I've been working on a new home for Moonmeadow Farm, and now I've been procrastinating actually making the move over there. After over five years here, it's just finally time for a change.
So, please come see me (and update your bookmarks) at my new digs: Moonmeadow Farm
Our first snow of the season---not counting a few flurries. It's nice, because DH and Bernard went out a bought a Christmas tree day before yesterday, and I think we'll decorate it this evening. A pot of chili and maybe some cookies, and we'll be all set!
I love these pictures of the outside of my cheese. Isn't it gorgeous? You know, maybe the moon is made of green cheese.
Somewhere along the line, during this house-cleaning/rearranging project, I seem to have lost my dread of winter. This is the first time in several years that I haven't had a feeling of near-despair as the days grew shorter and the nights colder. It may be due to the rather awful summer, or maybe it's the differences we're making in the house (it really does feel so much more spacious and pretty). Or maybe it's the vitamin d3 supplementation! Whatever it is, I am so thankful not to feel that looming dark cloud of depression. I would still rather it was summer, though!
DH is going to build a riverstone hearth for the new Jotul woodstove---I'll photo-document that project when it gets going. We're going to have a family outing at the Laurel River to pick up stones sometime soon---today would be nice, as it's supposed to be in the mid seventies, but DH is tied up all weekend on a work party at our neighbors' house. Sometime soon, though.
I wasn't able to do anything in the still-sodden garden yesterday---boy, does this clay soil take forever to dry out! I'll try again today.
The house project is coming along. Having it all torn up is inspiring all sorts of deep cleaning projects: I've been scraping years-old paint off windows, the girls are going through lifetimes of artwork, and actually throwing some away, curtains are all down and in the washing machine, DH is (belatedly) cleaning out the wood cookstove and finally putting one of those fireproof pads under it. I wish we were actually building a hearth for it, but that may have to wait until the heatstove is installed, since we need some source of heat in the meantime!
Today it may be dry enough in the garden to work the garlic beds; if not, tomorrow will be. Finally! So today I'm hauling manure from the barn to the garden and greenhouse. It's so unbelievably nice to see the sun! And maybe I'll actually get the garlic in the ground.
The greenhouse is ready to be planted, too---kale and collards. There's already a beautiful crop of chard growing in there, and calendula from spring.
We finished shearing all but four sheep before vacation, so that's on the agenda for today, too.
We've been rearranging the house for the last few days---what a nightmare! Our house is just under 1000 square feet---pretty small for the four of us and all our projects. We were given an antique rolltop desk this summer, and we've been trading milk all summer for a Jotul wood heat stove. So the question has been---where on earth to put them?! It looks like they're going to fit---the desk is already in place, and a spot almost cleared for building a hearth---but meantime the house is a real mess, with crazily leaning stacks of books everywhere, and nobody's seen the dining room table for days! Better now than in the middle of winter, I suppose. At least now I can run away to the garden and ignore the mess!
Wow, was it hard to come home this year! And it didn't help that it was cool and dark and rainy our first day back! The weather down on the coast was perfect, and we had a wonderful time---lots of sun, lots of seafood, and great time with friends.
It's 27° this morning. I'm kind of relieved---the garden has been such an awful mess since the hailstorm, and I've been strangely reluctant to deal with it. Now it's done and the cleanup can commence. Right after we get back from the beach, that is!
This is his first cold snap, and he's not impressed. I wish I could play you the sound he's making as the girls pull the hay back to look at him!
On oysters:
You are eating the sea, that's it, only the sensation of a gulp of sea water has been wafted out of it by some sorcery, and you are on the verge of remembering you don't know what, mermaids or the sudden smell of kelp on the ebb tide or a poem you read once, something connected with the flavor of life itself...
---Eleanor Clark
Some kind person sent a present from my Amazon Wishlist: This amazing shovel! Now a shovel may not seem like the most glamorous gift ever, but there are times of the year when I seem to live with one in my hands. With this new beauty, that might not be quite so unpleasant! Whoever you are: Thank you! What an awesome gift!
