On one of my recent hikes through Cranberry Meadow Farm, I discovered a green Chevy pickup truck from the early 1900s. While all four tires were still on it, much of the body and frame were crumbling, and the truck was literally in the process of being swallowed by Mother Earth. Although I thought briefly about driving my Defender into the forest in order to winch this beauty out and turn it into our farm vehicle, I later decided that it would be better to let her Rest In Peace where she is now, hidden deep in the forest. I can always come visit her.
Happy Memorial Day Weekend from Cranberry Meadow Farm. I put up a new flag pole yesterday, and I have been slowly assembling our new fishing and water skiing Jon Boat that you can see in this photo that I took while in the hot tub yesterday afternoon. The outboard motor is at the repair shop, but hopefully in a week or two I should be ready for some new adventures on nearby lakes.
We have some new livestock at the farm! Arriving yesterday were 50 twelve inch rainbow trout and 150 eight inch brook trout. They should be fun to try to catch over the summer, and perhaps Carolyn could cook a few of them as well – or maybe I could try to turn one into sashimi! My friend, Ryan Leclerc, of New England Guide Services hopes to teach people how to fly fish on our pond and also host fly tying classes here.
So Franny has received several summer job offers, including being a dishwasher or server at Waterhouse Restaurant, and either milking cows or shoveling cow manure at Connolly Brothers Dairy Farm. She is weighing her options and will hopefully decide soon, so that she can begin earning a paycheck.
We had two successful morning hunts this past week while stalking turkeys on our property – a 27.5 pound Tom and a 17 pound Tom. Here is the big guy that I smoked on our Big Green Egg. It was very tasty and made a great snack for all of the construction workers. The flavor was a bit gamey, and some parts reminded me a little bit of shoe leather. Other than that, it was a great experience. However, I have now committed to put my camouflage attire back in the closet until the fall.
As I feed the trout and say goodnight to them, I stare back up at Cranberry Meadow Farm from behind the pond. You can now see what we call “the connector,” which links our private living room with our new bedroom whose three new windows you can see at the center of the photo above. The view each morning will be fantastic, overlooking the swimming pool and vegetable garden that Carolyn is close to finishing planting for the 2020 season. Enjoy the long weekend! -Charlie