Before my mom came out, I contacted Susan to ask if we could visit. She was really welcoming and even offered to pick us up from the ferry. There were also two other visitors to the farm that day. The four of us spent the day with Susan meeting the animals, helping with some farm chores and taking in the experience.
Susan and her golf cart at Felix Neck
Not only did Susan pick us up and bring us to meet the animals, she also generously played tour guide for the day. Her knowledge of the island and her fun personality made the day really memorable for us.
A Mr. Goat at Tisbury Meadows
The males were grazing separately from the females to prevent any unwanted relations between the males and females. We stopped to see the males first. The animals were friendly and willing to say hi to us despite the rain, cold weather and our lack of food bribery.
After a stop at Susan's house where I eagerly snatched up two beautiful skeins of yarn (I'll post pictures later), we went to visit the lambs, kids, nannies and a few wethers at Felix Neck.
How anyone can eat veal, I don't understand. Just LOOK at these little guys! (ETA Veal comes from calves. That point has been made by commenters. Eating babies makes me sad no matter what kind of baby it is! I am not saying you can't eat meat, I'm just saying I can't.)
Goats are so much more boisterous than sheep. Check out the headbutting in the photo above.
The little ones were still small enough to hold. They were so cute. Did I say that yet?
He smiles!
Gay Head Cliffs
Gay Head Lighthouse
Erin, Jenny, Susan, Kathy (my mom)
When it was time to head back to catch the ferry, we happened to drive past Tisbury Meadows just in time to see that the police and a nearby resident had noticed some renegade animals. There was a spot in the fence that had a big enough gap to allow for escape. The dark goat in the photo below is the ringleader. If there were a reality show called Bottle Babies Gone Wild, he'd be the star! We pulled over and found the kind neighbor scratching his head trying to devise a plan to get the animals back in the fence. He was relieved to see us and I think he was pretty impressed when Susan got them back inside the fence without issue. We all pitched in to get the fence temporarily patched up.
After spending a day with Susan, I am even more in awe of what she is doing. She is full of great ideas and has the fearlessness and energy to make them happen. Her work is not easy. It is physically, intellectually and emotionally challenging to meet the needs of all of those creatures and she is doing it beautifully. It was so awesome to be able to spend the day with her and her animals. When I do get the yarn from my share, it will mean so much more to me. Now, my question is this: How am I ever going to find a project special enough for this yarn?
A huge THANK YOU to Susan!
I had the BEST time with you and your mom! I hope you don't mind but I link to your post so the rest of the shareholders can read about it.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for coming all the way. You are welcome back anytime.
I chuckled at the Gay Head (Aquinnah) picture--it's practically a requirement for a trip to the Vineyard. There have been a couple times we've missed it because of the weather or whatever, but almost always, there's a shot of all of us standing at the cliffs. I've even got pictures of my dog up there!
ReplyDeleteLove your sheep and goat pictures, too. I wholly agree--visiting Susan and her flock is enormous fun!
I chuckled at the Gay Head (Aquinnah) picture--it's practically a requirement for a trip to the Vineyard. There have been a couple times we've missed it because of the weather or whatever, but almost always, there's a shot of all of us standing at the cliffs. I've even got pictures of my dog up there!
ReplyDeleteLove your sheep and goat pictures, too. I wholly agree--visiting Susan and her flock is enormous fun!
Nice post, and lovely pictures. But what do kids and lambs have to do with eating veal? (not that I approve of the usual practice of separating calves from their mothers at birth and keeping them confined so as to produce the white veal flesh. The practice is unnecessarily cruel, IMHO.)
ReplyDeleteuh, veal doesn't come from sheep. . . . veal is cows that are 1 yo at slaughter.
ReplyDeleteActually, some veal calfs are slaughtered at 10 days old! I think Trinity was just commenting on the fact that the lambs and kids are so cute and joyful that it doesn't make sense to her that people could know how veal is raised and still want to eat it.
ReplyDeleteOops. Apparently my nearly life-long vegetarianism has left a gap in my knowledge of meat. The cuteness factor was part of my comment but I did also think that veal was from lambs. I guess I was right on the baby part but wrong on the lamb part. I stand corrected.
ReplyDeleteHi Trinity, it was great to meet you and your mom on Sunday! Thanks for posting the story and all your great photos! - Erin
ReplyDeleteWhat an awesome visit. I LOVE the vineyard, and haven't been in almost 17 years. ahhhh Gay Head.....and the goaties....great pics.
ReplyDeletejealous here in the desert...