Sunday, February 17, 2013

There is supposed to be a picture of me. Martin said he would send it otomorrow.
Sunday, February 17, 2013


Yesterday was cloudy and about 20 degrees, not as sunny as the day before. Sally and Willie walked down by the river and saw the first pair of mallards. They flew off. Sally decided to gather seeds from some Northern Spy apples to plant down there, just for fun. The seeds came from Northern Spys that I bought in the fall as they are particularly good pie apples.
Sally and Abby got the big hay ring loose and the waste hay spread around. They also put hay, a few flakes at a time, out the back window of the hay mow to keep Fern happy while she was shut outside. They allowed the sheep to come out and mingle so they could have fun too.
Today Fern gave over a gallon and a half of milk (perhaps reflecting my adding alfalfa pellets to her diet) and about fifteen eggs. The weather today was cold and blowy and snowy and generally bleak. Abby spent a long time splitting firewood and hauling it up to the house. I managed to get in a couple of hours of editing.
My granddaughter Maia Luick (age 16) in Fairbanks did well at the Academic Decathlon, for which she has been studying with her team ever since August. She won four medals and her team won the State championship. We also heard that my grandson Eli Simmons (age 14), also from Fairbanks, won an Insight award in robotics.

Monday, February 18, 2013
About a gallon and a half of milk and a dozen eggs. It blew violently all last night and all of today, and it was quite cold too. It was zero when we got up and never got above twenty.
We had an annoying time with the milking machine today. It had pressure but refused to pulsate. We worked on it a long time before figuring out that the pulsator wasn’t seated properly. We had tried to seat it numerous times but somehow hadn’t succeeded. Whenever it won’t work I panic. Thhe problemt invariably turns out to be something stupidly simple.
Sally and Abby worked for a long time taking pictures of me. Here is a sample:


Later, Max came over with alfalfa pellets and cow minerals. He helped us to solve a couple of my current computer dilemmas.
We heard from granddaughter Caiti that her daughter Lily is very ill. The doctor thinks it’s a Norovirus.
When Sally went to bring the sheep in, one ram had a very bloody head. She thinks he had knocked off his little spur of horn. He didn’t seem to mind it.

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

It was about ten degrees above when we got up and later warmed twentyfive degrees thanks to bright sun. The injured ram appears fine. Two of the ewes seem certainly to be pregnant and we are hopeful about the other two as well.
It was so nice that Sally and Willie went for a walk around the fields. Willie showed great interest in the groundhog hole down in the Pocket Field. Later on they went down again and sprinkled apple seeds around outside the fence of the main field. She dug little holes in the snow and dropped them in. An older resident stopped to chat and was glad to hear what she was doing. He said people aren’t taking care of their apple trees. He also spoke well of the apple tree by the river which he said was a Yellow Transparent. We hope it’s still there as it was very close to the water.
We are cautiously optimistic that Fern’s production will go up in response to the alfalfa pellets. She is getting two quarts a day. So far it hasn’t gone up much but at least it’s stopped going down.
It was so sunny and cheerful outside that Abby and Sally were able to clean out in the buttery and the carriage house. Sally also made another blueberry pie using blueberries that I bought from a neighbor last summer. Abby took another gallon of clabber to the hens who are responding very well- we got about eighteen eggs today.

Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Wegot a pint more milk this morning, about one and three fourths gallons. Abby collected the eggs at midday as usual and got about eighteen. Sally killed another two roosters.
It was about thirty degrees in the morning and got up to around forty, under a full sun but a bit of wind. I took a walk around the garden and the snow was very slushy. Sally and Willie walked around in the field but had to come back because it was very hard for Willie to walk He kept breaking through the crust.
Dr. Cooper stopped by for lunch. We didn’t get to talk much though because my son Martin was on a talk show on the radio. The subject was the climate for business startups in Maine. The panelists all agreed that Maine was the best place in the country to do a startup.
Abby has a new job as a live-in caregiver in Belgrade, Maine. She will be caring for an elderly doctor who has had a stroke. She starts next Monday. There go all our cookies.
Yesterday Sally and Abby were thrilled to get Season Two of Downton Abbey in the mail, a gift from Mitra. They were particularly pleased to get it since Abby has to leave and they wanted to watch it before she goes. We’ll also be able to watch the last episode of the third season together on Sunday night. I’m not watching Season Two which I have already seen- I close the door and do my editing.

Friday, February 22, 2013
Sixteen eggs and a gallon and a half of milk. We were alert for signs of heat from Fern as it is three weeks since she was bred, but so far nothing except that Milton was bellowing while I was milking.
One of the setting hens was off her nest today so we checked and her eggs had disappeared down a crack in the haybales. Since she had clearly given up we dismantled the nest. She’d been setting a long time and must have gotten discouraged. The others are doing fine. Also, Sally got word today that her housesitter in Alaska found new baby chicks in her henhouse. She is quite excited.
Martin came to breakfast with his kids Hannah and Henry. They ate up all their scrambled eggs and cheese that their Auntie Abby made them and a lot of milk and toast and jelly as well. They are very nice little kids and have good appetites. We are planning a big family dinner today for them and a friend of theirs. I have an eggplant and corn casserole in the oven, and baked pork chops, all from the farm.
It has been a lovely sunny day. Martin and the kids worked outside on the woodpile, and Sally walked around the fields and found a chrysalis on an apple tree twig. She brought it back with its twig for Abby to identify- she’s very good at that- and then will take it back and tie it to its tree again tomorrow.
Mitra and the girls have gone on a tour of colleges. Sounds like a lot of fun. Max is running the farm by himself. He has not used thhe milking machine before.

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February 09, 2013 Saturday

February 09, 2013 Saturday
The great storm Nemo bore down on Maine last night but concentrated on the southeast regions. The Western Mountains where I live was spared the worst. I don’t think we got more than a foot of snow. There was plenty of wind to rearrange it into pretty good sized drifts, though, and the plow has made the mailbox inaccessible, knocking it sideways. We did not even bother trying to reach it, as the mail lady doesn’t leave the mail if the box is compromised. Ted Flagg came in the afternoon and plowed the driveway in case we need to get out.

In Portland where DS Mark and DIL Annie live, her car was completely buried in snow even inside the parking structure in their building. The snow blew in sideways. DS Martin farther south in Biddeford sent a picture of their back deck that has a 40” railing; the entire deck was filled with snow to the top of the railing. And here are Mitra’s cows eating their pickled hay during the blizzard which started on Friday.

DIL Mitra sent a picture from yesterday morning while the sun still shone. Her cows and poultry were blissfully resting next to the big hay ring which was covered by a big blue tarp. Seeing that tarp was a light bulb moment for Sally and me. Voila! An answer to our endless struggle to keep the sheep from jumping into the hay ring to eat standing on the hay! Sally lost scarcely a moment before tying a blue tarp over our hay ring. So far this appears to have stopped the sheep. Here is the picture of Mitra’s barnyard:






Abby got up at five and lit the fires and let Willie out for a little walk. Evidentially she’s been watching too much Downton Abbey. (Then she went back to bed.) Now she is making a cheesecake with quark that I made yesterday. It will have a peach topping.

We got a gallon and a half of milk and eleven eggs. We found a hen on a new nest but haven’t looked under her yet to see what kind of eggs she has (old or new).

February 11, 2013 Monday

I climbed up on the hay bales and braved a very fierce little black setting hen. There was only one egg under her and it appeared to have been frozen. She would not leave her nest.

DD Sally took her a little dish of clabber. She was starving and ate every bit. Sally gave her two good eggs. We also gave two eggs each to two other persistently setting hens and have marked the calendar for April 4.

Sally whacked one rooster yesterday and another today. They are so annoying. The poor little hens daren’t leave their perches for fear of being pounced on by six roosters. I do so admire Sally’s willingness to dress off the damned things. One feels like shooting them. Sally points out that they are another farm crop and not to be wasted. If you kill them at the end of summer they are virtually free meat. At this time of year they are all stuffed with expensive feed and are costing me money. Thanks to Sally, I always have a chicken to boil for soup or stock.

Sally put the sheep in their own paddock today and carried them their hay so that the cows could eat alone. The tarp over the hay ring is doing its job of keeping sheep from hopping on top but they still push in wherever the cows are trying to eat and make them very cross.

Sally and Abby were all set to go shop in Farmington today but then we heard from Max that the weather was turning bad. It did indeed start to snow and has not stopped all day.

Feb. 12, 2013 Tuesday

Twenty above this morning and the milking machine worked much better. We’ve been putting molasses on the hay in the morning after milking and saying “Molasses, Fern” to teach her the word. She has learned very well and comes hurrying to get it. Today we gave the cows the nearly empty bucket and they cleaned it out very well.

We put the sheep in their paddock again.

Abby volunteered to drive to Farmington and Sally went along as her boots were in such bad shape that she was forced to buy new ones. They shopped at a lot of little stores. They met Max and Mitra at the Better Living Center and got some extra milk from them. Farmington is a particularly charming little college town with fine brick commercial buildings and classic New England residential architecture, mostly white clapboard, with shutters. They brought home alfalfa pellets for Fern, and black sunflower seeds for the wild birds. They got home about three o’clock very anxious for their tea.

February 14, 2013 Thursday

1 ½ gallons of milk & 14 eggs. Temperatures remaining bearable, around 35F. Sally dressed off two roosters that I had caught last night; a huge cauldron of stock now simmers on the stove. Sally & Abby went to town & fetched Northanger Abbey to watch tonight from the Library, and two bags of feed from Towle’s. I went down & watched Sally trim apple trees in the garden. I worked on editing most of the day til we sat down to Abby’s dinner of mini meatballs in gravy over rice & homegrown Brussels sprouts, and for dessert the doughnuts she’d made earlier. Then we treated ourselves to watching the movie.

We heard from DS Bret that Maia’s Samoyed Cecil had come home, after having been gone for 10 days, with the appearance of having caught its foot, possibly, in a trap, and very skinny. This was in Fairbanks & he must have been close to freezing to death. The trappers in Alaska are allowed great license. We think perhaps he had been freed by the trapper at last, as his foot was more or less in one piece.

February 15, 2013 Friday

We got about 14 eggs today and less than a gallon and a half of milk. This is the third day we’ve been supplementing with alfalfa pellets but haven’t so far seen any increase in the milk supply. Fern loves it though.

We’re continuing to keep the sheep in their separate paddock. Today it was sunny and warm and the sheep were digging through the snow looking for grass. The snow is only a few inches deep. Abby opened the gate so they and the cows could mingle and go out into the south field to see if they could find more grass there.

It got up to around forty degrees and seemed warmer than that in the sun. It was so warm that I knocked the snow off the chaise longue so as to sit in the sun, but instead went down to the garden and watched Sally prune the fruit trees. We agreed on various major pruning decisions. Willie kept his eyes on our progress.

For supper we had leftovers of the Brussels sprouts and meatballs from yesterday. Abby made a delicious coffee flan. We also had little heart shaped red gelatin treats made from organic cherry juice. I made a topping that Sally suggested by whipping cream and adding quark cheese (similar to ricotta) and honey. I will make this again soon as it was fantastic.



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Saturday, February 02, 2013

Saturday, February 02, 2013
One dozen eggs and a gallon and a half of milk. I called Nate, my AI tcck again this morning and he was already on his way. He arrived while I was still in my bathrobe. Sally had gone off to see the workmen at her house and I saw him wandering around the driveway. I was soon into barn clothes over my pajamas. He came in and suggested a different bull, Epic, an A2A2 bull with a good reputation for fertility. Sally came back and we put Fern into her stanchion. Nate said that she was in perfect condition for breeding. He had a lot less trouble inserting the straw than his colleague who came last time.
Then we heard that Martin would be over in an hour or two to drop off the kids so we raced around cleaning up and then took the opportunity to watch the last episode of Pride and Prejudice, which was wonderful. (Of course it’s the BBC filming with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehel.) Martin never showed up till nearly five and we thought he had surely fallen through the ice.
During the afternoon I was thrilled to get a phone call from Mark saying that he had gotten a wonderful job offer from CMMC (Central Maine Medical Center) in Lewiston.
At five people showed up for a nice family dinner: Max, Mitra, Roshan and Shireen, as well as Martin and his kids. Amy stayed home this weekend. We had braised shoulder of lamb, brown rice pilaf, salad and homegrown Brussels sprouts. Abby made a delicious banana cream pie. Martin brought the wine. We all had a great time. We raised a toast to Mark.

Sunday, February 03, 2013

We got eleven eggs today and about a gallon and a half of milk. It was back down to zero this morning.
We figure that most likely this time Fern has settled but I am thinking that her due date will be right on top of my trip to Atlanta next November. I guess we’ll figure something out.
Sally and Willie went for a walk around the fields. Most of the snow is gone thanks to all the rain and thaw we had last week. The low places in the fields are frozen ponds from the rain. Martin came over about noon. He had wanted to ice skate but we ladies were otherwise inclined and he’d already taken the kids out at the lake skating this morning. Martin kindly carried on with helpful repairs and problem solving with the various computers here (mine, Sally’s and Abby’s) that keep up linked to the world.
Abby made another batch of cookies, chocolate chip that resemble Florentines.
Sally made bread. She ground flour for it from the wheat I raised last summer. She had threshed just enough recently using the plastic blade on my Cuisinart. It was perfect bread. What a thrill. I have never grown wheat before.

Wednesday, February 06, 2013
It’s 8:30pm and a very cold. A violent wind has come up and Abby has volunteered to go out to the barn and close the outer door to the beefer pen to prevent too I helped her to find a cold-proof coat and other gear. Our motion lights are working week so her path is lit.
Yesterday was taken up by a trip to Lewiston to see my eye doctor, Dr. Hamzavi. Abby drove me and all went well. But I didn’t get another darned thing done all day despite closeting myself while the others watched Downton Abbey.
This morning started out with quiet weather and Ally and Willie took a walk all the way to the brook. Sally reported beaver work.
The cold has crept in again behind the dishwasher and frozen the pipes. Sally and Abby have insulated and hung blankets and set up heaters so far to no avail.

Thursday, February 07, 2013
Abby did not go to bed last night until she had the dishwasher going again. Hurrah!
It was right around zero again this morning. I had failed to bring my boots into the kitchen last night so had to stick my feet into freezing boots. This was a poor start to chores but everything else went well thanks to Fern being a very good little cow and DD Sally doing all the watering and feeding. In the very cold weather it is difficult to get the teat cups on since the little rubber hoses on the machine are so stiff. Sally goes around to the far side of Fern and puts the two on that side on, and then holds them in position until I get the other two in place. Fern gave 1 ½ gallons which seems to be the best she can do as a first calf heifer in her 14th month of lactation. This is not quite enough for family needs if I want to make any dairy products.
DS Max came over and brought feed from White Water Farm. I try to get all my feed there because he sells only non GM feeds. We were nearly out of firewood and he split us a lot. We were able to give him some of the good blueberry and apple pie that Abby made last night.
We also had our semi-annual visit from the piano tuner, Gordon Large. He recommended we use the humidifier. He’s going to repair the felts in a place where a mouse had taken up residence.

Thursday, February 8th
We got a gallon and a half of milk today and a dozen eggs. It was pretty cold again today (10F) and the hoses on the milking machine were again very stiff. Sally again helped with getting the teat cups on Fern .She then filled lots of containers with water as we are supposed to be getting a big snowstorm and may lose power.
We’ve been putting molasses onto the hay in the feeder for the cows and sheep, mostly just for fun. I’m giving Fern about two pounds of grain (COB) each morning and putting wheat germ oil on it, about a quarter of a cup. I also add a handful of kelp and a handful of diatomaceous earth (DE). She also gets about a pint of grain in the evening. She is in good condition. Milton also gets about a pint of COB in the morning and another at night. He’s looking good too.
Abby filled lots of containers in the house too just in case. She also brought in a lot of firewood and made Snickerdoodle cookies from nephew Roger’s recipe.
Sally finished the seed order and worked on an order for floating row cover. These are from Fedco Seeds. We had a lot of seed left from last year and only needed corn and squash. We are hoping the corn seed comes as it is in very short supply nationwide due to the draught.
I made a Swiss steak, a popular back in the 50’s. We had it with mashed potatoes and a tasty cabbage fry that Abby made, and ate in front of the TV where we watched Downton Abbey reruns.




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Sunday, January 27, 2013

Sunday, January 27, 2013
On Saturday dear Mark and Annie picked up DD Abby from The Hilton where she had stayed overnight after a late flight from CA and drove her here to the farm.
We all had a jolly afternoon followed by a dinner of roast shoulder of lamb. We also baked one of our turban squashes. Sally made a blueberry pie. Annie and Mark were not able to stay overnight so the dinner was early. During the afternoon we had a brief visit from Max and Shireen. They brought me some feed.
Mark and Annie installed my new wide screen monitor from Bret. I can now see it much better.
Cold weather continues. It was about zero early this morning but got a bit warmer during the day. We are on the fifth day without our dishwasher. We think something is frozen up in there. Today we had a hairdryer blowing on it for awhile. Tomorrow perhaps we will try it longer. All the animals continue to seem happy though, except the hens are not laying well. I only got five eggs today, and a gallon and a half of milk.

Monday, January 28, 2013
Slightly warmer today. Sally and Willie got to go for a nice walk in the fields. Sally wore snowshoes though the snow wasn’t that deep. She found that the gate to the main field needs to be closed as the snow was deep and crusted enough for the sheep to get over the fence and into the road.
Abby and I went to Rumford grocery shopping, the first time in several weeks. We also stopped at the Free Store and Abby got some new clothes. After we got them home Sally washed everything.
This morning Sally found a dear little hen laying her egg in a vulnerable spot where the cows walk. She closed a gate to close her off and protect her. Later on I found three eggs in that spot.
I collected 10 eggs today and Fern gave over a gallon and a half of milk.
Sally made salmon chowder for our supper and Abby made a fine lettuce and avocado salad.

Wednesday, January 30, 2013
One and a half gallons of milk this morning and 10 eggs today.
We have had a day of respite from the cold. It reached 40F today. All the frozen surfaces melted and created a vast ice slick between the house and barn. Even Sally agreed to walk with a ski pole. School was called off. The prediction is for the cold to return tomorrow.
Dr. Cooper stopped by at lunch time. Abby whirled around and glorified last night’s leftovers, a chicken dish. She made it into a curry over pasta. She also made a nice lettuce and cucumber salad. There was enough remaining of the custard that I made yesterday and it all went very well.

Thursday, January 31, 2013
It was forty degrees this morning when we woke up. When Sally went out to the barn she reported that it felt hot outside. About ten o’clock in the morning after we were done with the barn chores Sally heard a great roar of wind and we were struck by a violent storm with wind and rain. Sally ran down to the barn to close the windows and got soaked.
The rain and warm weather still hasn’t gotten rid of all the ice. It is still dangerous walking to the barn.
I’m afraid that Fern is coming in heat again. When I collected the eggs in the afternoon the cows were running around after each other, but I didn’t see any mounting behavior. Abby came down to the barn too and stapled plastic over the windows.
Abby made wonderful almond-walnut cookies, and Sally made a quiche with my new homemade bacon. We ate it while we watched another episode of Pride and Prejudice.
Had a gallon and a half of milk today and eighteen eggs. The increase in eggs is no doubt a result of additional clabber that they are getting.

Friday, February 01, 2013
We got a little less than a gallon and a half of milk, and ten eggs. Fern was very quiet during milking- we’d been looking for signs of heat and decided she wasn’t in heat after all. But when Sally went out to give them their lunch things were all different. She and Milton were all circling and jumping, unmistakably in heat. We called Nate, my AI tech, but it was too late.
We discovered that Martin and his two kids were coming tonight so we scurried around and made spaghetti. Abby made more cookies.
While waiting for Nate (who didn’t make it) we watched two more episodes of Pride and Prejudice.
When Martin arrived he had a surprise for me, a propane powered generator. Sally had fun reading the instructions.

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