A year comes to a close

Christmas 2013 has gone and it will be a new year in a couple of days.  This was not a bad year for me. I went to a couple of Jonathan's races to cheer him on.  I am truly amazed by how he can run so far and for so long.  He has determination that is for sure.  The Boston Marathon was one race no one will ever forget. Jon's achievement was lost in the smoke from the bomb, but he will always know he ran that race in under three hours.  As for Christmas, we did sell trees in Leominster again this year.  I think we sold all but two that we left there, and two Bart gave away.  This year we were down the road from 900 Central Street in a parking lot.  Bart and the guys put up a thirty foot greenhouse, we had lights and heat.  Only Bart could fix up a greenhouse to provide us with what we needed to stay warm.  I will not ask what it cost us to do all of this !!  Anyway people were wonderful, and it almost made me cry when they would say "we were their tradition," or "where would I go"? "I was afraid I would not be able to find you".  Some of the customers we have had been coming to Bart's for thirty years, some for ten, or some for three, but they all feel the same way.   I told them we had them covered, because for the next two years we would be at Sholand Farm selling trees, and teaching the people up there how to run the business like we do. Bart and I spoke to Joanne Dinardo and then we met with the Board of Directors at Sholand.  The have agreed to take our tree business when we are done, and we will give them all of our equipment.  They also asked if they could use the Barts Farm name, and of course we agreed.  What more could we ask, to have our business continue and to have our loyal customers taken care of.

A loss in our neighborhood

After being in Leominster helping Bart with the greenhouse business, coming home for good means I am never leaving South Road  again. I would go home to do things like take care of the lawn.  Cutting it after it got as high as a hay field, was no easy job. One day I had to cut it twice, simply because it just laid down. It was a real hack job. I had to cut it one way, to just turn around to cut it over again, going the other way. When I got done. I swore I would never let the grass get so long again.

 While I was gone, I had a lot of eyes watching the house. Most of these eyes belonged to my four legged friends. Deer make their way through the yard on a regular schedule. They did not care if I was there or not, except for three years ago, when the snow was so deep, my friend Steve Salem told me the deer were in trouble. He asked me if I would feed them, so they would not starve. I asked Bart if we could buy deer food, and he said yes. It did not take long before we had six regular deer in the yard, at night just before it got dark.  The deer were not the only critters to take advantage of free food. We had the biggest crow I had ever seen, come to visit. It did not take me long to know who this guy was. Johnny had told me he had heard a raven in the woods, when he was working in the field the spring before. I started listening for him when Sedona and I would go for a walk. He would fly through the woods, all the way to the town line, watching to see what we were doing. His squawk sounded like he was calling GRONK, GRONK, GRONK. This guy wanted to eat the corn so bad that winter, but it was not easy for him to be so trusting. Slowly he made his way across the field on sunny day. He walked, all the way from the barway to the place Sedona and I fed the deer. For a few minutes, I was kind of worried! What was wrong with this guy? Was he hurt? No, I guess he just wanted to walk. This big boy was so proud. His jet black feathers glistened in the sun. I could tell his body was so much bigger than the regular crows that kind of hung around the same area. This big guy watched over his area with out fail, for a good long time.

Yesterday Bart and I decided to pick grapes on the stone wall that runs along the road across from the house. The best ones were where dad's rhubarb grows. I picked those first, then went to the area behind the barn. Some of these were not ripe. I think there are a couple of different kinds of grapes growing there. When grapes get ripe, they tend to fall off the stem real easy, so you have to hold your hand under them or they will get lost in the grass. The smells were so wonderful, I cherish the smell of the grass, and the trees more than I ever did. After living in Leominster, I know what I missed, and value things so much more. At any rate Bart started picking on the wall that separates the field we planted the raspberries in from the field we used to plant potatoes in. Soon enough Bart had more grapes than I did., so we started walking down the edge of the field toward home. I saw some real nice grapes, and when I went to get them, I tripped on a grape vine, and went flying. What is new, I have no balance at all. When I went to pick myself up, I looked down and my friend the raven was laying on the side of the grass, only inches from where I landed. His beautiful strong beak, and feathers shined in the sun. He had not been gone long. I turned him over to see if I could  see what had happened, but I did not see any reason that he had died. Maybe he just got old.  Bart helped me bury him, with some wild daisies to mark his place in my field and in my heart. There are so many things that I have experienced that no one else will ever have a chance to have. Some may be for the better, but deep in my heart I know how lucky I have been. I hope my friend was lucky enough to have left some other raven behind. Maybe I will hear GRONK, GRONK again. Time will tell.
   

Bart's Farm Facebook Page

Bart is opening soon at our new Templeton location. Plants for the serious grower. We welcome new customers and old. Come see our selection. We have a good variety of vegetable plants and flowers. We've recently set up a Facebook page with pictures. More to come! Come like us!



Pauly's Templeton Watch

TIME NEVER ENDS

Neither does the BOS chairman. His highness has done it again. He installed a temporary fire chief who may become the full time chief. He may be qualified to fight fires, but he may not be the most qualified for medical services. His highness went against the previous fire cheifs' recommendation of a person with EMT experience. Medical services constitutes the majority of the departments duties. Again, the chairman went against what is best for the residents of Templeton.  Another appointment of a friend over the person with the experience to do the job. I think that is called cronyism. How many residents may be hurt or possibly die while the new chief learns the job? Of course it is only my opinion. Pa Pa Bear

Whats that smell?

I don't know, but it could be Templeton politics. Just like fresh manua, it seems to get stronger by the week. After spending $5000. for 12 days of legal services in February, an old gent asked His Highness{the board chairman} what the bill for legal services, for the town, was for the month of March ? The answer was that  the BOS had not received a bill yet. The question was asked on April 23rd. No bill for services rendered in March ! SOMETHING SMELLS REAL BAD HERE. On calling the board chairman His Highness, someone in the audience asked him who appointed him king? Actually, no one did. The chairman appointed himself king. PHEW, I HAVE TO GO, THE SMELL IS GETTING WORSE EVERY DAY.

PIN THE TAIL ON THE DONKEY

With bad government now running rampant in Templeton, who is to blame? In most societies, people choose people to run the business of the community. Some people don't get to choose. Tyrants take over on their own. Sometimes regular and decent folk become the tyrants. Such is the case here. The BOS is a virtual dictatorship run by three selectmen who are in over their heads. They are not qualified to run a dog pound. Do I blame them? No. It is not their fault. They are not qualified, thats all. The fault belongs to the voters who voted for these People. Also at fault are the voters who didn't bother to vote. An old gent told me this awhile back,[ Son,] he said, [You only get the government that you deserve.] PLEASE VOTE WISELY MAY 7. VOTE JULIE FARRELL FOR SELECTMAN
PappaBear

The Howdy Doody Show

Back in the 50,s there was a show on tv called the Howdy Doody Show. It reminds me how similar the BOS meetings are to that show. Howdy was a puppet that was manipulated by a person unseen. Howdy had friends also.One was Clarabell the clown. Every show has a clown., yes the Howdy Doody show and the BOS has its  similarity's. The only difference are there are no curtains and Clarabell had a horn.
Pappa Bear