Not Apologizing

Well, it's been two weeks. I fully realize that I am not the super-best blog keeper-upper, bit this is my blog and I will not apologize for the frequency of my posts. So there. The whole point is for friends and family to be able to look here and see what we are doing because for some reason you people are interested. Sometimes there just isn't anything to say is all. And sometimes it just feels like a list of tasks or something. Lately we have been trying not to work so hard or so frantically and to take some of the non-essential projects off the list for now. It's a hobby farm for goodness sake. That said, here are some things we have been up to.

I started planning for the fall/overwintering garden. We would like for this garden to feed us year round. I have some broccoli, cauliflower, cabbages, and onions started and they can snuggle in to the garden soon along withs some direct sewn carrots and turnips and a few other veggie friends. Some other greens and things will go into the green house too. Plus we have all sorts of things to come out of the garden in the next month or two. You seriously see the size of some of my humongous winter squashes! I have Hubbard squash that khans got to be edging in on 20 pounds! The moles (and an over-excited Mike, frankly) had gotten to the potatoes, so we pulled those up and got three nice big boxes. I will plant more of those next user I think. And I found some artichokes is the garden this week too! I have always planted in containers and pots and I am astounded by what happens in real live dirt! We also  tilled up all the rows that weren't active and added some compost and are getting ready to tuck in some new seeds to overwinter and some cover crop. I love gardening! And I think next year will be even better.

We are still only getting one egg a day from one of our barred rocks. The other ladies don't seem to get it yet. At some point we will have plenty of eggs, but not today. We are also getting ready to breed the ladies and Thor is getting ready to to his duty. We moved the boys out of the barn too, because they are starting to stink. Right now they are sleeping in this little fenced in area by the house with no real shelter except a big tree. It's fine for now, but they will need real housing come the winter, so Mike one of the sheds from The Shire to what will soon be the Buck Yard. He towed it with the tractor because he is very clever. We will get the fencing done, set up hay and grain feeders, probably paint, and get some nice soft hay in there in the next week or so and then they will live like princes! This will be good for this spring too so we can wether any little boys we have and put them in with the fellas until they get meaty enough to butcher them. The ones we did this wear were still pretty little.

Grace's room is finished enough that she is sleeping in there now and all her clothes and things are in there. She still has her toys and books in the other room and we are dragging our feet a little on buying furniture until we get the door and trim up and such, but it looks really nice and bright and snug. And even more exciting Grace started 4th grade this week! Holy smokes! So we are back to earlier days and a more consistent schedule which really works out better for all of us.

I will try and post a few times this upcoming week and to get some pictures up as well, but history would suggest that it's only somewhat likely that I will do so. Really it's more fun this way because it's like a surprise!

Better Late than Never

Here is the first egg of the farm. It was one (small) bite per Cawley.

Tiny Baby Egg

Resting gently on an egg-pillow

Egg

I was so busy in the garden and canning and picking berries and getting things ready for Grace to start FOURTH GRADE (what!??) that I did not blog at all. Sorry about that. So here is the (disjointed) news:

You may have noticed that I love bullet points. I always have. It's just my style and you will have to get used to it.

• After all of the first egg excitement the second egg took five days to show up. At some point we may be tired of eggs, but for now we are just tired of feeding nearly 30 chickens and buying eggs at the store.
• I canned tomatoes from my garden. Twice.
• I vacuum sealed many fruits and veggies and cheeses and meats. Because I have a vacuum sealer now.
• I have 75 bazillion peas. Snow peas, sugar snaps, and shelling.
• I started seeds to overwinter. Fun!
• Chevre freezes nicely and I will be making a lot of it to see us though the holidays.
• I increased my 2011 berry-picking total to almost 80 pounds. (don't worry! the blackberries aren't ready yet).
• I have made 4 types of jam this summer and now I am done with jam for the year.
• Except maybe peach.
• I opened the last of the hard cheese for the year. They both taste like cheddar but I remain disappointed in myself. Hopefully next year will be better.
• My chest freezer has been decommissioned as a cheese aging box and reappointed as a chest freezer.
• Grace has many sassy new outfits for school.
• I also have some sassy new outfits and am ready for a date night. Mike.
• Mike fixed up our garden water situation in some terribly clever way and now it is considerably more efficient to water. Like magic!
• The goats also got a new water set up. They are very spoiled.
• Grace's room is all painted, and the carpet is on the premises. I hear it will be move in ready early in the week. I would not hire us as contractors unless literally the only thing you care about is coming in under budget. We are super good at that.
• Plus a bunch of dumb stuff like laundry and weeding and household drudgery.

I hear I am taking a day or two "off" this week, so maybe I will post some pictures or something with "sentences." But history would suggest otherwise so I better not make any bold statements.

YAY!!

Guess what we found in the coop yesterday?

AN EGG!!  (finally!)

It's very small, but it's perfectly formed and very lovely. And you have to start somewhere. I hope she (whoever she is) will tell the other ladies that it wasn't so scary or horrible and set a good example for the rest of them. Because one tiny egg is not going to be quite enough.

I have a picture of the egg but Grace is spending the night away and we promised we would not crack it open until she was here, so I will put up some pictures when I can include the inside and some shots of us enjoying it. Holy smokes do we love eggs. A lot.