hibernatey

It's a quiet month. Life is still busy busy but it doesn't require me to leave the farm that often, so it's literally quiet. I've been home a lot this winter, leaving the house only for bare necessities (office appearance in the city, groceries, gas). I feel like flannels, bathrobes, and hoodies have been my main wardrobe. Shuffling to the kitchen to put on the kettle, huddling around the fire, baking things doughy and sweet, going to bed early. So quiet and still. Extra quiet this weekend for me as my valentine's away till tomorrow.

The thing about quiet tho is it eventually gets old. As a musician, a relatively young woman, a traveller... I start to crave a little action. Not a lot, just a little. I think my love (above) would agree with me in saying we need to explore more. Go on road trips, hit cafes, see some art, check out local markets. Hard to fit in, but so good to. We had a real nice time doing that in Iceland in the fall. Low commitment cultural wonderfulness.

Perhaps in the spring. :)

Tonight I'm chillin' with the pets by the fire (how many times have I written a variation of this sentence? ha). D and I will do our nice valentiney day tomorrow. I love him so much and my days aren't as fun when he's away. And holy cow my parents have been married 35 years today! That sounds both long and short to me, but mostly just wonderful.

Speaking of fun, I started the "30 day shred" this month - a workout dvd. A 20 minute butt-kicking every day. It's perfect 'cause 20 min is pretty easy to fit in anywhere, and I need to move desperately. I'm on day 8. My goals are to get stronger, and wake up in the morning not in pain. So far I hurt more, but in a good way.

One more thing: I think Salty the hen started laying today. That means we're up to 3 eggs/day! Who wants quiche?

petz

The farm is getting farmier! New additions:

Six chickens
Two each of Golden Phoenix, Barred Plymouth Rock, Ameraucana. Two, possibly four(!), are roosters so we'll have to sort that out later. The hens should start laying in a couple months.

New puppy Luna, from brother's mama dog
Her dad is a beagle, and her mom has spaniel/jack russell/pit bull. She's a mutt... a darn cute one. Eight puppies in total! My folks took one too (billy). Lu's crying on the porch right now. Whisk is inside sleeping off this morning's babysitting duty but I might stick him out there again soon. She doesn't like being alone...

fields and roads

Could be one of our coldest Julys, but I don't mind. Less swimming and shorts-wearing, but comfortable days and nights, happy kale. The summer is flying by! Our weekends are often busy - one of us in the city or we're visiting with friends and family. Next week, after a night in Toronto, I'll be driving north to my folks and then driving with mom to Massachusetts for a family reunion. Then Toronto again after that to record in the studio with the band. A total of almost 2 weeks away... great things, but wew!

These frequent stints away make me wonder about the possibility of having more animals on the farm. Chickens and goats being the current fascination/topics of research. Let myself splurge a little on books: "Chickens in Your Backyard: A Beginner's Guide", Rick Luttmann; "You Can Farm: The Entrepreneur's Guide to Start and Succeed in a Farm Enterprise", Joel Salatin; "Storey's Guide to Raising Dairy Goats: Breeds, Care, Dairying." I'll just be hanging on the beaches of Gloucester reading about milking goats. Sounds about right.

The earwigs have been bad this year. They are everywhere and totally freaky looking. Getting tired of squishing them! NAST.

What else? Ah yes, we've got horseshoe pits going finally. Think we'll have a round with the neighbours on Friday. Garlic soon ready to pull. It's smallish, but surely tasty. We'll prob be saving a large part of it for replanting this fall, keeping a lot for ourselves, and selling the rest cheaply to friends. It's been so easy to grow - perhaps we'll try planting even more this year. D talks about how it'll keep the vampires away - he's on a 'True Blood' (HBO show) kick lately.