Category: A Week on the Farm

The Blog

Blogs are developed for several reasons. Mine is basically a journal. I have tried paper journalling, however, writing is much slower than I think or type, so the blog evolved. If my thought are deeper than I wish to share, there is a private typed journal that occassionally I use.

This week has been full of life. After our Anniversary dinner last weekend, we have had a busy but usual week. With the chick teenagers now in the coop, daily trips over to check on them and carrying a plastic cup with a handful of dried mealworms as a treat. The cup is shaken from the garage to the coop and as the door is opened and the treat poured into a small dish. The idea, to train them that the noise, the yellow cup, and me mean a treat so that when they begin to free range, they will come when called with the treat cup. It is about time to let them into the run, so most of a bale of hay has been spread in the run, areas of the fence that either had a broken wire or not tight to the ground were reinforced, and the battery operated pop door reset for times, but still wedged shut. We have two days of winter wet starting tonight with rain, turning to snow tomorrow into Monday night, so the door will remain closed for a couple more days. I don’t want to have to be out there in snow and cold to encourage any of them that don’t find their way back inside the coop as night falls. They are looking like small chickens now, less awkward.

The two black ones are Mystic Onyx breed, one I had never seen before. They are a cross of Silkies and meat birds, medium sized, gentle nature, black legs, beaks, combs, and feathers. One of these has feathered feet and a head tuft more like a Silkie.

We had several beautiful days this week where we could take our daily walk outdoors on the rails to trails trail. The mid section still hasn’t reopened from bridge repair, but is supposed to reopen in the next couple of weeks. Getting outdoors encourages a longer walk than when we walk indoors in the mall. We have managed a couple of 3 mile walks this week. When the weather warms a bit more and the spring flowers are showing more, we will extend the walk to the Hahn Garden on campus.

With the nice day today, we made it back to our routine with breakfast followed by the local Saturday Farmer’s Market for the first time in several weeks. Being able to get some fresh greens, radishes, bread, and a small roast is wonderful.

The new spindle has been the spindle of choice this week. It is Koa wood, hubby selected as a reminder of our trip last November to Kaua’i.

I love the smaller spindles, this one is a bit larger than 3 of mine, but still small enough for travel and tucking in my daily bag, but large enough to hold more spun fiber.

The hydroponic garden has 6 young herb plants sprouted. Soon they will be large enough to begin to enjoy some fresh herbs in cooking and salads. Our favorite garden center reopens next weekend and seeds needed for this year ‘s garden can be purchased. There are some left over seeds from last year, but not enough peas or beans, and after the raccoons got all of the sweet corn, I will go back to planting popcorn instead. The brightly colored popcorn can be used for fall decorating and popping and the raccoons don’t seem to like it as well. Last year I tried to cover the unplanted areas with pumpkins and failed. I don’t want to deal with the weed load this year, so a plan needs to be developed. Maybe gourds that can be used also for fall decorating and shared with daughter. If that fails, the line trimmer will have to be used more frequently as the garden fencing hasn’t been moved.

Spring can’t come soon enough, we are tired of the cold and the ridiculously high energy bills.

February 21, 2026
Cha-cha-changes

This past weekend we had the opportunity to drive 275+ miles north and east in the state to visit one of our son’s and his family. Never have I traveled across the state and seen snow/ice everywhere. Twice we again drove through snow falling and traffic throwing salty, muddy splatter up on the windshield and rear window making visibility difficult.

Our son’s family’s apartment is across the street from the hotel where we stay and with temperatures in the teens and up to 60 mph wind gusts outdoor walking was brutal. Then on Saturday we went to a play in the city about 10 blocks from where we could get off the Metro and it was bitter and windy . Sunday was still only in the teens and windy but not quite as brutal. The snow showers we experienced on the way there had stopped and the sky cleared on Sunday. We got home to find another 4 inches had fallen here and there were some deep spots in the path that had been plowed out on Thursday night.

The plowed driveway that finally allowed us to drive to the garage and get back out.

The new snow didn’t hamper that fortunately, and yesterday we started a warm up, thaw, and clearing finally after about 3 weeks of ice, snow, and temperatures never reaching 32f. Today, we reached a high of 57 f and we were able to take our daily walk outdoors, though the rails to trails path was only plowed to about half it’s width. It was wonderful to get outside in only a light jacket and enjoy the sunshine and mild temperature.

I am still sore from my fall on the ice a week ago, but am managing daily chores and our walk as long as I don’t lift anything too heavy.

With the more temperate week ahead, the chicks purchased in early January and now fully feathered, too large for the 45 gallon stock tank they were occupying in the basement, were moved to the empty coop. A bale and a half of pine shavings were added to it as it had been cleaned out in November when the adults were gone. A 5 gallon waterer and a 15 pound feeder were placed in before we moved the teenager chicks. They haven’t had heat on them for several days other than basement heat.

Here they were at about 1 1/2-2 weeks old before they outgrew the smaller crate and were moved to the stock tank. Having them in the basement for almost 6 weeks, they have created an amazing amount of dust. After we moved them and removed the stock tank, I did do a surface dusting, but will go down tomorrow and do a more thorough cleaning and try to get the floor clean. This batch of birds will be the last ones I raise for eggs. It is getting too difficult to move 50 pound sacks of feed and hauling a 5 gallon water container to keep them fed and hydrated.

After they spend a week or two in the coop to learn that it is home, they will be allowed into the covered pen on hay for another week or two, then allowed into the covered run around the garden, hopefully to keep the bug and weed load down in the garden.

A box of supplies for the hydroponic herb garden was finally delivered today. UPS has been trying to deliver it for 2 1/2 weeks, but unable to get down our icy road. It will be nice having fresh herbs again once they germinate and get some size on them. Once spring arrives and they can go out to the half barrel on the patio, more will be sown and before next winter, the hydroponic will be started again for fall and winter use. I was too late this year getting the baskets and sponges to start it in the fall.

I know winter isn’t over, but hopefully the artic temperatures have passed and more seasonable winter temperatures will prevail. There will be more wintry precipitation I’m sure, but inches of snow topped with ice then more snow creating 30 acres of glacier hopefully is gone. For the first time in weeks, we can see some grass peeking through the snow in the back field and gravel on the driveway. This has certainly not been typical.

February 10, 2026
Winter, it is time to quit!

As we had been able to plod to the car up the hill in ice cleats and get out, we had been staying well supplied. Monday evening, we decided to go to town and see a movie. Though the lot was full of cars, we were the only two in the theater for the film we selected. Walking down from the car when we got home, using a flashlight to guide us, I apparantly lost one of the slip on cleat units on one of my boots and didn’t realize it. We were about 2/3 the way down to the house when that foot hit ice, slid out from under me and down I went hard on my back. Fortunately, nothing broken, I got up, carefully moved to an area of a drift of deeper unfrozen snow and got back to the house.

The next morning, using my remaining cleats and one of hubby’s, I walked back up to find my missing one near the car.

As we had a very early appointment on Wednesday morning in the city about 75 minutes away, we packed a backpack with overnight gear and next day clothing, trudged up to the car and drove to a hotel in the city nearer the appointment. The appointment got delayed by a couple hours and after a minor complication, ended up spending the entire day there. On our way home as night fell, it began to snow again. Not wanting to risk another walk in the dark, I drove carefully down our icy driveway to the garage. The snow accumulated another 1-2 inches on top of the ice. It is supposed to get up to about 35f (1.7c) and sunny today, so maybe last night’s snow will melt off, again leaving us just the ice.

The young man that mows, bales, and takes our hay is coming down this evening with his truck and snowplow to try to break up the ice on our driveway and clear us a path so we can again get out.

The weather prognosticators are threatening another inch or so tomorrow afternoon and night and a cold Saturday, but then a warming trend with a couple of days actually reaching the 50’s next week, so maybe it will begin to melt off.

The snow is beautiful, the ice is treacherous, especially for our 78 and 82 year old bodies. It is time for the winter to moderate back to cooler, dryer weather and let this mess clear off.

February 5, 2026
Did I go to sleep in Virginia

And wake up in Maine? The storm for which all the preparations were made ended up about 4 inches of snow and 6 inches of sleet. We never got the freezing rain, thank goodness, and our power never went out. However, the highest temperature we have had in a couple of weeks is in the upper teens and most nights in low single digits. With those temperatures, the ice wasn’t melting. Late in the week, we got the AWD SUV to the top of the driveway and out for more supplies. To get to and from the car, 2/10 mile away, we have to don ice cleats on our shoes to prevent falling on the ice.

To make life more interesting for our senior souls, on Friday, we had another storm and about 6″ of dry blowing snow dumped on the ice. This morning, we managed to trod up to the car through the drifts and get out once again. Though once at the car and the snow brushed off, the cleats removed in the vehicle, I foolishly got back out without thinking and slipped to a sitting position by the driver’s door. No injury, just embarrassment at being foolish. We have had animal care duty for the past few days and needed to go check on them, thaw water bowls, feed the indoor critters, and purchase feed for my chicks and bird feeders. We got a short mall walk in while we were out, and parked the car again at the top of the driveway, hauling 90 pounds of feed down to the house on a plastic tobaggan that we had stashed in the back. The high today is 20, last night it went down to 5 and is expected to do so again tonight. The wind is howling and blowing the dry snow into drifts. Because of the wind and the fear of losing power, the woodstove has been burning for most of a week now. It heats the basement up to about 75 degrees and some of that heat rises to the first floor bringing it up to about 70. The upstairs is the 68 that the thermostat is set on. We finally have a couple days in the near future where it is going to get above freezing, but also three days of snow or snow mixed with rain, expected in the next 6 days.

This is not typical Virginia winter and if the groundhog came out today, he would definitely see his shadow and 6 more weeks of winter (like there won’t be anyway by the calendar.)

February 1, 2026
First Frost

The average first frost date here is October 10. It has been as late as early November and the hardest first frost I remember was right around October 10. This morning, was an early one to prepare breakfast for Son 1 who spent the night prior to setting off on a weekend adventure with friends and it was 37f (2.78 c) upon groing down to cook. When I stepped outside to wish them safe travels, there was frost in the grass. It was still early morning, but early light out.

Later, after the sun was higher, the remains of the garden were checked to see if there was any damage to the remaining produce. Though the spinach and turnip greens were lightly frosted, they seemed ok and some spinach was cut for a later meal. The peppers didn’t seem any the worse off, but a few dozen green Seranos were picked, there just isn’t enough time for them to ripen to red. A few Jalapenos and 3 bell peppers were also brought inside.

Last night, hubby said he would like some chili soon and since Friday’s are grocery market days, a pound of ground beef that didn’t need to be thawed first was purchased. Several, 4 or 5 of the Seranos were minced along with half an onion and a few cloves of garlic to add to half of the pound of beef, the other half set aside for another meal. I suppose I should have tasted it before adding anything else spicy as I knew a can of Rotel tomatoes with green chilies, and a can of beans in chili sauce were going in the pot, but foolishly, I added about a tablespoon of Mexican Chili powder too. Needless to say, it could nearly self ignite from the heat. He loved it. My tolerance for spicy has significantly diminished as I have aged and required an OTC Pepcid to tame the burn after dinner. There is about a bowlful left and it will just intensify as it sits either in the refrigerator or freezer. Glad I don’t need to eat it again.

October 17, 2025
Nature

When I began college nearly 60 years ago, I was unsure the direction in which to go careerwise. One of my early classes was a General Biology class with a great professor and having followed a wonderful high school biology teacher, I ended up majoring in Biology Education and adding General Science certification to my teaching license. I started my master’s degree also in science, but later changed to School Counseling. Though much of my career in education was in counseling, the interest in science never moved far from my focus.

As a result, I am ever on the lookout when on our daily walks for animals, and changes in the flora surrounding the trails. One of the interesting quirks of nature are mast years. Those are years when all the nut and oak trees produce more fruit that prior years. The reason for this is debated with several theories, but next year, there will be way more young animals in the fields and woods. This is a mast year. Walking the paths over the abundance of acorns and small nuts feels like walking on pebbles. And several of the areas are shaded by black walnut trees which drop baseball size nuts in green husks that can cause a turned ankle if not looking where your feet fall, or a knot on the head if you are under one when it falls.

The past couple of days walks have been interesting. We saw the first copperhead snake I have seen here since we moved here almost two decades ago. It was leisurely crossing the paved trail on which we were walking. I got close enough to identify it, but not close enough to disturb it, not wanting to make a venomous snake cross with me.

Yesterday while weeding a garden bed, I disturbed this large garden spider with hundreds of her young on her back. I moved away from where she was and weeded elsewhere.

Today’s walk was one that was ripe with nuts. There were Buckeyes (aka Horse Chestnuts) which are toxic to humans and animals, Bitternut Hickory which are edible though very bitter when raw, if roasted they can be substitued for pecans or walnuts, and many Black Walnuts. I failed to pick up a walnut to add to my photograph. The Black Walnut that was on our property before we purchased it had fallen, though we have plenty of Bitternut Hickory trees and Oaks.

The hickory nuts in this photo are in two stages of being shelled, the husk still on one and two still in the shell. All five nuts went back into the wild, not brought home with us.

This is a great time of year for our daily walks. The daytime temperatures are very comfortable, the trees are turning autumn colors and dropping their leaves, fruits, and nuts, and we see more wildlife in the woods and crossing the roads and trails. Soon the geese will land in the pond on their way south, though we haven’t seen or heard any yet. We still have Hummingbirds coming to the feeders, so they are staying full. One beautiful little one got trapped in our garage yesterday and by the time we saw it, it was worn out from trying to escape, allowing me to pick it up and take it back outdoors where it gratefully flew away. The hens have already started into non laying mode, getting only about a dozen a week now from 6 hens instead of enough to share.

Soon the autumn will chill, the garden will close up for the winter, and it will be time to plant next year’s garlic.

Stay safe, enjoy the changing seasons if you live where you get changes.

September 22, 2025
Time flies

A friend commented that she missed my blog, which tells me, I haven’t been posting as often as I used to.

While we were away, it rained heavily and our dirt and gravel sloped driveway took a beating. We came home to deep gullies and evidence that someone other than VDOT had attempted to smooth the state road so getting to our mailbox was a real challenge. Our tractor has a blade attachment on the back and I am getting quite adept at smoothing out the mess. I no sooner got it improved than we had another two days of heavy storms and my work was destroyed again. Again, the tractor and I tackled the mess and got most of the driveway smooth enough to not drag bottom on the car coming in and out. When the fiber optic crew was here before out trip, laying the new line, one of the guys on a small backhoe dug out the ends of our culvert for us. The rain now has a better path, but the steepness of the driveway still allows serious run off. The state road is hazardous to drive right now and the ditch below our culvert is filled with gravel from the road.

The weekend we got home, our eldest local grandson (not the eldest of all of them) was graduated as a distinguished scholar from high school. As his high school is in the process of being significantly enlarged, they held the graduation at the basketball stadium at Virginia Tech, so each student had unlimited guests. He had many, some from as far away as Florida come to cheer him on. Daughter and SIL threw a party that afternoon for everyone and many of his friends as well with lots of food and cupcakes. He will enter Virginia Tech in the Engineering School in the fall. We are very proud of him and his accomplishments as a student, with the robotics team Fabrication co-leader, and in Taekwondo as an instructor and as a 3rd degree senior black belt.

Last weekend, our spinning group had it annual spring porch party always hosted by the same couple. About 20 of us gathered for an afternoon of socialization, spinning, and an awesome potluck. I brought out my spinning wheel for the first time in a while and started a very colorful braid of Organic Pohlwarth which I finished a couple of evenings ago.

All of these weekends have thrown our usual routine out the door until this weekend. We resumed our Saturday morning breakfast out, followed by the Farmer’s Market and good local food to supply our freezer and refrigerator.

Soon I will be able to harvest peas, some volunteer new potatoes, and garlic from our garden. The tomatoes and peppers are growing, green beans and corn getting taller. We are about at the end of asparagus season (hubby says Yay, though I don’t serve them to him.)

I do need to week whack the paths again.

The other craft I have dug out, is to set up my sewing machine and make a couple of simple summer tops as the weather has been in the 80’s and humid. As you see, I’m not a good selfie taker, but this is one of them.

All is well on the farm. Holding out hope the rain doesn’t mess up the driveway again until I can figure out what is causing the tractor to stall out repeatedly. I may have to have the repair folks come and get it and give it a once over.

June 8, 2025
Go Away, Just Go Away

Spring is just around the corner, I know it is. The calendar shows First Day Of Spring in just a couple of weeks. I know that we will have continued periods of cold, even snow flurries well into April and can’t put most things into the garden until mid May, but winter needs to stop already. We had a reprieve for a day or two and last week’s snow mostly melted, but between the melt, the roof drip off and the rain, the county is now under a flood watch. This isn’t a problem for us as we are high on the side of the mountain and our creek flows into a sink hole that when flooded, rushes down the west side of our property, still well below the house.

The roadsides that are steep from blasting to put the 4 lane main road through the valley are seeing minor mudslides, but the ground is totally saturated and pudding soft, so the fear of a more major mudslide that could block our ingress to town is possible.

Yesterday it rained, then sleeted, then rained and sleeted again and this is ongoing today. The high for the day, right at freezing and headed down about 30 degrees by midnight is turning the rain to more freezing rain and sleet with another 5 inches of snow due by nightfall.

The trees and shrubs are ice coated and if we really get a few inches of wet snow, there will be branches breaking and threats of loss of power. We have enough firewood to get us through a couple of days, but that is all. The grill’s propane tank is about half full and we have plenty of beans, rice, and frozen foods to make meals.

When I went over for chicken chores this morning, I realized that a small 5 year old dogwood near the side of the house has been seriously gnawed, probably by hungry deer. It was sleeting out and the ground is still too hard to try to pound in stakes to put a piece of fence around it, but I was able to force a couple of fiberglass poles around it and drape a piece of row cover fabric over it to thwart more chewing until I can get a fence around it to try to protect it. Perhaps I should check my fruit trees as well.

March 5, 2015
It’s Got a Hold on Us

Late winter that is. We have Had weeks of well below normal temperatures. Last week we got a total of 19 inches of snow over two separate snow falls. School for Grandson hasn’t occurred in over a week. President’s Day in the US is typically a holiday for schools, but his school had scheduled a makeup day from a previously missed weather day and the makeup day was cancelled along with the rest of the week and Monday and today of this week. We weren’t quite sure why today was cancelled as the roads seemed to be mostly cleared, the forecast for a very cold night last night and normal cold day today. The Superintendent must have an inside track to the weatherman as we woke to more snow. The areas that had cleared on our one aberrant warm day are again lightly covered. I don’t think we will see much but even another inch or two is not welcomed. Most days are hovering just at or below freezing and nights about 10 to 15 degrees colder, but a few day ago, we thought spring had come, the thermometer said it got up to 50f (10c) a real heatwave. The snow started to melt, the driveway became a muddy mess as our farmer friend had been too over zealous in his scraping, piling huge mounds of snow 4 or more feet high in front of and beside the house. Then it got cold again and the melt became an ice slick. We haven’t had mail delivery in over a week though we have been able to get in and out all but a couple of days.

The freeze thaw freeze cycle has made chicken chores a challenge. One of the scrapes to a mound is just outside the garage door on the side of the house. The footprints from walking over have become crusty with ice under them and the walk over a slick tricky path. Trying to create a new path involves taking a step on unbroken snow and not knowing if it will hold or break through a couple of inches or knee deep. Water sloshes, feed scatters then the chooks don’t want to come out at all.

So what’s a girl to do, why order yarn to knit and spin fiber of course. I had been dallying on a spinning project of some roving that I ended up not liking very much. It was white through shades of pink to maroon then white to shades of gray to charcoal. I ended with one full bobbin, knowing if I plied it on itself, I wouldn’t have much yarn from it. In my fiber basket was a ball of maroon merino roving, so I spun a second solid single of it and used the two together to make yarn.

It isn’t really my color choice, but I ended up with almost 300 yards of DK/Light Worsted yarn. It may be sold, perhaps I will find a project for it.

Earlier this winter, I knit a yoked sweater of Brown Sheep yarn to go with my Hitchhiker scarf.

I ended up realizing that after years of knitting Raglan sleeve sweaters, that I much prefer the Yoke style. I love the pattern that I made and love the sweater, but hate the yarn. It is soft and pills terribly. Another sweater of the same style seemed in order and I had made a sweater a couple of years ago from Bovidae sport weight yarn that I had purchased at the SAFF festival and though that yarn isn’t soft, it is warm, holds up beautifully and doesn’t pill. An order was placed for more of that yarn in a color similar to the Brown Sheep and a new yoke sweater has been cast on.

Last night as I was about to do the second increase row, I realized there was an error about an inch back, so about a third of my progress was ripped out, stitches picked up and today I will progress on. My last knitting project prior to the current sweater is a gradient moebius cowl of sport weight yarn. I have decided that sport weight is my preferred knitting yarn.

Modeled by my beautiful daughter. Hmmm, do you see a color preference here?

In two days, I will abandon Mountaingdad, Daughter and the two grands for a few days at a spinning retreat in West Virginia. A couple of days of socialization and no responsibilities. A mini vacation and time to unwind and recharge.

February 24, 2015
Rough week on the farm

This week has been marked with disruption and illness. There was no school midweek for a teacher workday then a 2 hour delay that turned into a closed day because of a light snowfall and strong wind on Friday. We have been experiencing cold nights and damp cold days and Romeo, our Buff Orpington rooster, a calm gentle fellow had a serious case of comb and waddles frostbite. He may not be such a handsome fellow by the end of winter.

This was taken before his frostbite. He is a good guardian to his hens and gentle to them in his ardor. As the days are lengthening, we are beginning to get more eggs, up to half a dozen one day. These are welcomed, with 5 of us in the household now, we use many more than I did before.
Yellow Cat, a rescued barn cat, obtained as a sickly kitten lived out his life this week. We had been told he would likely only live a couple of years as he had feline Aids and it finally took its toll on his fragile immune system. I found him on his bed on the porch yesterday with no life left.

RIP Yellow Cat.
For a couple of weeks, we have noticed our German Shepherd licking herself more than routine cleaning would require. A vet trip to have her checked out and to get her nails clipped as it takes two people to hold her down while one clips, revealed that she had malformed lady parts that have become inflamed, likely infected so she is receiving antibiotics once a day and pain meds twice. This sounds like an easy process, but she doesn’t take pills, even flavored chewables and you risk your digits to try to force them. She can remove a pill from cheese, peanut butter, meatballs, any trick in the book. Daughter who used to be a vet nurse was going to be the pill giver, but the Vet gave us a can of prescriptive canned food and suggested putting the pill in a small meatball of it and magic, she gobbles the pills right down. A solution to a three year old problem, yay.
I was to leave on a bus today to Northern Virginia to babysit Grandson #1 tomorrow and return home with my car on Tuesday. Last evening, Son#1 sent a text and suggested that I try to change my reservation for the bus as they had a stomach virus spreading through their region and he had come down with it. Not wanting to catch it myself nor bring it back to our household, my car will have to stay for another bit. I hope they don’t all catch and suffer the virus.
Another week on our farm, I can’t believe it is February and in two short weeks, Mountaingdad and I will celebrate 37 years of marriage and in three weeks, our baby will turn 28. It can’t be so.

February 1, 2015