Category: Homestead

Wren, Hen, and Coons

The hen I’ve nicknamed “White Feather” because she has white feathers among the red, is lingering on–but just barely. I didn’t really expect her to last so long. She’s been looking like a grizzled old dog. I’ve read that chickens only last 7-8 years… Continue Reading “Wren, Hen, and Coons”

Mean Girl and White Feather

It’s been a very dry summer–at least for us. On radar, we often watch large areas of rain go right past us without hitting us. Because of the lack of rain, I have to go out ever day to water EJ’s vegetable garden and… Continue Reading “Mean Girl and White Feather”

Only Us

Ej had 5 days off last week. Three were his normal days off, one was for the July 4th holiday, and one he took off as a vacation day. We spent the five days working around our place, getting several tasks and projects done.… Continue Reading “Only Us”

Chicken Run

It’s been very dry here this summer. Except for areas where the sprinkler hit when I watered the gardens, the grass was turning yellow like straw. When I mowed the lawn last Friday, the mower blew up clouds of sand. I made my own… Continue Reading “Chicken Run”

Mostly Summer Now

It is mostly Summer now. I say “mostly” because we have more warm days than not, but most mornings and some days and nights are cool enough that I still wear a jacket. Actually, Summer seems to stay firmly fixed in place around the… Continue Reading “Mostly Summer Now”

Cough, Wheeze, and Sneeze

EJ has finished his first week of working first shift and is now beginning his second week. He is enjoying this shift because he is naturally a morning person and feels less tired and more productive. He enjoys the beautiful early morning drive to… Continue Reading “Cough, Wheeze, and Sneeze”

Rhythm Shift

For most of our married life, EJ has worked second shift. It has worked well for us. I get up earlier than him in the mornings and he stays up later than I do at night but we are able to spend mid-morning to… Continue Reading “Rhythm Shift”

Eight Years Ago Today

Last week we had three nights of frost/freeze warnings with temperatures that dipped into the low 30s. Each evening we had to cover up our tender garden plants. We do this every year. The temperatures have risen into the 80s, even touching 90 degrees… Continue Reading “Eight Years Ago Today”

Unwanted Stuff

May has been a very busy month. In early May, we began starting seeds in the house. EJ started the plants he wanted in his garden and I planted mine. A few days later, the weather turned warm and the forecast showed that it… Continue Reading “Unwanted Stuff”

Nesting

We’ve had alternating warm/cold weather. Saturday morning it snowed quite hard but by the afternoon it warmed up enough that it melted all the snow and I didn’t button my coat when I went outside. This week the temperatures are in the 70s. It… Continue Reading “Nesting”

Lost and Found

Last week was a bit tough. Well, perhaps not really as tough as much as inconvenient and annoying. EJ got up early on Thursday morning after only a few hours of sleep to run an important errand. While he was out, he dropped his… Continue Reading “Lost and Found”

Homestead Magic

Yesterday morning I woke up to heavy fog. As the sun rose, it tinted the fog with a sort of pastel pinkish-orange color. I went out to take a few photos and saw that raindrops had frozen on the bare branches of trees. It… Continue Reading “Homestead Magic”

The Incubator

Hannah Joy asked to go out at 10 pm on Monday evening, several hours after I wrote my last blog post called, “The Pantry Cat in Space and Time.” I found Millie in our entrance hallway, indicating that she urgently wanted to back out… Continue Reading “The Incubator”

The Pantry Cat in Space and Time

The last time I wrote, we were expecting a winter storm with high wind, snow, and a glaze of ice. It ended up being not worth a warning–at least, not in our area. We got several inches of snow, and a slight glaze of… Continue Reading “The Pantry Cat in Space and Time”

The Best EVER

The weather was warm over the weekend and melted most of our snow, but once again we have a couple of inches of snow covering the ground–with more expected. We have a Winter Storm watch for our area until tomorrow evening bringing wind gusts… Continue Reading “The Best EVER”