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.

Barn Work Day 2

The last weekend of October brought us 8 inches of snow. We were lucky this time, in that the lights stayed on, unlike some of our neighbors in MA and CT. And it was pretty much melted by last weekend, so we could get back to work on the barn. Again we had a great crew, and a beautiful day too -  just look at that blue sky! The first story is up now in the front and the back.

Teamwork Holdin' it Together

Danny Directing from on High

The next step was to get the crossbeams in place so we could start on the second story hayloft floor.

Tractor Moving the Crossbeam into Position

Eric, Brian, Justin, and Kasia Strategizing

Mortises, Tenons, and Braces, Oh My!

We got the western beam in place right nice, thanks to monkey people and strategy.

We had an amazing auxiliary too, including Amaya, Laura, Scarlet, and Cassie. It was a beautiful day on the farm.

Run Amaya Run

Bird Soaking up the Sun on the Slab

By sunset (which happens at 5:00 now, thanks to the time change), we had all those big heavy crossbeams on top of the first floor frame, ready to be maneuvered into place. Time to hang the floor joists and get to work on the top story. 

It's a race against snow. Hopefully we win. Either way, we'll keep you posted.

Barn Raising

On Saturday, we began the barn-raising process. We have wonderful friends with all sorts of strength and skill, and we made some progress. I can't thank you all enough.

Ready to Raise

One...

Two...

Three...

It's UP!

Northwest Bent

Go Teamwork!

More upright timbers and photos to come!

Jars

This is what I've been doing to keep off the streets, keep up with my garden, and prepare for the zombie apocalypse (or just winter).

The garden continues to produce, and I continue to look for a job. Since I took this picture I have canned eggplant caponata, red wine pickled beets, and another batch of ketchup. Apples this week, then I should be finished for the year. Now to find more room in the pantry...

Manifest Destiné

This year we ordered meat chickens on the internet. On McMurray Hatchery's website, when you check out, there is a box you can mark if you wish to receive a free "exotic breed" chick with your order. When Farmer Fin asked me, "Should I check the box?" I was like, "Hell yeah! Of course! Why not?" He picked them up at the post office one Thursday in early August and installed them in the brooder while I was at the day job. Even the meat chicks are cute at two days old, but you could tell that little exotic one was something special. For the first time it occurred to me that the free exotic chick might be a baby rooster. But I figured it was just as likely a hen, statistically speaking, right?

Little baby chicks

The meat birds we called Jimmy II (Electric Boogaloo). See last year's chicken post: http://cottonhillfarm.blogspot.com/2010/08/chicken-bird-or-chicken-meat.html for the story of the original Jimmy. But the exotic chick was no Jimmy. After a few weeks I decided it needed some kind of name, even if it was a rooster. 

"We need an exotic name," said Farmer Fin. "You know, like an exotic dancer."