"Birds, Fans and Coffee Clutch"

Howdy Folks,

We are surely stuck in a pattern of hot, humid and rain here in Appomattox, VA. Coffee Clutch started at 73 degrees and very still heavy air at 6:15 this morning. As I went about feeding the chickens, Saturday and Kessy the woods were alive with birdsong. I'd been missing that lately, a combination of birds not being very active and that doggone fan in the barn.

The Coffee Clutch bunch

Chores complete, I settled into my chair next to Kessy, and poured my first cup of Folgers from my thermos. The fan whirred. It's not too loud, but makes enough of a drone to muffle the bird song, darn it … I could faintly hear our busy little Wren chattering and singing, and thought I heard a Cardinal, and perhaps an Indigo Bunting too. I knew I heard the Scarlet Tanager. I tried hard to listen, but it was a muffled chorus, not a glorious symphony.

Kessy's barn is very open, only the north wall is closed, and that wall has widows. But nestled snugly in the trees as it is, when the summer humidity rolls in, and it's been exceptional this year, it gets very damp and heavy inside. So for most of the summer that fan hums, whirrs and moves air. And bother me. Kessy loves her fan and divides her time between the cool shade of the tall trees and standing in the breeze of her fan. The fan also help with flying pests. I have friends who have fans in their run-ins just for the purpose of keeping the biting flies out. And really, Kessy's bedroom is not much more than a run-in with a hay room, tack room, and storage room attached, and a twelve foot over hang running the 40 foot length. I always figured the big openings and long overhang would create plenty of natural ventilation, but not in this weather!

So as I sat sipping and trying to take in the morning birdsong I decided the fan must take a break. Switching it off instantly allowed the beautiful songs to drift inside, and I reveled in it. Kessy's munching added the perfect touch. Delightful.

We enjoyed the magical music show for exactly 2 minutes … Then the rain started again, heavy. All the chickens, and roosters, ran at warp speed for cover inside with us … The roosters lighted on the half wall, all 3 of them, and began to crow. And crow. Drowning out any hopes of listing to the Cardinal, Summer Tanager and the rest. I smiled to Kessy, switched the fan on again, and poured my second cup …

Gitty Up ~ Dutch Henry

"Snowy and Rainy Days"

Howdy Folks,

 

Snowy and rainy days have a different feel about them for me than clear sunny days. Of course all days are beautiful, for their own reasons, but the "bad weather days," as we called them on the dairy farm where I grew up as a foster kid, are extra special for me. To me, they are cozy.

As a kid we had plenty of work on those bright sunny days. I would be busy hoeing thistles in the corn field, picking beans in the garden, mending fence, thinning hedgerows, maybe carrying water for wash day, or any of the other many tasks needed to be done on the farm.

There was plenty of work on snowy and rainy days, too. We still had to milk the cows, tend the horses, pigs and chickens, but the in between time, those hours when we would do the extra work, were a bit more relaxed.

Our barn was big old Pennsylvania Bank Barn with the milking stable in the middle, flanked by horse stalls, each with the splendid wooden feed troughs and hay racks above them, and box stalls for young stock when they weren't out in pasture. Between the horse stalls and milking stable was our feed room. Along the back wall were wooden slant topped feed bins for the loose oats and corn for the horses. One of my jobs was to keep the bins full. Sacks of ground feed for the milking cows were stacked along the side wall. I can still smell the blackstrap molasses in that ground feed. I loved that smell! So did the mice!

This barn is very similar to the barn to the barn on the farm I grew up on.

Back then, burlap bags were really made of burlap and no match for the enterprising mice who made certain nearly every sack had a hole of their own design chewed through it. On bad weather days it was my job to hand stitch those holes closed with a long curved needle and white cord. Some days ol' Bill (the man who raised me) would join me in the stitchin' party and it was kind of fun gathering there, working a little and talking. I suppose it was our version of a quilting party. Whether Bill was with me or not, the horses and cows were, and it was cozy in that feed room, and sort of a day off. There were other bad weather day chores, but that feed room, between the horses and cows, stitching up those sacks, well that's my treasure.

For a long time now, bad weather days, have not had much to say about my daily duties, but often they'll carry me back to that cozy old feed room between the horses and cows. I suppose at a young age I was conditioned to the gentler feeling of rainy days.

The Coffee Clutch family enjoying this rainy morning.

As Kessy, Tigger, Saturday and I enjoyed Coffee Clutch this morning, rain danced lively on the tin roof. And while my routine won't be stirred, my memories were.

Gitty Up ~ Dutch Henry

Beautiful, Miserable, Wet, Cold Morning

Howdy Friends! 

Oh what a beautiful, miserable, wet, cold morning. I love it! It's been a while since we've enjoyed Coffee Clutch while rain danced on the tin roof. We've had a few rainy days recently, but somehow they've missed coffee with Kessy and the critters time. So I was excited when rain continued to fall this morning … until I stepped outside and the full force of soggy cold air promptly removed my hat. Saturday dismissed his usual tag wagging "happy to go to the barn dance" on the porch, and dashed between giant raindrops to the barn. Kessy nickered her standard "Good Morning" greeting as she gaited from the woods to her bedroom. She's not one to stay inside and was sure soaked, so instead of our morning hug, she had to settle for a gentle pat on her wet shoulder. Settled in my chair after hurried chores, I tapped my first steaming cup of Folgers, and thanked God for another beautiful day. Tigger, jumped on my lap, shook about a quart of water on me, then curled in a tight ball. – Have a swell day today everybody and stay dry!

Coffee Clutch Family-Kessy, Saturday, Tigger(on my lap) Miss Kitty & me

Gitty Up ~ Dutch

"Rainy Day Hummingbirds"

Howdy Folks,

I heard on the radio this is the second coldest Spring on record. Don't know if that's true or not, but I must admit I'm enjoying the cooler weather. Keeps the wildflowers blooming longer and the Dogwoods too, are still in bloom. Wild Azaleas are gracing the trails' and woods' edge with their delicate pale pink flowers, the Bluetts and Spring Beauty's are just as lush as I've ever seen. Buds are pushing hard on the Mountain Laurel and wild Blueberries, wouldn't it be something if the early wildflowers were still blooming when the Mountain Laurel open their sprays of white flowers?

Here in Appomattox it's also been a pretty wet spring. Yesterday it was both cold and wet! By noon it was working hard to get over 50 degrees, and raining steadily. Ravishin' Robbie was busy working, in our back porch that we'd converted into our Library, which by the way was supposed to be my writing room, but she took it over as her office. She loves the windows and really has the room set up really neat. I huddled in the living room, a blanket covering my legs. Damp and cold works on me a bit. We both have great views of trees, woods, porches and bird feeders. Rainy days just add a bit of coziness to the day. We were both all snuggled in.

On our front porch we have 4 very popular Hummingbird feeders out of the rain. Robbie also has a string of lights all around the perimeter of the porch. I was enjoying watching the Hummingbirds dart in and out and all around doing their thing at the feeders. Just about every time I looked out there were a few at the feeders … but the cutest thing was, they were also lined up on the light string waiting their turns, out of the rain! One time I counted four Hummers sitting on the light strings!

I began checking the feeder on the back porch, and sure enough there sat one on the feeder and another on the rafter, out of the rain almost every time I looked! That made me wonder about the feeder in Kessy's stall, so I bundled up to go have a look. Of course me walking in there disturbed them, but the chickens who were all snuggled in the barn, greeted me with a few cackles and clucks. Mrs. Phoebe sat on her nest, but the feeder Hummingbird feeder had no Hummers, so I took Kessy's saddle blanket, settled into my chair and covered my legs to have a wait and see who would stop by.

It only took a few moments for the soggy Hummers to return to the shelter of the barn. Soon three Hummers sat either on the feeder or the rafter waiting their turn at the feeder. Kessy, Saturday and I watched the fun at the feeders a while, then I moseyed back to the warm house. Rainy day Hummingbirds are a treat to watch!

Gitty Up ~ Dutch Henry

"The Rain Pounded The Roof"

Howdy Folks,

We huddled in the barn as the cold rain pounded the tin roof. Saturday sat by my side wet and shivering. Tigger tried to burrow deeper into my lap. Kessy tugged and munched on her hay even as half a dozen chickens scratched, pecked and clucked around her bedroom. I poured my second cup of steaming coffee from the thermos and cradled the cup in my hands, warming them. The smell of fresh coffee wafted up. I took it in. 

Cold, wet and dark, same as yesterday morning. March has sure been tossing hard weather at us the past few days. Undeterred, Mr. Cardinal sat high in the Oak calling in the soggy new morning. A few Juncos too, braved the rain to refuel at the chicken scratch. The chickens though, mostly huddled in the chicken house or in the barn with Kessy, me and Tigger. Sweetness, Zoe and Miss. Kitty had decided today again it was just too miserable out to join us and had stayed in the house.

The Phoebes darted from rafter to rafter, either searching for spiders or checking out the best place for this year's first nest. It's always such delight to watch them build a nest then raise their brood here in the barn. A Carolina Wren came inside too, craftily examining corners and beams. I wondered if he was looking for insects or a place for a nest. That would be neat, Phoebes and Wrens with a nest in Kessy's barn. The wrens usually nest on the porch or the chicken house.

Doesn't look like the weather will give Kessy, Saturday and me a chance to hit the trail for a day or two. I'm sure ready to go again, even though we've had this mid March set-back, things out in the woods are moving ahead with all their springtime duties. On Friday we had gone out and saw half a dozen butterflies, and Trout Lilies blooming. The Myrtle (Periwinkle) was just beginning to bloom at the old cemetery too, can't wait to see that carpet of blue

We send you wishes for a wonderful day. Stay dry and warm!

Gitty Up ~ Dutch Henry