the last of our autumn chores and winter preparations---another couple of weeks of good weather would help us achieve that goal! According to the weather forecast, there isn't any more snow in the foreseeable future---so here's hoping that we'll be able to accomplish these additional tasks before winter sets in for good.

Look Closely - October version

These are the scenes that you find on the farm in October, if you look closely. Snowflakes, ice, water, and sparkling light.

They are beautiful in their own way.

Late October Scenes

The days are growing shorter. . . the temperatures are getting colder . . . and we had a bit of snow when we woke up this morning. Here are a couple of late October scenes from the farm.

Aerial Viewpoint

As promised, here is one of the photographs from the experiment with the "kite camera." The camera was set to take video, and then the best still frames were selected. The white line along the left side of the photo is the kite string. It's a treat to be able to see the farm from this viewpoint.

Stay tuned. . .

There have been some interesting photography experiments going on here lately. . . check back tomorrow for some "aerial" farm photos, courtesy of the kite camera. :-)

Checking on the bees. . .

"Where bees are, there is honey."

--English 17th Century Proverb

Early Morning Mist

Year End Award update - Miracle Lady Fiona!

We're happy to report that two-year-old Miracle Lady Fiona (Section A Welsh Mountain Pony) is currently in 9th place on the WPCSA National High Score list for Section A fillies. Additionally, she is the Welsh of Wisconsin High Score Sec A Filly for 2009. Fiona is shown here with one of her Reserve Grand Champion ribbons from the "A Bit of Wales" silver show.

(P.S. Fiona's full sister, Miracle Lili Maiden, is currently available for sale, visit http://www.miraclewelsh.com/lili.html for photos and info!)

October Sky - 9pm

A dramatic view of the farm's western treeline, courtesy of Dan.

October Delight

I guess you could say that we're happy that the snow has melted, happy that the temperatures have warmed up a bit, and happy because the autumn leaves are gorgeous.

Yes, I think somebody looks pretty happy. :-)

Snowy Roses

Here are what the poor roses in our garden looked like yesterday morning. . .

Thankfully, the snow has melted again---hopefully it will be awhile before any more snow comes our way!

Two inches

An early October snowstorm dropped two inches of snow on us yesterday. . . . thankfully, most of it has melted already. We are not quite ready for the snow to arrive to stay!

Harvesting Carrots

Just before the weather turned "wintery," we harvested all of our carrots from the garden. Note the beautiful heirloom "Cosmic Purple" carrots mixed in with the traditional orange varieties---aren't they interesting? They were delicious, too!

(Someone else has been enjoying the carrots, too! :-)

Frost (well, snow) on the Pumpkin

Additional scenes from yesterday's snowfall. . . . it's sunny here today, but they are predicting another 2" of snow tomorrow. It seems too early for this!!

What a difference two days makes. . .

The view from our kitchen window, October 8th...

The view from our kitchen window, October 10th.

It snowed all morning and it's sooo cold!

It's Pumpkin Season!

Nothing says 'October' quite like pumpkins!!

You Say Tomato . . .

We say tomatoes! We've harvested the last of the tomatoes for the season and there are a lot of them, in all shapes, sizes, and colors. It's been wonderful to enjoy all of the varying flavors, as well.

Delicious!!

And here are the green tomatoes that we had to harvest early because of the frost. . . they are ripening quickly near the sunny window.

Dan Johnson - Calendar news!

Oops! It's already October and we just realized that we've neglected to mention a bit of Dan's exciting news from this year. . . the 2009 Hobby Farms calendar (which was bundled with the magazine earlier this year) features Dan's photography exclusively. We're all delighted with the calendar and can't resist posting it so y'all can see it, too. :-)

New Arrivals part II, more photos!

We've been taking photos of the new bunny boys . . . and can't resist posting these cute pictures.

"Louie" is a four month old black otter Netherland Dwarf . . .

and here's another photo of Pierre, 11 week old Holland Lop.

Harvest!!

In addition to the onions and tomatoes that we've been harvesting, we've also harvested a few other "fun crops" here on the farm. Our two walnut trees produced some walnuts this year (above), which is always a treat. And our grape vines were also productive (below). As much as we love springtime, harvest time is delightful in its own way!

Onions, onions, onions!

We harvested our onions last Sunday, and now they are drying. The harvest wasn't quite as large as last year's, but we're happy with our crop nonetheless. :-)







We love onions---can't wait to begin enjoying these!

Look up! Part II

Changing Leaves. . .

The autumn leaves are just beginning to change color, which gives us some spectacular sights! The sugar maples are particularly beautiful with their vibrant colors.

We've been harvesting the garden----and taking photos. . . we should have updated pictures to post tomorrow!

Photos of Miracle Jack Bee Nimble - 3 months old!

We just took a few new snapshots of our 3 month old Section A Welsh Mountain Pony colt, Miracle Jack Bee Nimble (Mt. Ridge Yellow Jacket x Heritage Hall's the Cat's Meow). He's such a handsome boy and quite a chunk. :-) We're really pleased with him.

More photos at http://www.miraclewelsh.com/