Yes, bread has a hero. Reading this book, I was struck by a few things… ok, a whole bunch of things. Remember when I talked about a story having a hero to stand up and cheer for? And if you have been following along, the blog posts on Ebola, and Poverty, and how I said… Read More Review: Bread has a Hero
One of the ways I have been blessed is to have spent an inordinate amount of my childhood running wild in the out of doors. My children, for over a decade, grew up on a small farm in New Hampshire, and I was able to capture some great memories for posterity with my camera. Kids… Read More Beautiful America: Growing Up Outside
It was a house. I have walked out of many doors without a second glance backward. It was my family’s home for more than two decades, an old farmhouse with more problems than most women would have put up with. It was a home, and it came tumbling down. I listened to my father telling… Read More Just a House
I spent three days with Dad putting shingles on the house last year, when we had no idea how little time it had left. It was a house. I have walked out of many doors without a second glance backward. It was my family’s home for more than two decades, an old farmhouse with more… Read More The House is Dead – Long live the Farm!
Earth’s grand eruption of life blossoms and grows anew green shoots, pink petals promise fruit. Farm wife tends lavish gardens Back bent painfully Rewards reaped for hoeing long. Earthy woman all day through Vital lover’s kiss greets night’s darkness with passion. Sleep comes suddenly to her His shoulder under cheek Her lashes flutter down softly. … Read More Farm Wife
After putting up the coop, we needed a run for the chickens and ducks to stretch their legs in. We wanted to enclose the area the length of the greenhouse, and incidentally this meant we wouldn’t need to fence that side. Yep, we’re lazy farmers. We built the run and then covered it with bird… Read More Run, Chicken, Run!
Dad and I were talking about the chicken coop that we really needed to build yesterday while we were out running around. Suddenly it dawned on me. We had all the materials we needed to build the coop and the run, and it wouldn’t take much work, either. I had run across a portable structure… Read More Three-Hour Coop
The chicks arrived safely this morning about 7 am. There are 35 of them. Everyone looks lively and there were none DIB. Beaks dipped in sugar water, feed, parked under the heat lamp. As you can see, some stayed there and basked, while others scooted around the brooder scratching and pecking. There are cobwebs in… Read More New Arrivals
The part of the Barn that will be Mica’s forge is going up fast! We have three walls up, and since it will be 16′ tall at the front and 8′ at the back, they decked all of the upper story temporarily while they assemble and raise that front wall. The upper loft will only… Read More Building and Popovers
We are buidling a barn one piece at a time. Both in the sense of pieces of lumber, and bays of the barn. Eventually, the barn will be 50×12. maybe even 60×12. We are building it in 10×12 bays because that’s all we can afford at a time! The first bay, currently under construction, is… Read More One Piece at a Time
We started out early today, as it’s another hot one. It was up to about 100 degrees yesterday, might hit that much again today. It did rain last night, and started off overcast today, which let us all work until close to one before knocking off for the afternoon. Dad and Mica are putting… Read More Mother of All Blueberry Bushes
One of the other things I do, and one of the most fun, is twisting balloons. I also facepaint, but the balloons led to a discovery. At the end of a big day, like the workshop I will be teaching this coming week, I will have a bunch of balloon scraps. That, coupled with… Read More Composting Balloons