Winter on the Farm

No words today.  Just pictures of the cold, dark stillness of winter on the farm.  But at least the days are getting longer, right?

 

Nine Days

Nine days until twenty-some family members (and a few dogs) arrive for our annual Christmas gathering at the farm.  I'm not panicking.  Not me.  Not one bit.  I'm used to hosting visitors now. 

A fellow farmer friend once told me that if I ever have a farm, be prepared for visitors.  Many visitors.  Announced and unannounced.  He also told me that anyone who ever owns a farm should be very grateful because not many will ever have that opportunity, and in his opinion, its a farm owner's duty to show their gratitude for their precious gift by sharing their farm, its beauty, its animals and its bounty with family, friends, guests and visitors as often as they are able.  A very wise man, no?...~A

Hint of Green

I have to rub my eyes with disbelief, but I think I see just the slightest hint of green out there today...

A break finally

Yesterday evening I baked a loaf of bread, made some croutons from a slice or two, then figured I probably should have salad to go with that, and a little blue cheese and balsamic dressing, only because I had to have "something" to go with my wine, right? 

The weather has finally turned for the better and the temperature will reach 45 degrees today, which should melt off the last bits of snow.  Have a lovely Friday ~ A

A beautiful sunrise

A break in the weather

No changes in any of the animals.  No babies.  No sickness. Nothing but waiting.  Waiting for warmer weather and waiting for babies, hopefully. 

This week I've started setting eggs aside to put into the incubator this coming weekend.  I'm hoping to get 40 of them in there.  But that depends on how busy the ladies are this week, and how many eggs are fit to put in there.  I'm only going to incubate the darkest of the dark eggs, with the hope of improving the Marans line in the future.  We'll just have to wait and see what hatches?

 

It's been a week, but there hasn't been much to talk about or anything exciting happening.  The weather gave us a break over the weekend and reached a high of 40 degrees, so I took the opportunity to clean up the barn a bit and walk over the property to see that all was well.  Chiba spent a lot of time outside inspecting the yard and looking for food. 

 

 

Hello February, Good-bye Ethel...

A lovely, quiet weekend on the farm made for a great beginning to February. Saturday was a day for butchering two of the Turken (aka "Naked Neck") hens that had approached the ripe old age of two years.  But really I was in a hurry to butcher them, because they are constantly eating everyone else's eggs, and because they are just plain mean to the other chickens.  Roosters included.

So the deed was done, and on Sunday I made a nice dinner of roasted chicken with a side of au gratin potato. The butchering chore was preceded that morning by a breakfast of French toast sprinkled with summer blackberries pulled from the freezer.  I even tossed a chunk of butter on top.

Mmmmm.... French Toast

The potatoes were easy; one potato-sliced thin, grated parmesan and heavy cream...

The dogs needed to get out and run, so I took a nice walk late afternoon to check fence lines and have a look around. The creek back in the woods was frozen, but I could still hear the little waterfall underneath the ice and snow. The dogs very much enjoyed the walk and slept well in the warm kitchen the rest of the day. Although, they seem to be confused as to which bed is in tended for which dog.



Louie on the hunt...

Checking the Fence



There's a waterfall under there somewhere...

Later in the evening when it was time to bring the horses in for the night and feed everyone else, I ended up needing Louie's assistance to help catch the turkey hen that escaped her pen.  She's done this three times now, so last night I clipped her wings. Hopefully this will put an end to that.  Her name is now "Lady Houdini..."

And the "Polar Vortex" continues...

Yep, its still c-o-l-d...  I know because I checked this morning, and the temperature read -23 degrees.  So it is true!.  This was the first time the big dog ever had frozen, stinging paws after running outside for a quick poop this morning. Poor Louie.  Because it was too cold to let the dog play outside, I took him along with me to the feed mill to pick up some grain.  He looked a tad concerned with my driving skills.  But in my defense it was snowing, and icy!



Louie riding" shotgun"

Snow and cold.  Cold and snow.  More cold, more snow. Cold snow. It appears never-ending. I'm going to loose my mind.  Have I already?



Heading to the Feed Mill

What have we been doing to get through all of this polar despair?  Drooling over spring seed catalogues and eating of course!  Lately we've just been hanging out in the kitchen, throwing ingredients together and playing around with our food to see what we could come up with.  So far the results have not been disappointing.



Perfect Seafood Soup



Red Skin Mashed Potatoes with Bacon



A little bit of everything omelet



French Toast and More Bacon!



Sausage Bean and Veg Soup (Spicy)



Simple Salad with Feta and Chickpeas

Limbo

Life on the farm feels madly stuck in a sort of "limbo" stage at the moment.  Everything is frozen. And still. And nearly lifeless.  I rode one of the horses all over the property last weekend to inspect everything and see what was new.  Not much.

In the garden, the garlic had poked their little heads through the soil at some point during this winter and the little green tips were frozen solid.  But I'm not concerned, the same thing happened last year and everything was fine come July. The only thing that appeared to show tiny signs of life were the blackberry bushes. They seem to be growing a little, like the buds on the trees.  But it could be my imagination.  Or just my lust to see something green and growing!

The goat is still waddling around looking like a small pregnant cow. The woodpile continues to shrink.  I'm worried about the goat because if she is actually pregnant and does go into labor please, please, please, don't let it be in the next ten days when the temperatures are in the low "teens" and dipping below zero during the nights.  Otherwise, I will have to bring her and any babies into the house.  No question there!



January 13, 2014

The sun sets today at 5:29 p.m. here in Northeast Ohio.  How I long for the month of May when things really start to green up and the sun sets at a more respectable time!

On another dismal note, I've discovered lately that one of my racehorses has come to despise chickens. He's bashed a few around now, but this latest outburst was downright savage! Not only did he crush this hen, but then proceeded to tear into her, toss her around a bit, and then finish her off by stomping her to death. Maybe the horse is suffering from cabin fever as well...

Affirmations

Today's post isn't really about "farm" stuff, but rather a way to get the farm in the first place.  Yes I know, it takes money to buy a farm, unless you were one of the lucky ones who inherited the family farm from your parents, who inherited it from their parents, and so on.  I didn't inherit my farm.  And I'm glad for that actually, because I can only imagine that having a farm handed down to you from your parents creates a whole other set of expectations and issues that I'm not certain I would want to contend with. Or maybe not.  I can't really say, I suppose.  Anyway, back to "getting" your farm...

Aside from money, it also takes desire, and a plan. I am a true believer in affirmations and goal setting, or as another way to put it, "write the shit down and make it happen."  When I was looking for a farm, I had a firm list of criteria for the kind of house and property I wanted.  So I made a list that looked something like the following one, and my search began.

• Newer house that didn't require any upfront repairs, with in-law suite, or something that would suffice as an in-law suite
• A good-sized house - 2300 sq. feet or more
• A water feature on the property (creek, river or pond)
• Fenced in pasture - ready to put horses on
• A nice barn with at least 6 stalls
• A minimum of a three car garage
• Relatively flat pastures
• Some woods
• A nice, big covered porch
• A walk-out basement
• A fireplace
• A huge eat-in kitchen with room for an island
• Commute distance from my job of an hour or less

So what happened?  I found the property with all those things and more, and I got it!  But it also took one year and forty-eight days to close on the property!  It was a "short sale" and banks are slow. And there was a lot of negotiating. But I wanted that farm damn it; so every day I would take out a picture of it, visualize myself owning it, what animals I would have running around on it, and what vegetables I would grow in my garden. And I believe that much of getting my farm was due to the constant daily affirmations and visualizations (and a TON of paperwork and patience).  Two good books on this subject are "It Works" by RHJ, and "Write it Down, Make it Happen" by Henriette Klauser.  I own these books myself,  and refer back to them often to reinforce my belief in their theories.  Now get going and get yourself a farm!

Autumnal Equinox 2013

Sunday marked the first day of Fall (Sept. 22nd this year), also known as the Autumnal Equinox. I celebrated the changing of the season by taking a stroll around the farm, preparing (and eating) some good food, admiring nature's subtle changes, and bidding farewell to Summer.

Start with a good Breakfast!

Fall's Wild Flowers