As I mentioned before, we had time constraints.  The tour is from 10:00 am to 11:00 am.  Never mind that we got a late start by 15 minutes.  We were not granted an additional 15 minutes on the other end.  Amy told us when the bell rang, we were to meet up at the gate again.  I spent the better part of 30 minutes rushing around in fear I would miss something, looking at my watch and anticipating the darn bell.  It didn't make things all that pleasant.  I needed to regroup. 

After passing by the dovecote and seeing Tasha's fan-tails inside (a dream of my own some day), I heard a rooster crow and saw some movement in the lush greens just beyond the barn.  A woman was stomping some sort of plant material down for the chickens.  I asked her what breed the chickens were and she didn't know.  I then asked what the plant was that she was stomping down for the chickens and she told me it was a relative of the nettle plant and I wouldn't want to touch it, but the chickens would eat it.  I had to add, "Unless you use gloves and cook it first."  I don't think I impressed her much, but then she didn't seem like the type who was easily amused.  After that brief encounter I walked over to the barn.  I stopped at the door way and tried to absorb all I could.  Stepping inside was magical for me.  I had seen that place so many times in so many of Tasha's books.  It was hard for me to believe I was standing there.  To the left were 2 huge, hollowed out trees used for storing feed.  I didn't open them to see what was in them.  To the right and up just a bit was Tasha's goat milking stanchion.  I sat down, just as she would've, and pretended I was milking her goat.  For a moment I was lost in time.

Jolted back to reality and fearful the bell would ring before my recess was over, I went back out the barn door and over to the rock terraces.  They just weren't what I expected, but then again, I'd seen them on the video and in her gardening book so many times, what they actually looked like in late June and what they were in the book were two very different things.  There was a lot more plant life than in the pictures.  It was just like the bay tree.  I don't know what I was thinking!

The ladies were gathering in a spot close to Tasha's front porch and looking out over the garden.  They called for me to join them and enjoy the view.  It was awesome.  And then my fears came true.  The bell rang.  I scurried ahead to sit in the stanchion one last time and show the ladies what Tasha may have looked like milking her goats.  Her grandson was bringing up the rear and as he entered the barn I know he heard me proclaim, "Look ladies, this is where Tasha milked her goats!"  He looked at me and added, "I don't think she would've sat like that, though."  I so wanted to state that there's only one end of a goat to milk, but I was a guest, albeit a paying one, and I didn't want to offend or embarrass him, so I simply said, "Oh really?  How would she have sat?"  Well, Winslow wasn't sure, but he was almost certain I wasn't right.  I just said, "Well, if I were milking my goats, this is how I would sit."  He replied with, "Oh, you have goats, do you?"  His tone took on a slight bit of respect for my position on the stanchion.  A discussion ensued about leaning into the goat if I were to milk a goat the way I was sitting and I told him he was correct about that, but I enjoy that interaction with the goat while milking.  You get a feel for what the goat is doing and thinking.  So, off we went, bringing up the rear and walking back to the Rookery where we were allowed as much time to shop and spend as we wished.  Amy didn't ring the bell there, but she was kind enough to take our pictures with our own cameras.  Here we all are in front of the Rookery.

Wilhelmina, Sandy, LaVonne, Cathy, Linda, Cindy, Judy, Bonnie, Melinda, Suzanne, Mimi, Stacy and Sophia in front.

As you can see, the cash register at the Rookery was smoking when we left.

Loading the haul! 

Back down the winding road to reality.