It's A Wee Bit Hot Out There

The week that The Boy was gone started a cycle of rain that we were in for another week. It also included high humidity.Needless to say,it put a damper ( no pun intended!) on the outdoor plans. It put us a couple of weeks behind in laying down the loam and seeding. Last week,the chance of rain lessened as the week went on,but the temps have been in the 90's,with over 70% humidity-which put the actual temperature around 100 degrees. Rick has been out there,determined to get the loam spread as best as he can. Scoop up a load with the tractor,dump it in the area,and spread it out manually. I have been telling him to come inside where the AC keeps the house nice and cool every so often to rest a bit.He has been drinking plenty of water. We have also been fighting with the pool. We bought Green to Blue from HTH. Unfortunately,it didn't say on the bottle that it's not for use for a cartridge filter system,and that you need a material vacuum system for your pool. It broke down the metals,etc in the water and made them settle,but because our filter is not designed to pick up this sort of material well,when we vacuum the sediment spews back out of the outtake into the pool again. I finally looked this issue up last night,and found out that we have been using the wrong chemicals. Sigh. So we blasted the pool with chlorine,and have to start all over. I joked that by the time we can use the pool,the weather will turn to cold and rainy. Live and learn. I am hopeful that we can get the pool functioning for this coming weekend. We are having our Boy Scout Troop to the house for their Year Planning Weekend. It would be nice for them to use it.If not,then we do have the beach down at Sunrise Lake.

I think The Boy came back a carrier from NYLT,because on Monday at Yoga,My Dear Friend Michelle mentioned that her son,Ethan,who was at NYLT was sick with a cold. That night,I started having a scratchy throat,and by Tuesday AM I felt like I was swallowing glass. I was in bed for three days,even most of the Fourth,so it didn't feel much like a holiday for me. I did make some potato salad,and we had chicken ka bobs and corn  on the cob with the salad. We set off some fireworks (no ordinances here in town,though anything after 11:00 PM is noise nuisance)which is our yearly thing. Each day I do a bit more,not to over do it. My poor garden was so sad and full of weeds-Friday I got out there and weeded,finally. The Girls loved the weeds. The mornings are a bit rough.It takes a while for my head to clear,and I am bit stuffy,Mostly I just feel tired all the time,but I just putter along and yesterday was the first day I didn't nap or lay down.

The broilers have all been processed. Rick vacuum sealed them,some whole as roasters,some cut up. It took him over 6 hours to do it. We had about 28 broilers,give or take. We did lose a few over the course of time. That seems to be normal. Michelle and her hubby  were kind enough to lend us their homemade chicken plucker,and it was a time saver. The plucker is all clean and under cover. We just need to return it,I think it will be sometime this week.

In between rainstorms,I have been able to pick a couple few things.......

Some German Chamomile . I used my tea infusers to dry out the flowers. You can see the dried ones on the right, and the freshly picked ones waiting to be dried on the left. I am going to try some Chamomile tea this year.

This has been the best year for our strawberries so far. I have made it point,no matter what the weather or how I feel,to go out and pick the ones that are ready.I wash them,pluck the stems (which I then compost) and put them freezer bags.I am hopeful that I will have enough of my own berries this year to make jam with them.If not,I will have to go to the local farm and get some to combine them with. We have three harvests,and this was a sample of what I was gathering during our first.It has since gone down to just four or five berries at a time,but now we are getting some new blossoms for the second harvest.

We have invested in a roadside sign. We put it out on on the Fourth. Folks have been slowing down when they pass,which is good. Yesterday I sold three dozen eggs.We will have a regular sign by the road with our farm name,and this sign will be used just for what we are selling,which will increase with time.

Hopefully everyone out there is staying cool...if you work outside, please don't over do!!

Have a fabulous day on this Fabulous Planet!

Around The Farm

Yes, it's been forever and a day since I posted last. I have been reading,planning,and doing a lot of thinking...as well as planting,etc.

Our big project of late was fixing our leach field. It died on us. There is nothing like sitting out on the deck with raw sewage bubbling up from the septic tank a few feet away. Ah,the fragrance!!

We had to rent a couple of pieces of equipment for the job,and happily,our neighbor  Kelly is licensed to do such work. So,even though it rained all day on Saturday,he and Brother B were out there digging away. We had to buy a few truckloads of gravel and sand,plus the french drainage pipes for the job.

This is what the leach field area looks like now.

The front yard after the machines went back and forth in the rain:

The corner. the gravel and sand were in our driveway,and this was the only way to get to it. Looks like some loam and reseeding will be in our future!

Even though the yard got tore up,it's A-OK. It needed to be done. Of course,if the weather was cooperative,it wouldn't have been so bad.

There are some great signs of spring:

The green beans are coming up:

The broilers are getting big:

The leaves are out!

The strawberries are flowering:

The lilacs are in bloom and their fragrance flows on the breeze:

We have a little bird's nest on the rafter of our wood shelter. The bird flew away just as I was taking the picture!

Have a fabulous day on this Fabulous Planet!

Goats,Chickens,and Leaves,Oh My!

Well,whatever the issue was that I had with Blogger,it's been fixed,and I can now download photos again :)

Here are some pics taken over the week:

First up,the adorable little Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goats at Tiny Hill Farm!

All three of us fell in love with this sweet little beige guy. He was so cute,and had such a "please take me home look!" 

They were so very friendly,and enjoyed chomping on our sweatshirts. They especially liked Zach's. I was so glad that we were able to arrange our visit during his school vacation week.

I took this pic to show how small the babies are. Rick is 6'1". The little beige guy really liked him. Larissa,one of the owners of the farm,is on the right of the pic. She was wonderful and very helpful.

Friday our 30 broilers came in. Zach had to pick a few up because they are so cute...but he knows they are food,not pets.

I know...how could we think of eating such cute little things?

Spring has finally sprung in NH! We have leaves popping out on trees....

And the maples will soon follow suit. It seems like the green takes a long time to take over,but then,one day,we wake up and all the leaves are out.

The Girls have been enjoying some free range time,now that the weather is nice. They take care of the bugs and ticks...

....and some of the weeds that I haven't pulled out of my garden boxes yet.

Have a fabulous day on this Fabulous Planet!

Lots Going On!!!!

For some reason,I can't post any photos today. Either Blogger or my computer is being ornery.

Let's see...I guess the first thing is that I have been laid low lately. I tripped going up our bedroom stairs and fell on the edge of the top step,landing just below my left wrist. It hurt so much that I was sick to my stomach,and couldn't talk when Rick came running to me because he heard me cry out. I sat there for a few minutes until the nausea wore off. My wrist stung,and I thought I had scraped it,but no. The next morning,it was a whole assortment of colors,and terribly swollen. I put an ice pack on it,but that didn't help,and I had pain going up my arm. Rick insisted on taking me to the ER for some xrays,because he thought I had fractured it. The Dr in the ER took a look,and his first assessment was that I had indeed broken it,but the xrays determined that I didn't,I just have a big old nasty hematoma. I have a bandage wrap for my lower arm,been alternating ice and heat on it,and been taking 800 mg of ibuprofen every six hours. This was last Saturday. The bruise is now a yellowish purple color,but it still hurts. It doesn't help that I also have tendinitis in my left elbow,and actually had to go to the Drs for that few weeks ago. Sigh. Needless to say,my activities have been somewhat curtailed.

The weather here in NH has finally started to feel like Spring. The leaves are coming out on the trees,and the weather has been nice. This week the temps are suppose to be in the 60's to the low 70's. Yesterday I sat out on the deck after I took the hay off our garlic and strawberry plants. They are coming up nicely.

The Girls enjoyed the afternoon free ranging around the backyard and ate lots of bugs. They also dug up some of the weeds in my garden boxes.This week I must weed the boxes and get fresh compost in them. I have some Rutgers tomato seedlings that I have started. I am not starting my cukes and pumpkins yet,they sprout so quickly that I don't see the necessity.

One thing awesome thing we did last week during Zach's Spring vacation was visit Tiny Hill Farm in Milton Mills,which is just a couple of towns over from us. Rick got their business card from our local feed store,Longmeadow. We are looking to get Nigerian Dwarf Dairy goats,and Tiny Hill sells them. I got in contact with one of the owners,Larissa,and we went for a visit.One of the things that she said that impressed me was that she was willing to work with new goat owners,and that she didn't care if we called at 2:00 AM with a question. She also said they bred their goats for milk quality,and that they are all registered and vaccinated. Also,the fact that the farm is local was an added bonus for us. She was so kind and wonderful,and was quite pleased that we had actually done some research on the goats,so we understood most of what she was talking about! We chatted for an hour. We saw the adult goats,and the babies. We have three does ordered for next Spring.

Rick and I have been working on a plan to move our little farm forward,in stages. More about that later :) My arm hurts,so I am going to end this now.

Have a fabulous day on this Fabulous Planet!

My How Time Flies

Holy Smokes,I just realized how long it's been since I posted last. Sorry about that!

We have received the check from Progressive Insurance and Rick has already gone out and found himself a truck-he's getting a 2003 Dodge Ram. He is suppose to pick it up today. He is doing well,his shoulder is still a tad stiff,but fine.

The Plague seems to have abated and everyone seems to be healthy. We had quite the Arctic blast here for a few days. Temps with the wind chill went below zero for a couple of days,and in the teens a for a couple more.I am thankful for the wood stove,because we ran out of fuel (our oil tank's gauge is broken).Our tank is outside,so we have to use the mix,which is a bit more expensive. We had the tank filled yesterday,and the driver told us the last time we had it filled was in Sept.Four months is pretty good,considering I have heard of folks who have gone through a tank in a month's time.

The other night was gorgeous-at least,looking through a window in a warm house! It was bitter cold,but the moon was as bright as day.It reminded me of the section in "By The Shores Of Silver Lake" when Laura and Carrie go outside to follow the moon path and wind up going all the way to a wolves den...and seeing a big old wolf. I could see wanting to be outside in the bright moonlight. Of course,it was -12F at our house,and no amount of brilliant moonlight could persuade me to go for a stroll outside!

Zach has a two hour delay from school this AM. Last night we got some snow and freezing rain,so the school district showed some good judgement and delayed opening.

Yesterday I picked up a couple of cross stitch embroidery projects. I was hoping to find a book for beginners for reference,but Ben Franklin's didn't have what I was looking for.I picked a couple of patterns that came with thread,needle,and instructions. I bought an embroidery hoop. It should be interesting. I would love to design my own sheets and pillowcases with embroidery and lace/edging.

I have made a master list of things that need to get done around the house,and have posted only two things:

1) Move all the stuff from the bedroom into the garage that is in the garage pile

2)Measure old ladder and space in front of the kitchen window to see if a pot rank is feasible.

I have been thinking about how I want the bedroom,and I keep coming back to the colors white,turquoise,and green.

The other day we went out to gather eggs,and found these two specimens:

Monster egg and baby egg!!! The baby egg was the size of a robin's egg. We don't know why,but we did lose one of our Girls. Rick went into the coop and found her dead. There was no blood or anything like that,so the other chickens didn't gang up her or anything like that. It looks like she just died. Poor Girl.

Have a fabulous day on this Fabulous Planet!

A Touch Of White

We are in the midst of a nor'easter,but this one is not too bad on our end. Right now we are getting some freezing rain,and we did get about 2" of snow last night,with some pretty gusty wind.Thankfully,we didn't lose power. I was a bit surprised that school was not delayed this morning,because quite a few communities around us have a two hour delay. The poor folks down in the NJ area,yet again,got the brunt of it (at least,the last I saw on the news). I am keeping the folks who had to deal with Sandy and are struggling in my thoughts and I hope that this storm doesn't create more misery on top of everything else.

I am really losing track of the days,as I looked at the calendar yesterday and realized that Christmas is only a stone's throw away,and Thanksgiving is banging at my door. 

The Girls are all cozy in their coop,and we have started getting a few more eggs now that we have the light on. I only set it from 3:00 PM to 8:00 PM so they get more light later in the day. I was wondering if I should keep the light on from early morning to 8:00 PM,but I figured that the normal daylight would still suffice,even if the sunshine is not as strong. Any thoughts,chicken owners?  We are very happy that the "driveway" mix we put down in the coop did the trick. The coop yard was filled up at least four inches,and the proof was when Sandy hit. Unfixed,The Girls would've been walking in three inches of mud. There was no mud. There is no more smell. It did the trick. We also revamped our driveway with it and met with the same success. We fixed the road in front of our driveway and the holes at the entrance to Avon Lane. So far,so good.

Yesterday Rick made some kindling and drained the pool to the level it should be. I'm glad I got my garlic planted and my strawberries under cover in time! Talk about cutting it close! The temps are quite chilly,but on Saturday,it's going to be around 60 degrees,so at least this snow won't last.Of course,The Menfolk are very happy to see a bit snow...so they can see tracks. Rick almost got a turkey with this bow yesterday,but just missed (apparently there were some small branches that got lost in his sights). They are gearing up to get back out again this AM.

Have a fabulous day on this Fabulous Planet!!!

I

Fall Day in NH

 It's my favorite time of the year-Fall in NH. To me,Fall is the quintessential New England season. The leaves turn color,the air turns chilly, pumpkins and apples are ready for picking,and we keep trying to put off starting the wood stove for as long as possible. Gray days are lantern lighting days,and I have to have Pumpkin Spice candles going to make the house smell fabulous and help make it cozy.

The weather this past week has not been the best-we have had rain and overcast days,with just a few glimpses of sun in between. Saturday we took a chance,since the forecast said the rain was going to hold off until later in the day,and we drove up to Fryeburg,ME for the annual Fryeburg Fair. We love the Fryeburg Fair because it's mostly an agricultural fair.  We looked at the goats,sheep,poultry,oxen,horses,and cows. I fell even more in love with goats and sheep. We are trying to decide if we want to get some dairy goats,and perhaps a sheep or two. The sheep would be for making yarn. It's amazing at how thick their wool is-they felt like one of those tempurpedic mattresses! The Fiber Barn was very interesting-knitted goods,yarn skeins,and bulk wool were for sale,and ladies were demonstrating how to spin your own yarn. I wanted to buy a  homemade skein of yarn-until I saw that all the skeins were 4 oz and cost $26. That's a tad out of my price range. In the Specialty Food barn,Zach's eagle eye found Moxie Jelly. Moxie is a New England soda that has been around for about a hundred years. It's not sweet,and it's called Moxie because you have to have moxie to drink it! Zach loves Moxie,and we have never seen Moxie jelly,so of course we had to buy a couple of jars. I got some potpourri -Maine Christmas and Pumpkin Fall. They smell fabulous!

Sunday the weather was slightly overcast,but no rain hit until last night,so I puttered around the yard for while checking things out. I still haven't closed up my garden because  things are still growing and we haven't had a hard frost yet,though I know we are due for one anytime.  I have been paying attention to the weather forecast daily.

Since we gave our apple tree quite the trimming last Spring,we figured that we probably shocked the tree and we wouldn't get many apples,if any,this year. Last year we had over 60. This year,we did squeak out two:

Poor lonely apples! Our apple tree has dropped the majority of their leaves. The wind has helped the all the trees around us shed their leaves.Up Avon Lane,it looked almost like carpet:

Our grapes have been coming along. I have been tasting them every other day to see when they are ready to pick. I wasn't sure how to tell when they were ready,but everything I have read says it's all in how the taste.They are not quite sweet yet,but they are getting there:

I was surprised to still see white blossoms in my strawberry patch. There are still strawberries in various states of  growth. I will have to cover them up soon:

This is one of my favorite maple trees. Each year,this branch starts turning color in such a brilliant way-light green,to yellow,to orange,to red. It's like a foliage rainbow! I can see it from my bedroom window. I wish the sun was shining so that you could really see how bright and lovely it is:

One of our goals to is try and get our chicken yard to the point where it drains better. Whenever it rains,it becomes a muddy mess,and it REEKS until it dries out. Plus,the poor Girls are walking around in muck. Chicken poo that is wet smells even worse than dry poop. It's horrible. It makes me gag,and we are mindful that we have a responsibility to our neighbors to keep the area as stink free as possible.We are going to try some gravel mix to cover it. Anyone have any other suggestions?

 We still have tomatoes growing,though you can't seem too well in this photo,because they are green. I will probably have to pick them and make fried green tomatoes before the frost hits:

You can see in this photo how we have lost leaves from our trees. The foliage still isn't at it's peak here,but up in the Great North Woods,it's already past:

Our potatoes are still going strong,though some of the plants are seeing a bit of brown on their edges. I wasn't sure when to pick potatoes,because last year,Brother B picked them before they were ready ( our neighbor told him to pick them in Sept-too early!) Usually they are picked in Oct,when the plants are dead. I did decide to check around the hills to see if anything was ready to pick,however:

I came up with these taters!! These are Kennebec potatoes from Maine. I also had some green beans that were ready to pick,too.

Today we are going apple picking and pumpkin picking. Our favorite farm,Butternut,is closed for the season,but another local farm is still open so we will be going there. I am still bummed that my pumpkin seedlings did NOTHING this year. Sigh. I hate to have to buy pumpkins,but I have to get some sugar ones to make my puree,as well bigger ones for decoration. Our neighbor can get hay bales for only $2.00 a bale from a friend of hers,so that will be savings!

Have a fabulous day on this Fabulous Planet!

Spring Has Sprung!

Our warm weather continues! Temps are running 30-40 degrees above normal.Yesterday,it was 80 degrees here,which is practically unheard of for this time of year.Friday,the temps are going to start being in the 60's.

Yesterday,Rick mucked out the chicken coop,which The Girls highly appreciated. We should be seeing some eggs soon-we never did get electricity running out to the coop last year,so The Girls stopped laying in November. This year,come hell or high water,we will have electricity running to the coop by the Fall. I enjoyed the weather by doing a bit raking-until I developed a big old blister on the inside of my right thumb,where the thumb joins the hand. I even had gloves on! Well, at least I got a start on it. I also checked out my beds,and realized that I need to plot out what I am going to plant in what bed fairly soon.

When Rick was mucking out the coop,one of The Girls got out. We call her Rogue Chicken,since she isn't even ours.She is our next door neighbors. She somehow got out of the coop up there,and was wandering around for quite a while. She found her way into our yard,and we captured her by luring her under a box and dropping it over her. Kelly told us we could keep her if we wanted. Well,yesterday she got out again,and Rick couldn't grab her. After supper,Zach said he would try,thinking he could get close enough to her to drop a sweatshirt over her and then he would grab her.  About 15 minutes,he came back,looking very serious.
"I caught the chicken," he told us.
"You did? Good job,buddy! Did you put her back in the coop?" Rick asked.
A pinprick of silence.
"No. She's dead."
Naturally,Rick,Brother B  and myself were a bit confused. How does one kill a chicken with a sweatshirt? Rick asked him what happened.
"Well,you know the space between the coop and the wood lean to where we have the  ladders? She got in there and I was able to throw the sweatshirt over her,and I tried to pull her out,but the ladder moved and landed on her and now she's dead."
"I better go outside and check this out," Rick said. Both and he and Brother B went outside with Zach to see what he meant,and if,indeed,The Rogue Chicken was no more.
A few minutes later,they all came inside, laughing.
Apparently,Rogue Chicken was fine. The ladders lay horizontally side by side in between the two buildings (it's not a big space,just maybe a few feet) and when Zach tried to pull the chicken out,one of  ladders fell over a bit on top of the chicken,and she went limp. Zach thought she was dead because she didn't make any movements. No,she was just playing possum. So Rouge Chicken lives! Zach's deadpan comment,"No.She's dead," is still a source of humor this AM.

Today we are walking down to our lumber mill to check out counter top samples (they have a small home improvement area). We are finally getting back on the kitchen remodel track. After that,we are going to trim our apple tree. This week,we are also going to build three compost bins to get the area more organized. I told Rick it would behoove us to get that done,before all the leaves are dumped in the area.

One bit of sad news-our cat,Moxie,got out about 2 weeks ago and hasn't been seen since. He was our cat that we found in the woodpile last Spring. He's my little buddy and I am very sad. However,yesterday Rick found his red collar next to the deck,and it wasn't there the day before,so Rick's thinks that perhaps he comes around in the evenings to see if any of Molly Bruce's food (our outdoor cat)is available on the steps. I miss Moxie very much. He would lay on our bed and I would pat him at night and he would purr away.

Have a lovely day!

New Ceiling Is Up And The Verdict Is In On The Kindle Fire

The old strapping was taken down,new ones up put up,and the drywall installed. It's almost completely done in this photo.....

                                        

                                                           .....all up in this one!

Rick tightened up the screws and Zach helped fill the screw holes with mud.Today Rick is going to tape and mud the seams. If it dries fast enough,he will sand and maybe get to put another layer of mud on today. You can see in the above photo that the white beam looks like it's sagging.That's because,like much of house,nothing is plumb. The drywall was laid straight,as it should be,which made the white beam looks more off.You can see the space on the left side of the beam where the drywall meets it,or,should I say,where it's suppose to meet!Rick is going to cut a small piece of dry wall and insert it so the gap is filled. It's always interesting what one will find when doing demo.

Yesterday I was in bed all day with a migraine,which was a bother in itself,but it also meant I had to  miss marching in the Rochester Christmas Parade with the Boy Scout Troop.Rick and Zach went,so at least we were represented. I spent the day watching Movies On Demand,as well as some Tudors on my
Kindle Fire. I really like the Kindle Fire. The video quality is fabulous,and the sound is great for a 7" product. The only thing is getting used to using the keyboard. Since I have never texted,or used this type of board before it takes some getting used to . I make a lot of mistakes because my fingers hit the wrong keys!! Otherwise,it's great.The battery life is good, too- I can get about 6 hours before it needs to be charged. If you are considering a Kindle,and want more than just book reading,I highly suggest the Fire.

The Girls haven't been laying at all for the last couple of weeks. We don't have electricity in the garage,so we don't have it in the coop. The shadows in the backyard are longer now,and the sun doesn't rise above the red pines anymore. Even at noon time,the sun is still about a quarter down from the top of the trees,whereas in the summer it is high above them and it 's sunny until about 4:00 around the coop. Now the shade is fairly constant by the coop,and sun sets at 4:30.

Have a fabulous day on this fabulous planet!!!

A New Game

Yesterday I was in the garden,pulling up my broccoli and lettuce that had bolted. As I walked past my green pepper plants,I saw a good sized pepper. It was the biggest I had ever grown,so I called Rick over to take a look and then I saw something I had never seen before clinging to a stalk:

Sorry this photo is so blurry.This was actually taken today on a tomato plant.

Yep,our first horn worm,or hookworm,or whatever you call it. Then I found our second one. The Girls found them delicious. I checked our tomato plants,but didn't see anymore.

Today I went out to plant some fall veggies. I don't know if they will grow or not, since I am late in doing so,but I figured I would give it shot. I planted spinach,lettuce,green beans,and butternut squash. My tomatoes needed to be staked further,so I grabbed some string and did some old Florida Weave (going behind and in front of the plants with the string to the left,then opposite on the way back). Lo and behold,there was another worm:

And another. And another. And another. I would look for these little suckers and one would be right in front of my face for 5 minutes before I saw it. How clever they are to blend right in with the tomato stalks!And how frustrating for me and Brother B. He was helping me look and every once in a while one of us would exclaim,"You little bastard! You were right in front of me!"Sneaky little suckers. I called Zach outside to take a look,and to take the photo above. He thought they were gross.

16 worms later,all looked OK in the tomato world. The Girls loved their noontime treat.

Now we have a new game-Find the Worm. He who finds the most wins tons of gratitude from the tomatoes and the chickens. :)

Solitude

Rick and Brother B left yesterday on a four day fishing trip up in Maine. There is a spot that Rick has always wanted to fish since he was in his twenties,so now that his knees are healthy again,he is finally doing it. This leaves me alone during the day while Zach is in school,which is strange to me. Mind you I do have hours by myself sometimes,but never this much. It's certainly different.

Today the sun has finally decided to make an appearance.It has been rainy since Friday,and the temperatures have been chilly. Typical New England weather-90's and sunny one week,the next,cold and rainy. I must say I am very pleased with the rain,though,because it's really helped the garden along....

You can see my broccoli on the left,next to that are my onions. The seemed to sprout overnight! My green peppers,cukes,and tomatoes have done well. You can't see the corn because it's way in the back,but it's about 5" high. My beans,peas,beets,radishes,and potatoes have taken off as well,but it's hard to see them here. My lettuce and spinach are starting to sprout,and I have flowers on one of my pumpkin plants.The strawberries are thriving,I have a few green berries popping out.

Today I am going to reorganize my living room,then tomorrow I am going to work in the garden. We are not expecting any rain today,so everything should dry up nicely,so I should also be able to finally make my peppermint soap,which calls for fresh mint. Before Rick left he  spread loam out on the areas of lawn which he used some fill on,and he put grass seed down,so I will have to make sure that's watered. So far, our turkey chicks are doing great. I made sure that they had plenty of water and feed,and the light is giving off just the right amount of heat. The Girls are doing good,a few of them are broody,but they aren't being protective of the eggs to the point where they try to peck me this time. I have been able to just go in the coop and gather the eggs,though I do talk soothingly to The Girls who are nesting,and I pet them as well. They grumble at me,but that's all. Our big turkeys are still laying eggs,and they are doing fine as well.

Right now the dogs and cats are sleeping,there is a slight breeze blowing,and the birds are singing away.There is something about the sounds that of nature that I find very soothing and relaxing. This is the life!!!!

Happy Belated Mother's Day

As always,it seems that time slips by before I realize how long it's been since I posted last. Many things seem to be in the planning stage now,so what do I write about? That's always the problem!

This past weekend was a busy one. Sunday,Mother's Day,we awoke to beautiful skies and green leaves peeking out on the trees.



Late Sunday we went down to Somersworth for a Mother's Day dinner at my sister's house,so we got to visit with her and her hubby,and my Mom. Dinner was cranberry pork with cranberry "gravy",zucchini and summer squash, beef rice, and strawberry cheesecake for dessert. It was delicious! I asked my sister for the pork and the cheesecake recipe. Before we left for her house, I asked Rick to take a photo of Zach and I. I think it's the first photo we have taken on Mother's Day.

Rick and Zach were at a loss as to what to get me for Mother's Day. I really didn't need anything,and breakfast in bed in fine with me. But Rick insisted that they buy me something,so I said I wanted some alpaca yarn from Kings Highway Alpacas down the street. So they took a walk on Saturday,and gave these to me on Sunday morning:

The Alpaca Farm is run by a nice couple. She shears,spins,and dyes the yarn,in only natural colors. It's so soft! After I finish the socks that I am currently working on, I am going to make Zach a nice scarf for Christmas. I loved the yarn,but no breakfast in bed this year. We had a full house on Sunday AM,because we had Rick's other two brothers,his nephew,and a dear old Shaw family friend came up on Saturday for a wood splitting party.All the remaining tree length logs had to be cut into rounds and split into firewood. We provided beer,soda,hamburgers,and ribs. They worked hard,and all wound up crashing at our place. So we had assorted bodies on the floor,couch,and recliners. Nephew Brody slept in a sleeping bag in Zach's room. I think the fresh air and the beer caught up with men,and having them stay was fine. Best be safe than sorry! All the logs did get cut into rounds,and some of the wood split. Rick and Brother are going to split the rest this week. We should be set on firewood for a couple of years.

My seedlings are doing well. Right now I have Straight Eights and Pickling cukes on heat. The rest I have planted in pots until I can put them outside.



I am very excited because we have sold three dozen eggs! Our first money making venture from our Little Farm! We are selling them for only $1.50 a dozen,which is actually .09 cents cheaper than the supermarket I shop at. I have seen some folks sell for $2.00,and even $2.50 a dozen,but all we want to do is make a bit of pocket money to help toward food for the girls. They are laying on average 7 eggs a day.
 I hope all you Mom's out there had a fabulous Mother's Day!!!!

Seedlings!

Today I am making homemade crock pot beans. Once I get the beans on the boil,I am going to transfer my seedlings to individual pots.As you can see,my peppers,tomatoes,and broccoli are ready. I had to move the seedlings from the trays which are still on heat to the trays that are not on heat.(Once plants sprout,they are suppose to be taken off heat) I have a few pumpkins and cukes that sprouted right up,after only three days on heat. So I need to replant them as well.I will have to set up another fluorescent light because I will have plants covering my card table. I may even have to get another table! I hope what we plant will produce enough to do some serious veggie canning this year,but we will do what we can. Each year we are going to do more until we are satisfied. We just don't want to go hog wild and be overwhelmed.
The girls are laying well,and I think we are at the point where we can start selling eggs. We will have to make a sign to hang under our mailbox.
Tomorrow Rick,Zach and I will be camping out with the Boy Scouts for the weekend. Zach's troop helps to run the annual district Fish and Run. The Cub Scouts have a fishing competition in the morning on Saturday,followed by various events at different stations. Sunday AM awards are handed out. It's has been a while since Rick and I camped out with the boys. Before Rick's knee surgery,he would go,but he was always in so much pain that he couldn't enjoy himself,so we stopped. Now that his knees are better,he is really looking forward to camping again. He is even going to summer camp! He is happy that he can do things like this with Zach again and have fun!
Those of you who are getting ready for the garden,what are planting and how far along are you?

Mucking Around

Mud Season is alive and well here. We have no more snow,thankfully,but between the snow melt and the rain we received,our backyard is one big soggy mess. This year is the worst that we have had in the almost 8 years that we have lived here. Even where there appears to be solid ground with grass coverage,one sinks into the soft ground when it's walked on. I finally had to fore go my winter boots and buy myself a pair of what I call "Muck Muck Boots." We were at a shoe store buying Rick some hiking boots,when I noticed this section of clearance rubber boots.I didn't want some plain, old color. I wanted something fun. Who says mucking around has to be boring? They didn't have the pattern I really liked in my size,so I settled for these colorful ones:

The mud in front of the chicken coop is the worst! You can see how my feet sink in..and that is not the worst spot. I almost came out of my boots the other day when my feet sunk a few inches in and I tried to extract them. We have to step in certain spots to avoid boot suckage.

The girls have been doing well since Runt's demise (I must say,with carrots,potatoes,and onions cooked in a crock pot he was quite tasty). We have been averaging 8 eggs a day from the 11 of them.

I am glad that their pen area finally dried up. The poor things were standing in about 2" of water for a bit. And Runt is no longer getting on them and being rough with his affections. Some of them were really getting bald on their backs. Poor things. I know there is fine line between pleasure and pain,but,come on! :)

A couple of the chickens are broody. They like to sit on the eggs and don't particularly like it when we try to gather them. The other day,one of my Silver Lace Wynadottes decided to keep an eye on me while I removed the eggs. She had been sitting on 6 of them,and she protested quite loudly when I pushed her out of the way. She didn't trust me,however:

She stood there,keeping watch. Yesterday when I gathered eggs, one of our Rhode Island Reds was sitting on 8 eggs. When I tried to reach under her,she gave me a good old bite of indignation,which led to a small,sore purple bruise on my wrist (thankfully I had a couple of layers on,so it wasn't a bite right on the skin). I tried pushing her off with my basket (this seems to be a weapon of choice lately) and that didn't work. She then looked away from me and I quickly but gently grabbed her and put her down on the floor. She voiced her displeasure with me in no uncertain terms,but then comforted herself with some chicken feed,much like women who enjoy their comfort  food when they have been hurt or annoyed,such as myself. Hmmm. I never realized I would have something in common with a chicken!

Today I have the morning to myself. The boys are have made a trek to Sanford,ME. I will do dishes,laundry,and start my cukes and pumpkin seeds. The broccoli and tomatoes have sprouted well! I will need to set up a second light today and a couple of my green peppers have their second sets of leaves,so I need to put them in individual pots ASAP.It's a lovely day today,and the birds have been entertaining me with their morning songs and pretty colors. So beautiful.

Have wonderful day where ever you are!!!

RIP Runt

Yesterday,we had to "take care"of our dear buddy,Runt The Rooster. Runt was a surprise to begin with. Last Spring,we had ordered chickens (no roosters) but he slipped past the sorting and wound up with us. That was no problem. We enjoy the sound of roosters. Runt had an especially neat crow-it always had an upward inflection at the end,like he was asking a question.
A couple of weeks ago,Runt started getting a wee bit territorial. When Rick or Brother B went into the pen,he would challenge them. It started harmless enough,with Runt puffing out a bit and flapping his wings. Then he started pecking at their boots. Then he started jumping in the air and using his feet. He did this to me for the first time last week. I was coming out of the coop,and he was in front of the door to the pen with some of the girls. The girls took off,but Runt stood there,looking at me. I tried to just walk past him to open the door to get leave,but he squawked at me and flapped his wings with indignation. I yelled,"Move, Runt!" That didn't work,so I swung the basket of eggs in his direction,and he moved.
Yesterday, the menfolk cleaned out the coop,and I went outside to see. Rick was raking the straw off the strawberry bed,and Brother B followed me into the coop. All the chickens,as well as Runt,were outside in the pen. I was standing there,in the coop,looking at how nice the nesting boxes looked and checking for eggs. Brother B was in the doorway chatting with me,when all of a sudden,I felt something attack me from behind.
Runt had come in the chicken door,flew up,and starting attacking the back of my right thigh with his talons. It caught me by surprise,and faster than I realized what was happening,Brother B was kicking at Runt to get him off me. " Are you alright?" he asked,as we got of the coop and out of the pen. "Yes," I replied,rubbing my leg. I wasn't bleeding,but it hurt. " He's dead," Brother B declared. "It's one thing to attack Rick or I,but it's another when he is doing it to you from behind."
We went to the strawberry bed and told Rick what happened.He was mad. "He attacked you from behind?!" He said the same thing it was,time to take care of  Runt. "He could've hurt you..what if Brother B wasn't there and you were by yourself? Or what if Zach was in there and he went after his face?"
Runt's fate was sealed,and it was over in less than a minute.
I feel bad,because up until this point Runt was really cool. He never had an issue with any of us. However,it was time for him to go. Right now,he is in the fridge,waiting for the crock pot. We will miss you,Runt.

Turkey Egg!

We have  friends who also have turkeys,and they have been telling us about the turkey eggs that they are getting. This led us to wonder why we haven't seen any eggs yet. Our Tom has been busy huffing,puffing,and strutting around in front of the two girls with all his feathers unfurled for the last couple of weeks,so we figured that we might see something soon. Rick made a bigger bed for them thinking it might help. Then,yesterday,he came into the house and told me to open my hand. I did,and lo and behold,there it was....our first turkey egg!!! 



Turkey egg and chicken egg for comparison

I have never seen a turkey egg before. I expected it to be bigger than a chicken egg,but I was still surprised at the size. None of us have tried eating turkey eggs before. Our friends informed us that they have more flavor,and are a bit richer than chicken eggs.Some of them told us they prefer turkey eggs to chicken eggs. I am curious to see the difference!

Goodbye 2010...Hello 2011

It doesn't seem possible that we are already going to say goodbye to 2010 in just over 12 hours. So much has happened to us this year,and we have learned much.Not everything got accomplished,and some things that I personally was striving for (such as weight loss) fell to the wayside. However,the overall year was certainly more positive than negative. Here is a reflection on the year that was........

The biggest things that happened to us as a family was that Rick was finally medically retired from the military in April. It took three med boards and 5 years for this to happen. By November,he was 100% disabled through the VA,collecting his monthly pension and receiving Social Security Disability. In May,his knee problems were finally diagnosed by one of the best hospitals in the US,Dartmouth Hitchcock,which is also a training hospital for Dartmouth College,one of the Ivy League schools ( For those of you who are outside the US and may not know,Ivy League schools are schools that are the oldest in the nation,such as Harvard,Yale,Brown,Princeton).He was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Degenerative Arthritis,which was incurred from his days in Combat Airborne back in the 1980's,fighting what I call President Reagan's "secret little wars." Both knees were replaced with titanium.He spent three weeks in rehab,and has made  a quick recovery-his surgeon is very pleased. Those three things are most certainly the biggest things that have happened to us this year.

At the beginning of the year,we sat down and discussed what we wanted to do,why we wanted to do it,and how. For the first time,we started seeds indoors. That was a learning experience.Lights,grow trays,heating pads, timers....the one big thing I learned was that I should not take peppers off the heating pads once they sprout. Our basement is cool,and it stunted the growth of the peppers,but I put them back on heat and they did wind up growing.We learned about Square Foot Gardening,and made boxes,made a compost shifter,and shifted lots of compost. We bought a compost tumbler,and my sister gave us a compost bin. We put a small bucket in the kitchen for composting kitchen scraps (who knew that paper towels were compostable? I didn't!). Rick and I built our turkey cage and got Narragansett turkeys from one of our friends. We built a chicken house and got chickens. I discovered that chickens and turkeys love weeds pulled from the garden. We did our first canning this year,and though my veggie weight tally wasn't complete,I do know we grew 28lbs of cukes! We set up rain barrels from juice barrels that Brother Dale gave us. That helped keep the poultry watered since our dug well was low. We planted blueberries,blackberries strawberries,and raspberries. We started a kitchen garden-mint,rosemary,oregano,thyme,and basil (Rick and Brother B tell me I need to plant and dry more oregano next year).Our Concord Grapes took off last year and we bought a trellis,which is already too small-I think we will make an arbor this coming Spring. We got edible apples from out Jonathan apple tree this year! It was planted before Rick went to Iraq. We used our neighbors wood chips to make a walkway to the house and we also used them in between the raised beds. Our  other neighbor let us use a mix of their dirt and wood chips to extend our driveway.  We made our own maple syrup,as little as there was.I made lye soap,continued making laundry detergent,and attempted to make dish soap,but because I didn't like the results I went back to store bought,but went to Planet,and stopped using Ajax. I stopped buying Clorox wipes and started making my own cleaners-bleach and water for disinfectant and white vinegar and water for glass cleaner. I began making my own brown sugar ( sooooo much better than store bought!). I make our own bread and baked goods.I started teaching myself how to knit.

We made a few investments: a new (used) four wheel drive truck,an artesian well (which will never run dry),a new snow blower,and a new wood splitter. We purchased tree length wood,which should keep us in heat for a few years. Rick bought me a Cuisinart stand mixer,with  food processor and meat grinder attachments.

We took a lovely trip to Malone,NY,and got to explore the world of Almanzo Wilder,the husband of one of my all time (if not THE all time) favorite authors,Laura Ingalls Wilder. It was so much fun,and was really something to stroll among the grounds and in the house that I have read about so many times in Farmer Boy.

Personally,though I haven't succeeded at weight loss,or conquered my procrastination issues,I have done much soul searching this year. I feel as a person I have grown and have a more sense of self,though I still have much more growing to do. I am more comfortable in my own skin and in what I believe. I don't get into religion and politics on this site,because that has nothing to do with what we are trying to achieve here.However, these two issues have been some of what has been rolling around my head this last year. Suffice it to say I don't like extremism in religion or in politics,and I don't like it when people try to use fear or paranoia to try and gather followers or votes. Sadly,there is much of that out there right now. I think it's scary.

We have a list already in the works for this coming year:
-Double the size of the garden
-New metal roof on the house and garage
-New deck
-Weatherproof the mud room so we have a place we can keep coats,etc since we dont' have a coat closet.
-Remodel the bathroom
-Remodel the kitchen
-Paint the house and garage
-Clean out the attic
-New windows in the basement
-Make a cold frame with the old sliding glass doors
-Have a cold weather garden this year
-Maybe get goats!

I am sure the list will be added to,and though I know not all will get accomplished,that is what we would like to see happen.

Thank you all for following our lives here in our little cottage.I am very grateful that you all have followed us on our continuing journey.

From all of us here at The Little Yellow Farm to all of you throughout the world,have a wonderful New Years! I hope your joys are many,your sorrows few.

See you next year!!!!!  :)