The orchard is in place!

Wow, but we did a lot this week - and look what fine guests we had in the cleared area behind our house! We had four wild turkeys visit us on Wednesday morning. Two are captured above left. They were fascinating. The crows who normally visit twice daily didn't like the turkeys, and vice versa, and we watched the birds battle it out for control of the millet field for about an hour. The turkeys won! There were three about the same size, and one smaller one. I think they are females. They were back this morning, but only for a short while, and disappeared into the section of woods abutting the creek.

The orchard trees were all planted on Tuesday. Above right is one lone apple tree. Or twig, as the case may be. We planted approximately 10 different apple tree, 6 pears, 2 plums, 2 cherry trees, 2 apricot trees, and 2 peach trees.

Country Life Crashes into City Life

Yesterday was a prime example of how my 'old life' and 'new life' crash.

We are in the midst of an unseasonably warm spell here in southern Virginia. The ice storm that is making life hell for everyone in the midwest, and is slowly encroaching on the northeast, hovers just north of us, pushing all the warm air onto the south.

And with the unseasonably warm weather comes...ladybugs. Not just the occassional "Aw ain't it cute!" kind of bug. I am talking SWARMS of the nasty beetles. We live on a loblolly pine farm, remember? Apparently ladybugs LOVE loblolly pines. A neighbor told us that the state dropped ladybugs by the millions onto the timber farms in the '80s and '90s to control an aphid problem. I've never seen an aphid, which must mean that the ladybugs are doing their job.

But as soon as the temperatures hit 65, the nasty bugs wake up. And they are nasty! When there are many of them, they poop everywhere. My house is less than 2 months old and my office paint needs to be touched up already because the darned bugs are just pooping everywhere.

And the smell. It is so strong it makes me nauseous. This is what happens when hundreds of these beetles invade your office.

And they bite. I had one fall into my shirt yesterday. I leave it to your imagination where that darned bug bit me. Suffice to say he did not live through the experience.

Here is some great info from Frugal Living on dealing with ladybug swarms if you are interested:http://www.frugalmom.net/garartladybuginfest.htm

But life in the country goes on. In the midst of trying to work in the middle of the ladybug invasion, both UPS and the mail lady drove up with packages. The mail lady finally brought the beautiful shades for my office...insulated to keep the heat down...and to keep the light off the computer screen....I am very grateful for those shades! The UPS driver brought the first of two shipments of trees. We are planting around 20 fruit trees and about 40 ornamental trees and shrubs. John, my father in law Jack, and I spent two hours yesterday afternoon and got the ornamentals in and the fruit trees under moist cover until today when John can plant them. I heard a deer crashing through the millet last night as I put in some hours after dark (and after the ladybug swarm had been disposed of for the evening!) in my office working on a client project. I only hope the deer don't find all the new shrubs. They look like tiny twigs anyway, and with all the warm weather, the grass is growing nice and green and moist, so I am hopeful that Bambi and her ilk will prefer the grass and leave our orchard alone.

So, my 'city life' of marketing consulting crashed head first into 'country life'. Flexibility was the key. I simply flexed my schedule, and joined John and Jack outside to plant the trees, leaving the ladybug swarm in my office. Then, when the sun went down and it cooled outside, and the bugs settled in for the night, I removed them with the vaccuum hose, and was able to sit at my desk in peace and quiet and do some work. It's nice to be able to work without batting ladybugs out of your hair!

And even better, working with John to have our rural dreams come true is amazing....the orchard is a long-held dream....and yesterday, my McMurray Hatchery catalog came, and we spent time last night while watching TV looking at the variety of chickens and turkeys available. We found a good place for the chicken coop yesterday, and John has begun talking about ideas to build it. The plan is to build the coop over the winter, then get our first batch of chickens in the spring.

Rural dreams, projects from my former city life....life at Seven Oaks goes on!

Welcome to Seven Oaks

Welcome to Seven Oaks...pull up a chair near the fire....let me pour you a cup of coffee. If the cat starts to annoy you, just put her on the floor. She assumes that as soon as anyone sits in that chair in front of the fireplace, it's an invitation to snuggle in, but I know not everyone is a cat lover like I am.

I am so glad that you could join us here at Seven Oaks Farm. My family - The Grunert Family - moved here in October. We had a dream: to create a combination living and working space that was in harmony with our goals and with the environment, while beautiful to live in.

We own and operate Seven Oaks Farm, a brand-new farm. We have 16.9 acres of timber, mostly loblolly pines, and we have 20 orchard trees on order for a two-acre orchard that should be going in very soon. If the company ever ships us the trees that is....if they delay any longer, it is going to be too cold to plant! In the spring, my dream is to add a small flock of heritage breed chickens and we both dream of having a few dairy goats. The horses will come later...

We also own and operate EquinArt Creations Inc (www.equinartcreations.com) an online, catalog and retail model horses, equine art and gift company. This company is my 'baby' which I founded in 2004 from my master's degree thesis. I love horse models, so it also gives me an excuse to play with toy horses even though I'm 38 years old, getting closer to 39 every day...!

Lastly, I own a marketing agency called Seven Oaks Consulting. I've tapped my favorite and best professionals in the marketing industry to combine their talents in a virtual marketing agency that specializes in building marketing capacity for companies who never had marketing or who have had only rudimentary marketing. We specialize in the education industry, although I an certainly open to working with all industries.

John runs the farm, and most of his days are spent outside in the woods, trimming the timber trees, hacking trails through the woods for the wonderful day when I finally get a horse and ride through here, and helping with the million and one tasks that can be found on a 17 acre farm. I work at the two companies, and find my relaxation in cooking for my family, writing, and reading great science fiction, fantasy, and mystery books, along with time spent with my friends and the parishioners at St. Theresa's Roman Catholic Church in Farmville, VA in prayer, Bible study and activities.

So here I am, a NYC born and bred gal, former "I'll take Manhattan!" girl who has found peace and serenity in this plot of rolling hills and whispering pines.

Welcome to Seven Oaks. I hope you'll come back soon!