Longer Days!

The difference isn't noticible yet, but we've turned the corner and the days will start getting longer. In the meantime, we bundle up and huddle around the fire.

This was the solstice night. We kept a small fire going to encourage the sun to return. We only made a small fire to be good neighbors, because it wasn't technically a burn day. We claimed a religious exemption.

Was it cold? Well it depends on where you're from. In Alaska or Michigan, this would be balmy. To us, it was cold. This was the temp at dusk on the solstice.

So, I did a little research, and found us a great propane heater that fits on a big propane tank. This baby fires up and heats a nice lil area. We worked out a good area to put it where it's not in the way and folks can huddle around it.

And sure enough, here we are huddled around it. Billy even joined us.

Buddy got himself a new mug, and found a way to go hands free!

After the solstice festivities, we did some serious pruning. This shot shows the two small plums, with the remaining large branches cut down to size. Yesterday we turned our attention to the big plum, and took down all that rampant top growth. It will grow much better now, and we should have fewer, sweeter plums, at a harvestable height. No more plum bombs!

The moon was new on the 23rd and 24th, and here on the 26th it was just a sliver, with Venus nearby for company.

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What We're Eating
Anything with lemons! We put lemon in our water every day, and I'll make some jars of preserved lemons.

We're also still picking lettuce and arugula from the garden, along with daikon and a bit of broccoli, although most of the broc isn't quite ripe yet. The chickens continue to work at the sheet mulched area, and everything else is in greens or favas.
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