Galloway Farm

These bluebird eggs are from the same nest as the recent video I posted with the baby bluebirds.  Those birds flew away, so I went to clean out the nest and found these in their place!  This is actually unusual for bluebirds to build on top of an old nest and lay eggs.  Normally, they’ll wait for you to clean out the old next first.  Check out this site where you can watch mama and baby bluebirds in the nest by video.

 The first shearing attempt left a lot to be desired, so I found a professional shearer passing through town from Michigan.  He came by on Saturday and really cleaned our ewes up.  They weren’t fans of having it done; but they sure did feel better when it was done.

 Southern Magnolia Trees are unique.  They stay green year ’round; but they seem to lose their old leaves in the spring while growing new leaves in their place.  And you get this huge ivory colored flower in early summer.  Gotta love ’em.

I was just about to get in and drive away from the farm when this little fella caught my eye!

Jack Boone and Hubbard takin’ it easy on Memorial Day.

Recently I had a friend come out who also happens to be a veteran Forrester.  He helped me identify 39 of our largest trees.  Among them is a 250-year-old Beech tree, a 200-year-old Sugar Maple, and lots of 100-year-old trees of various types.  People are always trying to guess the tree types.  So for fun, I ordered these tree identification tags.  These small tags tell you the exact type of tree, the latin name, a sketch of the leaf, and some fun facts about each tree type.

Looks like the cherries are ready!  Rhonda & the kids just went out and picked a bushel full to make a cobbler.  There’s a short window for cherries from the time they ripen until they rot or wither.  And you’ll have to compete with the birds for this late spring treat, but they make a great snack or pie filling or cobbler.  Sidenote:  Cherries are also a natural cure for gout.

Not a great video; but I grabbed some early footage of our first family of baby bluebirds to live in one of our new bluebird houses. Mama and Daddy bluebirds are lots of fun to watch and the babies grow fast and fly out before you know it. 

The 2010 Thaxton family reunion was a huge hit!  The turnout was great, the weather was awesome (thanks to Grandmother), and the company was the best.  Families came from TN, AL, NC & TX.  From eating, to fishing, to riding everywhere in the golf cart, to just visiting in the shade by the pond, everyone had a “Texas sized”  (Grandaddy Thaxton’s favorite expression) wonderful  time. 

Though we don’t see each other often, it never takes long for this family to catch up and feel like  old times when we all spent a week together at Grandmother’s house each year.  It was especially fun to have new spouses and kids at this year’s reunion. 

It was a hot Saturday and Jack Boone, Hubbard and Charles decided it was time for a dip in our pond!