Progress

The ducks have made some progress this week.  Sampson seems to have lessened the frequency and vigor of his attacks.  The little ducks have left the duck pen on their own without the SB or I chasing them out.  They are snorggling around in the flower bed right outside their pen.  I suspect they are eating the seeds that I just planted but I am willing to overlook that given the circumstances.  I hope they start foraging further afield soon.  I hope that they find the water too.  They are constantly trying to bathe in the drinking water which means that they splash it out every where.  Annoying.

Yay for integration.

Where does the time go?

Between the milking cottage project, the closet project, my recent OMG WILL IT NEVER END cold that I have had since effing Xmas eve, the regular recirculating list of cooking, cleaning, laundry, groceries and of course, the day job and the side work one begins to wonder if I will ever get back to the blog. Winter is usually a good time for this, but the addition of the closet project, (wherein we add two fabulously gorgeous cedar lined closets with vintage doors to a room and thereby double the number of closets in our house) has really taken up a lot of my free time. And I am starting a couple of on line graduate level courses through UVA. The busy just don't stop around here.

But, the animals are all well if tired of the damp. The goats are miserable and the ducks even seem tired of the mud and rain. A few days of warm and dry will turn things around for us all I think.

Onward.

It's darker with the light on

The SB and I were working on our porch a month or so ago and took down the security lights while replacing some of the porch boards. We haven't put the lights back up yet. Since then, I have been enjoying the dark-ish evenings and mornings. We are in the city, so it isn't really ever DARK. It is just less light. And I have found it is much easier to see if I am not straining to see around the shadows. I have been taking the goats out in the dark-ish. Closing up the ducks in their house or doing the morning feeding. I actually prefer to have the porch light off, if the porch and house lights are off it is even better.

Today I stopped by a neighbor's house on my way home from work to pick up some leftover straw that was in her garden. She apologized "It's dark out there...." Not a problem.

Ugh.

So I think one of the ducks has bumblefoot. It is an ugly big lump around one of her toes. Hard and a bit of a scab seems to be developing. She started limping yesterday and the SB and I caught her this evening before we both had to run off for work. Yes, it takes two people to tend a four pound duck. One holds while the other prods. And the wings try to go everywhere, which is the part you get nervous about. They are hardy critters, but a wing has a lot of leverage that could go the wrong way.

Anywhoo. From the reading I have been doing, it looks like the only option is to lance the wound and get the gunk out. That will have to happen tomorrow. So if I don't chow down as usual at the Diner, you will know why. And I may need to have something a little stiffer than the Legend Brown Ale I usually drink there. I am sorta hoping the SB decides that he wants to practice his surgical skills and lets me off the hook. But I also realize that this is something that I am gonna have to know how to do. These may be our first ducks, but they aren't the last. And bumblefoot is not uncommon. I'll be doing more reading tonight though. I won't so much be looking at the horrifying pictures on the internets. yee. Any advice would be welcome so chime on in....

We smeared the lump with Neosporin for the evening in hopes of slowing the growth and we will keep her penned tomorrow as well to keep her off the foot. Some people have made wee boots for their poultry to protect the open sore from getting caked up with poop and mud and stuff. I think I am going to shoot for as clean bedding as I can get. Really, I can't imagine a duck wearing any kind of boot. Heaven only knows how long this lasts.

In other news, we just got a torrential downpour with hail and everything. I am hoping there is something left of the garden, but I won't know until I can see it in the light of morning. I guess there isn't anything I can do about it right now anyway.

On a lighter note, I found $5 in one of my front porch pots this AM. I have no idea where that came from.... Yay me.

Seriously?

I know that it is only March, but I got a notice via email this AM that there was a winter storm warning in effect for this evening with the possibility of up to 5 inches of snow. Um, Really?

Like my friend at Carter and Spence posted on her Facebook page yesterday... March- in like a lion, out like a yeti.

I have piled straw on all the seedlings and will cover them with Remay. Hopefully that gets us through the next several evenings of very cold (27 and 28 degree lows). Really I worry more about that than the snow, though 5 inches could be a real pain in the butt.

The SB put in three new garden beds this week. They will be planted with potatoes as soon as the snow is gone. Can you tell I am bitter?

On the good side, so far my summer seedlings are coming along swimmingly and I have lots of peppers, eggplant, tomatoes, tomatillos, and basil. This weekend I will start the zinnias and sunflowers and marigolds. I also have a bunch of leeks started. I planted them super heavy because my seed was old and I thought they wouldn't sprout, but it turns out, I will just have, like a billion leeks. Unless you want some. Then I will have less. So let me know if you want some seedlings. There is no way I have space to plant all of these. But I will plant many and be the happier for having enough to share as they are unimaginably delicious, especially in the Season of Frost.

Also on the list for the weekend is making butter. Tried this for the first time about four weeks ago with no success, possibly the milk was not separated well enough. Two weeks later, again, but with luck. But I added too much salt (idiot!). I will try again tomorrow after my cream has cultured a bit more.

I was out weeding this AM and found the first asparagus sprouts. They are puny. We need to move them to higher ground. It is long since time for us to have a real asparagus patch. Action should be taken, but we are so tied up with goat buildings etc it is hard to find time for another big digging project. We definitely need some staff.

Season of Hope

This is the time of year when things begin to look up. There is a light at the end of the tunnel that is winter. The days are longer, and things start to grow.

My basement seedlings are coming along slowly. I wish it were faster, but I can't see heating the whole of the basement for a flat of plants. They are relatively toasty with the heating mat and under the light cover. I think I have finally figured out the timer and the mats. That definitely set me back.

Last week the weather was gor.geous. I lost my head a bit and put out some seeds directly in the garden. It was too dry for them to do anything and I didn't want to set the hose up, knowing that we would have serious frosts again. So they just got watered Thursday. They are covered with remay, as is the teeny plot of chard that seems to have wintered over. Good ol' Italian Silver Rib. If anyone can do it, it will be ISR. Only one of the many reasons I love that chard.

This morning I planted a bunch of my summer stuff. Tomatillos, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and basil. There is more to do, but I am limited by the space under the lights. I am itching to get some other things in... zinnias, sunflowers, ground cherries, etc.

I think this weekend we will be going to Lowes for more garden edging. We want to put in a few new beds for potatoes, and the planting of those is not so far off (St. Paddy's day). Plus I am wanting some hardy kiwi. We will have to incorporate that into the plan as well. The SB is hot for planting a cover crop to keep things together until the direct seeded stuff goes in the garden in May. And we are going to try to plant clover in the garden paths... We had sheet mulched them with newspaper and cardboard, but, as you can imagine, it looks like hell. It would be nice to have something a little more attractive, and since the newspaper and cardboard killed out most of what was growing, now seems a good time to plant. The cardboard and newspaper goes into the compost with the straw from the duck yard. THAT is another weekend project. The rain and warm temps have reminded us that the decomposition has started.

We did get the first egg of the season on Friday.

Hope to start work on the goat complex this weekend. Much to do.

Homesteading moments

I was just cutting the curds in my second batch of cheddar this morning. On the counter next to me was the start of some homemade biscuits (the flour, salt and baking powder mixed with the home rendered lard waiting for the SB's wake up time, it is after all, his birth week celebration). I realized I hadn't heard the ducks in a while, and like small children, one should be concerned they are up to something when they are not making copious amounts of noise... So I put down my curd cutting knife and look out the window. Yes, they were there at the alley, contemplating a sprint across the gravel to the neighbors yard. So I stopped everything and dashed outside in my yoga pants and apron to bring the ducks back to the garden where they could roam in a state of semi freedom while I attended to the more pressing tasks of making cheese and breakfast. We are so effing homestead here I can't stand it.

On Projects

So this weekend was totally chock full of projects. Friday night we moved gravel (at 10 PM, to the delight of the neighbors no doubt) to install the second half of a patio under our 2nd story back porch. The first half went in about 4 years ago, so it was nice to get done. It is less perfect than the first half, but done is a beautiful thing.

Then we spent a big chunk of Saturday and Sunday cutting up and moving a bunch of cedar trees to turn them into fence posts and a goat shed. Luckily the weather was good. And luckily, I found this amazing recipe for cucumber agua fresca. I made something pretty similar. Anyway you do it is probably just as delicious. You really get the cucumber/melon connection when you make this. And it is refreshing as you could want on a hot day. Add lots of ice and serve it very very cold.

In addition to two truck loads of cedar posts we also brought home a hefty load of chiggers. Dammit.

Sunday I also picked up a bushel of peaches from one of our local orchards. Last night, half a bushel made their way into the freezer. All after a trip to Nelson County to pick up additional siding from the same batch we used for the duck house. We are swimming in building materials (much to the delight of our neighbors, no doubt).

On Monday, August 16 at 7PM, City Council will be considering the change in ordinance to allow for miniature goats in the city. Meghan, at the Goat Justice League has done an amazing job in putting this all together. I'll be attending the meeting and hopefully not speaking. If you want to be supportive, come out and be counted, or send an email to council at charlottesville dot org and let them know how you feel.

I have high hopes for a change in ordinance. I am trying to do research on goats as we consider our options and muster our financial resources.

Currently I am reading Goat Song. It is a really lovely book. After the first few chapters, the author lapses into a dairy diary he kept with info and musings. One of the things that totally resonates with me is the idea of caring for animals as meditation. It is habitual, ritualistic and directly deals with life and food and death and shit. I do find tending ducks to be something of a walking meditation. It is the same every day but also totally different. Delightful, heartbreaking, soothing and stressful.

Loving these guys. Great summer produce ideas and directions, can't wait to give it a try. Hopefully, I'll end up with enough jam or something to pass around. (much to the delight of the neighbors, no doubt)

Home Improvement

The SB and I embarked on a couple of projects this afternoon. He was re-pointing some bricks on the basement exterior wall and I got to pull staples and scrape the paint off the old screen door. It made me nostalgic for the days when we were renovating the house and I was either freezing cold or broiling hot and had the dust of paint/sheet rock/dirt of ages rubbed into my skin.

This time, I got off pretty easy. The paint chips were flying, but I didn't get any in my eyes (thanks to the safety glasses) nor in my underwear. The brassier was a different story, but manageable given all the other near misses.

Oof.

Super busy week with three nights of kid sitting, tons of planting, dinners, etc.

Last weekend I *finally* made a bunch of pasta. Six eggs worth on Sunday morning and we had fresh noodles all week. I let them dry to the point where they weren't likely to clump and then put them in plastic bags in the fridge. I kept it pretty simple. Some angel hair and some linguni.

Today I have been cooking. And cleaning the fridge. The crafty girls are getting together chez SHG for an evening of braided rugs and a bean swap. And of course, dinner. We are all bringing fabric and some kind of bean. We will braid the fabric and all take portions of different kinds of beans home for the freezer. It will be nice to have the variety. I made quiche to contribute to the dinner. And while I was at it, made one for here too. Though the SB is not a huge fan, when you have eggs...... I am also making sandwich bread. A loaf for the chicken salad I made and some for the freezer.

Really, I have been trying to empty out my freezer for months in prep for the upcoming vegetable season, but it isn't going very quickly. It seems to be two step forwards and 1.75 steps back. On a good week.

Yesterday I harvested the parsnips. What there was of them. Talk about a fail! Sheesh. I am lucky if they were as big as a pencil after being in all winter. I did learn that you are supposed to start them in early spring and then harvest them over winter or early spring the next year. No wonder no one grows them. Way too much space taken up... maybe one day. Right now, they are lined up for adding to stock or perhaps some potato soup. We'll see. The only good thing is now I have more room for the potatoes that still need to go into the garden. I am running a little late this year. We went to Southern States and got some organic fertilizers. I think I don't fertilize enough... We have this lovely loamy soil and add tons of organic stuff to it, but with the rain and the porousness, I think all the nutrients just leach out faster than I think they will. Crikey. This gardening thing is complicated....

The gimpy duck is back to gimpy. She actually put herself up today and decided not to participate in flock activities. Which makes me worry some. But I put her in the duck house so that she isn't tempted to run out after everyone and I will check on her a bit later and see if she is resting.

Pride Goeth Before the Fall

So our planned meat preservation experiment was on track and ready. We had made a list and checked it, did some errands, and checked it again. Salt, yup. Sugar, two kinds. Fresh thyme, lots. Bay, juniper berries, fresh nutmeg. Right on. Plastic bags, uh huh. Lots of storage space, done. Clean counter tops, recipe book, note taking equipment. All there.

The only problem was that our hog jowls were sliced and not whole. DAMMIT. But we went on anyway and figured we would just be flavoring the jowls and not trying to air dry the bastards.

Needless to say I have requested whole jowls from my pig farming friend. Along with some pork belly. We remain undaunted. The SB fried up some jowl samples last night and was so excited he had to bring them upstairs with him when he came to wake me up and tell me how yummy they were. We chatted some about what the other 8.75 pounds of them might be good in and he trundled off to his basement lair to dream of hog jowl flavored pasta, etc. Some of this is most definitely going back in the freezer.

In other projects this weekend, I was working on another sun dress for a small friend (one really has to get through the winter some how and this is my chosen method for this year apparently.... cheaper than ordering seeds and plants from every catalog that arrives in the mail box....) The fabric has an embroidered pattern on it. I realized that one of the front side bodice pieces didn't have embroidery on it. After I stitched it into the bodice. So in a rare showing of concern for this sort of thing, I ripped the piece out and re-cut it. Backwards. CRAP. Then had to re-cut it AGAIN. Then I put the whole thing together realizing that I should have put the zipper in the back panel before I sewed it to the front. I didn't have to tear it apart, but it was considerably more tricky while it was attached. This is why you really should make multiples of any given pattern. It takes the first 2 or 3 to work out all the kinks. We'll see if there are any more sun dresses of this nature to be seen before the spring sets in. I am actually planning winter coats for some of the little ones. Though I find it significantly less exciting to sew wool in summer than I do to sew linen in winter....

Because I don't want to blow all the suspense of my new year's resolutions in one go, I decided to do a little blogging with each one as the subject arises.... And on the sewing scene, I have decided to sew some things for myself. They are simple but I know the pattern will require some alterations because my figure is, um, let's call it non standard. Anywhoo.... I want to make a few things that actually go together. No really. Things that MATCH. Here is the pattern I have selected.... Probably something linen-y for summer. It should be fun. Then I hope to work up to things a little more complicated. So you see, the real reason for the sun dresses, besides getting me through the winter by planning wardrobes for small children, is revving up the sewing skills for a bigger project.... you notice I say this like I planned it this way? HA!

So. There is resolution number 1. Now you gotta hold my feet to the fire.

No matter where you go, there you are....

Earlier in the summer the SB and I decided, bouyed by our blackberry successes, to get another bushel of peaches. I don't mean another one this summer, I mean another one in our lifetime. The last time we got a bushel of peaches was the summer I took off of college. I had started working at a strawberry farm as soon as I got home and immediately learned about freezer jam. I made about a ton of that. Then the SB's landlords were away during raspberry season, and I made jam from those. Then we bought a bushel of peaches..... If you know anything about peaches you know that they go from rock hard to fruit fly nursery in a completely unpredictable trajectory. Sometimes over night... Sometimes it takes, oh 4.5 days. Our first bushel of peaches was roughly handled and the peaches began to get brown spots immediately. We had an entire week of peach patrol. Watching for the spots and desperately trying to do something with the peaches before they went completely brown.

This time the SB suggested we bring in some co conspirators... People interested in helping with the load. No, I said, they are all going to ripen at different times, we have a whole 4 day weekend (I took Friday off last week), surely we will be able to process them all. Well, true to form, the peaches were a little too hard yesterday and absolutely at the perfect ripeness at 7:15 this morning as I was headed out for a day at the office followed by a standing babysitting gig. So. I just put the first batch in the freezer. And I have many many more to get to very very soon.... And a peach waits for no one.

They ARE tasty though and relatively easy to peel after they have been blanched. August Lady is the variety. I think I am going to put them on the calendar for next year as well.

Word

What she said. What she shows. A good time was had by all.

UPDATED: Her too!