Newest Family Member

Meet Andromeda (a/k/a Andi), our tortoise-shell kitty. She is the chattiest non-Siamese cat I have ever met. She's very sweet, with a bit of stinker thrown in for good measure. Because she hasn't had all her shots yet, she's living on the 3rd floor, outside of Luna's domain. Luna has shown almost no curosity about what might be on the other side of the door, but once Andi is granted access to the 2nd floor, I'm betting she won't be too happy. We may wait until after the holidays, when everything is more settled, until those introductions are made.

Cookie Walk

The official kickoff to the Most Wonderful Time of the Year was today -- our annual visit to the Cookie Walk at a local Catholic church. It's snowing here today, so we braved unplowed roads to get there. We were psyched that we got there in time to hear the 8 a.m. bells. (It wasn't as idyllic as last year, when the snowflakes were large, fluffy and gently falling -- it was small and pelting.) We try really hard not to pick up any that have peppermint in them, because they "contaminate" the ones around them, but I managed to get one that was. Fortunately it was near the top and G pulled it out as soon as we got home. We came home with about 5 1/2 pounds of cookies (and we're taking bets as to how long they last ... ).

New Role

Our hens have turned out to be prolific -- every one of them is pretty much laying an egg every day. During October, it wasn't much of a problem because we were selling eggs to pumpkin customers. Now the season is over, which means we have almost 30 #$%*ing dozen a week. A person can only eat so many egg sandwiches and fritattas! A friend of mine sent an email out to her neighbors, and surprisingly, quite a few responded. I now have an "egg route" on Sunday afternoons -- I have become The Egg Lady. (Wish I could say The Eggman ... goo goo gajoob ... today was so bizarro ...)

A Memory

Yesterday I was fortunate to be able to go through my family albums with someone who was actually interested in them. I found this picture, which choked me up a bit: 20-month-old G "reading" to my beloved Argos. For an old dog, he tolerated the many forms attention from the newest family member took.

Goats at the Gate

You can't imagine what a welcome sight this is: Two goats at the gate. Layla (the one on the right with the white head markings) was extremely sick earlier this week with pneumonia. At least twice I thought we were going to lose her. She had great care from the vets and from Dan, who spent the week giving injections and probiotics. Layla has been up and around for the past two days, so we hope this means she is on the mend.

Happy Halloween

Gaga Ooh La La

G as the anti-DADT Lady Gaga at the annual Halloween party of some friends

Another Weekend Down

It was a busy pumpkin weekend. Lots of "regulars" came through, including a favorite group we call the "Trebuchet People" or "Anna's Family." It was unseasonably warm (HOT!) weather, so hauling pumpkins and people was sweaty work. We all were happy when the sun went down on Sunday night!


Putting the wagon away Sunday night

Mailbox Greetings

Our neighbor decorated our shared mailbox. I've taken to calling the couple "The Scarecrow and Mrs. King."

Homecoming

Homecoming spirit ... or something else? If you know G, you know why this is funny ...

The Girls

Rainbow Hill

Double rainbow, 10.01.10 @ 6:15 p.m.

Opening Weekend

This was the first weekend of pumpkin season. It was cool, overcast and windy yesterday, so we didn't get many people through. Today was better weather, but the Packers played the Lions at noon, so we had a trickle after the game. That gave us time to spend with friends (Bears fans!) who came out. The field is really weedy because it was so wet this summer, but they managed to find some good pumpkins. We'll see how long this season lasts ...

This year's set up

Flatbed out front

Pressing Issue

There's a bumper crop of apples (8 varieties: Gala, Braeburn, Yellow Delicious, Red Delicious, Granny Smith, Macoun, Cortland & Fuji) out in the orchard this year. It's more than we can eat or even store, so Grandpa bought a crusher and a press this week. We took time out from pumpkin season preparations today and made cider with some friends. Considering the time it took five adults and three kids to collect a bushel of windfall apples and then cut, crush, press and strain them, the two gallon yield doesn't sound like a lot -- but boy is it good!



Cutting





Crushing




Pressing -- the end result!

Layla and Melanie

Today we welcomed Layla and Melanie, two Lamancha goats (which are easy to spot, because they look like they have no ears), to Rainbow Hill. G chose their names because they mean "night" and "darkness" respectively. They are still babies really and are skittish about their new home. Melanie in particular is letting her displeasure be known -- loudly! Once pumpkin customers start showing up and feeding them, they will probably warm up to being here.

Melanie

Layla and Melanie

sEggsess!

Our first pullet egg

Frosh Pics

Her favorite (taken on a wooden choo choo behind a local coffee shop)

Mine (taken at our local indy bookstore)

Fall Preview

Eggsceptional

We put in 50 laying hens this week. Originally we were going to just have 25, but in view of the salmonella scare, Grandpa thought that people might be looking for alternative egg sources. In two to three weeks, we should be getting eggs; by mid-autumn, we could have 14 dozen eggs a week! Dan and some friends fenced in some yard today so we can let the hens out during the day. By late afternoon I heard a hawk nearby, but since there was no ruckus, I don't think it went after them. Let's hope the hawk, the owls, the fox, the raccoons and other assorted predators stay away!

Time Marches On

Jackson Lake 2006

Jackson Lake 2010