Garvin Mesa Day 2009

Today was the third annual Garvin Mesa Day. All three wineries on our mesa, Terror Creek Winery, Stone Cottage Cellars & Azura Cellars and our farm coordinate to have an open house day.

We did farm tours and had our smoked sheep kolbassi sausages to sample. Monica from Small Potatoes Farm came with garlic braids, potatoes and tomatoes. Margaret came and spun yarn on the porch.


Here is Ken getting ready to grill the samples for people to taste.




Things got really busy and we had a good day showing the sheep to lots of people. But of course I was busy doing the tours, Ken was dealing with samples and I never got any more pictures taken. Luckily Jim Brett came and took a few more pictures.


This is Monica cleaning garlic.


Margaret spinning.



Me talking about the sheep



Some of the adult rams on pasture.

Socks and More Socks!

We've got lots of socks.


Our big order of socks has arrived. We now have crew, knee high and terry socks for sale. These are 70% Black Welsh Wool and 30% nylon. Hand wash and dry flat. They will be too coarse for some people but are very durable and warm.

Prices are $15.99/pair for Crew socks, $20.99/pair for Knee High and $25.99/pair for Terry socks.

They make great Christmas presents for the hiker or hunter in your family.

Roof Finished!

The porch is nearly finished.


Bill got the last of the roof pieces on today. Only thing left is to caulk the various pieces and clean up.

Metal Roof & Fall Turkeys

Bill's back to finish the porch roof.


Here he's bending the metal for the various edges.


Getting ready to cut another piece.


Later that evening we went up to the neighbors for dinner. One of the local flocks of turkeys came strolling by. A large group of chicks and several hens and a tom. I only got a few pictures of them but there were a lot more than in this shot.

First Buck of the Season

First buck of the season arrived today.


A really nice 2 by 3 still in velvet. Skinny though, hope he fattens up before hunting season.

Feast in the Park

The Celtic/Rock/Classical music group Feast performed a free concert in Paonia Town park. We stopped by after a couple beers at Revolution Brewing.


Monica, Ken, Bart, Jeremy and Celia were there as well as lots of other folks. We had a great time with nice music and a good time just visiting folks.

I took a few videos of them playing.


This is a signature piece.



And here is another.

Porch Views

What the new porch looks like form in back of the house.



All that's missing now is the metal on the roof.

Porch Construction

Porch railing is now done.


The sawn off piece of concrete from moving the propane tank will now become the bottom step of the porch.


Bill using the tractor to move the slab into position.

The King Family

The entire King family came up for a dinner. The first use of the new porch for an event. The railing is not quite done but we still had a great time.

Porch work & Big Frog in the Pond

Porch coming along. The railing is being started now.



The pond by the house has some rather large frogs in it, Including this one about the size of my hand.

County Fair & Porch Work

We went back to the Delta County Fair to see how I did with my cloak and take a look at all the exhibits. My cloak took a first prize. I'll get a picture when I pick it up on Sunday. It's a lot smaller this year compared to last year. There were far fewer 4-H animals.


This picture sums up how everyone feels during fair week. Sound asleep on their steer.


Meanwhile Bill and the rest of the crew are busily working on the decking.


Looking west towards the garage back door.


Looking east towards the cedars pasture.

Structure Done

Main porch structure done. It's ready to add the decking material.

Porch Work Continues

The Back Porch is coming along.


The roof supports are in and the basic framing is started.




The crew deciding what to do next.

Dogs and Chickens

Becky & Harri with the rams.

Today is chicken bath day. We are showing them on Tuesday at the Delta County Fair so they need to be bathed and cleaned now.


Stephanie with one of the Gold Campines.


Unhappy wet chickens.

Farm Tour Days and Garden Woes

West Elks Wine Trail Tour is this weekend so we put out the farm tour signs.


Unfortunately my black thumb is starting to show.


The main batch of corn isn't doing well. Brown and drying leaves and pale green. The corn I transplanted into the main part of the corral is doing ok but several are blowing over. It's as if the roots are not deep enough to hold the plants in our winds.