Lessons Learned From The Barnyard

Lesson learned today: Let the first step of cleaning out the "little" (we have the "Big" and the "little" coops) chicken coop NOT be gathering an egg out of the nest box and putting it in your sweatshirt pocket.
Hope all of your surprises today were pleasant!
Nancy

Cold Frame Dimensions

Here is a description of the cold frames that we are using right now. There are two of them and they are the same size. We made them out of what we had, so yours might vary in size. They were built according to what we were going to cover them with. At first, we used old windows that were given to us for the tops, and now we have two sides of a glass sliding door that are much heavier and less likely to get broken! We have used clear plastic with a wood frame around it before, also, and it worked great. From back to front, they are 3 feet, sloping from 19 inches heighth at the back to 9 inches in the front. We used 2 X 10's for the back so that is why the 19 inches. (Why do they call them two by TENS???) You have to have enough of a slope to get sunlight in there all day, or as much as possible. They are 79 inches long. We plant three rows in each and you get a surprising amount of greens. Especially when they take off in the early spring! Ours are out in the open and they are facing south. I hope this answers your questions! If you need more information just let me know. Also, if you try it, let me know how it goes!
Nancy

Cold Frames

We had some nice weather today with the sun coming out this afternoon and the temperature around fifty. I opened up the cold frames to cut some lettuce and spinach and I thought I'd try planting some more seeds. A lot of them washed away after I planted them last Fall so there was quite a bit of open space. I figured it couldn't hurt to try! I'll let you know how it goes.
Hope your day went well!
Nancy

So Very Precious

We have had several big reminders this past week of how very very precious life is. We have a friend that had just returned after the holidays to Haiti. She had come home for doctor visits because she had become very ill while there. She was VERY heavy on our hearts and minds, wondering what was taking place. She managed to get a message through to my daughter telling her that she and her family had survived and asking for prayer. They were living outside with children from an orphanage because their building was unsafe. We haven't had an update since. Our elderly neighbor's son stopped in to tell us that his dad had fallen and cracked some ribs, one of which punctured a lung, and he is in the hospital with pneumonia. Yesterday I went to the memorial service for a friend's husband who passed away. They were married late in life and were only married a little over three years. So very sad. While on the way home my husband called (he had to stay home and milk) and told me that a friend of the family, who is also the father of one of my longest and dearest friends, had had a heart attack. He is being sedated and on a respirator while they try to address the problems.
In the message that our friend sent from Haiti she said that it was too horrible to describe, there were dead bodies lined up everywhere. Most people will NEVER have to witness such a thing. I am very sad that she has. In all of these things I feel incredibly humbled and hugely grateful for all of my blessings. I DON'T want to take them for granted! All of the little things in life that seemed like problems are NOTHING! My desperate prayer is that we can all focus on the things that really matter, put all differences aside, and embrace (physically and in our heart of hearts) those dear ones that the Lord has given us. When it comes right down to it, NOTHING else is important.
Nancy

Day Three of Second Arctic Blast

Whew! Here we are in day three and the sun has come out and the wind stopped blowing! YAY! It's one degree below zero with a wind chill of minus eleven but this is great improvement! Everything has gone well thanks to my husband. He has done an amazing job. He has had to be outside much of the time, milking, keeping water troughs open, unfreezing faucets that are the kind that aren't supposed to freeze, etc. And through it all he has kept a great attitude! I'm very impressed! And thankful!
And thanks to all of you for your prayers!
Nancy

Preparation

What do you do when the weather report says the second Arctic blast is due in this afternoon and with 3-5 inches of snow and wind gusts of up to 35 mph that will drop the temperature to from 15 to 25 degrees below zero and cause drifting? You shove a pitch fork and garden fork down through frozen hay and muck to move it away from the big goat barn door so that it can be closed up tonight. You get the emergency propane heater down from the loft and bring it into the house in case the electricity goes out and you don't have heat. You bring another large round bale of hay up from the bottom pasture for the calves. You fork extra bedding into the barn for the animals' warmth. You bring the Alpine buck in from the outer limits (its o. k., he isn't smelly now that he isn't in rut anymore) and put him in a warmer stall. You prepare to lock the dog up in the barn for the night instead of him sleeping in the dog house. You think about what it is going to be like when the water in the troughs freezes over again shortly after you broke it open with a sledge hammer and you have to go back out already and do it again. You make a trip to town to buy kerosene for the emergency heater and the heater you have been using in the milking barn to keep the milk from getting so cold it won't go through the filter before you put it in jars. You go to the grain elevator and buy extra feed for all of the animals because they need to eat more when it's cold and in case the roads are icy and you can't get out. You fill water jugs in case the electricity goes out and the well pump won't work. You stop by the grocery store for extra toilet paper :-} and antifreeze for all the vehicles and anything else you think you might want if you can't go anywhere. And you do all this in addition to the regular chores you do every day. And you say a prayer, and you count your blessings, and you thank God for letting you live such a wonderful life.
Do me a favor. If you see a farmer today, thank him or her.
Nancy