Midwinter

It's now a month past the solstice, and we're all getting a bit tired of winter. It's been dry up until the day before yesterday, when we had a good steady rain. But it's been COLD. We got down to 17 degrees, which is damn chilly for zone 9. This shot shows ice in the fountain at midday! It stayed frozen for days.

Just before the hard freeze, I went out and harvested all the citrus. I got a respectable number of limes this year, and the hugest lemons ever!

That's one ginormous lemon! It weighed a half a pound!

I got lots and lots: about 66 pounds worth.

We also finished the pruning by taking down the rest of the apricot tree. It looks sort of hacked now, but it will come back like the other trees did. We ran lights to it as well.

Which gives us a larger lit area.

I was freezing in our big drafty house, so I bought a fire.

Increasing day length has started the girls laying again, and the new gals are laying as well.

For now, their eggs are smaller.

And the flock is finally integrated enough that they all get in the pen. The freeze pretty much took out everything left in the garden, so we've been letting the chickens loose to forage.

All the foraging is paying off, because we're finally getting enough eggs for everyone. The maran eggs are noticeably darker. And look at the very tiny egg! It's the smallest I've ever seen.

We got a little work done on 9th last weekend. Rick drives in stakes to mark the rows.

We cleared the mulch away in preparation for laying down compost.

The favas survived the freeze.

We had Karen and Glen over for dinner. I made a beef stew from scratch, including roasting the bones to make stock. Doesn't the table look nice?

We played croquet for the first time this year. It was Tony's first time, and he loved it.

Catherine does a bit of chicken whispering.

What's great about this picture of geese over the new moon? They are flying north! I realize they're probably just moving to another ricefield, but we can hope that it means spring is just around the corner.

Where it's at: The Senator is missing a lot of letters.

Winter Solstice and Onward

It's another new year, and it will be our 5th Farm year (in March). I picked this lovely bunch of produce on 12-24. Not bad for post-Solstice pickings! For the Solstice we made sure to burn a fire, to encourage the sun to come back. And because it was cold and fire is fun.

The new hens are just starting to lay. The Australorpe went first, on 12-26, but now at least one Maran is laying too. You can see that two eggs are smaller, and one is much darker. We'd been getting one egg a day at best, but it's picking up.

Also just after the Solstice, there was a windy storm, and the old pavilion smashed itself up. Rick said it was an art installation entitled Entropy... 

... but I saw a lot of useful looking parts, so I disassembled it. I'm thinking these can be used to make trellises in the garden. 

The mandarin at the farm had a nice little crop. They were very sweet. 

Our lemon tree at home is also well covered. It's a lighter year than some, but the lemons are nice and big. We've already had frost, but they aren't quite all the way ripe yet. I'm hoping I can get some ripe before it gets much colder.

I've been making hats. I gave this set to my folks, and made a pair for Sarah and Nathan also. I've been making more to donate to the youth shelter. It's part of my exercise program: I walk and knit indoors. I'll go outside and drop the knitting when it's nicer, but for now, it encourages me to get some steps in at least.

Ed showed me his hat, which was pretty cool. I'd forgotten about this type, but it's extra fun with Sierra Nevada cans.

We had visitors at our fountain. These lovely birds are Evening Grosbeaks (a type of large finch). I'd never seen them before.

This shot shows the color difference between males and females. They are very striking.

I've been trying to get some things caught up around our house. I've been working  on this border planting.

And Rick and I improved the gate by taking off some excess weight and shortening it. It actually works now! I need to come up with a clever cover for the peephole.

Ed had his usual Christmas Eve bratwurst feast.

Amy and her family were up for the holidays (they live in Houston now). We got to see them over at Tom and Nancy's, along with some local cousins.

Like grandpa, like grandson. Both Amy's boys (Dylan and Drew) are good musicians.

Nancy has been decorating a bit at a time. We got to help her hang this scroll. I love this portrait of Nancy.

And for New Years, we had an impromptu Rock Band night.