Winter is my least favorite time of year. I do not care for snow but the cold weather is the real kicker. This has not been a good winter here either. Carbon monoxide filled the house from the woodburners. That ended up with me taking a trip to the hospital.
We are out of wood already. The wood we received was green and wet so I have a huge mess in the office to clean up where the creosote leaked on the pipes. Needless to say the woodburner is down.
The plants in my greenhouse, many of which I had babied for years, froze without any heat. That makes me real unhappy. All my tropical plants, gone. I doubt I will replace them with shipping costs being so much. I don’t even want to walk back there. I just feel like crying when I do.
We lost a few chickens this year. It seems some did not go into the chicken house and froze. Every year we seem to lose a few that get out and don’t make it back, but for the most part all the poultry are doing well.
The sheep, goats, rabbits and Beauty the horse are doing just fine. It is warm in the barn, but I am sure, like the rest of us, they can’t wait to get out and run. Our pasture is very soft and muddy so keeping them up right now is the only way to make sure they do not get hurt. Beauty likes to run full force and she has fallen several times in the past due to the pasture being like it is.
I have a few seedlings started in the house, but not many. I am just so heartbroken over the greenhouse plants it is hard to think about growing anything right now. I am sure, in time, this will pass.
I did make some artisan yarn last night. I used a maroon chenille that I bought at a second hand store, a pretty brown wool I spun and some cashmere/silk that I spun. The three different yarns were spun together to make one and I am quite pleased with the outcome.
Filed under Homestead Happenings by on Jan 14th, 2010. 2 Comments. 
We are still a long way from being done with the remodeling work we are doing, but we are making headway. I simply cannot convey to you how excited I am. I am just thrilled with Jerry’s carpenter work!
The trim around the inside of the front door is almost done. We have a few more pieces of trim to add, a few nails to cover with wood putty and then it will be time to stain the trim.
We began by choosing large pieces of unfinished wood for the main trim. we cut the trim to size and nailed it into place. We then chose corner pieces with a design we liked.
The next step was to figure out where the cross pieces of trim that would go between the two corner pieces. This was necessary so we could mark the spot where the center blocks would be nailed into place at.
Once the center blocks were nailed into both top corners, it was time to cut the cross pieces of trim. Those are the ones that look like corrugation. They were cut to fit, then nailed into place.
Then we added a piece of smaller trim across the top of the door frame to make it look pretty.
We added the trim that went down both sides as well. We had to measure this and cut it. We did not take it all the way to the floor.
As you can see here, we made a pillar bottom that extended to the floor. We have not finished this pillar bottom yet, but this is what the basics of this idea looks like.
We then added smaller pieces of trim on top of the trim in the center. This was because we liked the way it looked when done like this.
Then we added more trim to the inside of the larger piece of plain wood to make it look nice against the door.
This photo will give you a better idea of how all the trim fit together. Jerry cut the pillars for the top of the door from scrap pieces of wood. We still have some small trim to add to the trim on the sides so it matches the top.
The next goal is to get the marble floor laid. It will go right in front of this door. In the spring we are talking about duplicating this trim on the outside of the door.
For those of you wondering what this project looked like when we began, well, I do not have an interior photo, but I can show you the exterior photo. The juniper bush was removed, some of it saved and replanted. The door is where the double windows used to be.
For the really curious, here is what the exterior of the front of the house looks like right now. Please note, we are still remodeling! Life tends to get in the way of getting things done sometimes, if you know what I mean.
The wood frame on the outside of the house is the outline of the front porch we plan to add on. I am not sure when that will happen, but maybe this coming summer.
Filed under Homestead Happenings by on Dec 28th, 2009. Comment.
There is a lot in bloom already. Phlox, tulips – some looking taller than ever before, Magnolia, bleeding heart, jack-in-the-pulpit, azalea and other spring blooming beauties. The forsythia and narcissus have long faded. Some of the lilac are already blooming and some are just forming buds. The night air is fragrant and wildlife is stirring.
The farm animals seem to know spring is here too. The chickens are laying a ton of eggs and of course the roosters are constantly going after the hens. Last night we butchered four chickens with the help of a friend. They took two and we put two in our freezer. This time we chose to butcher four Rhode Island Reds. They seem the most agressive of all the breeds we have and also are harder to keep in the chicken area. They want to roam the entire yard which would be fine if they were not inclined to go across the street and eat or dig any flower that was emerging.
The goats escaped the fence the other day and trashed several of my trees. Darn goats! Jerry has to try again to fix the fence so it will hold them. I am hoping the trees survive. At this rate I am never going to have mature plants!
Beauty the horse is much calmer this year. I still cannot get to her tail to brush it but when the vet comes out I am going to ask her to sedate Beauty so I can get those cockerburls out. She is letting me brush her butt some – but only briefly.
Having a cashmere goat is a bit different. Tulip is still quite shy and has to be lifted onto the milking stand. She does not like being brushed but tolerates it. I trimmed all of their hooves this week. Darla was the real pain. First she jumped on the milk stand, then jumped off behind it, tipped a shelf over and finally ended back up in her stall. I did get her hooves trimmed but made her wait until last. She didn’t like watching the other goats get ginger snap cookies when they were done so after I finished all of them I called Darla and she jumped right up on the milk stand!
The vegetable garden is growing too. I have tiny plants of carrots, kale, sugar snap peas, spinach, turnips, brussels sprouts, sugar beets, cabbage and we are already harvesting radish and lettuce. Some of the lettuce we planted the year before has sprouted on its own. I will be digging and moving those plants once we get ready to till that area. Adding the compost has done wonders for the ground! There are still many plants to get into the ground that are in the greenhouse as well as more corn and green beans to plant.
I am debating growing flax this year for fiber. I already have small cotton plants growing.
The bunnies have not had babies and I am wondering if maybe one of them cannot breed. They have been together for several months now but my female has not shown a single sign of being pregnant.
If you are in the area I invite you to come spend some time at our farm and wildlife habitat. Please email or phone ahead for reservations.
Sheri
Filed under Homestead Happenings by on Dec 20th, 2009. Comment.
