They Fly By

 Looking back on the last year we have so much to be grateful for. Ranching together for one thing! Spring started with baby animals galore: 25 Speckled Sussex chicks, 5 English Shepherd puppies (one never left!), 3 American Milking Devon calves, and a few bunnies. It was quite a springing! ~ We were excited to be invited by the Washington State University extension office to present a rabbit workshop at their local livestock production seminar. ~ We had the pleasure of heartwarming visits from family far away! ~ Reconstructing the fallen bridge has been slow due to unusually wet weather and other setbacks. Priorities can change in the blink of an eye out here. ~ We started building our cabin! ~ The late fall arrival of a small spinner’s flock of Shetland sheep- you should see their stunningly beautiful fleece. ~ And we’ve made so many good friends in our new hometown!

Summer stayed late, and winter arrived late but it’s here for the duration. Last Sunday night over a foot of powdery snow fell. So far this winter we’ve received close to 3 feet, but 2 of that melted during the above-average warm Nov/Dec. With overnight temperatures predicted to drop far below 0 for the next couple days, now it’s a matter of making sure we all keep warm enough. It's been strange weather!

2013 promises to be unlike any other year in many ways. What changes are you personally excited about? We look forward to concentrating on growing more food as we install the vegetable and herb gardens as well as a small berry patch; the cabin will be completed… we can hardly wait to move in; preserving some of the harvest; learning to work with our first crop of wool; and being creative in doing more with less.

One thing is certain… the year will fly by as usual!

Mild Weather

  

  The winter, and 2012, is officially upon us. In our area winter begins around the end of October with temperatures in the teens at night and the thirties during the day. Yet, it’s been surprisingly mild. It began like gangbusters the first part of November with 10 or so inches of snow in November and high temps in the mid 20’s. Then in December, and even this month already, we experienced a couple days in the 40’s (at night barely below freezing), which melted much of the snow, except of course the snow in the trees like where our trailer is parked. Even pouring rain and a couple nights we were too warm for sleeping comfortably! The freeze at night however turned the now slush into a sheet of ice, everywhere. Thankfully it then snowed enough to get traction with both boots and tires. So staying warm in a t.t. hasn’t been too difficult thus far.

  The straw bales help enormously! Even on the lowest morning of 5 degrees. Although that morning the water lines to the kitchen sink did freeze because they run right under the front door and we didn’t have a bale there. Tom remedied that immediately. And the valves to dump the tanks froze up so Tom wrapped them with heat tape. Problem solved. A 7-8 gallon tank of propane lasts about 1-1/2 weeks, that’s with all of our cooking, baking, and hot water usage. Not bad, eh. If need be we have a portable camp wood stove we could set up for cooking, etc. out of doors.

  We sure miss wood heat, though. That’s OK; it just keeps us looking forward to when we’re in our snug little cabin home relying on good ole Stanley for all such needs.    ;)    There sure has been some gorgeous hoarfrost, though (in the photo).

  The new pup, Liam, is doing wonderfully! He is going to be such a good dog. The cattle are well; the cat is good; our dog Greer is great. In short, we're all just fine! Hope you are, too!

   

Stage One

   The first stage of winterizing the travel trailer is completed, that of stacking straw bales around it for insulation. It took 70 bales! The difference it made immediately was amazing. We can already maintain a comfortable 67-69 degrees F with mostly the oil electric heater, only using the propane furnace when we need to kick it up if very cold outside, as in less than 25 degrees. 

   The next and final stage is building a room on the side of the trailer to house the wood stove and give us a bit more room. That will be especially nice during winter when we spend more time inside due to less sunlight and cold weather. It will make a much better area for wet dogs to dry off, contain wet boots and coats, as well. It’s getting pretty dicey dodging four pairs of boots, a water hose (to keep it from freezing outside), two dogs, a cat, and cold damp coats hanging from cupboard doors!