Hi.
These pictures are from when we visited the farm after we signed the P&S and were going through the inspections. The owners, Jimmy and Loretta Locke were still working the farm, a small dairy operation with cows and all. Soon, the animals will be auctioned off and the business operations shut down as the Locke's prepare to sell the property and enter retirement.
As we approach the crest of the hill, the Parker Hill Farm is just below down the hill. We are facing Northwest. Beyond, the Gardner Mountains fill the horizon. (In fact, our camping forest land is on Gardner Mountain and is visible from here, just 3 miles away, but we're not going there today).
We arrive and the kids head straight for the barn. "Hold on guys, we have some things to do first. And no climbing on the tractors."
The farmhouse is a small traditional Cape built in the mid 1800's (don't know exactly). An extension (contains a country kitchen) was built in around 1960, along with the garage bays and enclosed porch seen here. We don't have pictures of the inside yet. As you can see, it'll be a project to throw out the bulk of this debris (or perhaps find some antique gems? who knows. Maybe someone on eBay will want it!)
Farmer Locke took the whole family on a site walk around the perimeter of the property. Of the 92 acres, about a third is fields, the rest is woods. It turned out to be quite a hike!
Shira (age 3) of course can be expected to have trouble walking especially through the brush. Rayna (12) held her own. The boys, Jarrett (10) and Steven (8) wanted to go back after we were half way done; it took considerable convincing that that was not a logical idea! As for Mr. Locke, for a 70+ year old guy, he put us all to shame! (And he proved to be quite handy with his cane as a walking stick).
In this picture, Mr. Locke leads us through a pasture he'd used previously as a corn field. You can see the steeple of the old Lyman church just over the hill; it's across the street from the farm.
Back from the hike, the kids are begging to visit the cows before we leave. Here's Steven playing by the barn.
Say "hi" to the cows! They're eating hay.
The kids feed them some. Here's Jarrett...
And Rayna gets friendly...
Well, that's all for now. See y'all later, now, ya hear!
--Jonathan (November, 2002)