Blizzard of 2016

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Two days of drifting snow.

Near the house Dave measured 14″.

I’m sure it was more than twice that amount out in the barn garden.

Official measurement for Staunton was 22″.

Cache of Eggs

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The hens were holding out on us! I found this cache of eggs behind the tool shed last week. Since then we found eggs behind the rain barrel and in the barn. Our eight hens are laying anywhere from 3 – 7 eggs a day. At least that we can find!

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Here they are all cleaned up.

Catching Up

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Damian made some sunny side up eggs from some of our first eggs.

I was surprised to see that my last post was from Jan. 2. I’m trying to stay off the computer but I did not intend to go so long without posting. So now I have some catching up to do!

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I’ve been in touch with a woman in Roanoke who has Red Dorkings and she is interested in taking two of our five Red Roos. She is having trouble getting up here to get them so we still have seven roos. We are waiting for some mild weather to butcher the other two we don’t want to keep.

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We traded a dozen eggs for a basket of lettuce from our neighbors, Nancy and Eli. The lettuce was nice to have when my sister and niece visited a couple weeks ago. So green and fresh. Nancy uses little hoop houses to protect the lettuce from frost.

Fireside

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Len loves warmth. As I type this he is on his bed whining because he wants to be covered up. There is a vent to our bedroom above the wood stove. One night he heard me get up and go to the bathroom and started to whine. Of course, I could hear him too because of the vent so I went downstairs and covered him up and tucked him in. Yes, he likes to have the blanket tucked in around him. I have to admit it was cold that night. Fortunately, he hasn’t done it in the middle of the night again. Crazy beagle!

Chilly Temps Coming

Happy New Year!

The whole month of December was unseasonably warm. Today was chilly and we are expecting temps down to the 20’s tonight. I enjoy warm weather but don’t like a lot of it out of season. Just doesn’t feel right to me.

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It also causes plants to bloom out of season. This is the lenten rose.

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Oregon grape

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Not sure what this is. It’s in the front bed by the sunroom in front of the Oregon grape.

Sourdough

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I recently received some sourdough starter. Even though I don’t eat wheat products I was excited about getting my hands into some dough to make bread. My first attempt was a flop and then I found sourdough information at King Arthur Flour. I made these two loaves from their Rustic Sourdough recipe. Dave and Damian ate them in two days. I made more yesterday and they’ve slowed down their consumption rate. Probably a good thing. I’m looking forward to trying more of the the KAF recipes. Anyone want some starter?