Open Farm Day 2011 – Stones Edge Farm

Posted on July 26, 2011

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.

Friends for Life

Posted on April 15, 2011

There has been a youtube video going around of a cat “playing” with a school of dolphins.  It’s adorable, to say the least.  There is also one of an elephant and a dog, who have become companions for life.  What inspires me most whenever I see animals of different species interacting this way, is it insists that unconditional love and acceptance be present.

My cat, who weighs a mere eleven pounds, could easily be crushed by my miniature horse, Muffin, weighing about 300 pounds.  But instinct is strong in animals and when they have never felt threatened by anything in their life before, they seem to carry no prejudices.  Love and nurturing is a powerful thing.  Animals prove it to me day after day after day.

The picture above is Boo telling Muffin to stop grabbing his tail!  I love the look on Muffin’s face – “who me, I would never grab your tail!”

Quite often Boo will be walking through the pasture with Muffin in tow, and then he’ll just suddenly stop and lay down.  He’ll even roll over onto his back and then Muffin will groom his belly!  At some point I will capture that moment.

“Where you lead

I will follow

anywhere that you tell me to.

If you need

you need me to be with you

I will follow

where you lead.”

~Carol King

Next Page »