October-Peg and Roux

October-Peg and Roux
:)

Today, on the other side of the harvest moon, it's October.  Foggy mornings have set the stage for fall.  The rising sun burns off the haze just in time for the school bell to ring, or for the first market-goers to mosey into the Oakwood Farmers Market on Saturday mornings.  With shedding trees lurking in the mist, my wandering mind replays memories of falls spent in Sleepy Hollow where I lived when I first met Rich.  We used to walk a stretch of the Rockefeller State Park on misty mornings in the fall on the way to work on the farm where we crossed paths.  Those trails which inspired Washington Irving's headless horseman, they stir something within you.

Foggy market mornings

October comes on the scene, reminding us of the inevitability of frost.  This year's October is sending in a summery Trojan horse.  After a first week of unseasonally high highs, it's looking like the first 30-degree nights since spring will sneak in.  And if they present frost, we'll offically begin to wind down.  At least the tomatoes and the peppers and eggplant will have their last glorious days in the sun before they call it in for the year and send their best wishes to the next generation seeded in the soil by their fallen fruits.  This week, we'll do an aggressive harvest of all the warm season crops to load up in anticipation of this changing of the guards.  

I've been anticipating our wind-down this year for more reasons than one.  As the summer wore on, conversations about inviting another dog onto the farm were born.  I recognized this as a testament to the progression of our healing from Mel's passing in the spring.  In fact, Jack was the last one to resist the idea of a new canine friend, claiming he just wanted Meldog back...and also requesting that if we get a new dog, that it might look like Mel and we could name her Mel too.  Well, no matter who the new friend would be, we knew better than to invite someone in before the winter season.  With all the sagacity of two level-headed adults, we agreed we would wait until December to begin to peruse the shelters and rescues.

In late August, I decided I needed to venture onto the wild west of the internet to refamiliarize myself with the local rescue organizations.  For a few weeks, I was unsuccessful in resisting the temptation to buzz through the adoptable dogs on a nightly basis.  There are in fact innumerable sweet, homeless dogs out there.  And having not presented a single one to Rich for ten days, I still felt my adult head was fixed squarely on my shoulders.  As it would turn out, I just hadn't come across OUR dog yet.  Not until midway through September when I saw a little lady and her sister had been saved from a shelter in Northern Kentucky.  I handed her profile to Rich, who I was sure would talk sense into me.  Instead he sanctioned my adoption application for the 3-month old heeler, beagle mutt.  

The next afternoon I got more information on this sweet red girl who was dropped at a shelter with her two sisters only to contract parvovirus before the rescue was able to shelter them.  One of the girls did not survive the virus, leaving the two sisters behind to live in quarantine and to undergo treatment.  I talked Rich out of adopting both of the girls thinking that two might be overboard, and we went on to sign an adoption contract for the little gal, sure that her sister would easily find a home.  With three weeks until pick up, we decided to completely surprise May and Jack with this new friend.  The long wait for October 1st was on.

Just last Thursday I checked in on our girl and got a picture of her and her sister.  Asking after the sis over text message, I found out that her prospective adopter had fallen through.  Furthermore there hadn't been any bites since.  I was then told that the two were inseperable as they had been quarantined together for two months, away from other dogs.  Although we had turned down the offer to adopt both originally, we were offered the duo again and told that the people looking after them would love to see them be homed together.  In the hopes of this happening, they would even waive adoption fees for the second darling.  Watching a video of these two running themselves ragged chasing each other, and hearing of how they get to sleep by cozying up together...it may have struck a chord with me.  

These two little ones have experienced quite a lot together. They were plucked from their mother young, too young, and were dumped at a shelter, and infected with a wicked virus.  After surviving the loss of their sister, they have another chance at a good life.  I knew my answer before Rich walked in the door after closing up the hoop house for the evening.  After reading the exchange with our contact at the rescue, Rich gave me the look I wanted to see. We took the best two-for-one deal ever, expanding our family x2.  

Who are we to break up this band of sisters who has weathered a wild storm?  We with our spacious acreage, our life groudned at home on the farm, not to mention our kids who know the love that is experienced when bonding with an animal.  If you've gathered anything about me, you may know I'm a sucker for a good back story.  And knowing these sisters' story, I feel compelled, as Rich does, to allow them to continue the story together, under the same roof.  And why wouldn't we continue on this trajectory of following our hearts and leaning heavily on our intuition?  Aren't we the ones who took the road less traveled when we left our jobs to start a business to support ourselves and our 1-year-old?

So, with only a few days to spare until pick up, I made a run for another set of puppy basics. We spent the two days giggling periodically with each other in anticipation of the big day, today, when we packed May and Jack in the car to pick up 'two very early Christmas gifts'.  And for the past two hours, they've been together, learning the leash game, being invited to sit on Jack's bean bag chair, and figuring out interspecies play.  In a way, I've felt like the fifth wheel in a new friendship circle which was just born.  We've got a lot to learn from each other.  Let the games begin :).


Updates from the farm:

-Oakwood Market Season: It's coming to a close...the last market day of the year is Saturday, October 14th.  We hope you'll come out to see us these last two Saturdays.

-Year Round Pick Ups:  The offseason will begin on Saturday, October 21st and continue until next market season.  You can continue to order from our online shop which opens each Monday.  Pick up will be in the same Oakwood Farmers Market Lot from 10-11:30 each Saturday.  There is a great winter of growing and baking to look forward to :).

-Puppy Time: I will be spending much of my time getting our two gals Roux and Peg settled in on the farm, learning expectations and understanding the ropes of life on the farm.

-Holiday Pies and Breads: Not that anyone is thinking this far ahead, but we are planning on baking off our pies, breads, and dinner rolls for the holidays again this year.  Both Thanksgiving and and Christmas we will be baking as in previous years.  Keep us in mind for your celebrations :)).

-Over wintering veg: Rich is hoping to keep lettuce, carrots, beets, spinach and radishes pumping through the winter for as much of off-season pick up as possible.  We will also have onions, honeynut squash and ginger available in addition to our shoots, microgreens, granola, and bakes.

-First Lamb: We will be processing the first lambs from the flock this winter.  This season is likely to be for our house and family.  Next season is looking promising for grass-fed lamb availability.


Thank you for reading :).

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