To be exact January 9th.  Wow!  How do I catch you up on all the wonderful things that have happened in the past 8 months without writing a book?

Let's start with the best...

On May 9th Cold Moon Farm added another human member to it's family.  Georgia and Dave had a healthy baby boy.  His name is Levi and he has added another dimension to our Cold Moon Farm life.  We folks whose kids and grand kids live far away forget the joys a blank canvas in the form of a newborn can bring into one's existence.  He is 3 months old now and has just started to giggle out loud.  His little hands have become a thing of wonder to him.  I love to watch him stare at his tiny fists as he twists and turns them in midair. Today was the first time he made a conscious decision to reach for a toy which he promptly put in his mouth.  I am so looking forward to being part of his life as well as his brother Gideon's as they grow.

Next..Shirley our LaMancha goat gave birth to her first full blooded LaMancha baby girl.  We named her Katie and she looks just like her Momma.  We had 4 pregnant does who delivered 5 little boys.  This is not a good thing since little boys (bucks) are not in great demand since it only takes one buck to impregnate many does.  I tried to trade them for bucks that could bring fresh blood to our herd, but alas no one was interested.  How sad!!!

We have added other humans to our Cold Moon Farm team.  Dave's brother Nate has blessed us with his presence and knowledge of building stone walls and construction.  The Meckes brothers together make an awesome dynamic duo.  Their knowledge and abilities have turned the Cold Moon Farm event site and it's surroundings into a majestically beautiful landscape.   Look for pictures on our website.They're next project is building our first cottage in the woods.  It will be outfitted with fine furnishings and luxurious amenities. We will be posting pictures of it's progress on this website.

We have also added Alex, Julia and Jackson to our team.  We are hoping they will become the core managers as we continue to grow our boutique Farmstay resort.  My 15 yr. old grandson, Nathan chose to spend a month working with us.  It was great for me as his grandmother watch his sense of self grow as he was asked to perform tasks that are out of his realm having grown up in suburbia.  He definitely rose to the occasion and has made me proud.  I hope he will choose to come back again!

We have opened a store at Ezie'sGardens.  We are filing it with the produce from our gardens, the breads and cakes I bake, pancake mixes and honey produced on the farm, bacon from our pigs, eggs from our hens and ducks and soaps made from our goat milk.  This coming week we will begin to add our meat chickens.

Lastly, our female ( gilt) pig Juliet had a litter of 14 piglets.  Two were stillborn so we have a net of 12 babies.  6 boys and 6 girls.  Momma weighs 500 lbs. and each baby weighed about 3 lbs.  When momma lies down they need to head for the hills or she will crush them.  So far so good.

This past Friday we did a photo shoot for the ad we are placing in Vermont Vows as well as various wedding websites.  This is all so exciting. It all keeps me so busy I forget I'm supposed to be old!  My dream now is to book our first wedding...til next time...Irene

We are proud to announce the arrival of our brand new website presented to the world today, Weds. January 9th, 2013.  Just press on the picture to get a glimpse of this baby.  Enjoy the video as well....it's real dreamy...Irene  

2013 has just begun and I am already blessed with three events that will take place and continue to change my life.

First and foremost, I found out this week that Georgia will be having a boy come May 1st. The thought of having a new, precious life come into my existence is thrilling. Our home will be filled with all of the sounds that a new life brings and I am so looking forward to this.

Next…our event/wedding site will become a reality this summer. The landscape planning is already under way. A peek into our plans would reveal huge swarths of flowers with vibrant colors and wonderful fragrances. There will be hanging gardens where the petals, leaves and ornamental grasses will dance and sway with the breeze as if they too are celebrating the event. Our pond will have a dock built so the bride and groom, if they choose, can take their vows looking as if they are walking on water. The fountain will create water rainbows as a background and our “Grand Allee” will be a path covered with arches of flowers to guide the bride and groom to the pond. Wow!! I can hardly wait to see it in full bloom.
And if the bride and groom are lucky, maybe our visiting blue heron will decide to stay and watch the ceremony.  Our chef d’cuisine, Michel Baumann, will prepare gastonomique delights tailored to one’s tastes, theme and pocket book most of which will be grown and raised on the farm. All of this with the magical beauty of our “Green Mountains” as the majestic backdrop. Don’t forget our goats which will watch and cheer with sounds of Maaaa and the kid goats jumping for joy. You must be thinking I’m dreaming…but no…this will be a reality..a dream come true.

Third…Georgia has created a new website for us with wonderful videos and pictures. She has incorporated all in an easy to navigate format everything anyone would want answered about Cold Moon Farm Bed & Breakfast. She takes you from who we are, what one can expect from a stay at Cold Moon Farm’s Luxurious Bed & Breakfast, to how you can arrange Farm Tours, Cooking classes with me and Chef Michel (our chef d’cuisine), special events, info on our wedding/celebration venue and much more. It should go live in about another week and I can’t wait to hear the reviews.

I’m so thankful to have these dreams come true… would it be too greedy to wonder what other great dreams will come true in 2013???….Irene

It’s amazing how one’s life starts at one place and through the years, via twists, turns, highs, lows and things unknown, ends up someplace so distant from where it started. So here I am today totally enveloped by my love of being a farmer and the excitement of creating something new and meaningful. How lucky can I be. But wait it gets even better….we have an announcement to make, we, or should I say, Georgia, Dave and Gideon are expecting a baby (yes, a human baby)!!!!! What joy this brings to Ed and myself to be so lucky to have this extended family in our lives on a daily basis. The addition of youthfulness into our home makes us feel young and vibrant and adds meaning to our existence. We now have the opportunity to pass on to this child the love of family,  how to be a good steward of the earth, the importance of growing and eating good and healthy foods and treating the creatures of the earth with the respect they are due. This gives me a sense of purpose and reason to keep on living. So this bundle of joy should make its grand arrival somewhere on or about May 1st, 2013.

Somewhere on or about June 1st we will also celebrate the opening of our wedding/event/celebration site. Dave and his crew have been busy excavating the site so it can accommodate a tent with the capacity for 200 guests, building magnicent stonewalls using stones from our property, building a road leading up to the site, creating a parking facility for the guests, cleaning out the pond and putting in a well that will feed the pond and its fountain, and creating a landscaping design that will evoke an ambiance of beauty and tranquility, all in our farm setting. Together with our team and chef d’cuisine Michel Baumann we will make this a day to remember. This also instills me with joy to think that I am instrumental in helping this couple start their new life together.

And let’s not forget our animal babies that will be born starting in the latter part of January when Sable, Midgey and Brownie are expecting kids. These babies always bring a big smile to my heart watching them romping and jumping for joy just to be alive.

Oh, the joys of being a farmer and it’s not even June…boy it’s fun to follow your dreams….Irene