We Continue to Prepare for Winter

The last two days have continued chill, although the sun peeps through occasionally. Phil turned the tarp over our trailers; it no longer runs lengthwise between the two, but runs crosswise just over the doors. This lets in more light, while still keeping the doorways covered, in the event of sun or rain.

I planted the rest of the garlic yesterday. It was a new moon today, and new moons are supposed to be good for planting root vegetables. I ordered three more pounds of garlic, and I’ll plant those whenever they arrive. It’ll be interesting to see if there is any difference when harvest time comes next year, whether a week really helps or hinders. (I suppose it won’t be a terribly scientific test, since the varieties and sources are different, but then, I’m not getting paid to do this research, so even a bit of data will be useful!)

Phil unpacked the storage part of our shed, looking for the boys’ winter clothes, as well as a rug for our “living room,” some blankets and towels, the mill so I won’t have to use the oat press (the mill goes so much faster and the grains are ground much more finely), and anything else that we might appreciate during the winter ahead. We found all of those, as well as the pasta maker (which I had just wished for earlier this week), the special glass oil and vinegar dispensers (in faith that I will at some point have lettuce to cover with said condiments), my recipe box, the toaster, and a couple of boxes of homesteading books that I had missed in the first great unpacking.

There is something so comforting about familiar stuff!

Phil spent some time this afternoon to go “hunting.” Well, he took his gun, but mostly I think he went to walk the land. He came back so excited. Our impression of the far side of the creek is that it is a bit flat in one spot, but then falls off steeply. But that’s not true. There are lots of flatter places, great for meadows and pastures.

I enjoyed reading to Abigail and Abraham. They seem to be getting along very nicely. I am reading Robin Hood to the older boys, and they are very into the adventures. Jadon confessed, “I thought about Robin Hood so much that I dreamed I was in his gang last night. But I didn’t get to see how it ended.”

Isaiah went with me when I slopped the pigs yesterday. The pigs temporarily overcome their antipathy to humans, and we can scratch them while they slurp (and, yes, they SLURP) the slop. They flinch, and their tails uncurl and go between their legs, but they keep eating. Isaiah was thrilled to be able to scratch both at once. We have virtually stopped feeding the pigs and they are doing a great job plowing up and fertilizing my future garden site. We don’t really care if it takes them many months to reach slaughter weight of 200 pounds; we want them more for their plowing than their food. Though Phil eagerly anticipates bacon and ham.

Abigail is a great farm girl. She asks to go outside and happily follows Phil and I about as we do our chores, wanting to help water the garden or move the sheep and goats or whatever we do. While the boys often ignore us, she determinately enters our spheres. It’s a new experience for us both, to have a child choosing to tag along.

Phil ran an extension cord into the barn, so I have bright halogen light in my kitchen. The electricity works in the office trailer now, too, so we are fully wired. Every time I can go into our teeny bathroom and turn on the light it’s a little gift. No more cold, wet mornings. And I am so thankful we brought the bathroom inside before Abigail arrived—what was somewhat unpleasant for me I would imagine would be bewildering and quite objectionable to a four-year-old.

In closing, a cute question from Abraham. He asked, “What is in our walls?”
“Why?” I asked.
“Because they are making funny noises.”

Actually, it was the pigs on the other side of the wall that were making those noises, but what a cute question!

We remain abundantly blessed.