Menu
A Life in Vermont
  • Blog
  • Books
  • About Me
  • Contact
  • Paul Perley Cellos
A Life in Vermont

Category: Musicians Farming Sheep

Continuing To Spread

Posted on December 1, 2024December 2, 2024 by Melissa Perley

Yesterday I opened the front door and found three Wyandotte hens looking at me quizzically, none of us where the other expected. It took me a second to believe my eyes as we have a large pen that connects to the sheep paddock where the chickens live, the fence is very high and has an…

+

Totality

Posted on April 14, 2024April 15, 2024 by Melissa Perley

Saturday we were on the Interstate headed north and began noticing the number of cars from out of state. Like the game we played as kids, counting license plates, we added up the amount until we reached our destination. I bought two pairs of paper “solar-proof” glasses in Montpelier several weeks ago before the supply…

+

The Time

Posted on October 24, 2023October 25, 2023 by Melissa Perley

I’m standing in the driveway and I hear honking in the distance. I stop what I’m doing, tilt my head to the sky and wait. In a few minutes the sound becomes louder, bursts of honks that sound scolding, as if someone is flying off course and needs correction. Soon I see the familiar V…

+

Hay Day

Posted on August 28, 2023August 29, 2023 by Melissa Perley

With all of the rain this summer there has been a precariousness to hay, not just knowing when we might get it, but if we would get it at all. Good haying weather requires at least three dry days and we have struggled to have even one day without rain. The internet has been full…

+

This Is Why

Posted on April 30, 2023May 1, 2023 by Melissa Perley

All night I dreamed shearing. I kept reviewing the list of things I needed to have ready for the next day and couldn’t find them. Not the happy, flying dream but the stress-indicating, spin-your-wheels kind of dream. We arose early, started a fire in the stove to warm the house. Good sugaring weather, cold at…

+

Beautiful Beasts

Posted on February 19, 2023February 20, 2023 by Melissa Perley

Winters can be difficult on our animals. Mrs. Chubbers, our head ewe, is getting older. She walks with a slight but persistent limp and has become long in the tooth, making it harder for her to chew. In the darker months I run my hand over her white back, and when I add weight into…

+

Boys On The Field

Posted on October 23, 2022October 24, 2022 by Melissa Perley

By the time I am done teaching at six each evening it is heavy dusk. Not quite full-on dark, but getting there. I walked down the road to gather sheep and stood by the garden looking up at a melon sky surrounding a fringe of clouds still lit by a far away sun. As I…

+

Woolen Mill

Posted on September 25, 2022September 29, 2022 by Melissa Perley

We grabbed the three dark bags bulging full with wool. Some that hadn’t found its way into our last shipment to be made into blankets and some from a recent shearing. We’d decided to use this smaller batch to make some specialty yarn from a small Vermont mill that we had heard good things about….

+

Magnificent, Mischievous, Magical, Maniacal Muir

Posted on August 1, 2022August 17, 2022 by Melissa Perley

I headed down to the garden this afternoon, vegetable basket in hand. It has been a month since thegarlic scapes were cut and the leaves are now beginning to brown. Time to harvest. I stuff my feet intomy brilliant yellow Crocs and begin walking down Magic Road. Following close behind are all threeBorder Collies; Sam,…

+

How To Retire Like A Boss (by Sam Perley)

Posted on June 12, 2022June 13, 2022 by Melissa Perley

While reclining under the dining room table one afternoon I overheard my family talking about certain athletes and performers who decide to retire and then soon afterward, decide to unretire: coming back to a game that they have clearly grown out of. I shook my head and not just to scratch my ears. I just…

+

The Other Side Of The Fence

Posted on May 29, 2022May 29, 2022 by Melissa Perley

“When the grass is waving in the wind” is the standard for when sheep can begin to go out to graze in spring. We have had some very warm weather with cooler nights which has made the grass grow even faster than it might normally this time of year. Around June first is when I…

+

Wanting What You Have

Posted on May 1, 2022May 2, 2022 by Melissa Perley

I shut the barn door for the final time Monday evening. As the wooden bar thunked into place, three ewes crowded close to be sure that I didn’t have one more feeding in me. I stood in the dark, looking up at the millions of stars and breathed in the temperate spring air. I woke…

+

For The Love Of A Dog

Posted on April 17, 2022April 18, 2022 by Melissa Perley

The warmer weather means more than just ruts and mud boots; driving past the pond on some of these newly-above-freezing nights we begin to put our windows down in anticipation of the familiar sound of the peepers. For about a week or more in April we’ll pass the pond in the evening, roll down the…

+

Finding Your Farm

Posted on March 8, 2022March 13, 2022 by Melissa Perley

We climbed into the truck yesterday morning and headed north to Shelburne farms, one of my favorite places on earth. Before leaving we checked temperatures for the day and, knowing that we were going to be in a barn for about three hours, began layering up. There are odd little things that Vermonters take pride…

+

Musicians Farming Sheep: Cold

Posted on February 12, 2022March 1, 2022 by Melissa Perley

In the summer months, heading out to do morning or evening chores means sliding on some barn boots. In just a few minutes we can be up to our knees in straw, hay or poop. In the winter months it takes time to prepare ourselves to greet the cold: it is all about the layers;…

+
  • 1
  • 2
  • Next
Melissa Perley headshot
Melissa Perley is an
award-winning author, 
professional cellist, music teacher, farmer, mother and business owner. Follow her as she makes her way through life in Vermont.

Blog Archives

  • June 2025
  • May 2025
  • March 2025
  • February 2025
  • January 2025
  • December 2024
  • November 2024
  • October 2024
  • September 2024
  • August 2024
  • July 2024
  • June 2024
  • May 2024
  • April 2024
  • March 2024
  • February 2024
  • January 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021

Categories

  • Autumn
  • Cello
  • Family
  • Holidays
  • Music
  • Musicians Farming Sheep
  • New Year
  • Outdoors
  • Sheepdogs
  • Spring
  • Summer
  • Vacation
  • Vermont
  • Winter

Latest Posts

  • HumanityJune 1, 2025
  • This Is WhyMay 11, 2025
  • The SofteningMarch 18, 2025
  • RememberingFebruary 25, 2025
Melissa Perley
Melissa Perley

Melissa Perley is an award-winning author, 
professional musician, music teacher, farmer, mother and business owner. Follow her as she makes her way through life in Vermont.

Contact Me

Latest Posts

  • HumanityJune 1, 2025
  • This Is WhyMay 11, 2025
  • The SofteningMarch 18, 2025

Pages

Blog

About Me

Books

Contact

©2025 A Life in Vermont | WordPress Theme by Superb Themes