So it's not spring yet and we still have a few months to go but...the famous groundhog from my hometown stated spring will come early this year so that's enough to get me thinking about warmer weather and more sunshine!
Today, it's frigidly cold and the ground is covered with snow or ice. Regardless of the freezing weather, J and the boys cleaned out the chicken coop and stacked some wood. One by one, they would come into the house, rosy cheeks and all, and warm up by the roaring fire. Later in the day, a trip to the local farm supply store yielded wood chips for the coop (straw was too expensive) and some seed packets. Our oldest picked out the dragon gourd and snake gourd seed packets. Farmer J thought the chickens would like some cat grass. (Maybe our future barn cats will like the cat grass too).
J continues to make plans for our future bees. The blueprints and bee hive kits arrived in the mail earlier this week. I wonder if the bees arrive through the US postal mail like the chicks did??
We also need to start planning on which chickens breeds we will order as well. We are certain that we want only hens but have yet to decide if we are going to have only egg laying birds or some designated meat birds.
Lots to think about and plan. Luckily, we recently found out J's teaching contract and our lease will extend AT LEAST through June, 2014. It's nice to know that we are going to be staying put for the next fifteen months.
I'll leave you with one last sweet story. My parents were visiting us a few weeks back. My mom was helping Pickle get on his jacket and she noticed one of his pockets felt a little heavy. As a mother and grandmother of boys, she was fully expecting to find a matchbox car, rock or even a chunk of ice but instead she found... an egg! And it was still in one piece. Now more than ever, I'll have to be good at checking pockets before doing laundry! We don't need scrambled eggs in the dryer!
Saturday, February 16, 2013
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
A storms a coming!!!!
I just checked the weather and a 'winter storm warning' is already in effect for late tonight and all day tomorrow. The forecast includes 6-8 inches of snow with some sprinklings of freezing rain and sleet. JJ is banking on a snow day and really hoping he gets to stay at home with J and Pickle. I, on the other hand, am dreading this storm. I recently started a new position, which includes a one hour commute (one-way, on a good weather day), and I don't want to miss a day of work. But my work in healthcare, especially within a level one trauma hospital, has taught me not to mess with Mother Nature.
Today was a busy day on the farm. I kept the home fire burning, loaded up on fire wood and did my chicken chores. We had two cords of wood delivered this last weekend. J loaded 1/2 of it in the barn, with the 'help' from some little 'helpers.' There is still a pile of wood outside the barn, that will likely be covered by inches of snow by the end of tomorrow...unless J is motivated to move firewood in the moonlight (after a 12 hour work day). Not likely.
Farmer J has been doing a lot of research on bees. We will be splitting the bee costs with the farm's owners (J and M.) Farmer J and M are busy figuring out where we will get out bees from, how to construct the best bee boxes and where the bees will be located on the farm. J is very excited and the boys are already dreaming of fresh honey for breakfast! I have a slight bee phobia, as I've never been stung. But, from what I have read, honey bees are very calm and not at all aggressive.
I have started some, very preliminary, research on sheep. I love the look of "Babydoll" sheep (a bread of sheep that are more 'miniature' in size.) It appears that cuteness comes at a cost. $500 for a Babydoll lamb. As sheep need a flock, the farmers that sell lambs will not sell to anyone that does not purchase at least two sheep or already have sheep on their farm. One grand for a pair of sheep... that seems crazy. However, if there is a market for Babydoll sheep, think of the profit a farmer would get after a typical lambing season. I think the 'run of the mill' lambs will work for us. The good news is... owner M has already offered to buy our wool and knows of a reputable person that can come sheer the sheep, when the time has come. Look at me, I'm already thinking of sheering sheep that are not even born yet. It must be February and I must be sick of winter and looking forward to spring.
Here's a link to learn more about Babydoll sheep, or at least see the cute little buggers...
http://nabssar.org/
Stay warm and drive safe!
Today was a busy day on the farm. I kept the home fire burning, loaded up on fire wood and did my chicken chores. We had two cords of wood delivered this last weekend. J loaded 1/2 of it in the barn, with the 'help' from some little 'helpers.' There is still a pile of wood outside the barn, that will likely be covered by inches of snow by the end of tomorrow...unless J is motivated to move firewood in the moonlight (after a 12 hour work day). Not likely.
Farmer J has been doing a lot of research on bees. We will be splitting the bee costs with the farm's owners (J and M.) Farmer J and M are busy figuring out where we will get out bees from, how to construct the best bee boxes and where the bees will be located on the farm. J is very excited and the boys are already dreaming of fresh honey for breakfast! I have a slight bee phobia, as I've never been stung. But, from what I have read, honey bees are very calm and not at all aggressive.
I have started some, very preliminary, research on sheep. I love the look of "Babydoll" sheep (a bread of sheep that are more 'miniature' in size.) It appears that cuteness comes at a cost. $500 for a Babydoll lamb. As sheep need a flock, the farmers that sell lambs will not sell to anyone that does not purchase at least two sheep or already have sheep on their farm. One grand for a pair of sheep... that seems crazy. However, if there is a market for Babydoll sheep, think of the profit a farmer would get after a typical lambing season. I think the 'run of the mill' lambs will work for us. The good news is... owner M has already offered to buy our wool and knows of a reputable person that can come sheer the sheep, when the time has come. Look at me, I'm already thinking of sheering sheep that are not even born yet. It must be February and I must be sick of winter and looking forward to spring.
Here's a link to learn more about Babydoll sheep, or at least see the cute little buggers...
http://nabssar.org/
Stay warm and drive safe!
Friday, February 1, 2013
Baby it's cold outside...
One word. Burrrrrrrr!!!!! It's odd to see so many shivering related goose bumps covering my golden tanned skin (the last physical remnant from our trip to Key West.) Below zero temperatures for the last few days. But the sun is holding tight until past 5 o' clock. I'll take the cold over the dark any day! And the best news, we made it through the long, cold and dark month of January!
Living without a garage is proving difficult in this cold weather. This morning, even with the benefit of J going out to warm the van before our departure time, the vehicle was frozen shut. I couldn't get either back sliding doors or the rear hatch to open. Frozen, like everything else outside. So... the children had to crawl through the front, drivers door to get to their car seats. Once we got to school (a 15 minute car ride), I was certain we could all get out. I was wrong. Now, I couldn't even open my driver's side door. So... we all crawled out of the van via the front, passenger door. We looked like a bunch of clowns. I parked the van in a sunny spot in our driveway in hopes of thawing out the doors. We will see if my plan is successful when we go to pick up JJ from school this afternoon.
We came home to a warm home with the wood burning stove hot from J keeping it going through the night. But the fire was not as hot as it needed to be to keep the upstairs warm and toasty. Only three logs left in the house. I peeked out onto the mudroom porch to find no wood stacked out there or in the wheelbarrow. Bad news for me. This meant a cold trip to the barn. I bundled up and made my trek to the barn. Armed with J's warm gloves, his big lumberjack- like hat and my down coat, I pushed the empty wheelbarrow through the 3-4 inches of snow. I filled up the wheelbarrow, after noticing we are running dangerously low on cut wood. After saying a little prayer (to assist me in pushing this precious wood back to the house without dumping it on the frozen ground), I stared to push. I made it. It only took four trips (from mudroom porch to inside the house) to stack my load by the wood burning stove. I am set for the day. I let J do the next trip later tonight, in the dark :) We are going to need to have another cord of wood delivered this weekend. Warming this farm house is pretty easy but not cheap! The combination of warmth via a wood burning stove, electric baseboard heaters and gas propane is working but expensive. Here's looking to summer and very cheap utility bills.
The chickens are doing OK. When they hear us walking towards the coop, via the sounds of crunching snow beneath our winter boots, they start clucking away. Once we get in the coop, they are already at the inner coop screen door, madly trying to push their way through. We have to gently push them away as we try to get into their area to collect eggs, feed them and fill their water. When they are really thirsty, they peck at the snow covering our boots. The chickens are definitely feeling 'cooped up. I feel for them but know they would not be willing to walk on the snow. Sorry ladies but we have to wait for a bit of a warm spell.
I leave you with some pictures from a recent "Downton Abbey" party (thank you Miss Inga for hosting). I was asked to bring a tart. Like most British food I've had, the tart looked better than it tasted. The last picture is my attempt to look pre- WWII (it was a costume party).
Living without a garage is proving difficult in this cold weather. This morning, even with the benefit of J going out to warm the van before our departure time, the vehicle was frozen shut. I couldn't get either back sliding doors or the rear hatch to open. Frozen, like everything else outside. So... the children had to crawl through the front, drivers door to get to their car seats. Once we got to school (a 15 minute car ride), I was certain we could all get out. I was wrong. Now, I couldn't even open my driver's side door. So... we all crawled out of the van via the front, passenger door. We looked like a bunch of clowns. I parked the van in a sunny spot in our driveway in hopes of thawing out the doors. We will see if my plan is successful when we go to pick up JJ from school this afternoon.
We came home to a warm home with the wood burning stove hot from J keeping it going through the night. But the fire was not as hot as it needed to be to keep the upstairs warm and toasty. Only three logs left in the house. I peeked out onto the mudroom porch to find no wood stacked out there or in the wheelbarrow. Bad news for me. This meant a cold trip to the barn. I bundled up and made my trek to the barn. Armed with J's warm gloves, his big lumberjack- like hat and my down coat, I pushed the empty wheelbarrow through the 3-4 inches of snow. I filled up the wheelbarrow, after noticing we are running dangerously low on cut wood. After saying a little prayer (to assist me in pushing this precious wood back to the house without dumping it on the frozen ground), I stared to push. I made it. It only took four trips (from mudroom porch to inside the house) to stack my load by the wood burning stove. I am set for the day. I let J do the next trip later tonight, in the dark :) We are going to need to have another cord of wood delivered this weekend. Warming this farm house is pretty easy but not cheap! The combination of warmth via a wood burning stove, electric baseboard heaters and gas propane is working but expensive. Here's looking to summer and very cheap utility bills.
The chickens are doing OK. When they hear us walking towards the coop, via the sounds of crunching snow beneath our winter boots, they start clucking away. Once we get in the coop, they are already at the inner coop screen door, madly trying to push their way through. We have to gently push them away as we try to get into their area to collect eggs, feed them and fill their water. When they are really thirsty, they peck at the snow covering our boots. The chickens are definitely feeling 'cooped up. I feel for them but know they would not be willing to walk on the snow. Sorry ladies but we have to wait for a bit of a warm spell.
I leave you with some pictures from a recent "Downton Abbey" party (thank you Miss Inga for hosting). I was asked to bring a tart. Like most British food I've had, the tart looked better than it tasted. The last picture is my attempt to look pre- WWII (it was a costume party).
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Rain, snow, cold, warm, snow, cold...
We have had such odd weather lately from freezing rain to heavy snow then horrid below freezing temperatures to almost 40 degrees, all in the same week. Our lawn is paying the price. The heavy rain on the frozen ground (covered by a thin layer of ice from the previous freezing rain) has created little ponds and puddles all over the place. Now, it's snowing so all the puddles are becoming slushy snow. As of late, we are unsure if we should be wearing snow or rain boots.
Life is pretty quiet on the farm, as to be expected in the middle of winter. The hens are still doing well, they are 12 and strong! They DO NOT like the snow and stay in the coop whenever there is snow on the ground.
We are starting to plan for the spring. Farmer J is now thinking that we should get a couple of sheep instead of goats. After traveling in Ireland, I have always wanted a few sheep. I would love to have the boys experience having some baby lambs on the farm as well-- we just have to make sure Farmer J doesn't want to cook them up for supper!!
The farmhouse is staying nice and warm. The wood burning stove continues to work well. I am still not a very good fire starter but I'm great at keeping a hot fire going throughout the day.
The one major annoyance in the farm in the never ending amount of Box Elder bugs and Japanese Beetles that we find. I can't tell you how many I flush down the toilet on a daily basis. I thought they would just be a summer nuisance... but I was severely wrong!
Better go...looks like JJ's school might be closing (due to the snow) after all!
I'll leave you with some of J's recent pictures from a snow camping trip (staying in the below yurt) near one of the Great Lakes.
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Paradise lost...Paradise found!
A week ago, J and I were basking in the tropical sun of Key West, Florida. The trip was to celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary! (Our anniversary is in April but we didn't want to leave the farm in busy and exciting spring time!) We left our fridgid, icy, northern climate on a dark and cold Monday morning and arrived in a sunny, island paradise by lunch! It was surreal to go from shivering to sweating all in less than 8 hours. Our skin was in shock from going from the very dry environment of the north to the ultra humid environment of the south. Every day the weather was the same, sunny and 80 degrees. The vacation was full of good food, daily trips to the beach, daily bike rides and daily Rum drinks. We stayed at the 'Speakeasy Inn' above 'The Rum Bar'. "Bahama Bob" made the best Pina Colada! If you are in the area, it would be worth your trip to check out this lovely establishment.
Thankfully, toward the end of our trip, we were longing to be back with our children and back to the farm. It's a wonderful feeling to be excited to return to your 'normal' life. Without living here on the farm, I'm not sure that would be the case! Farmer J missed his chickens and was glad to see that our "chicken sitter" did a great job!
When we first returned home, it was quite warm (for this area) but very icy! You could skate on our lawn and making the trip to the chicken coop was (and still is) a slippery feat!
Despite the cold, the chickens are doing well. J has the lights and heaters connected to timers to decrease extra chicken chores (i.e., trips to the coop) and decrease the electricity bill. We can tell the chickens feel "cooped" up but we are hesitant to let them out as we have spotted a hawk flying around the farm! See below!
Here's the hawk high above the farm in a tree right above the garden.
Minutes later, the hawk took out one of our beautiful song birds that was happily eating away at our bird feeder. The hawk is definately a bird of prey. Yikes- we have to protect our chickens!
Slowly but surely, we are taking down holiday decorations and gearing up for the last leg of winter! I can tell the days are getting longer and Groundhog's Day is just around the bend! We are dreaming of spring baby chicks, the arrival of seeds in the mail and wearing mud boots instead of snow boots!
Monday, December 31, 2012
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year from us all! From our family to yours, we wish you peace, love and prosperity in 2013!
We brought in 2013 with a dinner of surf and turf, mushrooms, couscous and sparkling grape juice. We said thanks for a healthy and happy 2012 and toasted to a great 2013! Today is especially meaningful for Farmer J and I, as we met 17 years ago today. J- you are a gift from heaven above and I thank Him daily for sending you to me! (We are also so thankful for Mima & Papa watching the kiddos to grant us some 'peace on Earth' on this New Years Eve day!)
2012 brought us many blessings; some of those blessings included finding the farm, moving to the farm and living here on the farm. I pray that we will be able to live here for many, many more years! Moving to a farm has brought us closer to the land, closer to each other, closer to God and closer to living the life we always dreamed of living.
Years ago, we had dreamed of living this life. We dreamed big and prayed a lot. I think we are living proof that dreams can come true and prayers are answered...you just have to be patient, open-minded, a little gutsy and a little creative. And... have amazingly supportive parents, family and friends!
So here is to dreaming big in 2013! And now, I'm off to bed (we celebrated New Years in Icelandic time). Hey, some of us have to work tomorrow!
We brought in 2013 with a dinner of surf and turf, mushrooms, couscous and sparkling grape juice. We said thanks for a healthy and happy 2012 and toasted to a great 2013! Today is especially meaningful for Farmer J and I, as we met 17 years ago today. J- you are a gift from heaven above and I thank Him daily for sending you to me! (We are also so thankful for Mima & Papa watching the kiddos to grant us some 'peace on Earth' on this New Years Eve day!)
2012 brought us many blessings; some of those blessings included finding the farm, moving to the farm and living here on the farm. I pray that we will be able to live here for many, many more years! Moving to a farm has brought us closer to the land, closer to each other, closer to God and closer to living the life we always dreamed of living.
Years ago, we had dreamed of living this life. We dreamed big and prayed a lot. I think we are living proof that dreams can come true and prayers are answered...you just have to be patient, open-minded, a little gutsy and a little creative. And... have amazingly supportive parents, family and friends!
So here is to dreaming big in 2013! And now, I'm off to bed (we celebrated New Years in Icelandic time). Hey, some of us have to work tomorrow!
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Dreaming of spring...
Earlier this week, I ventured through the snow to the road to check out mail. Our mailbox had around 2-3 inches of snow on top of it and the door was slightly frozen shut. Winter. Around the holiday season, I love checking the mail because the post office delivers not just bills and junk mail, but actual cards from family and friends. On this trip to the mailbox, I was surprised to see what else arrived!
Not just one, but three garden seed catalogs! Not yet January and we are receiving physical reminders that spring is just around the corner. After living with Farmer J for many years, I knew he would be very excited to see the seed catalogs. I also knew my oldest would be quite happy as well. Last year, he spent hours going through the catalog and circling what he thought we should grow in our garden. He tended to circle more fruits than vegetables. Most kids circle toys in toy catalogs and mine circles fruits and veggies out of a seed catalog. I think he was meant to be a farm kid!
I am rather new to the seed catalog. I figured out what zone we live in, to best determine what we can successfully grow on the farm. I was surprised to see that we could try to grow not only eating grapes but also kiwi. Like my son, I tend to gravitate to the fruit over the veggies!
Here's a reminder of our last garden. Hopefully, seeing the fresh garden pictures will remind you as well that spring is just around the bend!
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