Thanksgiving Break

I'm going to take a break for today and Thursday, and pick back up next Tuesday a little more rested.

Season of darkness and fire, and hutch vices.

The season of the wood stove is in full swing, with all of the benefits and frustrations of the same. Given how much we are relying on it, I am going to be working on getting better at it over this winter, especially as it relates to successfully banking down for the night. At this point I have coals left most mornings, but this morning I didn't which distinctly made my morning tighter in terms of getting everything done and getting out to work on time. Some of that was probably going to bed earlier, but I think that on baby time when the Lady of the House wakes up to feed the Critter I should get up and tend the fire at least once during the night since I'm awake anyhow.

Cold dawn, and winter concerns.

I'm not a huge fan of waking and getting chores done during pre-dawn twilight, but there are some advantages to it. Really spectacular morning skies like this are certainly part of it, even if I can't quite capture the real colors with my cell phone camera. Came out better than expected once I gave it some editing. Anyhow, winter is here officially for me, though technically I guess it isn't. At the point where we've had snow, and a nice solid sheet of ice I say we have winter. That doesn't mean we haven't been getting the last things done we can. I'd intended to talk about the local farming forum in town today, but yesterday the Lady of the House needed an extra pair of hands with the Critter so I didn't end up being able to go. Hopefully there will be more of those.

Owl visitor, hot water, and slight setbacks

As we continue to be busy we've been trying to get some relaxing time in with each other, and honestly haven't been able to do a lot other than exist. This weekend we got lucky, and I happened to sleep in until almost 9 AM, and got up, and looked out the window, and saw an owl visitor being driven off well post dawn when I usually let the chickens out. The picture above is from last year, but I think it may have been the same owl. Either way, we, and at least one of the chickens got lucky  this weekend due to me having a nice lazy morning. There have been a few other things going on as well, mostly with Gabriel, but also I have managed to, with help, get some things done around the garden as we look to see snow tonight.

Chicken covering, mole, and Critter update

There is a fair amount going on in our lives, but thanks to the assistance of my mother and step father coming by and helping out a great deal we have some new things that we can get done that are going to be kind of cool. Oh, and I will get to the Critter at the end.

Some thoughts about those that came before

So, as noted, the Critter has arrived into the world. We're still very much wiped out because things have not gone particularly smoothly. We mentioned that Critter had been tongue tied, and we thought it had been resolved, but it turns out it isn't entirely resolved. We're spending a huge amount of time trying to help keep him fed, specifically the Lady of the House, and it is very wearing.  But as promised, here are photos of the Critter, Left is a photo of him in a great blanket Margot that comments on the blog made for him. The nice thing is that when he isn't desperately trying to feed he sleeps quite well. I know that sleeping like a baby shouldn't be the good thing that some people make it out to be, but when he sleeps, man does he sleep. It's a skill he is very good at, and we're glad of that in the 3 - 4 hour chunks he does sleep in. The thing is, if we were homesteading 100 years ago, he would be dead by now, and any future children we had would die in birth, and/or kill the Lady of the House in process. For him being alive and the opportunity for more children we have to thank modern science.