Battle of the Moles

   My dilemma in the barn now is how to outsmart the moles. I see little foot prints and paths in the snow leading to my barn, I have holes in between bricks in the barn floor, but alas I cannot catch those little devils in traps. They have dug wonderful little tunnels under the bricks on the floor, even enough to push some of the corners of the bricks up, which was my first clue that they are indeed moles. Usually I catch quite a few moles in traps earlier in the fall, but this year they waited until the really cold weather to set up housekeeping in my barn. While at Tractor Supply picking up provisions for the animals last week I bought brand new traps, thinking they smelled something foreboding on the old traps. Still nothing! I've tried cheese, peanut butter, but still no luck. I fill in the holes in the floor but new ones appear, so I know the moles are having a great time while I am not around. I then decided to bring in my secret weapon, Teddy. Teddy is the garage/shop resident tabby cat who lives in a very warm, heated workshop. Although he catches mice and moles in the garage, he wants no part of an unheated barn. So the battle of the moles continues... Thanks Teddy!

Mole pathways to the barn in the snow

 

Tunnels under bricks on floor

Teddy, the secret weapon, to tired to catch moles

 

 

Here are a couple of pictures of the ice sculptures I took in Stowe last weekend, while visiting my daughter. No chance of them melting anytime soon.

 

Diamond ring ice sculpture

Musical clef ice sculpture



 

The sheep are still enjoying the afternoons outside even in the frigid temperatures. Here they are on a sunny 10 degree afternoon, happy to get out of the barn

 

 

Hopefully the groundhog won't see his shadow on Sunday and he'll stay out! Can we really anticipate spring will be right around the corner then? I hope so.

 

A Little Bit of Spring

   Last week's weather was in the 30s and 40s, but now it seems maybe I imagined it after all. I did take care of a lot of outside chores while the weather cooperated, so that it is a good thing. It felt so good to be outside last week that I looked for things to do, this week wild horses couldn't drag me outside. Barn chores are all done in a hurry this week. With the temperature outside merely minus 2 degrees while I write this blog, I am happy to be inside at my computer. 
   While it was above freezing last week my pussy willows actually started to swell on the branches, so I brought some inside, put them in water,and I now have catkins opening up. In about two weeks I should have fully blooming branches of pussy willows.Probably just in time for Valentine's Day.

   Another spring surprise I have in my house is a blooming pot of hyacinths. My husband was cleaning off our basement stairs, just before Christmas, and found a real treasure. I had put a pot of purple hyacinths that had bloomed last spring (a gift from my husband) on the stairs to plant in the fall and had totally forgotten about them. When my husband found them they were poking little green shoots out of the dry soil. I watered them and put them in a sunny window, and now we have spring in minus zero weather. They look so beautiful and smell glorious. Just what we need this week!

 

   We had another accident with the wild birds yesterday. A downy woodpecker hit our kitchen window and really stunned himself. I sincerely thought he was dead, but after a warm up inside he was back to the feeder eating suet again. Since this window isn't even in line with their flight to and from the feeder, I don't know why this has happened twice already this winter. Both birds survived, so all's well that ends well I guess.

 

 

   With no real warm up insight it is a great week to warm up the house with some baking. With the tremendous amount of Christmas baking that I did, I took a break from one of my favorite pastimes. With the temps close to zero today, I plan to use my oven as an extra heat source. Today I am baking a "Harvest Cake" a recipe I found in a magazine years ago. If you care to try baking this moist, spicy cake the recipe is as follows:

 

Ingredients-

 

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ginger

1 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 eggs

16 ounces pumpkin

2 cups flour

1 large apple peeled and chopped

1/2 cup pecans

1 cup raisins

 

Grease and flour a tube pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

 

Mix together sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, ginger, oil, and eggs. Add pumpkin to mixture and stir well. Stir in 2 cups of flour, 1//2 cup at a time. Stir in apples, pecans, and raisins. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 60 to 70 minutes.

 



Trying to Stay Warm

   The main topic of conversation in so many parts of the U.S. is the frigid temperatures this winter, and The Farm at Mill Village has been having its share of extreme temperatures too. It seems to have been so long since we have had a morning that has been above the zero mark on the thermometer and the days out of the single digits. My husband and I are watching our winter wood supply dwindle, and are hoping for moderating temperatures. Out of all this cold, wind and snow came these absolutely amazing snowpeople made by Mother Nature. I took this picture a week ago, but they have since started to fall apart. These snowman are really three trees that became covered with snow and took on the form of a snowman family courtesy of the wind and wet snow that fell the week before. It was a 4 degree afternoon when my husband insisted that I come to see this phenonemon. Of course I was hesitant to leave the comfort of the wood stoves, but I ventured out with my camera to see. What a "cool" and magical sighting and right at the northbound on ramp at I89 exit 3.

Mother Nature's Snowfamily

 

   Charlotte is finally home, our resident pregnant ewe. She came back to the farm last Sunday. We made it back from the farm she was being bred at in N.Y. with  only about an hour to spare before last Sunday's ice storm started. She is doing beautifully and is so happy to be back in the fold of her flock. She looks very radiant and pregnant-I hope! She is a chubby girl with lots of wool so it will be hard to tell when she starts showing. She is due April 20th, so we will be having the sheep sheared in the beginning of April. Hopefully the weather will be warm for the delivery of her lamb or lambs. (Hard to imagine warm weather right now.) Since Charlotte is a twin and the ram who fathered the lamb is a twin the incidence of her having twins is higher. That, and the likelihood of Old English Southdown Babydoll Sheep having twins raises our expectations for two lambs to be born in April, although we will be happy with one healthy lamb.

   The cold weather has made sitting on the couch in our library studying seed catalogs a frequent event. Too cold to be outside but craving to be gardening, this is the next best thing. When I finally think I have decided on most of my ordering, a new catalog comes in the mail. Case in point, yesterday's mail brought a catalog from Select Seeds of Union, Ct. filled with pictures of their heirloom flower variety seeds. I fell in love with so many of the tried and true varieties that I feel another order is eminent to this company. I usually place my order for the cutting flower garden with Johnny's Selected Seeds in Winslow, Maine, but I will order some seeds from this company as well this year.

   The other pastime that has been a source of joy in the cold weather has been watching the birds at the birdfeeder. We seem to have detered most of the problem glutonous pigeons with only a few  remaining each morning. We continue to shoo them away and are enjoying all the little birds feasting at the feeder. Nothing too unusual yet this year, just the usual gold and purple finches,tufted titmouses, cardinals, juncos, nutthatches, woodpeckers, bluejays, and of course the ever friendly and chatty chickadees. When I take the labs out for a walk we are nearly hit by the chickadees in midflight, so close we can hear their wings flapping. I think the downy woodpeckers are at the feeder eating suet everytime I look out, but what a pretty sight. So remember to feed the birds during the cold winter months. They will appreciate the food to stay warm and will reward you with their colorful antics. The bird feeding has inspired me to needle felt many of these birds with the wool from the sheep. Please visit the farm's website at www.thefarmatmillvillage.com to see some of the birds I have created. Stay warm!

Downy woodpeckers

 



 

 

 

 





Happy New Year

   A new year is upon us and of course it is a time to reflect on the past year, what we are grateful for and what we aspire to change in our lives. Mostly though it is a time to look forward to the new year with new hopes, dreams, and resolutions. I hope for good health in the coming year for myself and my loved ones, I dream of the perfect little sheep farm, and my resolution is to finish all my unfinished projects. I seem to have the incurable illness of having to buy every piece of antique furniture in need of repairs and restoration. "Oh I can fix this" is said every time I go to a yard sale, auction, or estate sale. I have refurbished many antiques for our home and many for our yearly tag sale, but yet I have an attic filled with undone projects. It wouldn't be so bad if my husband didn't have the exact same affliction. He now has a garage filled with hopefuls. This is the year! We are either going to use these treasures or sell them, so we must complete these tasks and make junque into treasure.
   New Year's Day I plan to finally look at all the seed catalogs that have arrived in the mail. I think planning my spring plantings is a wonderful way to start the year. Last year's cut flower garden was such a success that I am planning to expand it with more varieties of sunflowers and also different species of flowers to be used in my cut flower arrangements. Most of the flowers were blooming in late summer and early fall, so this year I want to plant flowers that will bloom from early summer until frost. My little roadside stand of cut flower arrangements was quite busy and really was a source of great joy for me. I loved providing a little bit of colorful cheerfulness for others. There is nothing like a sunny bouquet to lift one's spirits.
   January is also a good month to catch up on reading. I am looking forward to reading a new book I bought but set aside during the busy holiday season. January and February is the perfect time to do all the relaxing indoor things you feel guilty doing any other time of year. I may even find time for the daily nap I always talk about but never seem to take. From The Farm at Mill Village, Happy New Year!!

Holly, our two year old chocolate lab, does find time for many naps.

She waits at the top of the stairs every night at 8:00 to go to bed. This dog loves to sleep!

The snow continues to pile up in the sheep field.

The sheep waiting to come back in the barn, while I do morning chores.

Merry Christmas

A Very Merry and Blessed Christmas to All

Christmas Fruit Cake

   As planned, I made my fruitcake on Saturday morning, although I never planned to be mixing the ingredients at 4:00 a.m. and having it in the oven by 4:30a.m. It was one of those nights when you are awake most of the night and finally give in and just get out of bed. Usually I read or knit when I can't sleep, but I figured why not bake the fruitcake. The oven warmed the kitchen on a -8 degree morning ( maybe I should have waited until this morning's -17 degrees) and the aroma of the spices, fruit and rum was nothing short of "intoxicating". I am including the recipe in my post, but you may want to make it at a more reasonable hour.
   Saturday night and Sunday's snowfall was absolutely magical to wake up to. At 14" on the ground I think the chickens and duck will be in their houses now because of the snow depth and not just the frigid temperatures. They have all adapted to staying in with the comfort of heat lamps. When I first started keeping them in during the cold days, they tried to push their way out every morning while I cleaned the coop and fed and watered them. Now they want no part of going outside into the deep freeze and snow. Egg production is high so obviously they are content with their winter arrangement. The sheep on the other hand, enjoy a romp through the snow as long as it is not zero or terribly windy out. They like the freedom of being able to come and go into the barn during the day.
   The Christmas baking and present wrapping continue this week. All the things that make the holidays so wonderful!

First time out making paths

George not to sure if he likes snow yet

 

Martha, twin brother George, and Francis playing in the snow

 



 

Christmas Fruitcake Recipe



 

1 cup shortening

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 teaspoons cloves

1 teaspoon allspice

3 cups sifted flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup raisins

2/3 cup currants

1 lb. mixed fruitcake fruit

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup chopped dates

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups applesauce

1/4 cup rum

 

 

Cream shortening and sugar gradually with spices. Sift flour, salt, soda together. Dredge fruit and nuts with 1/2 cup of flour. Beat eggs until light and fluffy. Add alternately with remaining flour mixture,stirring until well blended. Stir in applesauce, fruit and nuts, and rum.

Bake in a well greased tube pan in a preheated 325 degree oven for 1 1/2 hours or until done.

Ready for oven

Ready to eat!



Oh Christmas Tree

   We got our Christmas tree last Saturday, put it up in the house Sunday, and decorated it on Monday. You know you are getting older when it takes three days to get a Christmas tree up and decorated. It was snowing lightly all day Monday, and with Bing Crosby crooning Christmas songs it finally felt like Christmastime. It took us longer than usual to pick out our tree this year, since I pledged not to get an overly pruned tree. Last year our tree was so artificial looking with each branch so manicured by the tree farm. This year I wanted a more graceful, natural looking tree with boughs that were not all trimmed to be of equal size. This was not an easy quest, but after walking up and down hills at the tree farm we found our treasure. This tree was in the last row of Christmas trees, almost in the outer forest. Maybe it was in the forest! Anyway, my collection of vintage ornaments showed off much better this year with more space between the branches. We put the tree in our library this year and I don't know why I didn't think of putting it there other years, because it is in the perfect spot to enjoy it.
   I'm still finishing up making a few last minute gifts, but most of the shopping, crafting, and Christmas card sending is done. That leaves baking and wrapping presents. Tomorrow I plan to make my family's recipe for the most fabulous, moist fruitcake. It wouldn't be Christmas without this cake!
   We are still waiting for Charlotte to come home to the farm from the breeders. Hopefully just before Christmas we will pick her up. It will be good to have another body in the barn to keep it warm. Since we sold our cow last year, I can tell the difference in the temperature of the barn. A big animal makes a big difference in the winter months for heat.
   With the cold weather and snow cover outside I have been feeding the birds at the bird feeder. This year feeding the birds is becoming stressful do to pigeons. And I mean a lot of pigeons! They can clean out a bird feeder in just minutes. My husband and I keep scaring them away and luckily they are becoming fewer and fewer everyday. We are very vigilant at watching for them, but the minute I go out for a few hours they definitely help themselves to every seed in the feeder. We also nearly had a casualty yesterday. A chickadee flew into our kitchen window with a thud and ended up laying on the back porch stunned. After bringing him in the house and stroking his little body, he was ready to go back outside to be with his friends. A happy ending!

Visiting Chickadee

Vintage sled and skates by our back door

Christmas Tree 2013