HARMONY HOMESTEAD IN THE SPRINGTIME

Spring is here !

It has been a long hard winter, and we welcome spring with great appreciation for all the new life that is on our little Homestead.

And the Deer let me enjoy my tulips this year!!!

The Deer do not like Daffodils, so we have lots of them!

The goats are lazily grazing on green grass.

A Weeping Cherry Tree graces the yard with abundant and delicate flowers.

Azaleas are in Full Bloom awaiting the humming birds.

A bird's nest was hidden on my potting bench , so I will have to wait to pot my flowers!

A bird house waits for new occupants.

A carving hangs to give whimsical character to a front garden

We are loving life here at Harmony Homestead in the Spring!

A Field of Flowers

My dear friend, Iris Wescott, knit a scarf for me using just a one ounce skein of my lace weight Harmony Homestead Pygora yarn...Iris, is very talented, kind and generous in all she creates!

The details are wonderful to examine.

And the yarn is so soft... here you can see the halo from the pygora.

The pattern is from Ravelry,

called Field of Flowers.... here you can see the pattern more clearly.

I am very happy with the finished product.

It is of heirloom distinction.

Thank you Iris!

A White Christmas in Rhode Island

It was a very

Merry

Christmas

at

Harmony Homestead !

We had lots of snow!

Both Nicole and Julia came to visit us, and it was a very special blessing to

spend time with family we love so much!

Nicole

Nicole and Julia

Cello and Julia

And Santa Claus made a special visit to see our great niece and nephews.

Kaylee Rose had to sit still for a few minutes....

Tommy was a very good boy this year.

Jacob was a bit nervous about the man with the beard.

And so it goes...special traditions

passed over the generations.

We wish our friends and family a Happy and Healthy New Year!

Harmony Homestead kids to Rhinebeck NY!

Bye Bye babies..... off you go to Rhinebeck NY with a new loving family.

We will certainly miss these sweet girls.. Sprite on the left, and Samba on the right.

I know their new family will love them and promises to take very good care of them!

They are ready to leave their mommas and begin their new life with a beautiful young family! New dreams are realized for Dana as she brings these new babies home....

We are happy for them , and wish them many days filled with QGT.... Quality Goat Time.....as they explore life in the Goat Lane!

Allegro's August Adiós

Allegro was a wonderful Abyssinian we had the pleasure to know. love, and care for 17 years.

He was Elaine's momma's boy, and as we watched his health deteriorate from diabetes and old age, we prepared ourselves for the day he would no longer be with us.

We brought him to the West Greenwich Animal Hospital on August 15,2009 for the last time.

His body was laid to rest with Adagio and Liberty under the Apple tree, near the bridge.

Sadness drained our bodies for awhile and we still miss his loving being...

Yet, we are thankful we had time to say good bye, and know we gave his a loving home for all of his long life.

We will always remember his loving purr, handsome face, and loving nature.

We also remember our young daughters, (Julia at 3 years old and Nicole at 8 years old) as they played with him as a new kitten, feeding him bottles and put bibs on him..

He accepted their tender loving antics as young girls with gentle humility.

We remain thankful for the years we shared with our dear feline friend.

Forever in our hearts he will live.

For the love of Liberty

Harmony Homestead Liberty

She was born on Memorial Day, 2008, and named in honor of our Veterans.

My Father was a WWII Veteran, serving in the Pacific. He had passed away the in the autumm of 2007. His last word spoken was "Goldilocks" As young children, our father told us this story many times at our bedtime, and we have very fond memories of these special times.

During his last days, under hospice care, he placed his weak hand on his great grandchild's head Kaylee Rose, and said in a whisper, "Goldilocks".

Kaylee was about 9 months old, and has beautiful golden hair. She was just learning to crawl, and she brought us cherished moments of respite as we waited by my father's hospice bedside.

When Liberty was born the following spring, her color was the same as Kaylee's hair.

We watched Kaylee playing in the goat pen, with Liberty . My mom nicknamed Liberty "Goldilocks " seeing Kaylee and Liberty play together so sweetly.

Sadly and suddenly, we lost Liberty to a meningeal worm infection this week. The worm had done it's damage in the central nervous system, and we decided to have her put to sleep. This parasite is a very hard one to fight with de wormers. With the excessive wet weather we have had, the conditions for this parasite to do damage were grounded.

Liberty was full of promise. She was beautiful! She was only one year old, and I had big plans to use her as my foundation doe for future breeding's with the Harmony Homestead herd name.

I'll admit, most people do not have the pleasure of quietly experiencing "life in the moment " with a goat. Liberty shared her gentle disposition with ease.

She is now buried under the apple tree near the garden bridge my father put together and painted for me. The bridge symbolizes the transition from life to death, and brings honor to the relatedness of grief and hope, the old and young, the strong and gentle.

I wanted to express how an animal can weave the pieces of our lives together in ways we could never predict.

We will miss Liberty but always cherish her gift of helping us live our lives more fully in simple harmony.

It has been awhile....

Since the last post, life has been very full. For those of you I don't see very often, I will try to cut and paste a brief summary of the Happenings...

Philadelphia

In May, a road trip with our family, Sarah, Mary, and Gramma B to attend Nicole's graduation from UPenn School of Veterinary Medicine. We had a wonderful time and were so happy to share this extraordinary accomplishment. It was truly one of the happiest moments in our lives.

Dr. Deegan and Dr. Donahue

Shortly after , we had a very nice catered party here for our RI family to celebrate the occassion with us. Julia visited home for a week, before heading back to Delaware, her preferred state of residence as she nears her senior year at UD.

In June, I attended a 2 day workshop on dying sponsered by the RI Spinner's Guild.

It was informative, creative, and full of color and fibers.

The following week The RI Spinner's Guild came to our Homestead to meet and spin ...We had good food, and newly dyed fleece to spin. The weather cooperated very nicely as we spun outdoors on the deck. I was too busy having fun to take pictures.

Now it is time to get the goat kids ready for their new homes.....Saying goodbye to the little ones is a difficult part of goat breeding for me.

Angelica, the sweetest baby girl we have grown to love.