Not your typical spring

We’ve had terrible weather this spring. Mainly because it’s been so nice. That’s right, I’m complaining about sunny days. I mean, there was that one freak snowfall that gave us over an inch of heavy wet snow, but otherwise it’s been incredibly dry.  

This is all kinds of wrong

Where are my April showers to bring May flowers? How is my beautiful garden supposed to fill with healthy veggies if we don’t get rain?

All kidding aside, the yard and garden are bone dry. And although the chickens enjoy the dust baths this is not good for anyone.

When we built the tractor shed in 2008 it rained for 8 weeks straight. We were soggy messes every single day. The creeks ran full and the mosquitoes were fierce. And every year since then we’ve had a little less rain. Dry April, dry May, and finally some rain in June. Not sure if this year will be a repeat but we’re already planning. We have two large rain containers set up to collect as much as possible. And we have another barrel that we may set up soon.

The forecast calls for rain for the next three days. Here’s hoping.

Sunny day and apple pie

February is typically our dreariest month, full of sub-zero temperatures and cloudy, gray skies. But not today!

Today was not only sunny it was warm (warm being relative in upstate New York). We hit 42 degrees today and there was virtually no wind. 

It was a perfect day to clean the chicken coop. Wait, what? Not snowshoe, or ski, or goof off? Nope, you gotta grab these opportunities when they appear. I use the deep litter method on my coop so by this time of winter it’s getting pretty deep in there. It’s great to have a chance to pull a few layers out and get them into the compost pile. Fresh wood shavings and hay make the coop much more pleasant for everyone.

Once the coop was cleaned (and I’d had a shower) I spent some pleasant time in the kitchen. Last fall my Dad had given me a few bags of orchard apples and I seasoned and froze some for pies. I had one bag left and decided to experiment a bit. I made a bottom crust, par-baked it, filled it with the raw, thawed apples, and topped it with my Grandma’s apple crisp topping. 

 I gotta admit that turned out to be one fantastic pie. I doubt I’ll go back to double crust apple pie ever again.

The Traditional Christmas Walk

We typically go on a walk through the woods on Christmas morning. This year was unusual in that instead of our normal December upstate NY weather (cold, snowing) it was 56 degrees and raining. Most years we have to wear snowshoes. This year? A raincoat and rubber boots.

Given that we got 26 inches of snow just over a week ago, this melt off and rain has flooded the streams. This is worse than any spring thaw we’ve had.

There is still some snow in the woods

This is a stream I can typically step over

The driveway culvert

Grass! And 0 inches of snow.

And now, at 9:30pm, it’s just 26 degrees. Everything is going to freeze up tight. Crazy weather.

The 2020 Ornament

Every year we do a special ornament for the Christmas tree. We started this with our first year of marriage so now have 30 ornaments; we’ve had to cull generic ornaments to have room on the tree. The early ones were store-bought and we tried to tie them to something major that happened that year: the year we got snowshoes, a snowshoeing snowman of course. The year we went to Puerto Rico, a tiny handcrafted mask from a local artist. You get the gist. Now I usually make them, which means it’s easier to tailor them to our lives. A small shoe for the year we started making our own shoes; a bulb filled with construction debris the year we built the house.

We don’t just put the ornament up and hope we’ll remember all that occurred though. We also write up a synopsis and store it with the ornament. Just a few years in it was easy to read all of them. Now that we have so many we just pick random ones to read aloud as we decorate the tree. It’s a nice tradition and it’s fun to remember what we’ve done and even what we’d hoped to do as we sometimes included future plans or goals in the write up. 

This year is going to be a hard review. So much has happened in the world. And really, there was only one ornament that would work.

I think it conveys just the right touch of whimsy 

26 inches

What a snow! Far too gentle to be called a storm. No winds, no sleet, just steady wee flakes that piled up, and up, and up.

I braved the depths to jam the snowstick in. I’m reasonably confident I hit ground but regardless it’s a good enough measurement of what accumulated.

26 inches

Cooper was much less enthused by the snow this year. She tried to follow me out to the shed (where we’d left the snowshoes and snow shovels for some silly reason) but gave up pretty quickly.

That dark spot in the path is Cooper’s little head

Note that I was only halfway to the shed when I snapped the picture. Really should have had that shovel on the porch. Trudging through thigh-high snow is hard!

Much happier now that I’m down there with her

Shoveling the path to the chicken coop felt like it took forever. Fortunately my shoulder issues are gone (thank you PT) and I’ve really gotten stronger (thank you fitness classes) so I was actually able to help with snow removal instead of Chris having to do it all. 

That gate is closed for the winter!

 I guess I won’t be pruning the fruit trees on the solstice this year...at least not without a lot more shoveling.

Nor’easter

We didn’t get the snow stick installed before it snowed (oops). But it’s obvious this a lot of snow! I’ll go out later with a yard stick to see just how much. Of course I’ve got to wait until it stops snowing to get a good measurement.

The first real snow of the season 

Nothing is getting light in the greenhouse 

The coop is buried

I love the first snow. It’s gorgeous and makes me feel all snug. It’s magical.

Of course, I’ll have a different feeling later in the winter when I’ve had quite enough of the work that snow brings. But for today I get to look out my windows and enjoy a hot latte while watching my world get covered in fluff.

Weather extremes

October 30th:

November 6th:

 Wonder what this winter will be...

Voted!

 Whatever comes out of this election, at least people really came out to vote.

We were fortunate. Our very small, very rural town had a very “normal” voting day. No line, no waiting, and friendly people to hand out supplies. Everyone was wearing masks and they had brand new pens and styluses for folks to use. We’d brought our own as that’s what was recommended on several voting information sites and we got some very good natured ribbing and congratulations for doing so. 

Amazing how normal it all seemed despite the pandemic, the rallies, and the marches. Despite, in fact, how very abnormal our world actually is right now. 

I wonder how normal tomorrow will be.

All the stuff

There’s always a lot going on this time of year. The transition from summer to winter is more than just the fall harvest. It’s a mind set, an attitude. Days full of putting up and and putting away combine with a new creativity. A realization that there are days ahead where you won’t have to carve out time to do something frivolous; that the weather will not only encourage, but demand it.

It’s a wonderful time of year.

Getting to 6 Newton meters

Adding a kayak rack

Not waiting for the cushion covers

Grinding raisins

For Dad’s favorite cookies

Enjoying togetherness 

Layers: Ground hot peppers 

It’s supposed to be the dog’s bed

Projects!

Wrapping up the week

What absolutely glorious weather we had this week. A mix of gentle rains, sunny yet mild days, and cold (56 degrees!) nights. Completely ridiculous for August. 

The garden is doing great. I’ve had to perform more squash surgeries but am now harvesting mini tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, cabbage, garlic, and tomatillos. I’ve got ears forming on the corn too. The greenhouse tomato plant is starting to ripen but the peppers in there have no flowers or fruit. Not sure why as I know pollinators get in there. The peppers planted in the big garden are fruiting though.

Chris finished a gift for friends who are getting married this fall and began rebuilding the cabinet that will be a window seat in the upstairs studio. The rebuild has been complicated by the fact that someone did some really bad repairs sometime in the past. They used a variety of glues (including hot glue?!) that just destroyed the dovetail tenons. Anyway, his progress means I need to get moving on planning a cushion. I’d like to weave the fabric but am not sure I can get that finished in a timely manner. Gotta give it some thought. I worked a bit on the sleeveless top I’m sewing but mainly maintained the household and garden. That seems to take most of my time in the summer. 

I found a couple of small batch canning/fermenting guides and am excited to give sauerkraut a try. I’ve wanted to do this for a long time but the quantities in most recipes were just crazy. Theses books give instructions for a half gallon or less of most things. Shoot, some of the recipes make just two cups. Awesome!

Sunday

Sunday-lightly raining, pleasantly cool, a perfect day to cuddle in and read a good book.

 George agrees

And back to hot! A general update.

Well, summer hit hard last week. Lots of temps in the upper 80s. The garden is loving the heat but isn’t so happy about the complete absence of rain. It’s a bit disturbing how dry we are so early in the summer. The catchment basin, which normally holds water until mid-August, is almost totally dry. More a stinky mud pit than a shallow pond. I doubt the wood frogs had a chance to develop from tadpoles, poor things.

Chris did a hive check on the new bees and all appears well. He’s got capped cells in the frames and they are actively working all day. My tomatillos are starting to flower and the last bees adored them. Hopefully these guys will like them too as I purposely planted three near the hive.

The wee chicks are 11 weeks old and running around the fruit pasture like crazy things. The older flock is paying more attention to them through the fencing and I’m going to try to integrate them next week. As this is my first time combining flocks I’m more than a bit nervous. 

Chris continues to make great progress on the upstairs railing. We’ve poured black colored resin into the cracks and voids in the two cherry newel posts, stained the middle pine posts black, and stained all the panel wood black as well. The bottom support rail is in ash and we’ve burned it like the dining room table top (which I just realized I never posted about). We’ll do the same to the ash rail cap. He’s got to cut the goat panel to size, I’ll paint it, then it’s on to assembly. 

NY is now in phase 3 reopening although most the rest of the country continues to see rising COVID-19 cases. Hopefully we continue our favorable trend. Our favorite restaurant is reopening this week and we’ve decided it’s time to venture out. We’ll use only the outdoor seating and hope for the best.

Dad has spent the last two weeks in South Carolina getting his new house prepped for his moving in. His house up here closes soon and I’ll be heading south to help him get settled. We’ll definitely miss having him so close but I totally understand the desire to get away from our hard winters.

working on the railing 

Cold again

The last three days have been cold and overcast. Really cold. Like 42 degrees in the morning cold with little climb throughout the day. And for some reason that has just squashed any urge to actually accomplish anything. We did a few things but ultimately just gave in, tucked in, and read books. 

Here’s what we did manage to do though:

NY is slowly and cautiously opening back up. We are in Phase 2 which means non-essential retail stores are now open and outdoor dining is allowed. We’ve done neither. But it’s nice to have the option.

Dad gave me his extra flower starts and I got them transplanted into the kitchen garden. They’re going to fill in the flower quadrant nicely.

Chris has the newel posts, bottom and side supports for the upstairs railing cut, sanded, and ready for staining. Actually he’s already burn-finished the bottom supports and is now waiting on decent weather for the stain. 

The gardens have been weeded and caterpillar spray has stopped the darn things from eating my kohlrabi, cabbage, kale, etc, etc. Onions are coming up, garlic looks great, and I’ve actually got some potato plants poking out of the tower. I also have three volunteer plants growing in my carrot bed. Oops. The peas are flowering and the greenhouse plants are growing well. 

I made baguettes the other day and experimented with using sourdough starter in place of the poolish. Worked great and I got a malty rich flavor. Had trouble with browning and getting a good crust though.

That’s pretty much it. If today is cold again I intend to get off my duff and at least work in the studio. I’ve got a towel warp I want to get on the loom.

Chicks are growing

Flowering peas

Tater Tower

Volunteers and wee carrot fuzz

Arch Art - Success!

It worked! Chris ended up using the same form but put it up on several layers of thin boards. Once he’d built the arch he was able to knock those boards out causing the form to drop a good four inches.

Everything settled, crunched, and held.

For size reference 

It’s so cool!

It sits on the left side of the driveway just past the tractor shed so it’s wonderfully visible.

Arch Art

Way back in 2015 Chris tried to build an arch. It was just a fun thing to do with no purpose beyond yard art. So when it collapsed during construction he abandoned it to focus on house related projects.

But it was time to give it another try.

Watch out kitty!

It’s actually got space between the form and rocks

Attempt #1 didn’t work as the form just wouldn’t knock free. You could clearly see gap between the rocks and form but it was caught on the right edge.

Darn!

Then the right side collapsed and that was it. Gotta rethink the form supports and try again.

Statistics and goings on

The US is over 100,000 Covid-19 deaths. I can’t even. I won’t be regularly updating those stats anymore. I had wanted to keep a kind of personal record so I’d remember but I don’t think there is any danger of forgetting.

In personal news:

The Bridge is done! We got the permanent railing and the screens up. It is definitely darker in there with the screens but it’s also now bug-free so I consider it a win. We’ve been sitting out there for blackfly free lunches and mosquitos free evenings.

While Chris had the extension ladder tied up he figured he may as well re-stain the soffits as they were starting to fade in the sun.

Painting soffits  

Here you can “see” the screens top & bottom. And my twinkle lights!

My oven started taking forever to ignite and the temperature would fluctuate. That’s my signal that it’s time to change the glow rod. We do this every 4 years or so and the oven is working perfectly again.

Putting the door back on

I got my first rhubarb harvest. I’ve got many rhubarb recipes pinned but was only able to harvest enough for one...so I chose The NY Times rhubarb custard bars. They came out fantastic.

Gotta let it grow another year 

We also got the fence around the garden finished. This area serves a dual purpose, keeping deer out and giving the chickens a second pasture. I’ll now be able to start grass growing in the old pasture again.

The new gate 

It’s a huge area

The garden is in except for onions and potatoes. They’ll get planted today. I put a mammoth sunflower next to every fence post and added cages to keep the chickens away until they are established.

The cages don’t help with cats.

Weather has been all over the place. Super hot and sunny (89 degrees!), then humid and thunderstorms, and today it’s 45 degrees out there at 6AM. At least there’s no snow.

Sunday May 17, 2020 Statistics

From the Times Union website:

Total COVID-19 cases:

• 350,121 in New York state, including 28,232 deaths. 60,796 recovered. 1,378,717 total tested.
• 1,480,873 in U.S., including 89,318 deaths. 268,376 recovered. 11,077,179 total tested.
• 4,690,873 worldwide, including 314,096 deaths. 1,721,884 recovered

Temperatures really climbed this week and we got a lot done. I cleaned the coop, moved compost piles, relocated the chicks, cleaned the house, planted the kitchen garden with herb seeds, and started to harden off some of my starts.

Chris bought a 270 gallon tote and set it up to collect rain off the coop roof. We’ll use this to water grass and gardens. Nice! He also spread the rest of the topsoil we’d bought and finished his work on the bridge. I’m now up for adding the screens. Then we’ll be bug free up there. Woot!

Food this week mainly focused on turkey leftovers but I did manage to add in a Toll House pie and 4 loaves of cinnamon swirl bread. Oh, and a batch of spicy mac & cheese.

And now for a gratuitous picture of Noodles enjoying her nap.

Sleepy kitty

I spent 6 hours shoveling chicken shit and had a great day

How’s that for a blog title?

Today was gorgeous-sunny, breezy, slightly cool. The perfect day to completely clean out the chicken coop and run after a long winter of deep-littering. The bonus would be being able to move the chicks out of the house (finally) and into the coop.

So I spent about six hours shoveling poop-heavy hay and debris out of the coop and run. It was hot work and I wore my homemade mask. It worked a treat. By the end of the day I was filthy and tired. But I was also deeply content. It had been a productive and quiet day. The chickens kept me company. The dog and cats checked in frequently. I had to shower before making and eating lunch with the full realization that I was just going to get dirty all over again.

Sitting and enjoying a cold drink after cleaning up for the final time, I realized that attitude makes all the difference. This could, literally, have been a shitty day.

Instead it was wonderful.

The last cold weather?

This is supposed to be the last day of cold weather. They have a freeze warning in place for tonight, but the forecast from here on out is temps above 60 and lows in the high 30s. Finally! This has been the coldest spring we’ve had since moving up here. Most years I’ve been able to plant the garden in early May. I’ll cover the plants tonight then put the coverings away (hopefully).

We worked a bit on the bridge and front porch despite the cold. Cleaned the 8x10 rug and moved it up to the bridge. Cleaned the front porch and got the chairs arranged. Weather and pandemic permitting, we’ll get to sit and visit out there soon. Put up the dart board on the bridge and arranged the table and chairs. Still need to do some cleaning but that space is coming right along. 

Roasted a turkey last night and will get to enjoy leftovers for a while. Some I’ll shred and freeze for quick lunches mid-summer. I’ll also make some freezer pot pies. The rest will become quesadillas, egg rolls, enchiladas, and sandwiches. Gotta remember to roast turkey more often. Without the stress of timing a big family meal it really is a simple task with big payoff.

I dismembered my bird before roasting 

I also baked some ANZAC biscuits. Used the King Arthur Flour recipe as my starting point but adjusted the size and timing. Will definitely make these again.

Buttery toffee oat flavors

That’s about it for today. We’ve got a fire roaring, the house is warming nicely, and I’ll start the pies shortly. A good day.

Monday May 11, 2020 Statistics

From The Times Union website:

Total COVID-19 cases:

• 335,395 in New York state, including 26,612 deaths. 57,180 recovered. 1,153,768 total tested.
• 1,321,223 in U.S., including 79,058 deaths. 212,534 recovered. 8,709,630 total tested.
• 4,079,388 worldwide, including 281,313 deaths. 1,394,920 recovered.

What a week it was. Sun! Snow! Ice! We got lots done and nothing done. Work on the bridge was going great then halted completely when freezing temperatures kept us from being able to stain or glue up boards. All work on the garden fence stopped because the wind was whipping so hard. And you can’t really work garden soil when it’s hard as a rock.

So we did what any sane person would...we gorged on books. A lot of reading got done this weekend!

The brisket I cooked last week lent itself beautifully to leftovers: wraps of brisket and carrot salad, quesadillas, baked potato with brisket and beef gravy. I’m roasting a turkey today for more of that leftover goodness.