Red Dirt Farm and Studio

Labor Day 2017, possibly one of the best experiences Mr. Cottage and I have had in a long time.

Mr. Cottage was out on the North 40 mowing the grass and I was around back cleaning out the hen houses.  I heard the dogs barking and figured I better go up to the house and see what was going on.  They only bark when they are inside the house if someone has knocked on the door.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ramblings

We welcomed new life to the farm this week.

I set up a new area as the chicken maternity/nursery.  Since we have 3 broodies at the same time, I decided to separate them from the other chickens.  Miss Doris Day is setting on 13 eggs, she still has a week to go.

 

Lottie Moon hatched two moon chicks.  Mr. Cottage named the yellow one, Luna Moon and the little brown and gray one is Charlie Brown Moon.

 

Lottie Moon and Charlie Brown Moon. – Wait for it…

and there is Luna.

Dottie the egg thief hatched 5.  They are unnamed at this time.

 

My soul mate and I will be celebrating 29 years of marriage this weekend.  Some special seafood was purchased and we are going to cook up a feast good enough for Neptune himself.  We are both nursing colds so I expect, all in all, it will be a low-key weekend.

 

Hurricane Irma

Before I continue, I want to let all those that have felt the heartbreak that is called Irma, know that you are in our thoughts and prayers.  This is such a difficult time for so many.  It is hard to wrap our head around the scope of this disaster.

They called it the Pippy Longstocking House

I get to share a story now about visitors to America.

 It is a pleasure and an honor to welcome them to our country.  Hearing their stories and getting to see our beautiful country through their eyes is an amazing thing.

This is Frieda.

This is Marielle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is Malolo – a sketch Marielle did of her deaf rescue dog.  She had it turned into a sticker and she is abandoning these stickers all across America.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I found these two ladies knocking on the door, they were hoping to get a refill for their water containers.

 They asked if this was the Pippy Longstalking house.  I had never heard that one before.  They said they only stop places they feel safe and they said as soon as they saw our cheerful house, they felt safe.

Two ladies from Sweden, touring by bicycle across America.  They started their journey in York Town, Virginia and will end their trip in Oregon, in November.  Marielle’s 65-year-old mother will be joining her in California for a separate bike tour of California.  How amazing is that?  They arrived in our neck of the woods on day 3 of their journey.

 They ended up staying here all afternoon.

   We invited them to stay for lunch, we had already eaten, but they had packaged pasta, which they cooked on our grill.  I tossed together salads for them and gathered fresh herbs from the garden and grated cheese for them to add to their pasta.  They shared photos of their homeland, and wonderful stories and endeared us with their amazing sense of adventure and no fear.  I just marvel at the two of them riding their bikes all the way across the country.

 They carry all of their gear for the journey in just a few bags.  Amazing – I carry that much stuff just for an overnight stay – never mind a trek across a foreign country.  Sheesh – how do they do it?

 They sleep in churches and firehouse or where ever they can camp out that they feel safe.  They spent the night after they left us in a graveyard.

 They are posting their journey by Vlog on youtube in English at the request of their international friends.  We thought their English is quite good, although they did struggle with a few words.  We just laughed when we couldn’t figure out a word – it was all good. They posted this video which includes a little of their visit with us.  We were so honored to have them as day visitors and maybe someday we will take up their offer for us to come visit them in Sweden.

 

Well, that’s all for today.  Thank you for being here.