What would you like to see more of?

I often wonder why I like to blog.  Is it that it helps me clear my head, or because I believe that if there's one tiny possibility that I can make some person's life better in some way, whether it be entertainment, or learning something new from my simple farmstead happenings, then it must be a good thing.  And if it is a good thing, then I should most certainly carry on. Right?

 

Winter is here... Snow is here... Ice is here...

This weather makes taking care of the animals a lot less fun. But still fun!  The chickens are not at all pleased with the snow.  The pig is growing restless and bored.  Yesterday, he ate all the feathers off a chicken that flew into his stall.  Only the feathers he wanted.  Needless to say, the chicken was quite dead when I found it.  The temperatures outside were only in the 20's.  Poor cold bird.  Bad, bad Pig.

Winter is here.  We may as well carry on then and get through it.

Enjoy the snow.  ~A

The winds are changing...

A little seasonal folklore...

"When deer are in grey coat in October, expect a hard winter"

"Much rain in October makes for much wind in December"

"A warm October means a cold February"

 

 Last fall,  all the wooly-bear caterpillars were pure black.  I haven't seen ANY this year so far. Maybe last year's polar vortex, winter-from-hell froze them all dead? 

Last fall, the first snowfall was October 24th.  We've had quite a bit of rain this October, but so far, no snow.  I'm glad.

I do hope this winter is nothing as miserable as last year's.  Although the animals did impress me with how well they coped and withstood it. 




The first frost of fall 2014

 

 

I wonder if the spider froze?

I wouldn't say its been a warm October.  And official winter is still two months away. But we did have our first frost about ten days ago.  Its dark in the early mornings now, and dark early in the evenings. It feels a bit like winter.  I still haven't gotten any wood in yet, but I do have a loft full of hay.  I hope you all are healthy, happily getting your wood stacked, and filling your pantries.  And may this winter be more kind to all of us. 

 

~A

Hello Snow?

This morning I woke up to the first snow of the season.  I was not expecting it at all.  I still have to plant garlic!  We’ve had some rain lately, and the ground has just been too wet to use the tiller.  Honestly, where I live, we have been so spoiled this October up until this morning.  The weather has been warm, though damp, and little old naive me believed that just maybe we’d get through Halloween with nice temperatures, and after that I didn’t care what happened. 

Well folks, obviously this is my "wake up call."  This morning's weather set my mind racing, thinking about all the things that need to be done or put into place for the winter, soon.  Like, right now soon.

Time to dust off the electric water buckets, make sure the heat lamps are in place, figure out what to do with the 3-week old chicks that are camping out in my kitchen at the moment; order the
last load of hay, stock up on enough bedding to last 3-4 months, etc.  The list goes on, believe me.  It all seems too daunting really.

On another note, this colder weather has caused me to put the wood stove into action, and I must say, it is working fabulously!  The house is so warm and cozy.  Wood only has to be thrown in once before bedtime, once in the morning, and then once (or not) during the day.  I can actually walk around the house in shorts, comfortably.  Amazing.  I just hope I have enough wood to get through the winter.  And, there is still a lot more left to cut and stack, which needs to happen soon before anymore of the white stuff falls.  Gloves... OMG I need new gloves!  And flannel sheets!  I better go grab my list.