HighButtonShoethe farm updatelife on the farm....the summer SALEJune 3, 2008I was going to say good morning, but I see that has passed by. Time seems to do that lately. Today is raining. Not a pounding rain, but a steady drizzle, and much welcomed, as we sorely need the moisture. It reeks havoc with my plans for the day, but then I have often told you that my 'plans' go from Plan A to Plan R in a matter of hours. Plan A started out foiled, when I woke up to rain. We cut the brome grass (we, meaning Ron...as I am supposed to clarify these details, I am told by the farmer..) a few days ago, and with the warmer temperatures of the past days, it dried nicely. We (both of us), picked it up last evening with hay forks and while almost entirely dry from the field, we laid it on tarps in the pole barn to make sure it was completely dry before bagging it up. This is the grass I so favour, for baskets and treenware bowls to display our fall and spring wares in. And sell as antique grass.. It retains a wonderful old antique look if cut at 'just the right time' (the farmer again...) and it has to dry quickly. It would have been better to have a hot sunny day where I could pull the tarps out onto the yards, but alas, I don't have that, so I have fans blowing on it in the barn. With my day altered, I am out of kilter. Sometimes I am out of kilter with barely any reason. Rain tends to do that to me anyway. I believe my energy source comes not only from coffee, but sunshine. Having mostly given up chocolate and my beloved red licorice, I have to rely on sunshine. But if the rain subsides to a softer drizzle, I plan to go out to the flower/herb garden and plant more seed in the moist soil. I have it pretty well tilled up and have been weeding it often, so it is beginning to look pretty good. Last week we had two nights of killing frosts. It did affect the garden, but was especially bad for the bittersweet plants, the grapevine arbor, the kiwi vines, and most especially the walnut tree leaves. None of those can be covered and the frost took its toll on them. Friday I was still wearing my thermal underwear! Good grief!My plans before the brome grass harvest took over my pole barn, was to work at getting the sale things from the basement and hay barn stacked into the stalls to begin working on. Knowing I still had to get rid of more of my things, I have planned a sale for this summer. Originally thinking of late July or early August, I have moved it up, as I have so many summer things to sell, it may be too late to wait until later. So the summer sale will be FRIDAY AND SATURDAY JUNE 27 & 28TH. 10am-6pm. It will be a hodge podge of items. Folk art left from the shop, small antiques, barn junk (my favorite!), ironstone, garden things, frames, and GOOD prices. As low as I can go. If you are a shop owner in driving distance, you may want to contact me. Email me. There will be some very good sales for people for resale, and of course, great bargains for buyers who collect. This will be a garage sale. I am planning a later sale for summer 2009, ( I think), for the rest of my own collections to reduce the amount of boxes stored.Contact me for the address if you want to mapquest the directions and time involved to get here for this sale. It will be worth your gas money!! in the savings on some great items. Accepting cash and checks. We no longer take credit cards. I plan to put a general list of items up on the website prior to the sale, so you will know better what will be sold. So check the website. Or email me and I will send you a list of things. Hope to see you. This will be a GOOD SALE!!!!Like the old joke how many people does it take to change a lightbulb?...How many people does it take to clean ceiling fan blades?? Especially when that fan is in the peak of a vaulted ceiling? Last newsletter I related my ceiling fan and dust dilemma with it spewing dust everywhere JUST minutes before the house was being shown. Prior to the house tour, we (the duo, surely not just me..), dragged out the tall ladder, and Ron climbed up and washed the blades while I provided clean wet cloths alternately, and he cleaned the lights, and replaced a few. Cleaned the chandelier of dustwebs. Then I dragged the ladder around the house, and cleaned the crocks and all 15 of the oil lamps, some of the portraits, and old suitcases etc that are displayed on the shelves at the 8' high level that surround 3 of the rooms. Good job done. Not one I do each week! But one I should do more often, apparently. We have been showing the house a lot in the past few weeks, and it keeps me on my toes, keeping the house in 'show' state...making sure closet door is closed and sink is clean etc.There are so many things of summer that I wait all year for. The frogs singing in the swamp behind the house is a given, of course. And the summer birds that sing from 5AM on and provide a chorus of happy chatter all day and well into the evening. This year, however, this area has been severely infested with tent worms and their invasive tree sacks have all but destroyed some trees. Ron made nightly treks down the road to destroy the deadly sacks that he could reach. Now well into the season, the tent worms crawl across the country road leaving a maze of tracks in the dirt. They crawl up blades of grass and up the sides of your house. So, our evening rituals of late are to walk up and down the road with good shoes, preferably not a sandal, to squash the worms on the road. EUWWW, I hear you saying! But actually it is quite a challenge, as I swear these worms appear from nowhere. They aren't there, and in an instant they are. We plan each night to count the numbers, but there are always too many and we lose count long before we get back home. This is early summer. Wait until the tomato plants worms!! THOSE I refuse to take part in the getting rid of. They are just plain nasty. And while Ron denies it, I swear they 'hiss' at you. Shudder!Yes, we are planning a garden again for the first time in years. With the kids moving back to share the farm land, they want a garden, like we did years ago. It will be more a community garden of the farm, on Beu's land. I fear part of the 'community' will be the deer, rabbits, coons, ground hogs, and whatever varmit can make the garden a feast of their own. But if the fence holds, and we get enough rain, sun, warm etc, we will have our own fresh vegetables again. Nothing beats going out to the garden to pick fresh tomatoes for a salad, or just wiping the fresh dirt off a carrot and eating it right then and there. OK, town people. I know you don't believe that. But rest assured, it is true.Lemon Poppy Seeds was released June 1 with new items. We can be found at the links listed below my signoff. For the month of June, we are offering free shipping on items on Lemon Poppy Seeds and the CountryCraftShopOnline items. That makes a nice savings for your purchase! Normally we have a first of the month new items for www.simplyprimitives.com but it has not been released for whatever reason. Also while we upload new items on ThePrimitiveGathering on the 15th, there are new items listed for the 1st. Miss Elspeth of PineBerryLane is taking off some time for June, and Bittersweet Susan also as she has a son being married this weekend. But check their websites out when you can. Lovely primitives... Summer is a busy time for all of us. Also while you are looking at things, be sure to check out www.the1800house.com . I think Karen is running a SALE today! She has some of the best in primitives.Well, I think I will make myself a pot of coffee and test the weather to see if I can make my way to the garden to plant more flower and herb seeds. If nothing else, the weeds should pull easy in the wet soil. I have NO fingernails, by the way. Gardens aren't conducive, I believe, to fingernails.Thanks for asking to be a part of our farm and life.Should you decide not, reply with remove and it will be taken care of, kindly.in fond regard, Tildathe sorry gardener,keeper of the thriving rosemary,still vigilant for Fritz the Anaconda,still planning the old brick path,and living each spring/summer day to the fullest, as this is MY time of year...