Author: Cabincrafted1

Yoyo Weather

We have two days of spring followed by two days of winter followed by two more days of spring. And a winter storm is on the radar for Sunday night into Tuesday morning. I’m ready for spring to come and stay. After moving the now week old chicks to the basement, I left them there until they are another week or so older or until the weather reaches more moderate temperatures and looks like it may hold.

Each warm day, Jim goes for a ride on his motorcycle. Today while he was gone and the big chickens were free ranging, I tackled fruit tree pruning and remulching. Over the past couple of years, we have planted 5 apple trees, 3 peach trees, and 2 Asian pears. The oldest two peaches were pruned for the first time last year and responded with lots of new growth. Most of the apples planted last year needed very little work. The peach in the chicken pen is getting too much nitrogen from the chickens, it is growing like wild but probably won’t produce fruit.

One of our goals is to fence this area this spring and then the chickens will free range within the orchard and in non growing seasons, also the vegetable garden. They have effectively cleared all of the weeds from one compost bin and started on another.

This storm will come without the return of our generator from the shop. Most of the pre storm prep is in place from the wind storm two days ago. A few supplies will be added tomorrow and again we will hunker down and hope the storm prediction fizzles. If it doesn’t, we may be facing another ice and snow storm.

Come on spring, we are ready.
Life is an adventure on our mountain farm.

March 14, 2014
This Moment

A Friday ritual. No words, capturing a moment from the week. Simple moments to savor and remember. If you are inspired to do the same, leave a link in the comments of your moment for others to find and see.

March 14, 2014
Clean up and Destash

It is almost springtime, though today’s thermometer didn’t feel like it. The Forsythia in town is blooming. We will not see ours bloom for another few weeks at least. The fruit trees are budding out and pruning is in order tomorrow. The coming of spring will empty the garage of the deck furniture, the chicken tractor and some of the gardening stuff. When we moved our household goods to our retirement homestead we moved a portable workbench that has sat and collected clutter for the past 6 years. There are also some duplicate power tools and other items. The garage has two very sturdy built in workbenches, organizational shelving to store coolers, camping gear, paint cans and organizer boxes for nails, screws, nuts and bolts.

Inside the house is a stash of yarn and fiber I will not use, stuff that I won, was given to me, or is extra from completed projects, some knitting books that I no longer want, and my spinning wheel that I wish to replace with a slightly more advanced one.

In my spring cleaning mode, I have started listing these items on Craigslist, Ravelry and Ebay to reduce the clutter and to help fund the spinning wheel that I covet.

Once the items have been sold and spring arrives to move the gardening and deck items back outside, there will be a major garage cleaning and reorganization so that the built in workbenches can actually be used and so that coolers and garden tools can be more easily accessed.

My theory is that my junk is someone else’s treasure.

March 13, 2014
Here we go again!

Yesterday was in the low 70’s and sunny, today in the mid 60’s, but a front is roaring through, house shaking wind, torrential rain this afternoon, and plunging temperatures. We took a day trip today to two Harley Davidson shops, each more than an hour from here for Jim to check out new and used motorcycles with a bit of size to replace his Honda Rebel starter bike. We got back just in time to pick up our generator and take it to the repair shop and drive home in the worst of the rain. The generator that we bought 7 years ago was used during construction of the house prior to the electric service being brought down to the house site. Since that time, it has sat unused in the barn. It is a sizeable unit and was unfortunately stored with some fuel in it. We have had several times when having it functional would have at least provided us with some light and ability to keep the freezer working. It seemed like we should deal with it, so it has gone to the shop to be cleaned and tuned and hopefully made fully functional again. We would like to have it tonight. The thermometer plunged 20º in the hour after we got home. It is falling into the teens tonight and staying near freezing tomorrow daytime and back into the 20’s tomorrow night.

With the strong wind, we again face the threat of loss of power. Though we and the dogs would be uncomfortable, we would survive it well, the 5 day old chicks would not. I moved their set up into the basement as the basement having 3 walls underground hold its temperature better than the rest of the house. I also turned the thermostat up to warm the space more and have brought in wood, paper and kindling to start a fire in the wood stove if the power fails. The chicks will be placed as close as safe to that stove in hopes that they make it. At less than a week old, they need 90+ºf temperature and that will not be able to happen for the next 36 hours if the power fails.

The other preparations for storms have also been handled. The guest bath tub has been filled. Extra straw placed in the chicken coop. Wood brought into the garage, fires laid in the fireplace and the wood stove, just awaiting a match. Oil lamps filled, batteries in flashlights and lanterns checked. I keep hoping that the prep will ensure that the power stays on. I would rather be ready and not need it.

Next time we are threatened, hopefully we will have our generator back and will fret a bit less, but we still will have no heat and no water if the power fails. And tonight I will not sleep well, I never do when the wind howls even though there are no trees near the house. There is a shed roof over the heat pump to protect it from snow slide off the roof, but I always fret about it’s stability in high wind.

As the temperatures were falling and the winds rising, the dogs again decided it was time to wade in the muddy creeks in the sinkhole. I am not amused with this behavior.

Winter will end, I have confidence, but as it darkens, it has dropped 30º already and it is sleeting. After much coaxing, the chickens have been closed up for the night.

March 12, 2014
Critters

Another beautiful day, a ride for Jim, some free range time for the flock, a trip to town for me to deliver a few items I sold on Craigslist and to purchase a 50 gal plastic (Christmas Tree) storage tub for the 4 day old chicks. When we brought them home on Sunday, I took the bottom half of a large plastic dog crate and cable tied the door in place. That was set inside a large dog wire kennel cage set up in the garage and the heat lamp hung over it. I realized that was too drafty and we are expecting another temperature plunge tomorrow night, down into the teens and the garage will be too cold even with the heat lamp.

The new set up can be brought into the house if necessary without getting pine shavings and chick poop on everything. I don’t like them in the house, but if it is below freezing while they are this young, they will come inside. The large storage tub having sides keeps the pine shaving contained and helps retain the heat. An old clothes drying rack with the lower bars removed gives me a structure with metal bars that sits astride the tub and the heat lamp can be dangled over one end of the brooder, giving the chicks a warm spot to go when they are cold and enough space to get away from the heat if they are too warm.

They will stay in the garage tonight and during the day tomorrow, but they will then be brought in for two nights and a day until we have another bout of milder weather. I will be glad when my hens can start raising their own chicks without my help.

Once Jim was home from his ride, we turned the pups out to roam and romp our farm for a while and they disappeared. It is rare for them to leave the property, but since there has been very little leash time this winter, both are more stubborn about coming when called, especially if they are well away from the house in one of the fields. After they had been outside for at least an hour and had disappeared from view I started calling, walked the long uphill driveway to check mail, still calling, walked over to look down into the sinkhole area still calling. No response. After getting in the car and driving up to the nearest main road, back down and around the perimeter of the two large fields calling and not seeing them, I walked back to the sinkhole. Both creeks are flowing strongly into the sinkhole and it is wet and muddy. The dogs finally wandered up, wet and muddy and quite content with themselves. No way I was letting either of them back in the house I had been cleaning all afternoon, so both got hosed off at the yard hydrant and that water was cold. Then both tied to heavy furniture on the front porch until they partially dried.

At least it was 73ºf outside. I finally dried them off with beach towels and let them back inside. So far we haven’t figured out how to keep them out of that part of the farm and as soon as it is consistently warm, we need to get back on leash work to remind them who is in charge.

Life is an adventure on our mountain farm.

March 11, 2014
Canning Time

Recently there have been a few evenings when I wanted a quick dinner only to realize that there was no more pasta sauce and the only broth was frozen. Last summer was cool and rainy, good for the greens and beans, but not so good for the tomatoes, plus I had planted fewer of them as I was overwhelmed the prior summer. Because the harvest was lighter and more sporadic, I blanched, peeled and froze the tomatoes in vacuum seal bags, instead of canning them into the usual pasta sauce, tomatoes with green chilies and plain tomatoes. Periodically this winter, I have hauled out a few bags and made enough pasta sauce for a couple of dinners, freezing the extra. I don’t like using the microwave, though we have one, so thawing sauce or broth requires foresight.

Today and tomorrow are beautiful early springlike days, highs in the 60s, sunny with the buds beginning to show on the lilacs and forsythia. These are the days when Jim wants to get on his motorcycle and go for a ride. His rides give me time to do crafts or household jobs. I decided early today that I was going to take most of the remaining frozen tomatoes and make a big pot of sauce and can it so that dinner is just a few steps to the pantry, a box of pasta and in the time it takes to boil the water and heat the noodles, the sauce can be heated.

When we killed chickens last fall, we cut some into pieces and as we don’t have a cleaver, we deboned the breasts. That left us with several carcasses with back meat and random other meat scraps on them. They were bagged together and thrown in the freezer with the bagged and sealed birds and parts. This seemed like a good day to take care of them too and to thaw the 2 quarts of turkey broth in the freezer and make pints of broth, also canned to have quickly available to cook rice or as the base for soup or potpie.

Late winter is not the usual time for canning around here, but the empty jars, lids and three large pots were hauled out. Sauce cooked in one, broth simmering in the second and finally, several inches of water started to boiling in the pressure canner.

The 10 pints of tomato sauce have finished canning, 9 pints of broth are building pressure and as soon as the pressure is down enough to open the canner, the last 3 pints of broth will go into the canner for processing.

As a bonus, the carcasses yielded 11 ounces of cooked chicken to add to soup or a casserole. This will make meal prep easier for the remainder of winter and spring until the garden starts giving us fresh goodness to enjoy. It will also let me consolidate the remaining frozen produce and chickens into the refrigerator freezer to let the chest freezer defrost and get a good cleaning before we have more table birds and produce to add to it.

Not a bad day’s work.

Life is always an adventure on our mountain farm.

March 10, 2014
Chick Day

Tractor Supply has had Chick Days going now for a couple of weeks, but they don’t carry the breed that I want. My goal is to keep Cogburn, my Buff Orpington rooster, the two Buff hens and the one Olive Egger Hen and replace the other 6 with 10 more Buff Orpingtons. That will give me 13 layers instead of 9 and will give me a pure heritage flock, except for the Olive Egger, whose eggs are just fun because of their color and easy to identify. Hopefully, this will give me a self sustaining flock as the Buffs make good mothers and can raise their replacements and the table birds. A few days ago, I reconnected with the gal that I bought my two Buff hens from last year when they were about 10 weeks old. She has 1 to 3 day chicks and though I didn’t want to raise chicks again this year, I also didn’t want to pay $20 per bird for ones that are only a month younger than the layers I have since I wanted 10. This morning we made a road trip to meet her in a town about an hour from here and did a parking lot exchange of money for 10 new chicks. We took a towel lined cat carrier to bring the peepers home, with a side trip to Tractor Supply for starter feed as they can’t eat the laying mix for the big girls.

I have to admit that they are adorable at just a couple of days old. However when you buy babies they must be kept warm and after my experience of having the brooder in the basement last year, I don’t want a repeat of that, so they are in a makeshift brooder in the garage with a heat lamp, which I also don’t like to use, but have no other option at this point. Last year I used a large black plastic livestock water trough as a brooder, but it is full of split wood in the garage and I didn’t want to have to empty it. maybe later as they grow. The makeshift brooder is half of a plastic large dog crate set inside a larger wire dog cage with the heat lamp hanging from the wire cage. Pine shavings, a chick feeder and waterer in with them and a blanket over part of it, they are set for a while.

Hopefully, this brood will be a success and in 7 weeks they can be moved outdoors, the 6 hens from my United Nations flock will be moved to the chicken tractor for the young ones to be introduced to the coop. Sometimes this summer, those 6 will go to freezer camp and my egg production will drop until the babies are ready to lay.

Hubby says I have an addiction, but at least I limited my purchase to only the breed I want and only females, so we won’t have multiple pens of different ages, and one of them full of testosterone like we had last spring when I bought 21 chicks over a two week period and had half of them cockrells.

March 9, 2014
Solo Time

Today is a beautiful springlike day after snow day before yesterday. The snow is gone, the day is warm and dry. The kind of day that Jim has been wishing for all winter. He was up as soon as it warmed and dressed to ride. He took off on his motorcycle for a “long” ride and I was left to do whatever I wished.

Today is the day the new yarn and fabric store opened in the nearby town, so for me it was a day to explore. Lunch alone at Panera, reading, then across the road to the new shop to check it out. After that excursion, I was off to my favorite local shop to sit with friends and knit.

My current projects, since I finished the baby sweater and delivered it to the Mom to be, but failed to photograph first, are still the Honey Cowl of Green Dragon Terminator in Heatwave color.

It is coming along nicely, though I found a dropped stitch while I was at his shop and now have to decide how to deal with it. And my other project is Estelle of Quince and Co. Lark in Delft color. The body is finished on it and I’m working on one sleeve. That leaves the other sleeve and the feather and fan front bands. I am beginning to think it may not get worn this year, but it will be put away for the next cold winter.

I am considering selling my Ashford Kiwi 2 spinning wheel for a Kromski Sonata that I can pack up and take to the weekly spinning group. I’m not addicted enough to own more than one wheel. I was hoping when I got to the Green Dragon Shop to knit that David had not sold all of the fiber he took to Hawk’s Nest last week, he had one I really wanted, but my road trip there didn’t happen as I remembered an appointment that interfered, but alas, he sold every roving he took with him. Maybe in the fall.

March 8, 2014
This Moment – March 7, 2014

Another snow day. Where is spring?

March 7, 2014
Not for the Faint of Heart

My Dad is a spry 90+ year old. He still does most of their cooking, helps with housework, does some of his own yard work and delivers “Meals on Wheels” to folks decades younger than he. He walks daily, hasn’t smoked since the first Surgeon General’s warning in 1964 and is much healthier than would be suspected for one his age. His side of the family tend to exceed the average age rule, his grandmother living to 94, his mother to 88, his brother into his 80s.

This makes me young, right? After all, I am a senior citizen, eligible for Social Security and Medicare, but still young. Sometimes I feel like I can still climb mountains, have learned to ride a horse in the past couple of years, garden, drive a tractor and mow acres of land. But this winter is making me feel not so young. As a late 20 something, I separated a shoulder skiing. As a mid 50 something, I broke a wrist roller blading with my daughter. The shoulder was before they sent you to a specialist and physical therapy for such injuries. The wrist was not cast correctly and has a 17º healed displacement. Unfortunately, they aren’t the same arm and both are aggravating me this winter. The wrist has encouraged arthritic deterioration of my wrist bones. This was causing me pain and after a couple of steroid shots I agreed to surgery to remove the most damaged wrist bone at the base of my thumb. This has caused the muscles to atrophy, reducing the strength of my hand and sadly only temporarily provided any relief. The pain affects my radial nerve so I also have pain in my elbow and my shoulder. Not wanting to take NSAIDs regularly, I have tried capsaicin cream, OTC herbal supplements that supposedly reduce inflammation, Tart Cherry juice and just about any other alternative. I haven’t tried acupuncture, nor have I been willing to return to the orthopedist, though I wonder if there is anything else he could do other than more steroid shots which I also want to avoid. To add insult to injury, it has also intensified trigger finger in my ring finger on that hand.

I’m not ready to accept aging, I’m still too young.

March 6, 2014