4.29.25 ~ Eno River Farm (inside the giant troll’s mouth)
A month after we went tulip picking at this farm we came back with our grandchildren and their parents for some strawberry picking. This was their first visit, in spite of having lived in the area for many years. Of course, Kat and Finn noticed the half-buried giant troll right off the bat and wasted no time running up the hill and climbing up and down his legs and getting into his head.
look at those nostrils! (good thing the troll didn’t sneeze)
While the kids played Dima waited in a very long line to get a bucket for strawberry picking. Then he led the gang way out into the field, at the direction of a staffer, who assigned them a row, and gave them detailed instructions. We came along with Larisa at a much slower pace and finally spotted them when Kat waved to us, and I got this picture with a zoom lens. This was larger than any strawberry field I’d ever been to in Connecticut!
possibilities (strawberry rhubarb pie?)
I still can’t get over how early strawberry picking season comes here! On our way back to the store to pay for our haul we passed by some blueberry bushes. Maybe we’ll be back some day to pick blueberries — I wonder what month that will be in…
blueberries coming soon
The plan was to play on the troll again while Dima waited in line again to pay for the full bucket. As Kat and I went on ahead of the others, and she a bit ahead of me, she circled back to me and exclaimed, “Grammy, there’s another troll in the woods!” So I followed her as quickly as I could. Up another path we found two more giant trolls, not quite as big as the half-buried one, but these were completely above ground.
smallest giant troll
a troll’s cage for captured children
mid-sized giant troll
Our best guess is that the troll catches children in the cage and then keeps them in the “guest” house he stands guard over.
Finn in the troll’s “guest” house
Kat standing on the troll’s foot
troll holding the trees apart
Eventually the others caught up and Kat was very proud to show them what she had discovered. I never would have noticed these extra trolls.
fun times with our little family
The line for ice cream was too long to wait in so we decided to go into Hillsborough and find a small ice cream shop. Good choice! Had to get those strawberries home sooner than later. 😉
3.29.25 ~ Eno River Farm, Hillsborough, North Carolina
I had never gone tulip-picking before so I was excited to visit Eno River Farm for a new experience. What a unique place this farm was. The first thing to be seen was a giant troll, half-buried on top of a grassy hill. We should have walked up the hill to investigate because I later learned that you can climb up the troll’s leg or go inside of his head.
head, hand, leg, and foot of a giant troll
This picture illustrates how incredibly tall some of the trees down here are. And the people in the picture highlight just how big that troll is. But we were here for tulips! We passed an ice cream parlor with plenty of outdoor seating overlooking fields of organic strawberries and made a note to return with the grandchildren when strawberry-picking season arrives.
my favorites ~ these rosy pink ones I cut three of them to take home
We went inside a nursery to pay for the tulips we cut and came out with an additional, but unplanned purchase, a big red potted geranium for the back deck. We’ll have to see if the squirrels and deer will leave it alone. In the meantime, I’m enjoying the simple beauty of these large tulips on the dining room table where I sit with my laptop most mornings.
“The Farm at Trou d’Enfer, Autumn Morning” by Alfred Sisley
There is nothing that makes the seasons and the year so interesting as to watch and especially to keep record of the changes by which Nature marks the ebb and flow of the great ocean of sunshine which overspreads the earth. ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes (The Seasons)
Addie, shedding her winter coat while eating some brush
One last visit with Julie’s goats… Another lovely, sunny, spring day.
an iris coming soon…
the goats have some gnomes in their yard
The goats were busy grazing and browsing, as goats do, and they were fun to watch. Brie even put on a little show. Julie though she might be pretending to be a dog…
Brie
being silly
“Whatcha doing, Brie?”
Some of my readers may remember Betsy, the little goat who had a rough start in her life. (see here for the story) I’m happy to report she has thrived with her new family and weighs as much, if not more, than she should now.
Betsy
I want to go about like the light-footed goats. ~ Johanna Spyri (Heidi)
Crackers (hoping for a cracker!)
My apologies to Chai because I don’t seem to have gotten a picture of her! 🐐
Such a pleasant midday visit with the charming goat gals and then a great family history chat with Julie afterwards. I was delighted to see that Julie has a loose leaf ring binder system for storing her genealogy records that is similar to mine. I think she is the only person I know who loves collecting ancestors as much as I do.
3.3.23 ~ Sheep Farm remains of 18th century grist mill dam
We first came to this open space property three years ago, at the beginning of the pandemic, and have been here many times since. Since we know we’re going to North Carolina in a few months this visit seemed special because we were well aware that we may never pass this way again.
standing on top of the dam looking upstream at Fort Hill Brook
A few days ago I spent some time sorting through my “walks” index file, pulling our favorite walks out of the rotation so we might visit them one last time before we go. Please forgive me for this very lengthy post. I want to save as many picture memories as possible!
the lower side of the dam
Usually we walk down to the waterfall and back up the hill, but this time we explored two side trails. First we walked upstream to the dam and walked out on it until the break which lets the brook through now. Then we hopped down off the dam and walked along the brook, getting a different view. With no leaves on the trees yet we could see a lot of the features in the woods.
dam in upper left quarter of picture the break to restore the water flow is visible between the two dam sections the dam is above the waterfall, behind me
By the time it came to the edge of the Forest, the stream had grown up, so that it was almost a river, and, being grown-up, it did not run and jump and sparkle along as it used to do when it was younger, but moved more slowly. For it knew now where it was going, and it said to itself, “There is no hurry. We shall get there some day.” But all the little streams higher up in the Forest went this way and that, quickly, eagerly, having so much to find out before it was too late. ~ A. A. Milne (The House at Pooh Corner)
turning around, looking down over the waterfall to the footbridge below
We had never been at the top of the waterfall before. Tim even went out over it a little bit. My legs didn’t seem long enough to jump down where he was.
Tim at the top of the waterfall
from near the top of the waterfall
Then we found the main trail again and made our way down to below the waterfall. I was looking forward to getting pictures of an old tree with amazing roots extending into the brook.
an impressive glacial erratic on along the trail down to the waterfall
the back of the old tree with amazing roots
looking at the waterfall from the footbridge downstream
looking at the waterfall from the opposite side of the brook
the front of the old tree with amazing roots
After crossing the footbridge and getting the above pictures we decided to follow a new trail for a little bit. Sheep Farm South, a property adjoining this one, was purchased by the Groton Open Space Association in April 2021. New trails were created on it and linked to the existing ones on Sheep Farm. So we started down this one which passes by a large moss covered outcrop. It was taller than Tim.
there were many kinds of mosses on this large outcrop
a dripping icicle at the end of a branch sticking out of the outcrop
layers at the top of the outcrop
moss sprouting out of lichen
looking back along the outcrop
moss at eye level, a different perspective than usual
After we passed the outcrop we found a path that went up above it and walked through the woods a bit until we circled around and spotted the waterfall below us. I’m pretty sure the little vine below is partridge berry. It looks like the plant my brother-in-law identified for us at Connecticut College Arboretum, although not as lush looking.
partridge berry (Tim found it!)
waterfall viewed from up high above the outcrop
scorias spongiosa on beech leaves
scorias spongiosa coating beech twigs
one side of the old tree with amazing roots
Before crossing the footbridge I noticed a side view of the tree with the water hugging roots. It was a rough trip back up the long hill to the parking lot because Tim’s sciatica started acting up, but he made it. Perhaps we strayed a little too far this time but we did get to see a lot of things we haven’t seen before.
one side of broken tree with hole
other side of broken tree with hole
Packing boxes have arrived and I’m feeling overwhelmed with the enormity of the task before us but it was great spending a little time outside in the woods we will miss so much.
Besides the Autumn poets sing A few prosaic days A little this side of the snow And that side of the Haze — ~ Emily Dickinson (The Poems of Emily Dickinson, #123)
After a few muggy, rainy days it felt wonderful to get out for an autumn walk in good weather. It was only in the 40s Friday so we wore our winter coats and headed for Sheep Farm. I realized we had been here in September 2021 and November 2020 but never in October. Fall is in full swing now here. We started down the yellow trail.
10.28.22 ~ Sheep Farm
glacial erratic viewed from the yellow trail
new trail markers on the trees
There were so many leaves on the trail we made good use of the new trail markers to stay on track. Love walking on dry, crunchy leaves…
leaves, moss and lichen on a glacial erratic
waterfall in Fort Hill Brook
amazing root system
The drought seems to be over (or almost over) judging by the water flowing in the brook. The drought map for Connecticut puts us on the line between “none” and “abnormally dry.” We decided to cross the footbridge over the brook and get another view of the waterfall.
waterfall viewed from other side of the brook
the same root system viewed from the other side of the brook
footbridge and huge tree with its amazing roots
The we turned around, heading up the hill and branching off onto the red trail.
golden yellow and burnt orange
other side of glacial erratic viewed from the red trail
tree with leaves in shades of green, rusty orange and brick red
On our way back to the car we encountered a very large group of mothers and children of all ages. They just kept coming and coming and the air was filled with their happy, excited voices. I wondered if they were all being homeschooled. When we got back to the parking lot we laughed because when we had arrived earlier ours had been the only car parked. Now there were a dozen (we counted!) SUVs surrounding us. Can you tell which car is ours? They sure gave us plenty of elbow room!
It felt so good getting out for a long walk in the woods on a cool, crisp autumn day! First we enjoyed the meadows at the entrance to Coogan Farm.
milkweed pods
abundant goldenrod blooming everywhere
bee and asters
can you find the bee?
a stump that was growing out of the crack in a huge boulder
Following a path past the Giving Garden we came to the Gallup Orchard Trail, which winds through the woods before arriving at a forgotten orchard that was recently discovered and is being studied and restored.
a wolf tree welcoming us to the Gallup Orchard Trail, a relic from farms of the past when trees along the edges of open fields could spread their branches without competition from other trees
leaf, berries and orbs
ducked under a broken tree
marking the end of the woods and entrance to the orchard
Dating back to the original 1654 Gallup homestead and actively farmed by the Greenman brothers during the age of shipbuilding in the 1800s to feed their shipworkers at what is now Mystic Seaport Museum, the orchard contains clues that will help us uncover the history and heritage of the land. ~ Anna Sawin (“Apples and Pears, Oh My!” ~ Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center blog post, March 9, 2020)
pear on tree
apple on tree
fall color in the distance
The orchard is on a hill. We entered at the top of the hill and when we found our way down to the bottom we found this sign. The bottom entrance is off the Stillman Mansion Trail. We followed that trail back to the parking lot and encountered a cute little song sparrow, who wasn’t singing, only staring at us apprehensively.
song sparrow
Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall. ~ F. Scott Fitzgerald (The Great Gatsby)
American burnweed ~ pilewort (thanks to Eliza for the identification)
Our goat friends Addie, Crackers, Chai and Brie have a new sidekick who we got to meet yesterday. Betsy is much smaller than Chai and Brie, even though she is the same age as they are, nine months old. She had a rough start in life but now she has a good home and new companions. And she has her tail up more and more often these days.
Brie and Betsy
Addie
Since our last visit we learned that the holiday tree we brought the gang was polished off in no time. See that story here.
Panzer
Betsy
Betsy and Tim
Betsy loves eating grass most of all and is not as interested in grain or goat cracker offerings.
Betsy
Julie and Betsy
Betsy is in very good hands now! 💕 And we had a lovely afternoon catching up with friends. Back at home, I was delighted to find that spring had arrived in my garden.
2.2.22 ~ Haley Farm State Park, Groton, Connecticut cloudy, no shadows
We got our groundhogs out for a nice walk this morning. Meet Basil and little Basil, if you haven’t already. For those of my new readers who don’t know the story, Basil is named for my paternal grandfather, who was born on Groundhog Day, February 2, 1882 in a village near the city of Stanislav, now known as Ivano-Frankovsk, Ukraine. When Pop arrived in America in 1909, instead of translating his given name, Wasyl, to its equivalent in English, Basil, he started using the name William, by which he was known for the rest of his life.
fun in the snow
hiding in the stone wall
the path not taken
the path taken
After taking the pictures we decided to walk through a meadow, a path we hadn’t had a chance to follow yet. It was lovely covered in snow, still on the ground four days after the blizzard. But today the temperature got up over freezing so it is starting to melt.
Looks like Friday will be a mess with an ice storm. I was grateful for this lovely day.
the meadow was surrounded on all sides by stone walls
O barren bough! O frozen field! Hopeless ye wait no more. Life keeps her dearest promises — The Spring is at the door! ~ Arthur Ketchum (The Atlantic Monthly, February 1904)
