Trip to the Sunflower Farm

My long awaited and eagerly anticipated day out at Washington Farms occurred today. I went with a friend to the famous farm which features corn maze, pig races, hayrides, kids' activities, and on the other side of the entry gate, a sunflower farm and pumpkin patch. This is the non-kids' side and it is the part we went through.

The Sunflower Farm and pumpkin patch, and shed containing jellies, honey and relishes, offers free admittance. There fields of yellow after yellow, and also colorful peonies, is a draw for many photographers. My friend likes to take photos too, and so we left early so as to arrive at their opening time and also while the sun was a bit lower.

We were fortunately spared any effects from Hurricane Andrew, thankfully, so it wasn't rainy. It was a bit breezy which was great because the day was saturated with bright sun and a hot temperature! I thought by October 8, the second week the Farm is open in the fall, that it'd be cooler. But it was OK, we only spent an hour poking around the flowers and took shots of all we wanted.

The parking lot filled up within minutes of the 10am opening but our time in the sunflowers was free from crowd and loud, as the families with children went on into the Farm area itself to enjoy the many activities that were offered over there.

The Farm had posted a short note last week advising that the traditionally lush fields of flowers was quite diminished this year, due to the drought. I'd noticed driving home on Friday that as I passed the yard on the way to my driveway that the bushes were severely drooping sadly. The drought effects are really becoming noticeable now. It was the same with the sunflowers, though many individual flowers were still available to photo (or cut if we wanted to pay $1 per stem). The ground was indeed hard and dusty and the flowers were pretty droopy.

We were happy, though, because there were still areas which were beautiful in which to poke around and bask in the beauty.

Afterward we stopped and got a couple of tacos and yakked for about an hour, then did a very few errands, and headed home. It was relaxing and perfect! A nice day out which was followed by a nap, completing my assignments for two classes I'm taking, and then playing with photos!

Here are just a few of the 75 shots I took today.

Life on the farm

I call my place a farm, it's a semi-farm. All the properties around here if they aren't an outright farm, are a semi-farm, keeping some animals. Horses, a few chickens, a cow or two, or in my case, sheep.

The weather turned unseasonably cold, but it'll be back up to the high 60s/low 70s in a day or two. That's the great thing about Georgia weather in the winter- it might get cold but it doesn't last long. Here is the cold/freeze map-

However the growing season is pretty much over. The farmer's market goes until Dec 2 though. Farmers & growers might squeeze one or two more weeks if they cover things. I plucked my last little pepper from my plant. I ate it in eggs for breakfast yesterday.

The yard still looks lovely. The leaves don't turn much here. That's a school playground across the street.

The last morning glory?

The neighbor on the other side of the house's windchime. Her son made it.

The sheep are comfy in their winter coats. I'll have to wear a coat this morning. Practically for the first time ever. I am subbing for a friend's outside car duty this morning. It's 29 degrees. Yes, I'll need a coat if I'm going to be outside for 40 minutes. I'll get teased about this. I haven't worn a coat in 8 years. When I have outside duty it's usually at 2:00 and the day has sufficiently warmed up enough for me, this Yankee.

My friend gave me this cute tea for one set. It's by Whittard, a British tea company established in the late 1800s. You put the hot water and tea in the top and set it on the cup, which warms the cup. It is terribly cute and I got wildly excited over it. I enjoy tea every day.

The utility company put up this new pole near the fig tree. I like the yellow letters and the cool medallion on top. I'm going to add this photo to my Color Series: Yellow page.

So that's all that's happening at the homestead. I love fall in Georgia.

walking

This afternoon a couple of buddies and me went for our regular walk. One of them owns lots of farmland, and a dirt road connects her land with the adjacent farm where the next busy road is. Upshot: we walk in almost complete silence and in a farming traffic-free zone with birds and blooming daffodils and greenery.

In February! It was a lovely sojourn with a pair of nice friends. The warm weather may not hold but today it was a really nice time to be outside.