{"id":327,"date":"2007-12-28T16:09:15","date_gmt":"2007-12-28T16:09:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zuschlag.us\/?p=327"},"modified":"2024-09-01T15:32:43","modified_gmt":"2024-09-01T15:32:43","slug":"2007-christmas-letter-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zuschlag.us\/?p=327","title":{"rendered":"2007 Christmas Letter"},"content":{"rendered":"

December 28, 2007<\/p>\n

Dear Friends and Family –<\/p>\n

If 2006 was about loss and reflection, 2007 was very much a year of recovery, renewal, and re-energizing. While things started off quietly enough in January<\/strong>….<\/p>\n

….February<\/strong> brought a couple of snow storms right in the middle of lambing, and the threat of a nasty blight on one of the most pristine and unspoilt landscapes on the east coast – and one that would go right next to my farm too!<\/p>\n

I always find it less than easy to get up in the middle of the night and play midwife to my ewes during lambing season, but this year I seemed to find it incredibly taxing. I was tired all the time, and I was gaining weight no matter how little I ate. At the ODH Hunt Ball my date complained that even the oldest duffers there were more active on the dance floor than I was. “If I were interested in just sitting at the table all night, I would have brought my husband!” is what she said to me!\u00a0 If this what getting old was all about, well, it was worse than I had anticipated – or at least that’s what I whined to my trusty doctor when I went to see him. “Not to worry” said Dr. Greg, “you’ve just got a wonky thyroid gland.”\u00a0 Sure enough, with a few magic pills to jump start the ol’ gland, the pounds started melting away and I was able to get out of bed at 3 am to check on lambs, if not with a bounce, then, at least with less complaint than before. There’s no doubt that I’m still older, fatter and slower than I was before, but hey, isn’t everyone?<\/p>\n

Lambing season kicked in to high gear in March<\/strong>, but this year my ewes were in top form. Not only did I have a record 92 lambs born, but it was the lowest number of assisted births I’ve ever had (heck, I coulda stayed in bed most nights). I got an unusual request from an art gallery in DC that wanted me to let one of their artists, Erik Sandberg, photograph my lambs for use in a painting. Sure, I thought, after all, other artists have incorporated my critters in their work (or at least my farm. This cow, for instance, never waded into my pond, but that’s what the background scenery is). I wasn’t expecting a modern day Hieronymus Bosch, but check out painting #10 “Houses” – my lambs are in there somewhere.\u00a0 \u00a0 My war on bears started in mid-March, when a young black bear decided that my chickens make the best chicken mcnuggets around. Apparently he told all his sister, his cousins, and his aunts because by the time the bear war was over in August, I lost nearly all of my Partridge Cochins, most of my brahma bantams, and most of my white peafowl, and my chicken coop now has enough electrified fencing to put any prison camp to shame. Also in March, I finally bit the bullet, and decided I really was getting too old to take care of this place by myself, and hired Clayton Willard, great-grandson of the original owner of much of my farm, to help out on a part-time basis. Clayton has worked out really well, but he’s somehow managed to snag all the easy jobs like mowing and bush-hogging, while I do all the brush clearing and rock moving. How did that happen? In part to make Clayton’s job even cushier, I also broke down and bought a John Deere “Gator.”\u00a0 How I ever got anything done without this vehicle is beyond me.<\/p>\n

March Photos<\/strong>
\nMy sexy gator
\nBreakfast for bears
\nThe first hint of spring (from Daffodil Hill)
\nDaffodils on the hill<\/p>\n

It wasn’t until April<\/strong> that the real 2007 activities really kicked into high gear. In a word: Bulldozers! I have to admit that I totally revert back to a 3 year old in their presence. It is just so cool watching them do what they do, and it’s amazing how much one machine can get done in an hour…hmm, maybe I should get one of those too?\u00a0 Anyway, the first order of business for the dozers was to take down the ruins of the tenant house (click red text to see) I burnt in December. The second was to start excavating property lines of the new acreage so that I could put in NEW FENCING (click red text to see). Both happened in very short order.\u00a0 At the annual Old Dominion Hunt races, we actually had snow, but two weeks later at the Blockhouse races in Tryon, it was t-shirt weather. Such is April. The Tryon visit was bittersweet as it was on the anniversary of my Dad’s death. My brothers and I spent a good deal of time with Mom going over his various collections and library, and wandering the woodland trails admiring the trees my parents had planted.<\/p>\n

April Photos<\/strong> – ODH
\nSnow on the ground as I set up buffet
\nSnow melted but the crowd hasn’t
\nCold horses running
\nDutch aristocrat wearing English clothes, drinking Czech beer and sporting an Italian hound in the good ol’ USA
\nApril Photos – Lambs (click to enlarge)
\nApril Photos – Tryon, NC (click to enlarge)
\nUncle Ray, Momma Z, & Uncle Geoff watching the Blockhouse races
\nTour of Dad’s pine grove
\nLooking at Lobbloly pines my parents planted 10 years ago
\nTour of Dad’s woods
\nLooking at some of Dad’s collection<\/p>\n

The bulldozers continued to clean up and re-grade pastures in the new fields through most of May<\/strong>. Slowly the final form of the farm started taking shape. While the outside of the farm was getting this massive upgrade, I also decided it was about time to upgrade the inside as well. I wanted to go from bachelor squalor to bachelor splendor in one SINGLE BOUND (click red text to see). On one memorably non-stop day, May 5th, I spent most of the day mustering over 75 sheep for shearing, then rushing to clean up so I could attend a gallery opening that afternoon, (where I bought my first “real” piece of art, then dashed off for dinner at Judy Hope’s house for dinner with Congressman Cantor (R-VA). A great dinner, but we couldn’t get the Congressman to see sense on this issue.<\/p>\n

May Photos<\/strong>
\nGeese with their growing goslings
\nSheep with haircuts
\nStill life with sheep and gator<\/p>\n

June<\/strong> saw carpentry work on the inside and land-moving on the outside completed. The next step was the actual fencing of the cleared paddocks. While this was happening I was supposed to be painting my newly completed bedroom, but my micro-managing of fencers and carpenters, and constant needling of my hard-working neighbors to come over and cut hay left little time for that. Despite great summer weather, the hayfield never got cut – it kept growing and growing…<\/p>\n

June Photos<\/strong>
\nSheep eagerly awaiting new pasture
\nNew pasture eagerly awaiting sheep
\nGreat photo of my thumb blocking out the sun
\nOld fenceline with new fence posts<\/p>\n

…. and It wasn’t until mid July<\/strong> that the first cutting of hay made it into my barn. This year we switched to round bales of hay, which, of course, necessitated new spear and fork attachments for my tractor. The round bales are a little more cumbersome to maneuver, as you have to balance them on the tractor front and back like this, but it sure beats stacking 900+ square bales by hand in the sweltering summer heat as in years past.\u00a0Once the hay was in the barn it was time to take a quick trip to see the family at Grandma’s beach house. Actually, the beach house is now gone, so we were all crammed in the “villa” (read: condo) – all 16 of us – (it was very cozy!) Finally, at the end of the month all the far pastures were finally fenced and ready for grazing.<\/p>\n

DeBordieu Photos<\/strong>
\nWill, Sam & Drake in water balloon fight
\nRiley & water balloon fight
\nbaby Grant dances
\nWhere are our burgers?
\nTired Helene
\nTired Drake
\nTired Stuart
\nHungry Sam
\nThirsty Sam
\nRare moment of calm (thanks TV)
\nUncle Geoff & Sam
\nUncle Gunter & Uncle Alan<\/p>\n

July Photos<\/strong>
\nFarm-hand Clayton fishing instead of working
\nFirst round bales in the field
\nSome of this year’s excellent lamb crop
\nAjax D. Cat patrols the barn<\/p>\n

By the time August<\/strong> came around I still hadn’t painted my bedroom or put the floors in. But since not a single drop of rain fell all month, I had a valid excuse. I was outside all the time. It was a busy month of real estate sales, finally stopping the bears from eating my chickens, and organizing the board fencing going up along the farm roadways. Despite the lack of rain, the farm was looking really good once the board fences were up and painted. Good thing too, ’cause I got a call from Virginia Living magazine to let me know they were taking photos for an article and wanted one of my farm too!\u00a0 Late in the month my friends Christian and Tom & Ernesto and Heather & John were inspired by my farm-hand Clayton’s fishing success to try their hands at it as well. Alas, no one caught anything big enough to eat, so we all repaired to Heather & John’s down the street for a barbeque feast.<\/p>\n

August Photos<\/strong>
\nClayton caught fishing again instead of working.
\nHeather and John trying their luck
\nErnesto and Christian in the boat
\nHeather gets a small one
\nHeather grills up a storm as Tom and Ernesto look on hungrily<\/p>\n

Without a doubt, September<\/strong> remains the busiest and most fun month in my year.\u00a0 Not only are there great social events like the Taste of Rappahannock and the Thornton Hill Hounds point-to-point races, but the break in the summer heat means there’s just more stuff going on in general. More real estate work, more activities, and more fun. Part of that fun is checking in on my favorite local artists at shows in local galleries.\u00a0 Trouble is, by the time you get to the opening reception, all the really great stuff already has little red dots next to the title.\u00a0 I complained about this to one artist friend, who very kindly tipped me off to his next showing, and I was able to purchase something before the opening reception. It was even more fun to attend the usual wine & cheese deal and overhear comments like, “Geez, that’s spectacular!\u00a0 That’s the best thing here!\u00a0 Too bad it’s already sold” and smile to myself and think (yes it is! and I own it!!). \u00a0As if I didn’t already have enough on my plate, September is also when I had the guys at Blue Ridge Forestry come in and auction off the rights to do a selective timbering of the wooded acreage. The oak and popular trees went to Augusta Lumber to make this hardwood flooring – so you may have a bit of my forest to look at when you put in your new floor.\u00a0 Also, since it seems I didn’t yet have my fill of torn up and ravaged landscapes this year, I brought back the bulldozers to enlarge the farm pond and create a more formal view up to the house site – and what a big mess that was!\u00a0 Of course my all-time favorite thing to do each September is still attending the ANNUAL MEETING (click red text to see) for my sheep breed association. When I got back from Seattle in late September, it was time to sort out my own flock into their different breeding groups and select out and prep 30 ewes for artificial insemination.<\/p>\n

September Photos<\/strong>
\nMellow September afternoon
\nVA shepherds meeting at Touchstone Farm
\nFat sheep in new pastures
\nTHH races
\nDonnie & Brett looking dashing at the THH P2P races
\nPond excavation begins<\/p>\n

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