Wow, what a day!  I don’t know how many hundreds of people showed up at Stones Edge Farm in Newcastle, Maine for their annual Open Farm Day, but I would venture to guess 1,500.  There seemed to be a constant sea of people enjoying the festivities of the day.  There were horses, goats, Bernese Mountain dogs with 6 puppies, alpacas, vendors, wood fired pizza, horse carriage rides and a play area for the children.  Definitely the place to be for families with children and the weather Sunday was perfect!

I’m going to just let the photos tell the story of the day; I think you’ll get a much better idea.  Enjoy!

There was so much puppy love, I believe it is safe to say that the Bernese pups stole the show!

Of course, 8 week-old puppies do need their sleep, and what a perfect cool place to do so on the stone foundation.

Sleeping pups or not, the ever curious hands persisted.

For me, my favorite part of the day were the children, and there were lots and lots of them.  Yes, I was in photographer heaven!

What’s a summer festival without a lemon-aide stand!!

Since we’re on the topic of food, Harvest Moon wood fired pizza was amazing!!  The best pizza ever!

Horse carriage rides by Margaret Sproul and her Halflingers.

This is Trixie, a miniature horse who looks like a mini Fjord!

Some of the vendors.

Beautiful products made with alpaca fiber – a must see, and what fabulous gifts they would make!

Here’s Ricki Waltz with 3 of her alpacas of Two Sons Alpacas.

And we cannot forget little 17-day-old Madox here with his grand mother.  Yes, Derilyn just had a baby, her Bernese had pups 8 weeks ago, and she and her husband (2 other children as well) hosted a mini woodstock event on their farm!!  What will they do next year??!!

Can you tell Dakota simply adores her baby brother!  And grandma, too!

Here’s big brother, Chase, towards the end of the day, and you can tell it’s been quite a day!  Behind him is a blur of several hundred bales of hay to be put away, which he helps with.

Speaking of blur, I adore these two photos, taken at the end of the day when I’m sure many who were here all day will attest that after several hours in the July warmth, life is but a dream . . .

Stay tuned for next year’s event.  If you are interested in joining the ever growing family of Maine people who make a living creating Maine Made Products, etc. come join us next year, which I’m sure will be even bigger.

Maine Lifestyle Photographer in Bristol - Children's Photography, Family Photography, Weddings, Events, Portraits

The whole week the weather forecast kept saying that Sunday would be the better of the two days for the weekend.  The reality is that the sun only vaguely appeared for maybe 5 minutes, which meant the rest of the day was overcast, foggy and showery with some occasional down pours.  Open Farm Day still happened and although the turnout wasn’t as numerous as years past, we still had fun.  My favorite part was watching all the children interact with the animals.  There were LOTS of goats meandering around, three Bernese Mountain Dogs, a couple of baby turkeys, a small flock of baby chicks, a few larger hens, Gumdrop – a sweet miniature horse, and 5 other horses.

The pictures below should give you a little taste of the day.  Hopefully next year many more of you will find yourselves there to experience it first hand.

This little girl, who came properly dressed for the warm rain, was such a joy to watch as she ran with the goats!

Those eyes and angelic smile is enough to melt any heart. . .

Sweet bunny from Archway Rabbitry.  The next two images of rabbits are also from Archway Rabbitry.

Lots of love & kisses at the farm!

A very content little baby goat, who was carried around most of the day.

One of the baby chicks.

Such delight!  Look at the ears on that chick!!

Sharing the love . . .

Gumdrop is shopping!

Sweet Bella

Although Bear is a big boy, I have learned that Bernese Mountain Dogs are extremely gentle and calm.

Sorry, I just can’t resist – she’s too cute!!

“It’s raining, it’s pouring . . . !!”

A baby turkey.

Two very sleepy and worn out young’uns!

Maine Lifestyle Photographer in Bristol - Children's Photography, Family Photography, Weddings, Events, Portraits