CAMP TOPISAW

Undermoney

2010-10-01T10:27:00.000-05:00

Two of our girls take ballet in Hattiesburg, so we're up and down Highway 98 two or three times a week. It gets old fast. So, to break up the monotony, we sometimes stop at "the custard stand" in Foxworth to add back all the calories we (they) burned doing pliés. That's where we came across the fantastic pink post-it sign. It's kind of fun (and kind of scary) to think about the occurrence that brought on the NEED for that policy...

Childhood on the Road

2010-08-06T16:12:00.000-05:00

On our way to Canada last month, we chose to do what we NEVER do--we went without an itinerary. It was incredibly freeing to ramble along, eating at local drive-ins and stopping for the night wherever we happened to land. The most fortuitous landing was here, near Lake George NY, at the Graycourt Inn. Tom and Marianne McDonough came up from Manhattan in the 1960's to buy the hotel and have been there ever since. (Tom's law office is next door.) The really great thing is that the rooms still have that wonderful feeling from my childhood--they even smell like the hotels I remember (a nice thing!) The outdoor pool was surrounded with vintage metal furniture and umbrellas, there were pink petunias everywhere, it was spotlessly clean, the air conditioner was super cold... For dinner we had hamburgers and real shakes from a local place just down the road. The experience truly restored and awakened something in us--an awareness that strip malls and chains have not completely taken over and that there are a lot of good folks to meet and wonderful places to visit. I'm ready for the next leg of the journey.

Krispie Sushi

2010-06-10T14:26:00.001-05:00

We're not big on kid's birthday parties and usually just invite my mom and a few family friends for dinner with a homemade cake for dessert. Nina, though, decided that for her 10th birthday she'd like something a bit out of the ordinary (surprise!), so she had a typical party complete with little girl guests, balloon games, a Hello Kitty cake and even, thanks to David, take home treat bags! One of the activities was sushi-making... Rice Krispie Treat fingers topped with gummy fish or gummy eel and wrapped with green Fruit Roll-Up seaweed. Oh, and yellow squeezable frosting for "hot mustard". Very yummy glow-in-the-dark fun!

It Takes a New Yorker

2010-05-25T13:46:00.000-05:00

We've lived on the Topisaw Creek for 15 years now and have found, in our wanderings along the rocky banks, loads of fossils and quite a bit of petrified wood but never any arrowheads. A neighbor of ours has glass cases full of Native American artifacts that he's found on/in the creek--from spear points to clay pipes--but we've always come away empty handed. So it was a bit of a surprise when, on a recent visit, my New York born and bred nephew turned out his pockets and said (in a very matter of fact voice), "Look what I found." I'm proud to say that I only borrowed the arrowhead to take the photo. It did make it to upstate New York. And we're still searching...

A Bit Off The Top

2010-05-01T06:30:00.000-05:00

Our Gulf Coast Native Sheep finally got their first "hair" cut, and they're looking none the better for it. Their robust woolliness is gone, revealing tiny little bodies and (seemingly) great big heads. They're also a lot harder to catch with no fleece to grab onto. On the plus side, we were left with bags of lovely, multicolored wool, ready for carding and spinning. I did a bit of spinning and weaving many years ago in Vermont--think I'll order some nice carders and find someone else to spin it for me, though, as I'm not sure I'm up to the learning curve. I can imagine scarves and perhaps a sweater in the natural hues of the wool--off white, grey, black and even a bit of brown. The satisfaction of wearing a sweater that you knitted with wool from sheep that you raised must be incredible. I'll let you know if I make it!

At Last!

2010-04-18T21:14:00.000-05:00

After thinking that winter would never end, I have been proven wrong by the profusion of blooms everywhere I look, both here at Camp Topisaw and at Rose Gate Farm next door. I can't remember a spring that has been more beautiful in recent years. It seems that all the plants have burst into bloom almost at the same time. I'm grateful to be able to enjoy it. Edie and I went to a nearby nursery yesterday that had loads of very nice hosta plants for sale. We bought quite a lot that we plan to use to make a shade bed underneath a large, treelike Magnolia fuscata. Now I am waiting for summer tropicals to break dormancy and begin growing. I have seen some sprouts on the ginger plants, but nothing yet on the bananas. Perhaps in just a week or so more we will see them sprouting.

Eggs in several colors

2010-04-10T16:05:00.001-05:00

The hens are certainly making up for lost time this winter by laying prodigious numbers of eggs now that spring has arrived. We are getting about three dozen eggs everyday, which takes up a lot of refrigerator space. I am thankful that we have a separate fridge that we can dedicate solely to egg storage. While I have had many dozen at once earlier this spring, I now only have a few to store, thanks to the boom in our eggs' popularity. The eggs pictured come from our mixed flock of Black Australorps, Ameraucanas, Rhode Island Reds, and Marans chickens. They surely are good, and far superior to those available at the local markets. Let us know if you'd like to try a dozen or two.

Emma and Her Family

2010-04-02T10:14:00.000-05:00

Our granddaughter Emma was baptized recently. She was, of course, incredibly well behaved and looked beautiful in the dress, bonnet and slippers that her great-grandmother Gale made for her. It's always nice (probably because it's so rare) to have our entire family together. There's a freedom in having your grown kids come home to visit--you've done your job, and now you just have to listen, encourage and trust them to make their own decisions. Having grown kids AND children still at home is especially nice--knowing that we can raise them and that they will move on, get jobs and function (and bring us such swell grandchildren!) makes us much more relaxed with the younger ones. Anyway, a beautiful day and a photo to treasure.

Year of the Camellia

2010-03-26T09:23:00.000-05:00

After the cloud of this year's winter, which seemed like it would never end, we are finally seeing a little bit of a silver lining. The camellias have been especially beautiful this year. The have kept their buds tightly closed until now and they are all opening in a burst to welcome spring. We are still waiting on the azaleas, though. They are fully one month behind normal, but I know that they will be exceptional a little later this spring. We ordered a few new camellias this year from Camellia Forest, a nursery in North Carolina that we like a lot. We even got a tea plant (which is a type of Camellia) and hope to try to pick,cure, brew and drink our own tea in a couple of years. Just for fun.

Southern Snow

2008-12-11T09:30:00.000-06:00

We're having a only-a-few-in-a-lifetime snow here is South Mississippi! The ground is actually white--the snow is not melting as soon as it lands. The girls, of course, are having a ball--getting soaking wet and running in every few minutes to stand by the fire. May the electricity stay on, may the roads stay clear.

Month of the Chickens

2008-06-28T12:37:00.000-05:00

They are everywhere. Well, they were everywhere--now they're in our freezer. Cornish Cross Broilers. We recently raised and butchered 150 of these massive white chickens. I'm not a real football person, but they remind me of the guys who run over everybody else--tackles, I think. When they're hungry (and they're always hungry), they appear as a white swirling sea. They are not terribly bright, and they're not terribly afraid of electric poultry netting, either. Imagine walking toward their pen, feed bucket in hand, and seeing this horde rushing toward you, their combined weight allowing them to merely walk over the electrified fence. A bit frightening... But, as I say, they are now appearing (one at a time) deliciously roasted on our dinner table. A happy ending.

On to smaller poultry--Here's a very cute photo (taken by our oldest daughter) of one of our youngest daughter's new bantam chicks (notice the baby peeking out from under the mom). They are exceedingly cute, being so tiny and so active. When they're not hiding out under Mom (aka Cinnamon), they're riding on her back or scratching in the grass.

There are many wonderful things about living on a farm--and more wonderful things, I think, about growing up on a farm. It's a delight to watch plants & animals grow, to learn where the expression "Don't count your chickens before they're hatched" really comes from, to know that, though the pig is for eating, we'll give him the best care/food we can while he's here, to realize that when Peter heard the cock crow, it was, indeed, VERY early in the morning. Life here is very real, very immediate and very full.

Home Within a Home

2008-05-07T09:52:00.000-05:00

Our latest project is redoing/saving our barn. It's been incredible to see the transformation--from a sagging, vine covered home for rodents (aka rats) to a solid, gleaming (with it's new metal roof) testament to the beauty, dignity and utility of a well-built pole barn. Perhaps the nicest lagniappe of the redo is the "unveling" of the log corn crib. We have much respect for our carpenter, who also built our guest house and has done numerous projects in our home and at church. Art will add 6 stalls to the barn--a snug home for the horses, donkeys, sheep and maybe a few cows when it gets really nasty outside!

On the door of that sturdy corn crib we found another home--this one for dirt daubers. They obviously visited the various clay banks at the creek and came back to create multi-colored tubal apartments. They remind me of something from the western deserts...

Woolly Babies

2008-02-04T16:30:00.000-06:00

This little lady is Angel or Cloud, depending on which daughter you ask... She was born this morning to our very standoffish white ewe who we had about decided was not REALLY bred. But she was. So now we have 2 very sweet babies, one solid white and one solid black. (The black one is Emily--named after Emily Dickinson with whom she shares a birthday). These are Gulf Coast Native Sheep--a very hardy, parasite resistant breed that has adapted, over its long history here, to our hot, muggy climate. Their favorite food seems to be privet, which is NOT native to this area but has also adapted and spread and spread...

To give you an update on the Piney Woods cows--they are doing beautifully and have become very respectful of electric fencing. After reading the first post about them, you'll perhaps be surprised to know that they are staying put (also filling up on privet) with only one strand of hot wire!

Our laying hens (raised on grass, natural feed) have come of age, and we're now in the egg business. Let us know if you need one (or 8) dozen.

Be sure to stop by our website, Camp Topisaw , and check out our new springtime natural wax candle scents: Narcissus Poeticus (smells just like daffodils) and Brent Road Mimosa (named after the Dr. Seuss-style trees that grow just down the road from our farm).

Hounds + Heirlooms

2007-11-28T13:17:00.000-06:00

Things have been a little crazy around Camp Topisaw.

We've been interested in "heirloom" plants and animals for a long time now and finally decided to take the plunge and purchase a few cows, a few sheep... After locating a wonderful, close-by source, we arranged to purchase 5 head of Piney Woods Cattle and 3 Gulf Coast Native Sheep. Both of these breeds are listed as "critical", meaning there are fewer than 200 annual N. American registrations and fewer than 2,000 global population, by the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy.

So the big day arrived, the animals were unloaded into the fenced enclosure, and we visited and enjoyed watching them until nightfall. AND THEN...the next morning the cows were gone. David found them behind the swingset and tried to lure them with food. No good. They ended up running through the spring, across the creek and into the very wild woods beyond. A visit to our neighbors brought results--they corralled the wayward creatures...for a few hours. The bull broke out, and his ladies followed. A few days later, they were "captured" again, only to break out after eating their host's generous outpouring of sweet feed. We were truly in despair--we had waited so long to get these animals, they were a rare breed, and they were loose somewhere on the banks of the Topisaw Creek. Then, as is always the case, God heard our cries. One morning, 4 days after their escape, they simply came wandering into our yard. They had recrossed the creek and found their way home. I can't tell you how much I admire these animals.

And then there was the hunt! Our oldest daughter rode in her first hunt earlier this month. The whole event was stunning. The rest of us rode in the "Talley-Ho Wagon" and admired the beautiful horses, stately riders. It was a gorgeous day.

I'll tell you about the sheep next time...

Edie

Big Plans

2007-07-13T11:20:00.000-05:00

We've had two exciting days--yesterday we received 100 chickens which are being brooded in a refrigerator box on our porch... If you've never ordered day-old chicks, you may be interested to know that they come, in cardboard boxes, to the local post office! You get an early morning call from a postal employee, telling you that your (very noisy) birds have arrived and "how soon can you get here to take them away?!" This batch is Cornish Cross which we raise for eating. They're small, fluffy, yellow eating machines right now but will soon grow into big, rather unattractive, white eating machines before being "processed" at 8 weeks. We raise them on pasture, using only natural, non medicated feed, no hormones, etc. Let us know if you're interested in purchasing a few--they average 4# each and sell for $10 each.

TODAY we've had a cement truck at our place--pouring the floor for our new addition to La Petite Maison (the "Little House" studio where our soaps, skincare and candles are made). I'll be using the new space for my "concocting" area, leaving the rest of the house for classes, birthday parties and a shop where you can purchase our products!

Mississippi Market

2007-06-12T16:46:00.000-05:00

We're back from our 2nd ever wholesale show where we wrote some orders, met some really nice shop owners and chatted (and chatted) with our fellow vendors. It's alot of fun to see what's being offered AND what's being bought. Here's a photo of our booth taken by our good friend Olivia McCullough of Olivia Pottery.

Porch Sitters

2007-05-16T14:41:00.000-05:00

We spend alot of time on our screened porch--from morning coffee to schoolwork at the picnic table to drinks in the evening... The tin roof amplifies afternoon rain or Scotty the cat's ramblings as he chases something across the tin (he spends most of his time up there, away from the other cats, the dogs and the guineas that meander through our yard).

Joining us on the porch this week is our youngest daughter's newest pet, Tidbit. She "rescued" him from a 5 gallon water bucket in the barn where Chestnut (see post below) lives. Judging by how tough this bantam chick has turned out to be, I think that he was swimming in the bucket--not drowning as we thought... Tidbit loves to perch on the table while the girls do their math. He's also been known to sit on shoulders, in baskets and even to go to church...(just the birdhouse variety!)

We're working on a few new products: a soothing salve to match Amaretto Buzz Bar Soap (scented with vanilla & almond--YUM); a soft, dreamy floral as-yet-unnamed candle AND, because so many folks have requested it, a sandalwood patchouli candle. Check in at camptopisaw.com for more details!

Edie

New Fruit

2007-05-09T15:13:00.000-05:00

The girls have been out all morning picking gummi fruit--incredibly sour and incredibly beautiful. We're planning to make jelly tomorrow, and hopefully, the finished product will be the same lovely color as the berries. The gummi bushes are growing by the chicken yard, so they've been well-fertilized and "landscaped" by the birds...

We had a swell time at Fest for All last weekend! The weather was perfect, the bands were fun, the crowd was plentiful and friendly. The artists were selling everything from soap and candles (guess who...) to handmade shoes to $3000 paintings. Here are links to some of our favorite artists/art:
Denise Greenwood
The Spoon Mill
Kathleen Bearden
Trish Ransom

This fine baby was born only 2 days ago! His mom, a beautiful Haflinger mare, belongs to good friends of ours, and they've allowed our daughters to name him. They tossed around name after name, but finally settled on Chestnut--a suitable name for a nut-colored colt. It's just amazing how quickly newly-born animals are up and about--Chestnut is already out in the pasture with his mom, investigating all the newness of life.

And speaking of new...we'll be adding some new (customer requested) products to our Camp Topisaw Website this month. If you have a request or suggestion, just email us! Here's a photo of our soaps to whet your appetite...

All the best,
Edie

Festival International

2007-05-02T13:35:00.000-05:00

This past weekend we set up at Festival International in Lafayette, Louisiana. How is it that we've lived in this area for 12 years and have never made the 2.5 hour trek over before? This is an amazing event with bands from all over the world performing from noon until late in the evening. One of my favorite bands was "Monsieur No" from France--I liked the combination of accordian, fiddle, upright bass and silly costumes. Their website--monsieurno.com--is also loads of fun. So, we sold alot of soap (alot of soap...) and a good many candles and had a great time visiting with the other craftspeople and with our customers. Thanks to all of you who stopped by!

This next weekend (May 5 & 6) we'll be at Fest for All in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. This is the 30th anniversary of Fest for All--there are 3 stages of music, an entire boulevard of fine artists and craftsmen from 15 states (come see us in booth #56) and a great kid's area with performances by our daughters' favorite, Papillion. Baton Rouge is one of our favorite towns, with art savvy residents and an especially wonderful Thai restaurant--Thai Pepper on Florida Boulevard. The Saturday buffet is our favorite.

The bread for dinner is coming out of the oven, so I'm off...

Edie

To Market

2007-04-25T11:59:00.000-05:00

Since we attend quite a few markets during the year, we spend alot of time loading and unloading our car (we've gotten really good at fitting candle and soap boxes into deceptively tiny spots under the seats, etc!) Here's a photo of David getting ready for a show in north Mississippi. His sidekick is Gunther--a "gentle giant" who looks tough as nails and is afraid of everything!

This is Charm, the 2nd of our 3 dogs. (Grace, the Bassett Hound, was undoubtedly either asleep or eating when these photos were taken...) Charm has a piercing bark and the most delicate eating manners I've ever seen. Her nickname is "Donut Dog" because she turns around and around with nose to tail when you try to pet her.

Well, David has made it to market! We're usually under a bright red tent but some shows specify white tents only. We both really enjoy the markets--meeting folks, talking with other vendors, listening to live music. Sometimes our daughters go with us, and I love that they're learning that you can make a living making stuff and that it's especially great doing it with your whole family.

Edie