Autumn notes....

September is my favorite month! Growing season still underway but the nights are cool.... not bad for a Swiss mountain boy. We dried the ewes off last week, a month earlier than usual, but this year was tough with help and our precious "fairy helpers" have returned to school. Cheese making lasted from March into early September; the last weeks' rich creamy milk was used to tweak the yogurt recipe. With some luck we may be able to pull the yogurt making off for next season; if we can get the necessary equipment funded, that is. Stay tuned on that.

The ewes are on their honeymoon now and the ram is quite busy. The flock is enjoying the cool days and lush autumn grass as pastures have come in strong with all the rain we enjoyed.

I'll leave you with one of my favorite poems as nature winds down another growing cycle in PA:  

"Chant d'Automne" Paul Verlaine:

Les sanglots longs
Des violons
De l’automne
Blessent mon cœur
D’une langueur
Monotone.

Tout suffocant
Et blême, quand
Sonne l’heure,
Je me souviens
Des jours anciens
Et je pleure;

Et je m’en vais
Au vent mauvais
Qui m’emporte
Deçà, delà,
Pareil à la
Feuille morte.