Long distance relationships are never easy. Distance can challenge the fondness of ones heart. Technology is a great way to bridge that gap. A small pre-amble to setup this photo my daughter Kaleigh’s boyfriend Jon Sturge, or as I refer to him, my half son, just sent me.
Looking at booking a trip home and a good visit to Porter Lake. In the meantime if anyone wants to beat me to it let us know and we can book you in.
photograph by Jon Sturge
A few photos of what has been going on over the last week. It is sure great to have Dad and Dorothy back for a visit and we are really enjoying sharing all of our activities on and off the farm.
John and Alison checking the Hives
Although we go by the name Cromwell Farms there are plenty of other names that are part of our family farming history. I am sitting here at our kitchen table with one of those names.
Alison’s father John Davis is a farmer. Born in 1934 in Burwood, NSW, John’s father Fred decided to have a go at farming when John was 15 on a 40 acres Citrus Farm near Gosford: over 2000 trees and 3000 laying hens (white leghorns). Dad worked that farm until he was 22, when he married Alison’s Mum Margaret. They headed to Beneree and worked on a 1000 acre property raising Fat Lambs.
Reluctantly, John hung up his full time farming hat for a more lucrative and secure income for the family and worked 21 years in the softdrink industry. John’s love of the land never wore out and in the early 70′s John went back to school and got a certificate in Horticulture from New South Wales Ryde School of Horticulture. This tied in with his work in Newcastle with the City Council Parks and Gardens.
During his tenure with Council Dad got into bees with one of his mates. At one point they had over 30 hives going all over the place. John has recently got back into the bee business on a smaller scale (for now). We are proud to have a couple of hives on our farm now and we are all buzzing with excitement to get our first batch of home grown honey.
If you are interested in knowing more about bees give John a buzz–megjohndavis@gmail.com
Checking the Hive
Here are some photographs from Jon Sturge, a good friend of Porter Lake, who captured some special moments when he visited the cabin at the end of the summer this year.
There is nothing like a little bit of privacy to recharge your batteries once in a while. If you ever dreamed of being in a place where you could make as much, or as little, noise as you wanted Porter Lake could be the place for you.
Located just 4 hours North of Toronto Porter Lake is waiting for you. Enjoy the comforts of an insulated and screened in cabin on 100 acre property with a private lake all to your own. There is so you can do and so little that needs to be done when you hang out a Porter. For more information email greg@cromwellfarms
Skinny Dip at Porter Lake
The Cromwell Family are taking an RDO (Rostered Day Off) to celebrate Moe’s birthday. Here is Morley with her birthday present this morning and a picture Alison just took of the girls having a ride around the front paddock.
The big surprise is yet to come. Bella wanted some sort of surprise for her sister and a surprise party was not getting parental enthusiasm. So Bella Boo organised a special treat of her own–a private horse riding lesson on the beach near Lennox Head. More Morley birthday news to come.
Next time I am back in Canada I am going to book this talented Guitarist, his brother and Dad to play at a restoration celebration in Chatham. Ok so it might be a barn painting party too.
Go the Yakety Breakdown. Good work Rod and good luck with entering this video in the Sleepwalk Guitar Festival to be curated by Luke Doucet.
Aubrey, Morley and Bella are loving working with their horses more then ever. The learning and experience they are getting from working with their Mum and Louise (their instructor) is amazing. Pictured below are Bella and Morley warming their horses up on the long line. After this we all mounted up bare back and had a little session in our ‘horse arena’ paddock. Looking forward to more riding with the girls this week.
The Four Girl Dexter Stud is getting ready for its 3rd Mullumbimby Show this November (not sure about the date–their site has not been updated). Better get on that.
Speaking of getting on–the girls are already preparing their cows and took the time yesterday to write down some notes on the cows they want to take and the work that needs to go into them. It’s great to have some help with content for the blog too. Thanks Aubrey, Morley and Bella. Can’t wait for the show…when ever it is.
Cromwell Farms
Show cows:
Annabelle (black heifer)- Annabelle is the 2nd daughter of Abaliena and the sire is Twin-Bull. She was also the first calf born in our first lot of calves.
Annabelle has great structure and a good straight flat back. Annabelle
Over the last few weeks I got to log plenty of miles on the road going back and forth between Chatham, Toronto, North Bay and of course Marine City. The radio in the Jeep I rented cranked out some pretty good sound and there are a few classics still stuck in my mind. This is one of them. As a kid I loved listening over and over to a reel tape at the cottage and ole Neil was a big part of that. Forever a Neil Diamond fan.
