Buy Hay While The Sun Shines

Since we don't have a hay field,we have to buy feed hay and bedding hay for the sheep. It's a far cry from the chapters in the "Little House" books where Pa is out in the sunshine cutting his hay and putting it up for the animals for the winter,and in the case of "The Long Winter," used as a heating source to keep them from freezing to death.

We called one of our local farm,Top of The Hill Farm, in Wolfboro. We got their contact from Colonial Acres Farm,where we purchased the sheep.Admittedly,we had been buying our hay from our small local hardware/farming store where we buy our chicks and chicken feed,but a few weeks ago they ran out of feed hay,and we needed some,so we pulled out Top of Hill's business card and gave the Frederickson's a call.

Thankfully,they did have some feed hay left,so we made arrangements to go over and get some bales. Rick hitched our trailer to the truck,and Zach,Richie,and I piled in to the truck. It was a family excursion,which made it really cool.

The first thing you notice about Top of the Hill is....it's on top of quite a hill. I would liken it to more like a small mountain. I loved their set up-greenhouse,barns,lots of acreage,and a gorgeous view of the lakes and mountains. Rick noticed the farm equipment first (of course!) The second thing you noticed was how cold it was! Being that high up,there is usually a good breeze blowing,and that day it was pretty bitter,coming off the lakes. It must be nice in the summer,though,to keep the black flies and mosquitoes at bay.

Alan (Dad),Erik(son) and Anna (daughter) were all outside doing various chores. The chickens were walking around the yard,the cattle were talking amongst themselves,and there must've been a hundred songbirds in chorus.  We chatted with Alan a bit,then drove the truck over to the barn to load up the hay. Erik went up into the hayloft and threw down the 20 bales we wanted. Rick and Zach loaded them into our trailer. Alan was apologetic-he had had surgery recently and couldn't lift anything heavy for a while. Anna was busy with the cows. Alan proudly told us that Anna's steer won Grand Champion Market Steer last year at the Fryeburg Fair in ME,and her Spring heifer had won in 2012 in as well. I stood by,chatted with Alan,and just took everything in. 

Once we were loaded up,we asked Alan about his beef (they sell grass-fed beef and pork!) and we went into his garage to look over various cuts of meat. We bought  a slab of bacon and a London broil.( Both wound up being the best we have ever tasted).

The hay was a dollar cheaper a bale and better than the ones we had been buying.Plus,we it felt better helping out a local farmer!

When we got home,it was time to unload the trailer:

The Ladies were waiting:

The chickens have begun laying again,and lately we have been averaging four- five eggs a day. Hopefully we will be able to start selling eggs again soon.


We are still buried in snow. Thankfully a snowstorm that is hitting MA today is staying to the south of us. This March has been much colder than normal,and I think everyone is ready for some warmer days. We have been getting some sap,but nothing like we should be. I doubt we will even get half a gallon of syrup this year.

 I needed some cheerful color,so I bought a handful of daffodils to bring some Spring into the house:

I enjoy watching the birds out my kitchen window. So far I have seen Robins,Cardinals,Chickadees,Mourning Doves,Slate Colored Juncos. We have also had White Breasted Nuthatches,like this little guy:

Today Zach is home recovering from the flu. He was very sick on Monday night into yesterday,and spent most of the day sleeping. Today he feels better,but is very tired and is still running a fever,so we kept him home again. Rick was just outside walking the dogs,and The Ladies were calling to him. It's so cool to hear them bleat. They chat with us every day! Time to go feed them and the chickens.

Stay warm!

Sap Is Running! No Wait,It's Not.....

It has been a couple of years since we tapped our trees,and this year we decided to give it a go again.

We sure picked a year with mighty strange weather for it.

If you are not familiar with making maple syrup,let me enlighten you! Maple trees,as you know,carry sap,which when it's boiled down,creates maple syrup. However,the weather dictates when and how long the sap runs. Usually sap season is about 6 weeks long,and tends to begin near the end of February-early March. Ideal weather is sunny,with daytime temps at  40-45 degrees and night time temps below freezing,though we have had sap run in the past with temps in the upper 30s during the day.This time of year, upper 30's-mid 40's daytime temps is fairly typical. However,this year is anything but.

The weather forecast at the end of last week seemed to predict pretty consistent day time temps of upper 30's to  low 40's,and the day we decided to tap the trees was balmy for this time of year in NH( it was in the upper 50's in the sun by our thermometer) so we knew the sap would be running.

We washed all our buckets and spouts with boiling hot water-you don't want to use any soap. Rick got his drill and trusty old 7/16 bit drill with a 3/8 shank,and I carried the buckets and spouts (oh,and the camera!)

We only have Red and Silver Maples on our property,but you can still tap them. The syrup is lighter than what you would get from a Sugar Maple,but we still find it quite delicious. We had to make sure that we we kept a ways from the old holes from previous sap collection years ( at least 6 or so inches)so we had to find the old hole areas first. Trees 18"- 20" in diameter can take one tap;anything over can take 2. Some folks say to use no more than two taps per tree.

The hole should be about 2 feet from the ground. It was a bit tricky figuring that out,since we still have 3 feet of snow in some areas,but we did the best we could. The south side of the tree is best,but if you have more than one tap you should put move it to another area of the tree. 

Here is Rick drilling a hole. It should be slanted upwards,to help the sap flow. It's also good to do over a root,if you can see the root! Not in our yard. We could walk across it in some spots,in others we sank down almost to our knees.

See the sap pouring out of the hole? The sap is running!

Tap your spout into the tree with a hammer. You can tell if you have seated it in the hole enough if the sap runs down the spout. If not,the sap will run on the sides of the tap. Sometimes,the sap will not run,and you have to seat the spout a bit more to get it going.

Place your hook on the spout,then hang the bucket on the hook. I tried to get a photo of the sap dripping into the bucket,but couldn't. It was great to hear the tap-tap-tap sound of the sap landing in the metal pails around the yard.

Place a cover over the bucket. This will keep rain,snow,and assorted debris out.

Ta Da!

It certainly was a gorgeous day!

Unfortunately,the weather turned and we got a day with strong winds that made temps go below freezing,which stopped the sap flow,then a warmer day came,and the sap started to run again. Maple syrup producers have been less than happy with our colder than normal temperatures.It is making the season shorter. Sap season ends when buds start coming out on the trees-usually the end of March-beginning of April. When the buds come out,the sap will turn bitter.

We have 12 buckets going. We will see what happens!

A Lovely Christmas!

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas! We sure did. Christmas Eve my Mom and sister Linda come up for our French tradition of pork pies,and then on Christmas we went down to my sister's for Christmas dinner. My Mom now lives with her and her husband,and this may be the last Christmas we spend together since they are moving to TN next Fall. One never knows what life will bring,of course,and we may get down there for Christmas some day,but my Mom is 88 years old,so.....you understand what I am saying.

Today we are getting bit of snow,and that's fine,since we are going nowhere,and Zach has school vacation. Rick and I slept in a bit this AM and it's going to be a laid back day. The only thing we have to do is make sure the sheep and chickens have enough food and water and are comfortable. After that,it's doing whatever we feel like doing. Nothing is planned,nothing needs to be made,wrapped,no schedule needs to be kept. It's a good day to just BE and enjoy each other's company. A lazy day,as it were.

Rick took the dogs out,and he enjoyed chatting with our neighbor across the way,Patty. I liked the way he,Richie,and Samson looked  talking in the lightly falling snow,so I took a quick photo:

Thanks to everyone for following us on our journey this past year! I think of you as friends and I appreciated your support.

The Christmas Spirit Is Here!

We are gearing up for Christmas. Our house is filled with the Christmas Spirit-the happiness,love,and general good feeling that this time of the year is about. While I try to maintain that year round,this time of year it seems to be more on the forefront. There is nothing like a warm fire and Christmas carols playing while you decorate your house,and the fun of picking out the right Christmas cards to send. I love wishing folks a "Merry Christmas"-to me,it's about wishing them happiness more than anything else. Folks can wish me "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays"-to me the sentiment is the same.

One thing we do as a family each year is go to a local tree farm and get a Christmas tree. Some years we haven't had money to buy a tree and have gone out to the woods to get a tree. We have been fortunate the last few years that we can buy a tree from a farm. It costs a bit more than getting one from a box store,but I like supporting local folks and I know that the trees aren't a few months old. The family that runs this tree farm has been farmers in the area for over 200 years.

It was Richie's first Christmas Tree excursion!

We get some hot chocolate and walk around looking for the tree that will best fit in our space. It can't be too tall ( our ceilings are only 8 ft) and it can't be too wide ( it goes in a corner next to our couch). When we finally find it,we motion to the folks on on the four wheelers, and one of them rides over,cuts down the tree,puts in the trailer in the back of the four wheeler,and zips it up to the parking lot. We are usually in and out of there within half an hour.

We let the tree sit in the house for a couple of days to acclimate ,then we decorate it. Since last night and tonight we  are busy with Scout meetings,we will decorate it tomorrow night.

The weather here has turned quite chilly-down into the teens. I am thankful for the wood stove,because we don't have our furnace installed yet. Our neighbor is going to do it for us,as he used to do this for a living.We just have to wait for him to be able to do it,which is suppose to be by Sunday. No problem,we have plenty of wood!

The chickens don't seem to mind the snow too much,but I know they are not fans of real cold weather:

The ewes have no issue with the cold,rain,or snow.Their fleece is so very thick that they will stand in the rain or in the falling snow and not be bothered.

I have finally named the white sheep. I named her Lady Violet after Dame Maggie Smith's character on Downton Abbey. She has her attitude,is very ladylike and does things her way. I haven't come up with a good name for the other one,though. She is tomboyish and shy.

We spend time in the pen with them to help them get used to us. Yesterday we were putting more straw down for their bedding. They pack it down,and we add a bit more so they will have a good bed under them to help keep them warm. We muck out the areas of poop if it's really bad and put it in our compost pile,and make sure they have feed hay and fresh water each day.

One of the ways we try and get them used to us is get them to eat out of our hand. Lady Violet is more brave than her sister:

In the outdoor enclosed area,we do throw down a bit straw and put out some feed hay so they can eat outside.

We have certainly seen their flock mentality in action. If one bolts from us,the other bolts from us. They stick together. The one thing I haven't heard is them talk. No bleating so far. I have spoken  and have bleated to them,but they have not responded yet. Maybe it will just take some time.

Freezing Rain

I finally made a batch of soap with my new soap mold:

I don't think I let it sit long enough in the mold,even though 24 hours was the suggested time frame on the directions the company sent. When I tried to pull the sides and dividers out,it was a bit sticky,even though I put the mold into the oven at 170 degrees for 10 minutes as was suggested "because some soap recipes are stickier than others." I was able to get my soap out,but some of the edges came off with the dividers. Next time I will let it sit for 48 hours. I use essential oils from Edens' Garden ( you can find their website here) and in this case, I used their Stress Relief oil,which is a combo of Bergamot,Blood Orange,Grapefruit,Patchouli, and Yling Ylang. The smell is very soothing. I have the bars on a cooling rack in the closet in our bedroom,curing.

Yesterday Rick wanted to go for drive down an area where he has gone hunting. He asked if I wanted to go,and I jumped at the the chance. I haven't been driving down an unfamiliar dirt road in a long time,and it was a pretty day,even though the wind was quite chilly. I always enjoy exploring with Rick.He brought his rifle in case we saw any game that is in season.

I thought they way the sun was coming through this patch of trees was pretty:

I would love to live way out these woods:

Some of the brilliance of our foliage:

Light at the end of the tunnel!

I love birch trees,even if they are pretty bare:

Gorgeous!

Fairly fresh deer tracks:

The sky started clouding up as we were on our way home.  As we were pulling back onto the main road,I commented to Rick,"It looks like snow." This time of year,when the air is chilly and the dark clouds roll in,the sky just has a look. The look of snow. Those of you who live in snowy area know what I mean. I stepped out on the front deck to take a picture of sky and...it didn't start snowing,but it did start freezing rain.

Thankfully,our wood stove was going and the house was nice and warm. I worked a bit more on the pair of mittens that I had started knitting,and ran a few errands for our Boys Scout Halloween party on Monday.  I picked up some treats for the boys,some decorations,and the ingredients for Pumpkin Whoopie Pies and a couple mixes for some gluten free brownies.

I have to leave you with one more photo:

Last night we had ham for dinner,and this AM Rick made eggs and ham for breakfast. He was cutting pieces up and I noticed the dogs were all standing in back of him. I told him that he had an audience,and he turned around with the piece of ham and said,"Is this what you want? You're not getting it!"

Enjoy your day!

Sheep Make The Perfect Anniversary Gift

Yesterday was our 16th wedding anniversary. Looking back,time has certainly flown by.It seems like only yesterday we were just starting our life together. We have had our share of hell and back,but thankfully it has made our union stronger.

We always like to do something,just the two of us (this year,Richie was included,of course!). It so happened that we arranged to pick out our sheep on this day. We then figured we'd go to lunch,then take a nice drive through Sandwich,which is lovely little town north west of us.

Our first stop was at Colonial Acres Farm in Wakefield for 10:00 to pick out the sheep we wanted. Priscilla kept the ones that she is selling separate from the rest of her herd so we could get a good look at them. She had one white,and four black (three of were triplets). I wanted a white one so I could practice dyeing the wool,so that choice was easy. She was pretty,had a good body and was healthy.

Priscilla had just had these sheep sheared,and she had the fleece in bags separated. They hadn't been carded or cleaned yet,so we could feel and see the raw wool. The white one had a lovely wool,nice and soft. We felt all the black ones,and they were all nice,some more coarse than others,and there were some gray variations in the black wool ,but that didn't matter to me. The cool thing was we felt the lanolin in the wool,which of course,one does not get once it's been cleaned,washed,and carded.

I had my eye on on a little black one,mainly because I like her face and she didn't have a white mark on her face like the triplets. Her fleece was finer that than the others,and I liked that. She was shyer than the others,and faced away from us quite a bit,but she finally turned around and I got this photo of her:

Priscilla is very kind in keeping the sheep until the end of Nov for us when the barn should be complete. She told us all about the sheep's medical history,discussed when she had them sheared,and even the process of building the barn,though the more technical things she said her hubby would be better at answering. Since the black one we wanted was fairly small,she was nice enough to reduce the price by $50,saying that many folks wouldn't want a sheep that size. It didn't matter to me,I just feel in love her.

After we left Priscilla's,we went to lunch at the Wolfe's Tavern,which is located in the Wolfboro Inn in Wolfboro. Wolfboro NH is the oldest summer resort in the US. It's a cute small town,but the traffic is horrible. It's right on Lake Winnipesaukee,so there are a lot of tourists and second home owners who come up for the summer.( Many of the homes on the lake go for a million dollars plus). Rick and I each had nice cup of clam chowder,and I had a fabulous spinach salad with currants,caramelized purple onions,candied walnuts, and blue cheese crumbles,topped with a rhubarb strawberry vinaigrette.Rick enjoyed a chicken dish topped with provolone cheese,tomato relish that also had a tomato tapenade drizzled with lemon Aioli. It came with mashed potatoes and the veggie of the day.Rick told the waitress that it was the best chicken he had ever had,and she told us a bit later that when she mentioned that to the chef,the chef let out a whoop. Richie was very well behaved,and laid down under the table quietly the whole meal. No one would've known he was there if they had not seen us come in. The Wolfe Tavern is certainly a place we will go back to,and it's only 20 minutes up the road from us. New discovery!!!

Since the leaves are starting to change here,I thought it would be nice to take a drive somewhere pretty that we don't normally go to,and Sandwich called to me. Sandwich is pretty little town that was incorporated in 1763. There are gorgeous views of the mountains,and many old farms and colonial homes.I'ts the home to the League of NH Craftsman (gorgeous store),and the Sandwich Fair.It was named in honor of John Montagu,4th Earl of Sandwich( rumored to have created the sandwich).

Our trip took us to Sandwich Notch Rd,which is closed in winter. We stopped at Beede Falls,which was just a nice walk down a path.

Richie loves the water,and immediately went in. Rick said it was a good thing he had the shorter leash,because Richie would have gone right in!

We then walked to Lower Falls.

I love this photo!

Rick and Richie checked out Cow Cave. The story is that a local family's cow got caught in a storm and hunkered down in this cave until the storm passed.

We were both getting tied,so we headed back home. We did stop for a hot fudge sundae on the way,though. It was a lovely Anniversary!