Blog

Role Model

We should all have one. Mine is now 90 years 7 months old. This weekend he spent with us and I was delighted. This role model is my father. He still takes great care of himself, walking for an hour each morning that isn’t raining and the temperature is at least at the freezing point or above preparing most of the meals for my step mom and him with an eye to their health. He drives within his city, with the care that a 90 year old should take. He delivers Meals on Wheels to other seniors, some decades younger than he. Liberal in his political views, he works with a Peace Making Committee in his region with the wish that our world could see world peace.

He was raised to be a loving and respectful son, educated and independent. Throughout my childhood and my siblings childhood, he instilled within us a challenge to become trained or educated to be able to be independent adults. This was a life lesson that I took very seriously, completing two college degrees to be able to work within the education system for 37 years.

When we still lived on the east coast of the state, holidays were often shared, cookouts and birthdays together. With us having moved across the state, our visits together are sporadic and any visit with him is a treasure. We have just been given 3 1/2 days of his company as my step mom and her cousin were in a nearby city at a State Garden Club conference. This allowed us to enjoy his company, to take him out to dinner with one of his nieces and her husband, to have lunch another day with some friends from his church who have also moved to this community in retirement. We were able to take him through the campus from which he graduated 67 years ago, to look for places he frequented as a student, young husband and new father, as I was born during his final semester. He was in the class of 1945, but his education was disrupted by a military tour during WWII.

He is from a family that enjoyed long lives and I hope that we have many more years of his company.

This morning, during our latest snow storm, we drove him back to Roanoke for him to ride back to the coast with my Step Mom and her cousin. A wonderful visit.

March 25, 2014
Productivity

The short spring of this weekend allowed Jim to take a 175 mile motorcycle ride. While he was out enjoying the weather in a way he enjoys, I got to work outside, which I enjoy. My chickens’ run expanded from 50 linear feet to 175 linear feet. The main body of the run more than doubled and I created a 6 foot wide attached run that goes down one of the long sides of the garden. My hope is that they will help keep the weeds and bugs down from that difficult to mow area.

The main body of the run now also provides a fence half way along one of the shorter sides of the garden and gives them access to a pile of old compost. They spent a good portion of the afternoon dust bathing in that pile and digging for bugs. I wonder how long it will take them to make this area barren of grass too. Putting weeds from the garden will be a much shorter walk now.

After coming in totally worn out, I stopped and unpacked my new spinning wheel. I was so glad to see that as a folding wheel, it came mostly assembled and already packed in its travel bag. There was very little assembly to do and I was soon able to take it for a short spin with a bit of undyed Shetland wool. There are 4 ounces of it to be spun, dyed and turned into something beautiful.

I love life on our mountain farm.

March 22, 2014
Spin cycle

The Vernal Equinox found us yesterday with clear sky, warmer temperatures and wind. It was too windy for Jim to ride, too windy to want to tackle adding ventilation holes higher in my coop, too windy, but so welcome. Today is warmer and calmer. We have three beautiful days as the calm before the next predicted snow event. I get anxious each year to start being outside more, to dig in warm soil, to plant, but truly, it isn’t safe to put much in the ground here other than cold weather crops until Mother’s Day, so I have to wait. I did start my peppers and some of my tomatoes in flats yesterday. I ran out of medium before I ran out of pots and seed.

My new spinning wheel arrived at the shop yesterday, but alas, it isn’t open on Wednesday, so I am meeting the owner in town today to pick it up. I’m excited to put it together and give it a spin.

Today the chicklets are 2 weeks old. I keep waiting to go into the basement and find them everywhere as they are developing feathers and starting to hop and flap higher up the sides of the brooder.

Socialization continues with them, with “The Hand” that appears over the side of the brooder and then teases with wiggling fingers, rings, or a small pile of their food to teach them not to fear me. I don’t handle my birds except when necessary like Wednesday night when 3 got out of the pen while I was out and couldn’t get back in to coop up for the night. When I arrived home around 9 pm and went over to close up the coop, I found Cogburn and two of the hens in a pile huddled together where the fence joins the coop nearest their ramp back inside. Each was picked up, slightly ruffled and put inside on a perch none the worse for wear.

Because of the lack of a spinning wheel and to try to have my sweater finished before the storm next week, I have been knitting only on Estelle. Last night I finished the second sleeve and picked up and knit the first 2 rows of the feather and fan band.

I am pleased that it will probably be finished tonight. Then I have to figure out where the marker goes in my honey cowl and how much of a row I have to tink to get it back on track. My sock needles that I ordered are in route, so I can finish the never ending pair of socks. My yarn came from Quince and Co. to make the Lola Shawl in the issue 9 of taproot magazine and I still have the Unplanned Peacock Botanical dk skein to make into something beautiful that will show off it’s wonderful colors.

We are off to enjoy the spring day, Jim on his motorcycle, me to pick up my wheel then work on the coop and run, maybe get a real gate in so that they can’t escape again unless I let them out. I also need to relocate some of the extra hay that seems to have all worked its way downhill to the end of their run, putting too much mulch around the peach tree and shrub in the run and none up where I enter their pen.

Life is an adventure on our mountain farm.

March 21, 2014
Frozen Fog

We are engulfed in fog. The temperature is still below freezing, the ground still frozen and slick from the sleet storm of day before yesterday, the sky still thick and gray. No more significant precipitation has fallen, some light snow last night, but no more sleet or freezing drizzle.

When the fog thins enough to peek through, you see frosted forests.

This is a pretty sight, but some green buds would be welcome. We are working toward another two day warm up, followed by another potential winter storm. The weather pattern has been strange this year.

March 18, 2014
Stay Indoors weather

Our winter storm didn’t fizzle as we hoped, nor did it give us pretty snow. Instead we are encrusted in ice. The cars look like someone poured water over them in a deep freeze. The yard is white and slick. The chicken coop run has hay on the ground that has 1/2″ of ice on top. The chooks aren’t happy. I finally went out with a pitchfork and turned as much of it over as I could so that they had a place to stand and eat as they came out of the coop and practically knocked each other over trying to get back inside.

The weather prognosticators have extended the weather warnings “until further notice” with more ice, possibly freezing drizzle, maybe snow for the next 36 hours or so. But they are predicting 61ºf by Friday, it is 27ºf now and has been since I got up this morning.

This is a day to stay indoors and read, just finished Jefferson Bass’ latest novel Cut to the Bone. I am a fan of forensic science novels and found this to be a good read. It is the prequel to the Body Farm series. And to knit, still working on the sleeve. I hate knitting sleeves, they are so boring. Once I finish this sleeve, there is a feather and fan band to pick up and knit and I will have another sweater to add to my wardrobe.

This is Virginia, it is time for the winter to go away and bring us some springtime, though last year, we had light snow for 5 Fridays straight right up to mid April. This winter is wearing on us.

March 17, 2014
“Uncle” already

Will it never end? Winter that is. The predicted winter storm has already started, several hours before anticipated and it did not start as rain as predicted, but rather a slushy mix of precipitation.

When I went over to check egg production progess for the day, I don’t want them to freeze as the temperature falls, this is where I found all of the hens. Huddled under the coop wondering when this cold white stuff is ever going to end. At least with the lengthening days, their production is up a bit, getting an average of 6 per day instead of the 4 from mid winter.

The newbies are now a week and a day old and are starting to show signs of tail and wing feathers. The more feathers they grow, the less I worry about the loss of power killing their heat lamp.

I didn’t get around to my laundry and dishwasher detergent making session a couple of weeks ago, just made my lotion bars, but this morning, I realized that I was seriously low on laundry soap and out of dishwasher detergent, so I pulled out the recipes and went to work. I was surprised and pleased after finishing it and calculating the cost, to find that it will cost me less than $.06 per load for laundry and about $.07 per load for the dishwasher. Since I make my own soap, I know what goes into it and added to it only washing soda, baking soda, and borax for the laundry powder, I have an economical product that lacks any of the sketchy ingredients and it is safe for the front loading HE washer. The dishwashing powder costs slightly more per load as the citric acid is a tad pricey, but that mix is only borax, washing soda, citric acid and salt, again an economical product without the sketchy ingredients and safe for the dishwasher and the septic tank. Yes, the process takes about 10 minutes because I have to hand grate the bar soap, but I have a huge jar stored on the mudroom shelf, plus a small container on the washer and one to take to my son next month and I only made half of the recipe.

As the temperature is falling, the stew is simmering, I’m going to light the woodstove and fireplace and sit back and see if I can finish the second sleeve of my Estelle sweater that I am knitting of Quince and Co. Lark yarn.

I can’t spin as I packed up my wheel and shipped her off to her new home in Michigan and my new one won’t be in until late in the week.

Life is an adventure on our mountain farm.

March 16, 2014
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