Vintage Home and Farm

The sun peeked out long enough that we decided to go outside and work in the yard.  We'd left the garden a mess at the end of the season last fall.  Today seemed like a good time to finally remove all the tomato cages and  wooden plant stakes, and stack them in the shop.  My husband then recruited my daughter to help get the tractor out.  They used the bucket on the tractor to move a few things around.  Firewood mostly, and some fallen limbs. Once done in the yard, it was time for some fun. We'd heard about a nearby park where nature and art converge in surprising ways.  Apparently a number of people have left objects there in artful ways. Out in the woods, there is a clearing with gate oddly standing there in the middle of it. No fence runs alongside it. It was a relaxing way to spend a winter afternoon.  We were fortunate to have a bit of sunshine and a week of mild weather in January.

Hopefully my husband won't take offense to the title of this blog article...but as newbie wannabe farmers, I figure we can't expect to do everything right the first time around. So when we set out to erect a field fence in order to give our chickens a nice outside play area...er, I mean chicken run...we shouldn't expect it would be perfectly straight.  Nor perfectly the right height.  Our first challenge was the fact that they gave us steel T posts that were too short.  Of course, we realized this after we'd already pounded all of them into the ground and were starting to unroll the fencing. Duh. So...tip #1 for installing field fencing: Make sure that the posts are extra long. When they sell you 5-foot tall posts, you should realize they are not tall enough for 5-foot high fencing.  You need 6 foot -- or even better 7 foot -- tall T-posts in order to have enough height left over so that your fence doesn't look weird. We were too tired to pull all the posts o...

One of our neighbors was walking his Great Dane and Sheepdog off-leash along the path behind our house while our chickens were out on the property.  I had let the chickens out of their coop earlier that morning so they could enjoy free-ranging in our nearly three acres of yard.  We had just finished breakfast and as I was clearing the table I saw something large and black zoom across the window.  I realized it was the rooster. He was chasing the sheepdog away from the hens.  Being the chicken mama that I am, I ran outside in my pajamas and robe, with only my wool socks to protect my feet.  It was a cold and wet winter morning, but there I was rushing around looking to see where the chickens were.  My daughter and husband joined me and the dog owner also, all of us concerned about the welfare of the 10 chickens who were running to save their lives. One of our hens had lost two dozen feathers in the side yard, and my heart leapt into my throat as I imagi...

A cheerful blue sky greeted us on Sunday morning, and so we headed out for a walk.  With dog in tow, we ambled across the backyard and onto the path that winds its way along Morse Creek. A thick grove of alder trees lines the banks of Morse Creek and surrounds the path.  There's a path along each side of the creek.  Usually we walk down the creek on one path and then return back up the creek along the other side.  Two bridges cross the creek. Along the way, we see glimpses of the private golf course that is part of our neighborhood association.  We sometimes walk on the golf course - there is hardly ever anyone there. Once we reach the Strait of Juan de Fuca, we climb over the logs onto the rocky shore to explore. It's fun to beachcomb, looking for shells, unusual-looking rocks and crustaceans hiding under rocks, along with whatever the sea has brought in that day. Just watching the tide, and the sea birds, is enjoyable, too....

It's our second winter on the homestead and one of the biggest priorities for me was to figure out how we would stay warm without spending a lot of money.  Electricity is expensive in our area, which means our electric furnace costs a fortune to run.  Originally our 1940s-era house had an oil furnace.  An electric furnace was installed about 15 or more years ago, and while it runs great, we'd rather not turn it on much, if at all.  So here we now are, trying to figure out the best and least-expensive ways to stay warm while living in a rambling two-story 3,800 square foot house. Last winter we installed a pellet stove in our living room.  The pellet stove does a great job of heating both the formal dining room and living room.  This past summer we put in a Jotul wood stove in the Corral (our den / man-cave), which heats that room very well but doesn't do much to help warm up the rest of the house.  Meanwhile, the entire second floor of the house wh...

Autumn has crept upon us much too soon, and we're finding there aren't enough hours in the day for all the activities that need to be accomplished.  Part of the struggle is that it's gotten really busy for me at work, and so I've had to increase my hours to about 60 per week - which doesn't leave a lot of time to work around the farm.  Fortunately my husband is a stay-at-home-dad who can help out with farm chores and be there for our daughter who is home schooled. We did take a break from the chores and had some fun decorating the house for Halloween one weekend morning.  It was a challenge deciding where to place decorations around the house -- everything used to have it's spot in our former home, but here in our "new" Vintage home, we have to decide anew where to place each special Halloween memory.  The trick-or-treat bucket that both my husband and daughter have carried found a good spot in the living room on an antique piano stool that my gr...

About a month ago, we decided to sell our extra eggs.  We thought about putting up a sign at the end of the driveway, but instead my husband simply placed a post on Nextdoor, a social media site we've been reading to keep in touch with neighbors.  We were surprised at the response.  Soon all our extra eggs were gone and we ended up starting a waiting list for neighbors who wanted more. We've collected a number of egg cartons to reuse for this purpose, and one of our friends gave us a giant stack of cartons.  Today I made a fun label to begin putting on the tops of the cartons.  I thought people might enjoy knowing the names of the hens who laid their breakfast. All ten of our girls are listed on the label, along with the rooster who protects them (he deserves a little credit, too!). I love the sizes and colors of eggs we get from our hens.  Each hen's egg is a little bit different. My husband started putting the egg money into a milk jar.  ...