December Tidbits

Last week we had beautiful snow and some spectacular sunrises, but the weather has returned to unseasonably warm and gray, and all the snow has melted.

Life has been very  busy, and I haven't really had time to blog, so here is a brief catch-up post.  I have been sewing mittens, recycled from old wool sweaters, shrunk into boiled wool so they are very dense and warm.  My friend Virginia and I  had a booth at a flea market at the Civic Center and I sold the mittens, my honey, and many profound objects from the store. Then this past weekend, our Farm Store held a holiday open house and sold a bunch more mittens - my entire supply is gone; I have to sew some more for gifts... and for me!

Rog got the silo pond, our future aquaponics system,  enclosed with a corn-crib-shaped greenhouse structure. Here it is just after the  plastic was  attached to the roof. It is a pretty ingenious engineering feat, at least for a home handyman - I will post a complete story about the pond project soon.

Jitterbug seems to have adapted to her mom Lariat, little brother Poblano, and companion Lindyhop being gone. She is still bottom of the pecking order, but the hierarchy is only two bovines now, so maybe she feels her status has risen.  At first,  Lafonda bossed her around a lot, but they seem to be better friends now and she has become quite affectionate to me.

There a is a small flock of chickens that has elected to live in the loafing shed rather than the coop. I call them the wild chickens. The two wild roosters have had the tips of their combs frostbitten.  The black frostbitten tips will eventually fall off and their combs will be a bit less flashy. Sad, but that is the consequence of refusing to live in the civilized coop.

Although I still don't have Christmas lights on the house, I did get  lights hung on the garden shed and the farm store.  It makes me smile. I should flood the garden for a skating rink and the shed can be the warming house!

 A light case of hoarfrost this morning.

Zinny and I have finished the morning chores and now are packing up for a little road trip adventure to Lake Superior to visit our former interns, Bethany and Brendan, at their wilderness camp.  Last night, I purchased a seat belt restraint for Zinny so she can be my co-pilot but I don't have to have her crawling in my lap or yowling right in my ear as I drive. She really hates being in the car so far, but I am hoping this will be a pleasurable experience - for both of us. Wish me luck!