It’s geting to be that time of year again. The longer hours of daylight are a delight, and when the temperatures hit the 30s it feels like a heat wave. This time of winter gets to be pretty messy out there, however. The snow has started to melt and re-freeze, so the driveway is all ice and the paddocks are poopy and muddy. We get one of our blue gates out of the ice and usable only to find that a few days later the run-off has frozen it in again. Frustrating. YakTrax are a necessity at this point, but at least it lets us get the job done.
This is also the time of year when the promise of spring and new life is becoming more evident in the flock and the herd. The goats are looking quite pregnant, but the sheep are so fuzzy and fleecy that we can’t tell just yet if everyone “took.” We shall get a gander during shearing, no doubt. That’s just a week away now, so I am very hopeful that the weather will be moderate and we won’t have any more snowstorms. Probably a pipedream, but that’s what I am longing for at this moment! SnowPea’s babies were doing a dance this afternoon as I was trying to trim her hooves. She is the first one due, and also the most aggressive and hungry girl out there right now. Don’t get in her way, she will mow you down! I can hardly wait for the lambs and kids!
It’s been colder than most winters this year so far. And I am knitting some seasonally appropriate things, but I also fell in love with this glitzy scarf knit up on size 19 needles from sari ribbon. (Halcyon had a simple pattern to give out with the purchase of the skein). It was a little frustrating to begin with, as it kept falling off the needles, but after I got a a few rows on board, it was a little easier. My husband isn’t sure it’s me (!) but I love it. In the dark of winter here in Maine (where it is snowing yet again), I am loving it!
Tuesdays are early days for me and the chore routine. I have to be at work by 7 a.m., so the outdoor gear has to start going on by 5:15 at the latest. It’s dark. And cold. Today was the second day in a row that we had zero degrees or lower. This morning felt like a heat wave compared to yesterday morning’s temp of -9 with a windchill of -29, so I wasn’t really dreading it too much. With the snow on the ground and the flurries coming down, it was quite an enchanted sight.
Don't know what the smoky thing is, but it sure looks cool!
The moon was visible behind a few clouds over in what I consider the SW sky, but still above the tree line. It looked totally amazing so I tried taking some photos. I didn’t do very well at catching the moon, but the effect of the snow in the dark was amazing! If I hadn’t had to hustle, I would have lingered a little longer to enjoy the dawn and maybe take a few more photos.
Brrr, but clear and beautiful. I went out this evening to do chores and didn’t even need my headlamp, the moon was so bright. It’s only about 5 degrees F right now, and it is supposed to get down below zero tonight. And then a crazy warm storm moves in tomorrow and into Wednesday, with rain and sleet. What a mess! The girls are looking good right now, the ones without coats aren’t too messy, but rain and sleet make mud and slush, and that is going to be followed by a hard arctic freeze. Yeehaw! Life lived by the weather forecast :*) Love it!
Meg scores breakfast!Lupine waits for breakfast, guinea hen at the ready
Last night the storm was still blowing around when I went to bed. The snow had stopped but we couldn’t tell if the cleanup job we did was good enough. This morning I got up at the usual time and was just ready to go out and do chores when I got the word that we had a 2 hour delay. What a lovely gift! I didn’t have to do chores in the absolute dark! Maybe I would really be able to tweak some of the shoveling up around the animal feeders and get that opened up a bit more. On my way up the driveway just before before daylight I had to go back and grab the camera. The sky and the snow were just too beautiful! Now that I know how to create a slide show, I will throw some dawn photos here :*)
Majacraft Rose bobbin from tonight's spinning, Border Leicestr/Gotland roving
Winter spinning is on! Tonight our monthly meeting of the Salt Bay Treadlers was great, as always. It’s always difficult for me to rush home, do chores, get the family’s dinner underway and then take off. But it’s always worth it! Tonight our usual meeting took place at one of our member’s homes. It was cozy and nice, and I got over a quarter pound of yarn spun up. It’s a Border Leicester/Gotland cross roving from our friends Suzie and Dan Wilson of SuDan farm in Oregon. It’s a joy to spin! Lustrous and soft. I feel like all I have been spinning lately is white, but I did get some done at last week’s spin-ins that’s natural color and from our flock. I just have to ply it up and decide what to do with it now :*)
Natural Coopworth/Border Leicester cross wool from our flock
When I got out there this morning there was at least a foot of snow on the ground. It wasn’t too heavy, so shoveling to the gates was easily do-able. Running a little later than usual, the girls were really hungry and giving me those faces… but the sheep are never quite as expressive as those goaties!
Winter has hit us with a windy vengeance. By the middle of last week we were having arctic wind gusts at approximately 30 mph, and it sounded as though a freight train was traveling through the neighborhood. With the ice on the ground, it was a challenge to even reach the animal paddocks in one piece. Last Thursday I was running up the driveway at dusk, head down to make sure I didn’t fall, threw open the gate to my work area that connects all three paddocks, and instead of a nicely covered temporary milking greenhouse, this is what I saw:
Greenhouse skeleton, laid bare :*(
Salsa and I were not pleased! The lights were swinging in the wind and I couldn’t raise a soul in the house to come and help. I guess in the end, it didn’t make any difference… I don’t think we could have hoisted that heavy covering over in the face of those winds, even if there were two of us. We had to wait until the winds died down to get that lid back on. The greenhouse needs a totally new covering, but they are not cheap, and I don’t want to replace it until we re-site the whole structure. Before we really knew the lay of the land and how the winter winds travel across the front of the property, we put this and one other livestock greenhouse up, with the gable ends facing east/west. Not the best planning on our parts! The winds hoot down from the northwest and get into the gable ends and lift the whole heavy covering up and down, shifting it just ever so slightly, over and over again. Eventually it just starts to come apart and lose its integrity. We did finally get the cover back on and tied down again. Not much more milking to be done this year, thank goodness. Although I have to say, it was a beautiful, clear evening, and I got to snuggle up against a nice warm body and stargaze.
It’s definitely feeling like winter out there today and we are feeling quite festive at our house. John really did a nice job attaching some twinkle lights to the major beams in the living room. I love having them up, we don’t end up turning the beam lights on as much.
All twinkled up
I hope that everyone who celebrates Hanukkah has had a peaceful holiday. We have enjoyed our latkes and the menorah with our son and grandson very much. It’s certainly a nice way to bring some light into the darkest afternoons of the year!
John's copper tubing menorah
Coopworth Fiber, LaMancha Dairy Goats and Cheese on the Coast of Maine!
Ruit Farm Web Journal 