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One thing I have resolved to do is try to have a regular massage. I used to do it regularly and it helped my body quite a bit. But as with many things in my life I have to plan ahead and make sure the appointments get on the calendar next to my desk It is amazing how many things need to be done in the winter...that take so much longer and can sometimes feel overwhelming. But once the tasks are done you wonder why you felt overwhelmed. I find using the lists is much less stressful and it is satisfying when you checked a task off the list!  A January thaw..... It was in the 40's today and I didn't need much more than my farmer armor to be comfortable. So far there are 4 lambs on the ground, all healthy and their mom's are doing an excellent job of taking care of them! THEREFORE I have no BOTTLE LAMBS, EXCESSIVELY LATE NIGHTS AND LACK OF SLEEP. But I have 2 ewes yet to deliver and one is a first timer. So , wish me luck!
The above picture shows what happens when you have rain falling and freezing on contact. The poor Hydrangea had all its old flowers still on it and when they became encased in ice it broke the center 2 branches of the tree. The weight of the ice split them in half . I have never had this happen ...the tree has been through 6 winters with more snow and ice. But from what I have read the tree as it gets taller and fuller it can get top heavy.
It was top heavy in the summer and had started to lean, so I cut back the branches and then staked it. If I hadn't done that trimming in the summer it probably would have broken off near the base from the ice load. So I should consider myself lucky. But now I just hope it survives. It was a gift from my father in law in memory of Brandon ,as we couldn't plant a tree near Brandon's grave in our cemetery. The tree was delivered to me in September of 2019 and a friend helped me plant it. The penguin Blanca is right next to the tree and under her are my Mother in Law, Rosalie's ashes. She wanted to be buried under the old pear tree, but I and my sister in law decided it was better to put her next to Brandon's tree and I had planted 3 young pear trees right behind Brandon's tree. So Rosalie was near Brandon and the pear trees, which fulfilled her wishes.  I got all the Holiday cards out in the mail. I finally got lots of stuff to the dump after Thanksgiving. I got a beginner felting kit to make holiday gnomes. I have never done any felting , but their noses were a bit too large. Before I readjusted the 2nd gnome's nose, he looked more like an anteater disguised as a gnome. The tree between the gnomes is from my oldest sister , along with the advent calendar ornaments.
I just started organizing for the Christmas tree which will be in the Addition living room. Last year I had the tree in the downstairs library, but I will have 3 here for Christmas and the library is too small for a celebration. I admit this year has been a bit easier with the time change. I don't know why...but I don't feel as anxious when it gets close to 4 pm.....I just put on a head lamp and head out to do chores. The 1st barn chickens are usually in the barn before it gets dark and I don't have to chase after them . The girls in the trailers are mostly up on their perches when I come by to close the trailer doors and any windows that need to be closed. I turn the lights on in the barn while I feed the sheep and the donkey, but will turn the lights off as soon as I can let the sheep back in , once the donkey has eaten her food. The only time the lights stay on is once lambing starts ....that way it is easier to see where all the sheep are and make sure no ewe is having difficulties giving birth. .
So winter is coming, time to go and cut down a Christmas tree before life gets too chaotic....then holiday cards and trying to wrap and mail presents. The wrapping and mailing presents has been the hardest thing for me since the pandemic... I don't know why....I love giving gifts to people....we shall see how it goes!  The time change is here.....I find it very hard losing the daylight. But there is not much I can do about it. The Red Head chickens are finally starting to have new feathers growing. I was getting only 8-10 eggs a day from them and there are 15 of them. It should be closer to 12-14 eggs a day. The stripped girls are laying pullet/peewee eggs and will for a while. I still sell them but at a lower price.
So into the long nights we go!  My young layers which I call the Stripee girls are just starting to lay pullet eggs. the girls are a heritage breed called Dominique, they tend to mature slowly. I am getting 3-6 eggs a week right now. The eggs are so cute and I like making deviled eggs with them.
I am hoping the rain helps to relieve the moderate drought we are in!  It is still very dry, but not so hot. We have had some cool evenings and days in the 60's and some like yesterday in the 80's. I like this time of year because there are less annoying bugs that bite(other than ticks) and the fly population has slowed down. I think the rat population has slowed down as well due to the bobcat and a neighbors cat hunting on my property. This is fine with me, they come at night and all my chickens are secure and not at risk.
The youngest laying hens who I call the stripey girls have started to lay eggs every other day. Soon they will be producing the little pullet eggs regularly, which are so cute and make great deviled eggs! I picked all my red and green Bartlett pears, but have left the small and somewhat buggy Bosc pears to the bear. Now it is time to start thinking about pulling the plants from the garden and planting fall bulbs for the spring of 2026!  In 2018 on September 13th Brandon went into the hospital with angina. We started at Convenient Care as he was throwing up and having terrible chest pains and difficulty breathing. They hooked him up and realized it wasn't due to indigestion, he was having a cardiac event. In came the special ambulance to take him to Concord Hospital. I called work and told them why I wouldn't be there and followed the ambulance to the hospital. It was less than 20 minutes later he was in the cath lab having two stents put in. He had started to feel better, but he had pericarditis which caused him to be feverish and always cold. But early Sunday morning (the 4th day) he woke up in extreme pain. They got him back in the cath lab as his stents had failed. They added two more stents,but also cleaned out his arteries around the heart and put him on a groin pump and onto intensive care. He was there on the 6th day and had his groin pump removed and we were hoping he would be going back to cardiac rehab the next day. That evening he was going to be able to lie on his side to sleep and was happy despite the fact that the Red socks lost again to the NY Yankees. He said to his nurse and I quote" they may have lost tonight, but they are too good a team to lose the world series". Brandon was right, unfortunately he died a little after 1 am September 20th, when his left ventricle split and he no longer had a heart. I got to the room just as they were declaring him dead, but I suspect he was dead when the alarms went off.
The staff left me with him, while I said goodbye. The worst thing about shock is you get really cold, luckily the head nurse saw this and gave me a heated blanket and a cup of tea. I sat out in the ICU waiting area and realized it was 2:30 am and I really shouldn't call anyone, plus my flip phone was dead. So I sat and made a list of who to call and what I needed to do. Luckily the head nurse came in and told me there would be no need for an autopsy as they knew what had happened. This was good as I didn't know if my Mother in law would want to see him before he was buried. Brandon's nurse came out and talked to me about Brandon and what his last day was like. I had been there on and off everyday, but with the dog and farm I couldn't stay there all day or night. After the nurse left I was staring across the room at the seat that was against the wall and there was Brandon sitting with all our former dogs(all buried in our yard ) sitting around his chair. He got up and the rainbow bridge appeared behind him and he and the dogs went across the Rainbow bridge together. It was a godsend...knowing that his spirit was going with his beloved dogs. To explain this more was to make you understand how much the dogs meant to Brandon, he had said when he died, he wanted to be buried with his dogs. That would mean burying him in the yard on the other side of the driveway and I had told him NO...on that Idea. We had talked about this as both his mother and father had heart issues and both had had open heart surgery and he knew what their wishes were,but talked about what he wanted. He said he didn't want to have a formal funeral, as he didn't want anyone to talk about him(a eulogy). So I said, well, I want to be cremated and people can take little bags of me home with them if they want. Just leave enough of me to be buried next to you or leave room for you in our local cemetery. So , seeing him and the dogs go over the rainbow bridge together gave me peace of mind, even though now it still makes me cry. I did a sketch of what I saw the day he died but didn't do the watercolor painting till 2 years after his death and it sits over my desk. I remember him everyday and feel very lucky I was married to him as long as I was, I am very thankful for his love!  Tomatoes everywhere! I am thankful for the AGA roasting and baking ovens, I can have 4 trays of tomatoes roasting at a time! This time of year can be a bit overwhelming! I went through my records to figure out what products sold last year and what products didn't do well. I have a list reminding me of how much produce and fruit I still need to fulfill this year's canning quota.
My garden has not produced as many tomatoes as I need for passata so I have had to find another source for Juliet tomatoes. Although I do have enough herbs and sources for shallots and garlic, so I don't grow those. My poor cucumbers and squash were attacked early on by squash bugs and cucumber beetles and I didn't get more than 3 zucchini and 5 tiny curled pickling cukes. Next year I need to apply Spinosad and BT earlier on the squashes , plus picking off squash bugs and removing eggs from the squash leaves. It is quite a bit of work....but I love having fresh zucchini to eat and make Zucchini relish, Zucchini Bread and Butter pickles and occasionally Lemon Ginger Zucchini Marmalade! |
Mary Will Sussman Archives
October 2026
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