My Favorite Christmas gifts

I hope everyone got something they wanted for X-mas this year. With the ice storm, and then a couple of feet of snow, the holiday seemed to arrive at light speed. Mary & I vowed to keep things simple this time around, but it didn't seem to diminish our spirits one bit. I am afraid, however, that the Chinese are not very happy with our decision!
I am happy to say that my favorite gifts this year were from local sources. The first is a beautiful blanket given to us by our next door neighbors, Larry & Jeanne Foley. Larry told me it took Jeanne more than four months to make, and I believe it. I can't imagine ever having the patience to create something this.

I just love the detail she put into her work. We've got to keep the dogs away from this treasure
...Right now it lives on the back of mary's chair. Perfect for those winter evenings reading in the living room.

Here are Larry & Jeanne, the nicest neighbors anyone could ask for. They put up with all of the roosters this summer, and the turkeys jumping up on their car.

After the ice storm I spent the next seven days moving my generator back and forth between my house, the little cottage across our property that we rent out, and Larry & Jeanne's place. I'd run my freezers for a few hours, and then run the heat at the cottage for a while. Then I'd wheel the generator over to the Foley's and run their boiler and water pump. Another retired couple was camping out with them, as we were the only houses in the neighborhood with heat & water. We all had clean kitchens and warm beds, who could ask for more?

My next favorite gift is a little book titled 'A Book Of Country Things'. It is a collection of Walter Needham's reminiscences about his Grandpa L.L. Bond, born in 1833. Aside from his service in the Civil War, he spent his entire life in the Southeastern corner of Vermont. Published in Brattleboro, Vermont in 1965, this book is a window into life and the way things were done on the farm in the 1800's. From sugaring and planting, to haying and dealing with the local indians, this is a fun read... and the way things are going, I may be using this as a valuable reference to aid in our survival... or at least our future comfort. Heck, I'm already making my syrup in the same type of old cast iron cauldron that Grandpa describes using!
Well, that's it for now from the side of Mount Monadnock. Here's to a prosperous new year, or at least a good run of sap in the spring! I'll leave off with one more shot from the ice storm. Now where did I put those seed catalogs?

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Bread Day

The hardest part of bread baking has got to be the milling of the wheat berries. We purchased a very nice grain mill a few years ago and originally had it bolted down to a butcher block. After about an hour of on and off cranking by hand.... you could start the bread baking process. There had to be an easier way, and after a handful of different designs had been tried I came up with this system. I found the exercise bike at the recycling center. The trickiest part was getting the gear reduction just right. Now I pedal for about 4-5 minutes to get my 6 cups of whole wheat flour.

The hopper is just the right size... 1 fill up gives me that 6 cups of flour. And when I'm done, I put on a home fabricated copper lid to keep the vermin out of my grain hopper.

I usually bake bread just once a week-2 loaves. I put one in the freezer till the first is gone. This week, since we'll be home for the holiday, I made one a cinnamon & sugar loaf. You just can't get bread like this at the grocery store. Pop a slice of this in the toaster and lay on some Cabot butter and....WOW!

89 Days Till Spring!

It's a little sad... second day into Winter and I'm running out of places to put the snow! Our little house looks good in the snow, but this is a picture I should be taking in February.

This is our little rooster, Midge. He was a "free rare chick" that we were sent from the hatchery this past spring. I'm pretty sure he's a Hamburg of some kind. Since he has always been smaller than the Rhode Island Reds, he was the only rooster humble enough to escape my wrath in the fall slaughter. I'm not sure if it's the breed, or maybe being the whipping boy to a henhouse full of big hens, but poor Midge is wound up tighter than a banjo string. He's finally grown enough of a spine to venture into the heated henhouse at night, but come morning, when all of the egg laying ruckus starts, he's back in the bush. Poor Midge.

After some time shoveling, and a little hay getting thrown around, it's safe to venture down and mingle with the rest of the critters.

The girls are too smart to fall for that sunshine thing... it's still warmer in the old henhouse. They've got a brain the size of a peanut, so why is it that I'm the one outside freezing... and the girls... oh, nevermind!

Jack and old Charlie definately have the right idea. As soon as I bring in another few armloads of wood, I'll be joining them in front of the cookstove. I made so much eggplant parmigiana yesterday that I don't have to worry about cooking today, but tomorrow it's bread day!

The Great Ice Storm Of 2008

As Winter has decided to force us indoors for the next few months, and I spend so much time reading on this laptop... I figure, 'why not do a bit of writing too?' I'll be posting pictures of our little farm, the weather, our dogs, chickens, and other critters that keep us busy here in the Northeast.

The chickens have a different view from their yard this week. The poor things are not impressed.

Ashley the watch dog had a rough night, with tree branches crashing down everywhere. It sounded like shotgun blasts all night long as trees snapped under the weight of all that ice.

I swear I didn't see one person speeding through town this week! I wish folks could drive like this all the time. Well, at least they have to slow down every ten years or so. That was the last time we had a storm like this one. So it goes in the great Northeast.