Saturday, October 13, 2012

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Fern had to break ice on the stock tank with her  nose this morning.

We saved the chrysanthemums by covering them with sheets. Unfortunately the sheet on the dahlias blew off so it froze. The sheet on the big mounded chrysanthemum on the millstone apparently looked like a hassock to Willie.When Abby arrived this morning she found him curled up on top of it mashing it down of course. I can tell you, he heard about it from Abby.

It did not warm up much today and is cold again tonight.

Martin came up by himself to do winterizing at camp, mostly getting in the docks. We fixed him a good dinner. I braised some shoulder cuts of lamb, Abby made a rice pilaf, I simmered mixed vegetables in ghee. My sister Barby in CA sent four giant quinces. I baked one in butter and date sugar and served it quartered with home made crème fraiche and raspberry sauce. I forgot to say, Martin brought two woodcocks and we had them as hors oeuvres sautéed  in butter with a little soy sauce. What a treat.

Abby is making plans to go to CA. She has a ticket for October 27.  She will be in GuahalaS near DD Marcia, her sister.

It is freezing again tonight.

Sunday, October 14, 2012

It rained last night instead of freezing.  Fern did not come in when I called her for milking. Even the sheep, who always come bounding, ignored  me. After three trips to the barn and a lot of hollering I came in and read the paper. When Fern finally showed up at 9:30 she was all pissy, like it was my fault that milking was late. Then during milking she kicked off the machine. I wonder if this is a sign of pregnancy.

            It rained or drizzled all day and feels Novembery. DS Martin worked on getting his dock in, also Marcia’s.  DD Abby is hurrying to stain the deck on Sally’s little house before she leaves for California for the winter.

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

We think a hawk is taking chickens. I did see a hawk on the fence one day and there are piles of feathers on the lawn where the chickens free range.

After a warm two days it is getting chilly again and there is a cold wind.

Abby is packing boxes.

Yesterday I made a big pot of soup with lots of vegetables. Last night I made whole wheat muffins to eat with it and tonight Abby made sour cream biscuits.

There is still plenty of grazing.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

A perfect bright October day. I got outside for awhile. Most of the leaves have fallen so the colors are subdued. I strolled around the garden and attempted to walk along a little path that leads through the lilac hedge to a view of the pasture. This spring Max felled a big black locust tree that was taking over the space and DD Sally and helper Nancy carried away all the wood from the area. I had not visited the spot for over two months. It has become nearly impassable. It has become a thicket of locust saplings, thorny little things they are, many higher than my head. Amazing growth. Nothing but a goat could eat them.

            I went around behind the barn and filled a bucket with some of my AA++ composted manure. This is for renewing the soil in my houseplants.

            We expected DS Martin for supper but he took a detour up to Presque Isle to buy a duck hunting gun and will be very late if he makes it at all. Abby made some mighty good lamb meatballs in a paprika sauce and roasted root vegetables. I am waiting up.

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Martin arrived at 11:15 bringing several sample bags of potatoes from Presque Isle.

The weather today was again fine, very fine.

Martin and his friend John Robinson hunted with Milo up near Tumbledown. They talked with the forester about where to hunt and got five partridge, two woodcocks and a rabbit. Martin is getting to be a lot better shot but John is an expert marksman. He was formerly a guide in Africa. He is a writer with a day job in real estate.

I joined them for dinner. I had already marinated steaks for them yesterday not knowing there would be game. So we had steaks and several types of game deliciously grilled by John. I brought along baked potatoes and coleslaw from one of my own cabbages. Abby sent along some of her popular Snickerdoodle cookies. She did not come along because of packing for CA

I got seven eggs today which is the new average.

Friday, October 19, 2012

It’s been another mild drizzley day.

Fern came in nicely and wasa perfectly behaved despite my having inadvertently left open the orth gate, the gatet that prevents her going to the bottom of the peroperty.

Abby and I went to Farmington on errands. At the last minute we decided to take Abby’s car and I forgot to move my utility wagon tires into it. I deeded at least one to take to Tractor Supply to order replacements. Darn.Now somebody will have to make an extra trip. We got everything else on the list though. First we stopped and saw Mitra at the farmer’s market and bought lots of stuff. I also bought cider and 30 lbs of Northern Spy apples from the corner vender. Mitra pointed out that Abby had a very soft tire so we stopped for air. A nice elderly man put the air in for us. We next went to White Water Farm supply for grain and local pork products. On the way home we stopped at Mt. Blue Garage in Weld and Abby made arrangements to bring the car in on Monday to repair the tire. It is a new one they put on recently.

I am cooking Martin’s rabbit and he is late for dinner.

Later: It was good that the rabbit had extra time to cook. I made what was really a fricassee with creamy gravy.Abby made mashed potatoes and a fine salad with things from the farmer’s market. It was all tasty. Martin was very pleased with the way the rabbit turned out. We are all looking forward to the next rabbit.

Before leaving, Martin set the Havahart trap with the remains of a woodcock. I lost another hen last  night.

Saturday Oct 7 2012

Sunday, October 07, 2012

The weather is unsettled and turning colder. Yesterday I started digging the potatoes that DD Sally planted in the sunken garden, the old granite foundation. There is a vining weed in there, Gill-over-the-ground it is sometimes called, and it has formed a dense mat. I can only dig a little at a time. Yesterday I dug about 4 ft and the same again today. Due to neglect the crop is small. They are purple fingerlings. This is also the area where I have cabbages and Brussels sprouts. About a week ago I topped the sprouts and they are already noticeably enlarged. Of course I should have done this a month sooner. During the afternoon Martin and Tom, Amy’s uncle, came down here with Milo, Martin’s setter and went hunting for a couple  of hours. They had a nice walk..

 

Last night I joined DS Martin and DIL Amy and her visiting dad and uncle and their ladies. Dad (Ken) made Arizona style green chili. I brought along cheesecake made by Abby. It too was a hit.The main ingredient is quark cheese, the product of draining clabber..

Today I dug a few more potatoes and stewed a rooster, one Sally put in the freezer last winter. We had chicken soup tonight.

I expected Fern to be in heat today but she was not. There is some reason the think that  now,8PM, she  may be starting. Very inconvenient..

Monday, October 08, 2012 Columbus Day.

Fern never did show any signs of heat.

We had some cold sun. It was pleasant but not tee shirt weather.

Abby and I drove to Weld partly to rescue Martin who was hunting with Milo on old pasture across the lake. He got two woodcocks but when ready to come home the truck would not start. We drove up with the cables but he had already flagged down nice local people named Conant and they already had it jumped. We proceeded on to Marcia’s camp to get the big chair that is still there but Abby had forgotten the key and there are  no longer any hidden keys. She removed them all at the time of the prowler. So we came home with nothing. Then I had trouble with the lock on my door and could not make it behave until Abby drowned it in WD40. Up to that point, not a rewarding day.  However I went down and dug more parsnips and carrots for our supper and that was a treat.

Tuesday, October 09, 2012

It was down to 33f last night but I did not lose anything. The flowers were covered.

The spring sink stopped running for unknown reasons but Abby got it going again by back flushing the line. I suppose leaves had clogged the outfall in the spring.

DD Sally will be here in about 3 weeks. She sent herself a package which arrived today. It was mostly amazing balls of hand spun hand dyed wool yarn for her winter textile projects.

Abby went out on errands and came home with Swiss chard. It was delicious for supper. She also bought a 14” diameter enameled metal bowl in gold tones that simply glows. She got it at a second had store for $3.

Mitra sold 100 bags of popcorn from her wagon at a fund raiser for Shireen’s soccer team. What an act of love!

I made a classic meatloaf to go with our chard for supper.

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Yesterday afternoon Abby and I drove up to Weld – thihs time we remembered the key – and had a look around Marcia’s camp. The day was rainy and cold anad all thhe auatumn leaves were wewt.The lakae was  lapping quietly. Somehow it was sad.

Ev, my vet, came by for lunch and brought me some things. I had hoped for worm medicine for the cats but he had none on board. I made a nice lunch with sautéed cabbage, Arborio rice and meatloaf. Abby made a custard.

Fern was back in heat today four days late. The AI tech came about 3 o’clock. I had Fern in the beefer pen and it was no trick getting into her stanchion.Breeding was difficult. Phil worked a good ten minutes to get the straw into her crimpy cervix. I did my best to hold Fern steady but by half way through the procedure she had exhausted her patience. I kept on rubbing her back and offering words of encouragement. Success was finally announced.

Abby came home from shopping with a pair of artichokes for our supper. They were the best I have had in years.

Friday, October 12, 2012

All quiet among the animals. If Fern is bred her calf will be about July 18, 2013.

It rained again last night and was cold and blowy today with frequent sun. A hard freeze is predicted for tonight.

The small hen with 11 chicks has not lost a single one. They are feathered out and troop after her when she comes to Abby’s call. What a sight they are. The hen to whom Abby gave one leftover chick, after she had been setting for weeks on nothing, is a highly attentive but timorous mother who never leaves her little room.

I dug a few more potatoes today in case the ground is frozen tomorrow.

I work every day on my editing but my progress seems glacially slow.

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Sunday, September 30, 2012

Picture will follow

XO Mom

Heifer Diary #41

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Last night we all convened at Kawanhee Inn for a dinner dance. It was a benefit for the Weld Library and it was in every way a resounding success.There cannot have been fewer than 200 people.DS martin and DIL Amy wewre our hosts. The buffet was excellent and so was the band. It was called Chicken Pie. We all danced a lot, myself included. Only Abby did not attend. She was immersed in moving back down from Weld to DD Sally’s house across the river from me. She is now all moved.

It rained much of yesterday and all of today. The temperature is about 55F.

Yesterday when DIL Amy and the kids and her dad and Glenda and the kids arrived they had Martin’s setter, Milo, with them. Amy and I both forgot he can’t be trusted around chickens. He ran around the yard for about 20 minutes without incident, then  so forgot himself as to grab a cockerel and run  off with it. We screamed at him but by the time Amy got control of him the chicken could not be saved. I laid the dead bird on a bin in the feed room. This evening when Martin stopped in for supper (the rest of the family has left but he  is staying over until tomorrow to go hunting) he rescued the breast of the cockerel. It looks like perfect meat. Martin did not wanted it all wasted.

While here he made a number of improvements to the lighting over at Sally’s house. Abby will not have to go in and out in the dark.

DS Max sent me the following account fromLibby MT where he is working:

The deer are rutting and there are way too many on the roads. They are mule deer, and, judging by the number of them on the roads, the population seems to be much higher than our white tails inMaine. Yesterday on the way in to work I was behind two vehicles travelling about 60 when we all did a panic stop. The leading car, one of those little economy cars about the size of a VW, had hit a large buck. The woman was OK, but the damage to her car was serious. She was already on the phone and waived off offers of assistance. The buck was sincerely dead. I proceeded on with a heightened sense of readiness. I had to stop twice more to avoid other groups crossing. They are in town almost as much as the highways. In addition to this being rut season, the daylight hours have changed as summer winds down. Now when I travel in to work it is just after dawn. The deer are always on the move at that hour and wherever they are going happens to be on the other side of any given road. Their behavior reminds me of sheep.”

Max has four and a half more weeks on this job.

Monday, October 01, 2012

It raind last night and most of today but it is not very cold.

This morning there were 22 wild turkeys in the pasture behind the barn.

I made the white meat that Martin rescued into chicken piccata for supper for Abby and me. It was very tasty. I pounded it flat, dredged it with flour and sautéed it in butter with chopped fresh tarragon and paprika. I deglazed the pan with lemon juice. Since the meat had not been aged, it was necessary to pound it to tenderize it. Very successful.

Abby made a marvelous salad with greens from the farmer’s market. She is all moved down now from the lake.

My day was wasted from the standpoint of editing.I spent a lot of time searching for a new book on cheese making that I need as a reference. What can I have done with it? I guess I will skip along to another section until I find it.

Tuesday, October 02, 2012

Every time I go into the garden with my basket I think I won’t find anything to harvest or if it do, it will be the very last things. And then like today I find that the green beens are still coming on and I missed some cucumbers and there were four more fine squashes or pumpkins. So I keep on lugging in more vegetables. I also dug another two hills of white potatoes, which was all I had strength for.There are volunteer parsnips all over the garden and I dug a couple of them although I was sure they would be woody. I just cooked  a couple and they are delicious.

But the biggest surprise was the sweet potatoes.. Last winter DD Marcia sent me a few sweet potatoes from CA and DD Sally cut one in half and rooted them in a glass on my window sill.They made vines about 10 ft long.  In May I rolled up the vines like wreathes and planted them on the south side of the house against the hot brick wall.They got busy and made a great carpet of dense vines. Today I decided to try digging one up. This was very hard work. The vines would have been safe for Tarzan to swing on I think. But to my amazement I found big beautiful sweet potatoes. I am just amazed. I have never grown sweet potatoes before. I didn’t think they would grow here.

About 4PM Abby came back form a shopping expedition which included a stop at the Free Store.She brought me three excellent pairs of shoes that fit, mirabile dictu.

Then she went to the barn and heard the desperate peeping of a baby chick. Oh dear. Not again.  She finally found it and then spent the next half hour looking for its mother. She finally spotted a small hen wedged down among hay bales. This little hen has been trying various spots for weeks to have a nest with eggs but has been sitting on nothing, just persistently broody. She saw the chick that Abby was carrying around and instantly demanded it. It happily went under her.Abby of course provided water and moved bales so it will be able to escape. However she knew there must be a new mother with chicks somewhere and finally located it in another highly inaccessible place  This hen probably has a vast number under her but Abby could not see. It will have to move downstairs tomorrow.

The weather today is very warm, about 70F and overcast.

For supper, besides the parsnips and beef liver, we had rice croquettes that Abby made from her beautiful Australian cookbook.

Thursday, October 04, 2012

It has rained all day. Everything is soggy.Abby has set up housekeeping arrangements for two more hens and chicks, as mentioned on Tuesday, and they are thriving. She is out there now topping them up.

We just came back from Weld where we checked on DD Marcia’s camp. On the way home we paused by an abandoned apple tree and she filled a large shopping bag. They seem to be a few bearing trees in Weld. I am hungry for applesauce.

Friday, October 05, 2012

           

We were told to expect rain but after a cloudy start the sun came out beautifully. The fall colors are lovely now in both misty and bright weather. The recent rains have brought on the grass again and the critters are enjoying it. But I am sorry to report that what I presume to be a raccoon is taking chickens. There was a pile of feathers just inside the barn door this morning. There is a crack wide enough for a fox or a raccoon but Abby says there are feathers upstairs in the loft too. I doubt a fox is going upstairs. I have a Havahart trap here but I did not get it set tonight.

Down in the garden I harvested more marigolds (calendulas) for my tea. They are coming on as fast as ever. I also picked dill and a few more beans. I am still getting things out of the garden despite it being a jungle of weeds.

I finished digging the sweet potatoes. I probably got 10 pounds total from my two vines. I can see why one is told to plant them atop hills. The tubers form so deeply that it  is hard to dig them. I don’t even know if I got them all. Abby finished digging the white potatoes yesterday.    

Martin sent a picture of Milo from their hunt on Tuesday.

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