Just because I own a restaurant and eat pretty much anything with a heartbeat, people assume that I hunt. Well, I don’t. Never been. And I suspect that I am one of those people who likes to eat meat but would rather not see how it got from the farm to my plate.

But I’m not sure. Maybe I would like the shoot and kill. So when i was invited to go on the big hunt, I couldn’t resist. What else do I have to do at 5 a.m. I’ll sleep later. Today was the day for the hunt.

The sport - bow and arrow. The game - deer. Location - in a tree. Hunt mates - Andy and Chris. Duration - 4 hrs.

We got some coffee. Suited up in Camo. Loaded the gear and set out into the woods in pitch black. I got to wear the hat with the lights. FYI - I now love camo. Andy was able to find some old camo gear from when his boys were little. Fit me perfectly.

Tell me this look isn’t hot. Notice the lights on my hat?

Sitting in a tree. In the dark. For 4 hours. With someone you recently met. Is a long time.

ME: Now what
Him: We wait
1/2 hr later
ME: I’m falling asleep
Him: I’ll nudge you when the deer come
1/2 hr later
Him: Did you use soap this morning
ME: Uh yeah. Do I smell?
Him: Yeah like soap. The deer can smell you.
1/2 hr later
Him: Wake up. It’s time for a break
ME: Break from what? I’ve been sleep for the past hour.
Him: We can stretch and have something to eat. You hungry?
ME: OK.
Him: Stop chewing so loud. The deer can hear.
ME: Well why did you give me a bar of granola then?
Him: My butt’s numb
ME: My leg is asleep
1 hr later
Him: A squirrel is staring straight at you. Here’s a knife in case you go hand to hand combat?
ME: Can you just shoot it so I can go home and say we shot something?
Him: You know this is where you find me most every weekend
ME: You don’t say
Tree limbs falling
ME: holy crap Andy. You’re tree house is falling. Are we sitting on a rotting tree?
Him: I would feel so responsible if you got impaled with a tree trunk.
ME: No kidding.
ME: So lets say we actually shoot a deer then what?
Him: Field Dress
Me: Cool
1/2 hr later
ME: What’s field dress
Him: cut him down the middle and take the guts out
ME: Cool. I think that’s my favorite word for the year. Field Dress.
Him: Shhhh Look
ME: Shoot
Him: Too far.

Well, in the end, we saw deer but not one bow was shot. I was really excited to experience my first kill and field dressing. But maybe just in theory.

As Chris later said on the drive home, there is a fine line between hunting and just sitting in the woods looking stupid. Maybe so. But I also was there for day break. I sat perfectly still and listened to all the animals as they woke up from the night. Watched the deer as they walked right past us and thought, good thing I’m only here for the sport and not because I’m hungry.

My tree mate

HKS

The Great Frederick Fair came and went and oh what fun it is to be in Frederick during the fair. The food, the rides, the animals. And did I mention the food? I’m pretty sure I ate my weight in food during two back to back trips to the fair.

And of course we were out for the 4-H Beef, Sheep and Swine auction on Thursday night.

Here comes the cows.

I am absolutely fascinated by the auction. The auctioneers smooth, rhyming calls somehow puts me in a trance.

Here they are, lining up for the auction.

I want this one.

We did try our hardest to bid on a couple pigs but we kept getting outbid. Even baby Voltaggio got into the action. But even he got outbid.

And here are my hoodlum kids trying to jump the fence for the Foreigner concert. They even almost made it too until the cops showed up. There’s always next year kids.

Well, our Whitmore Farm dinner turned out amazing - what more could I have asked for? The rain clouds actually held out and the night turned into one of the most beautiful fall nights.

And oh lucky me I was a guest at my very own party. Woo Hoo. The barn, the food, the guests, the night. Just couldn’t have asked for a better way to spend a Tuesday night.

Our friend Nicole Wolf from SOTA Dzine was there to capture the evening with these beautiful pictures.

We also got a really nice write up for the dinner in the Washington Post’s All We Can Eat Blog You can read a little bit more about the details of the dinner on the post.

If only I hadn’t lost my car keys in the haystacks - now that would have made the night just oh so perfect. Now there is the consummate host - let us take over his house and barn and give me his car to take home - thanks Will - there is a gentleman left in the world. I was worried there for a moment.
HKS

Did you notice the menu for the Whitmore Dinner is on our site?
Check it out

Our local farmers featured include:

Summer Creek
Whitmore Farm
Earth and Eats Farm
Eco Friendly Foods
Glade Link Farm
Scenic View Orchard
Tuscarora Organic Growers

And

Wild caught nanuvut artic char limited season etc… You know all about the story of the fish right? I blogged about this one a couple posts ago.

Not to mention that I finally found our music for the night - a new Russian transplant. Met her the other night. She was playing the most beautiful violin. Anything you can imagine she was playing. So I asked her if she played contemporary. She smiled and launched into Coldplay’s Viva La Vida - beginning to end - on violin. Blew me away. You don’t want to miss this show.

Finally, I know Sept 15th is election night for us locals. Go to your voting booths in the morning and join us for this splendid evening on the farm. Even though the farm seems like a million miles away we will have internet and local cable available to bring you the latest results as the voting booths close. Hopefully, we will be celebrating for the victors in the primaries.

HKS