We hope you had a relaxing, peaceful Thanksgiving! We enjoyed ours, with the exception of a fermentation…shall we say, incident?
This past summer, we made syrup from the elderberries that grow on our farm – it was a lot of effort that culminated in a single 8-oz bottle of the precious elixir. Since the weather has changed, we’ve started sneezing occasionally, so we pulled out the small bottle that’s been in the fridge.
It looked like the contents had separated a little, so the bottle was gently shaken to redistribute them. The flip top was popped and BAM! the contents gushed out like a geyser, spewing deep purple froth all over the kitchen! Even champagne had nothing on that bottle of “syrup”. Continue reading “A Very Purple Thanksgiving”
While there are really no “holidays” on the farm, not having to put up fencing today is one of many things for which we are thankful. We’re also thankful that our dogs spotted a loose dog that wandered onto our property and scared it off before it could reach our free ranging chickens and ducks (it would have had to find a way through the fence, but “where there’s a will, there’s a way”)…and that it’s warm enough that we’re not breaking ice out of waterers or hauling buckets of warm water out for animals today. Now that’s a holiday around here.
As usual, time is flying by. The 16 chicks hatched in early September are now 10 weeks old, and they look (and sound) less like chicks than small adults. Here’s an update on them:
While we are enamored of our Muscovies, we love duck eggs and the girls, being seasonal layers, have stopped laying entirely. We’d been researching duck laying breeds and had narrowed the possible choices down to Indian Runner, Khaki Campbell, or Welsh Harlequin…but the front-runner was the Runner, with its upright posture and penchant (surprise, surprise!) for running upright. What’s cuter than that?
Just when we were starting to think that this would really be a never-ending summer, the chill in the air has brought summer to a close. The leaves are falling are here. When a strong breeze blows, it looks like it’s raining leaves. Fall is definitely in the air.