Cherry Basket Farm

My friends Cammie & Andy run Epicure Catering from a beautiful farm in Omena, Michigan

The big barn where they hold events

Herb and vegetable garden

They converted the farms' old road-side fruit stand into a tiny little house

The lively kitchen

Amazing collection of spices

A jar of clover tea and vintage 'Robot Coupe' food processor - I think I will start a band called Robot Coupe

stickers on the hood

sky study #90

Sunset Tuesday, June 25th, 2013

guest turkey leg

Megan's dog Boris displaying a fine double turkey leg

runnin' up that hill

The girls running up from the hen yard to get to the fallen seed under the bird feeders

wild things

wild roses on Dell Road

Huge apple tree and wild roses on Gleaner Hall

really love your peaches, wanna brace your tree

My little peach tree, which is so full of peaches it's tipping over, gets some support

hold your head up

The Lijadu Sisters

I recently discovered The Lijadu Sisters, twins from Nigeria who made some great records in the 60s and 70s

Not to mention amazing album covers

'Come on Home', from this record, is my Summer jam

sky study #89: a series

The spectacular evening sky show of Sunday, June 16th

cool

I have been given, free of charge, a refrigerated truck topper.  Here is my Mom modeling the unit, which is sitting out in a field.  It runs, and is like a large walk-in refrigerator.  Not sure what Boss Mouse will do with it, but for free, I will figure it out.  

a low croaking snore

Blurry close-up of a little toad resting on the well pump - I thought he was a rock

HABITAT: Wet meadows, grassy pond and lake edges. May wander well away from water after breeding season.

BREEDING: April-early May, in permanent ponds, marshes, and bogs. Egg masses may hold as many 6000 eggs. Tadpoles transform into frogs by mid summer.

VOICE: A low croaking snore.

RANGE AND STATUS: Found statewide. Once the most abundant frog, but numbers have fallen in recent years for reasons that are unclear. Now rare in some parts of the state.

cheese thank you

The kids from the Children's House cheese making day sent some really cute hand made thank you cards

This one had great graphics around the edge

This one had hand sewn binding

warble me now for joy of lilac time

(from Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman, 1871)

Some of the 50 late-blossoming lilac bushes planted in the front of my house - the whole farm smells of their intoxicating scent these days

A pretty visitor enjoys the nectar

Lil' Mouse

13 year-old rap artist - maybe he could endorse my cheese?  

I'm free

Rudy has been loving her new life as an indoor-outdoor cat.  She rolls in the grass, runs all over the farm, likes to watch the chickens and rabbits and terrorize bugs.  Her new nickname is Princess Hitler.

chives

Chives are so pretty

put put parade

The put-put railcar enthusiasts went past the farm a few days ago - I love when they do, they wave and blow their horns and it looks like so much fun.  That's my driveway in the foreground, which the Michigan Northern railroad directly intersects.  A single lumber train passes by on weekdays, which I love.

the asparagus patch

Planted 25 crowns of asparagus in a nice spot behind the farm's old outhouse, which will give it that je ne sais quois

bun run : hen run

Blackie

Owl

star power

Super close-range picture of the baby starlings who were born in the rafters of the hen house.  Their Mother tirelessly shuttles food back and forth to them all day, and they cheep-cheep-cheep any time you approach.  Their nest is well insulated with straw and hen feathers, and when I close up the hens at night, I leave the barn door open just a crack for their Mother to come and go.

the garden: 2013

Planted the garden over the weekend - yes, it's gotten bigger, and those are the posts that will comprise a serious permanent deer fence, being installed this year, compliments of Reeber Deer Deterring Fence Design.  It will also keep out the dogs and chickens.  That's Silver the hen in the lower left corner.

really Swiss cheese

Last year Alex, who loves the font Helvetica, asked if we could incorporate the font into a cheese for the Beyond the Bar show, which he curates each year

The result was a delicious Swiss style cheese (Helvetica was created by Swiss graphic designers and kaas is the Dutch word for cheese).  Label designed by ultra brother David Wysocki.  This was the display wheel we put in the show, and I served 8 pounds of cheese samples to attendees

Detroit is full of creativity, love and the nicest people you'll ever meet.  The awesome DJ Lena played great house music - she has this crazy electronic control panel that she commandeers while she works - you can see it and play some of her mixes here:   http://www.reverbnation.com/lenathedj

Alex, Kate (hidden in the covers) and John sleep off the late night

Host cat Oliver pickles says good morning

I have a wheel of cheese in this art show

I will post pics over the weekend

dashiki kaftan kurta muu muu

I found a beautiful Indian style kaftan dress at the thrift shop - the brand is Roberta Roller Rabbit - and I thought Boss Mouse was a great company name!

my dairy

A great video about Moomers Creamery and Bob Plummer, where I get all of my milk for Boss Mouse

chick update

The chicks are 3 weeks old and growing so fast

sky study #89

Sunset May 30, 2013

Taleggio update

The Taleggio cheese I made is coming along nicely - here it is at three weeks, about half way to being fully ripe.  A true washed rind stinky cheese, it's not as fragrant as I thought it would be.  Not yet!

...we then top them with the authentic flavor of...

My Dad loves crazy flavored snack foods, but then finds them too salty or spicy to actually eat, so he passes them along to me.  Every week of two I get a couple of barely sampled bags for my noshing pleasure.