Pinning Hems
Melinda and Debbie have been working hard on a new ensemble for Melinda. The final outfit will consist of top, underskirt, and over skirt. Debbie is pinning the underskirt, a job best done with Melinda up on a short stool.
There has been a lot of hand stitching as well as sewing on the hand crank machine. Next up, buttons and button holes for the top and assembly of the over skirt.
On another note, I just love the light in this house. There is no electricity, so all of the light comes from large windows that can be found in every room.
Deep in Hot Water
Before butchering hogs, you first need to scald their carcass in water so that you can scrape the bristles off of their hide. At the farm, we use an ancient steam engine to heat the water.
Then a team of men get to work scraping the hair from the animal. It’s not pretty or pleasant for modern sensabilities. How easy it is to buy our food from the market and have no real idea of how it got there.
Melinda’s Wheel
Charley’s Lambs
Some of the ewes at the farm had twins and that means a few extra lambs that were not getting fed by their mothers. That’s where a team of workers stepped in with their giant bottles of milk and hand fed them until they were old enough to eat on their own. As you can see, Charley has taken to a few of them. Or is it the other way around? Either way, there is plenty of affection going around.
It’s the first time that I’ve seen lambs act like dogs.
Here are more images of sheep to get you through the weekend.
Undeniable Proof
I’ve worked my entire life to convince other people that I don’t know how to use one of these or that they don’t fit my hand. Unfortunately, my Friend Debbie captured proof that, I do indeed know how to use a mop. I blame it on all of those years I spent swabbing decks in the Navy.
A Little Night Music
Not much beats hearing Debbie and Rob play baroque music…other than listening to them play by candlelight.
I have some wonderful friends.
Night Forge
Speaking of Terry
When you have a conversation with Terry, he spends as much time listening and thinking as he does speaking. Which makes his words all the more interesting to hear when they do come out. He may be soft spoken, but he commands your attention none-the-less.
Wet Day on the Farm
Typical of late fall weather here in Ohio, we’ve had plenty of rain. Slow falling, drizzle, the kind that seeps into your bones. The kind that creates lots of mud.
The animals don’t seem to mind at all. And so, I suppose that I shouldn’t be bothered by the weather either. But, I am. As a photographer, I like the textures and saturated colors that come out in the rain. As a human being, and one in his fifties at that, I have begun to enjoy my creature comforts too much to fully embrace cold wet weather. I am not after all, a pig. Though some might say otherwise.
tim mcmurdo 