We bought two of these water birches at a great price at Elhannon Wholesale Nurseries in Petersburgh, New York. Jim Sutton and his wife Ruth walked us around the nursery and Jim – his nursery sold the trees at the World Trade Center Memorial In New York – is coming to plant them this week, a few days before the open house at Bedlam Farm. The nursery has giant trees for thousands of dollars and smaller trees (above). Jim will give us some guidance on where to plant them, Ruth is leaving her nursing career to set up a retail nursery. Bella is her shadow.
Red put on a dazzling herding demo for the boy’s from St. John’s Home For Boys In New York City, none of them had seen a dog like him before, their whole notion of dogs was very different. They loved hearing his story, watching him work and when he was done, he was happy to receive their thanks and appreciation. In and out of the pasture, he is a remarkable animal.
Just after we got back from Massachusetts, Scott Carrino from Pompanuck Farms (and the Round House Cafe) arrived with a dozen boys from the St. John’s Boys Home in New York City. They were visiting the area on a two day summer retreat and when Scott told me about I thought Bedlam Farm would be a perfect place to visit. I think it was, at least for us. These kids had never seen a donkey before and they came armed with carrots and curiosity. They spent several hours here, gave the donkeys a ton of carrots, peppered me with questions about the farm, writing, Red, Lenore and Simon, Lulu and Fanny.
Maria gave them a studio tour and talked about her art work and the sheep, and then we went into the big pasture for full-bore herding demo. None of these kids or staff members had seen a dog quite like Red before and he put on one of his great Red shows, his sweeping come-byes, moving the sheep around, his great responsiveness and professionalism. Maria and I both love having a place that people like to visit, even if we can’t handle visitors all of the time. Next week is the first open house at the new farm, July 21, noon to four p.m. and visitors will get to see what the kids from St. Joseph’s got to see – the donkeys, Red working and Maria and her art.
Maria was wonderful, I loved listening to her talk about her art and the sheep.
The donkeys are quite amazing, they allowed themselves to be petted and touched and fed, they were calm and friendly, they are great animals. The boys left with armloads of books and stuff from Maria’s studio, they say had a great time, and I hope so, we sure did. This is something we plan to do a lot more of. Donkeys are fascinating creatures, and healing ones. I take Red a bit for granted until I see how amazed people are by seeing him work. What a privilege to have him, we love our new home.
Maria and I finally caught up with our 3rd wedding anniversary Friday, we honored our short and wonderful time together in typical fashion, informally, mixing up food, walking, photography, sketching, art, culture and people. We went to North Adams, Mass., the home of Mass MOCA, the sprawling art museum in a vast old former New England textile mill. We stayed in an architecturally dazzling new hotel called Porches Inn At Mass MOCA, a dozen or so old mill houses connected to one another and meticulously rebuilt and refurbished. The hotel was beautiful, pricey, hip and fascinating, the most beautiful rooms and bathrooms, no expense or detail spared to integrate the past with the town’s artistic future. It was powerful to look out at Mass MOCA from the rooms and windows of the people who once worked there, although their homes would not be recognizable to them.
It was an architectural adventure. It is hip place, not a homey place, it was a fascinating and very comfortable place.
We began our anniversary at the Round House Cafe in Cambridge, we had breakfast there and then set out for Massachusetts. On the way, we stopped at a nursery near Stephentown and mulled getting another tree to plant along the pasture fence by the house. Then we drove into North Adams, walked all around the town, stopped at a new Mediterranean restaurant with good food and Frank SInatra and Mario Lanzo playing in the background. North Adams is still figuring out it’s new hip future. We went back to the hotel, read and then went to Williamstown for Thai food, and then to Williamstown Theater to see the Tom Stoppard play “Hapgood,” which was great, terrific dialogue, great acting. We had breakfast at Porches, headed back to the nursery, bought two water birches at a great price (photo later) and picked up sandwiches at the Round House on the way back.
When we got back, a dozen boys from the St. Joseph’s Boys Home in New York City came to visit the farm and see the first donkey’s and herding dogs in their lives. We had an amazing time, I’ll put up some photos and write about that it a bit, it was the perfect capper to a wonderful 24 hours, they were blown away by Red and mesmerized by the donkeys. Since they came with bags of carrots, they got a fine donkey reception. More later.
I am so grateful for my life, my time with Maria is so good, so precious, so much in sync. We just fit, I can’t recall a sweeter anniversary celebration, nor can I quite believe it took me so long in my life to permit love to enter it. I don’t dwell on that, there is no point in looking back, I am grateful for every precious day that I am alive.
