Happy Holidays!

It's the second-to-last day of December and we still have no snow on the ground. I harvested this salad from beneath the row cover a couple weeks ago - delicious, nutritious, and a surprisingly successful experiment in winter gardening.

Christmas on the farm was lovely once again; good company, good food, and presents more than made up for the lack of snow. I want to leave the tree up all winter.

The goats enjoyed a delicious Christmas dinner of spent grains from neighbor Justin's last brewing.

Barn Progress

Last week it snowed again. It was quite dramatic there for a few hours, but ultimately unremarkable. We are incredibly grateful for this, and for the generous help of friends. Brian and Kasia came up from NYC last weekend to help us get the floor joists up. Fin and I had spent a frustrating day the previous weekend trying to do this without help, to no avail, but with a few extra hands it went smoothly.

Hoist Those Joists!

Autumn is Sexy Time

Oooh, Autumn, you are hot! With the balmy temperatures we have been experiencing this year, we have been walking around like it's the tropics, in little more than our underwear. And long underwear, jeans, warm socks, boots, and a few layers of thermal shirts. Sexy time! 

The goats have grown out their winter coats, and their thoughts have turned to love. Let's call it love. Breeding season went more smoothly this year than last, as we humans know our goats a bit better. They can act like loony, moony teenagers and talk trash for days, but once those tails start flagging, it's on.

Juniper and Pansy Sunbathing in December

Juniper was first to take her "field trip" in mid-November. No extended singles cruise this year. We drove her to the breeder one morning, and we were pretty much in and out. As it were. When we got home, Pansy took one whiff of Junie's buck-smelling coat and lost her mind, so we got her up into the truck (for those of you who know her: Yes, this is a minor miracle, considering we could not get anywhere close to her at this time last year, but all our patience - ok, mostly Farmer Fin's patience, not mine - paid off and she has become a sweet girl a lot of the time), and turned it right back around. Her deflowering was pretty unceremonious, and we were done for the day. Sassafras had her field trip a week or so later, and Violet on the exact same date as last year, right before Thanksgiving.

Veronica, Vernon, Sassafras, and Violet

It's going to be a very busy (and very cute) April 2012 for us. This year's kids are seven months old, but they still look pretty small (and pretty cute) to me.

Veronica Likes To Be on Top

And then there is Destiné, speaking of growing up fast. Even Destiné is not immune to the charms of Autumn. I saw him trying to hump one of the Beatrixes yesterday, proving for good and all that he is, in fact, a rooster. And a handsome one indeed.

Big D Scheming on the Ladies

Well, that's about all I need to share about this sexy time of year. May winter find us all snuggled up with the ones we love, doing as we please.