….the Thistle Hill Halloween decorations are up! Spooky picture by Duane Ard.

Thanks Duane Ard.

….it was one of those days that makes raising Devon both a joy and so fulfilling.  We had checked the young mother-to-be a few hours earlier.  Nothing.  After a few errands, we went back out….and there was the latest addition to our herd.  The hour or so old heifer cleaned up and waiting to be tagged.  The was mother’s first….and she handled it like she had read the book. The dam is a granddaughter of a young cow we bought years ago from the Tranthams’ Leonoir Creek Farm.  The sire was an English pairing: Ivan Rowe’s Snowdrop and Shiamala Comer’s Falcon.  Just a few miles away, two of our bull calves…approaching  two…

….from grandson, Sergei’s, Facebook page.  (this is me keeping an eye on you, Sergei!)

….we have some special places we like to visit:  the Cotswolds, Tuscany, Provence.  But when we look around, we are content right here.  This picture is of an adjacent property the family purchased a few years ago….the Thistle Hill east pasture is across the road…and the Blue Ridge mountains beyond that. Photo by Duane Ard.

Thanks to Dehaven’s Butcher in Winchester, Virginia.

….with the question, even though he’d just taken college calculus.  Fortunately, I’m his tutor on the important things.  

….photo by Duane Ard.  Thistle Hill nestled beneath the Blue Ridge.

….our farm manager Duane Ard captures the magic of a day’s end at Thistle Hill farm!