heritage park wilno summer

Beautiful summer in Wilno as we celebrate our 150th anniversary of the Kashub settlement of the area. This is Heritage Park in full bloom before the festivities on the long weekend in August.

And then to see the sheep

The lambs are happy in their new pen with lots of fresh grass. I've been researching the Navajo-Churro breed on the Internet and discovering that they are an endangered breed and were the original sheep of the Navajo Indians in the American Southwest. They originate in Spain and were brought to the new world by the Spanish colonists. They are able to exist on the sparse dry desserts of New Mexico and their wool has less lanolin than many other breeds so it is ideal for a dry climate. (Wool with lots of lanolin needs a great deal of washing before it is fit to spin). I am hoping to breed these sheep and get into the specialized wool business in a small way. Would like to have some distinctive Wilno blankets or wall hangings...and we have a new weaver moving into town this week so who knows!!!
Tom and Agnes...she is much less timid now and is really an affectionate little creature. Carmelita (the grey one) is a bossy outfit and generally rules the roost. She's also friendly and has taken to being hand-fed. Our cats are somewhat mystified by these two new members of the household and aren't really sure if they like sheep. I hope the neighbours aren't overly bothered by the bleating!


Farmer Tom and Agnes.

A visit to the piggies

Sometimes when life down in Middle Wilno gets too hectic we take a short drive up the Wilno Road South to visit our neighbour Pete and his able assistant Tommy Two Tone. Here they admire their new handiwork which is the expanded pig pen. The spotted piggie in the foreground is "Spot". He has honored by being chosen as the wedding pig for Robin.
(I'm sure he could do without that honor).

It was a beautiful June evening, the sun was setting over the hills and Ritsuko was working feverishly to get all her plants into the soggy garden.




The garden tour tomorrow is going to be a wet affair as it has rained and rained and only the weeds are really growing. It's too wet to get into the garden and the seedlings are having a tough time with all the water.

Here is the whole crew...they are happy piggies and they dug up this whole new pen in about six hours. Better than a roto tiller!!!


This is an evening view looking out over the Wilno hills from Pete and Ritsuko's hilltop hobby farm.

The goddess lives also in Wilno in her many glorious forms...this is Our Lady in a classic Polish bathtub shrine.

Polish Cardinal departs Wilno by helicopter

sunday morning at 8;20...the sound of a helicopter over Wilno and we jumped in the truck and sure enough, the rumoured leave-taking was in full swing...the parishioners sang a farewell song as they gathered on the steps, Father Marek in his black soutane accompanied the Cardinal in red toward the helicopter. Polish flags flew proudly in the breeze. Another Wilno moment!

The Vatican Visits Wilno

What you don't see in this picture (snapped in a big hurry as I abandoned my cafe to drive up to the church just for a quick photo) are the fifteen or so huge motor coaches parked off to the side. It was a colourful sight as the Knights of Columbus guard of honor in full regalia wait for the Cardinal to arrive. Rumour has it that he will touch down via helicoptor on the church lawn but that might be just another grand Wilno fiction...lots of people there anyway..

Wilno Heritage Beer Launch

Ottawa Valley legend Barney McCaffrey entertains a group of teachers during the official launch of the Wilno Heritage Beer at the Red Canoe on June 13. Lots of Wilno songs were sung including: The Wilno Hound, The Wilno Express Song, Hey Benny, Ho Benny, Wintertime in Wilno, The Sherwood Waltz and on and on...lots of fun.

wilno Station Lambs

Introducing Agnes and Carmelita (in the grey wool). They are Navaho-Jacob cross and are the sweetest little bleaters you've ever seen. It was our plan to have lambs for potential lamb-burgers but this has completely gone off the rails and we will keep these two little darlings as breeding stock and hopefully get into the wool business. I envision a line of distinctive Wilno blankets woven with the Kashub colours and designs...