wednesday, march 3, 2010

Nettle Cravings
For some reason, I woke up today with a fierce craving for fresh, healthy greens. More>>

wednesday, february 24, 2010

Food Documentary Insomnia
I really need to be more careful about what I watch before bedtime.  Of course, I (usually) know better than to view a terrifying movie like Paranormal Activity right before turning in, but who would have thought a mere documentary about food and farming could make me lay awake at night, simmering with anger and disgust? More>>

wednesday, february 17, 2010

Dusty's New Dig
Last week, something momentous happened.  My husband and I actually completed a project we started: Building a new cage—more like a palace—for our house-rabbit, Dusty. More>>

wednesday, february 10, 2010

A Corky Craft
Ask my husband, I’m a compulsive list-maker: Shopping lists, chore lists, packing lists, farm project lists ... and the list goes on. Of course, that means I need a handy place to put those lists so they don’t get lost... More>>

wednesday, february 3, 2010

Country Walks Revisited
During January we experienced unusually warm temperatures here, thanks in large part to El Nino, a cyclic warming of the Pacific Ocean’s surface. More>>

wednesday, january 20, 2010

Disaster
Like many people around the world, my thoughts have been centered on the citizens of Haiti this past week:  Mourning the staggering loss of life in a poorer-than-poor country whose people have so little, and have now lost their family and friends, too. More>>

wednesday, january 6, 2010

101 Uses for Canning Jars
OK, I lied. I haven’t actually figured out 101 ways to use them yet, but glass home canning jars, also called Mason jars, are just so versatile and useful that I couldn’t resist the title. More>>

wednesday, december 23, 2009

Winter Solstice
We’ll be two days past the shortest day of the year when you read this, but as I blog right now, here in the Northern Hemisphere winter solstice is today, December 21 (you can blame it on our tilted planet). More>>

wednesday, december 9, 2009

Winter Hunger Pangs
The official first day of winter falls on December 21, still several weeks away as I write this, but you would never know it from our weather here in western Washington. More>>

wednesday, november 25, 2009

Goodbye, Turkeys
I miss my turkeys. Kelsey tries to ease my guilt over their new residence (the freezer) by reminding me that if any of us had collapsed unconscious in their pasture, the flock probably would have pecked our skeletons clean within minutes, piranha-style. More>>

wednesday, november 11, 2009

Country Cards
I’m not fond of these shorter, soggier, colder, darker days, but I can think of one good thing about them: they give me the perfect excuse to stay inside where it’s warm, dry and lamplit, and get crafty. More>>

wednesday, october 28, 2009

Celebrate National Cat Day
According to the National Cat Day website, tomorrow—October 29—is (how did you guess?) National Cat Day. More>>

wednesday, October 21, 2009

A Walk in the Country
You might think after two decades of walking these same country roads surrounding our farm that I’d be bored out of my skull, but it hasn’t happened yet. More>>

wednesday, september 30, 2009

Farm Dogs on Holiday 
Have you given your farm dog (or dogs) some love recently? How about a break from the farm? More>>

wednesday, september 9, 2009

Loving Life 
I wanted to write about something, anything else, but all I could think about last night, and again this morning, was Chris, and the final words on his Facebook page:  “I love life.” More>>

wednesday, august 26, 2009

Potato Hunt
It feels a lot like the dyed Easter Egg hunts I loved as a kid, and staged for our daughter when she was little. More>>

wednesday, august 12, 2009

Turkeys, Part 2: Turkeys are Cool
I had planned to call this blog "The Trouble with Turkeys, Part 2," but changed my mind for two reasons... More>>

wednesday, july 29, 2009

The Trouble with Turkeys, Part 1
After three years of raising our own broiler chickens for the table, we decided to make the big (and I mean big) leap to turkeys this year. More>>

wednesday, july 22, 2009 

Postcard from Italy
I’m writing this from Venezia—or Venice as it’s known in English. It feels like a dream to be here in this mythical land of canals and gondolas and grand but crumbling palaces. More>>

wednesday, june 24, 2009

Part 2: Mixed-up Moms
When hatching day came, Velma possessed 7 eggs and Tica had 10 eggs. I think. I’m unsure because during the entire incubation period the expectant mother Muscovies kept trading—or more likely stealing—eggs from each other. More>>

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Part 1: Odd Ducks
Although I love them dearly, I must admit Muscovies are very odd ducks. For starters, while all other domestic duck breeds presumably descended from the wild Common Mallard (Anas platyrhychos), domestic Muscovies arose from a different waterfowl species ... More>>

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

When Life Gives You Wool
I don’t want to give you the impression that sheep are stupid; they’re definitely not.  But I wouldn’t call them geniuses, either (there’s a reason you don’t see bumper stickers that say “My sheep is smarter than your honor student”). More >>

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Invasion of the Fleece Snatchers
A few weeks ago, we celebrated sheep shearing day here on at our farm, a day and an activity I particularly enjoy for the following reasons ... MORE >>

wednesday, may 13, 2009

Let Us Plant Lettuce
I just took a peek at my lettuce wheelbarrow, and discovered that the lettuce I’d planted about a month ago had suddenly shot up to a whopping two inches in height. More >>

wednesday, may 6, 2009

When Anxiety Attacks...
After Desert Discoveries, I’d planned to blog about a nice, innocuous farmy topic, like my lettuce wheelbarrow or my flock’s shearing adventure. More >>

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Desert Discoveries Part 3: Desert Pricklies
Our time in the desert flies by in a sandstorm blur. We take a scenic boat ride on Saguaro Lake (strange to see so much water – and bald eagles! – in this dry country), enjoy a night of eclectic music at the Arizona Opry (Elvis was there), visit Old Tucson movie studios (gosh, those cowboys are cute), and hike through birdwatching mecca Madera Canyon (spotted wild turkeys, lots of hummingbirds; missed the coveted Elegant Trogon). More >>

Wednesday, april 22, 2009

Desert Discoveries, Part 2: What Grows on Trees
As a hobby farmer, I know those neat piles of apples at the supermarket grew on trees somewhere, maybe even here in the apple capitol, Washington state, and not a zillion miles away in New Zealand. More >>

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Desert Discoveries, Part 1: Escaping the Farm
Don’t get me wrong – I love our farm. But it’s been too long since my family and I escaped the animal feeding, dog walking, manure scooping, garden tending, house cleaning, fence fixing, bill paying, and other duties that go with living in the same place day after day. More >>

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

April Fool!
Warning: In case you don’t know it already, today is April Fool’s Day, also known as All Fool’s Day. Be careful – very careful, because as Wikipedia defines it, April Fool’s Day, celebrated in many countries, is a day of practical jokes and hoaxes inflicted on family, neighbors, friends, and ... animals? More>>

Wednesday, March 25

Dreaming of Dandelions
Where art thou, Dandelions? I suspect some suburban-dwellers reading this will think I've totally lost it, considering that many folks spend a good deal of time trying to rid their neat lawns of this cheerful scourge. But I can't help it... More >>

Wednesday, March 18

Animal Personality
I knew it all along, and I’ll bet you did as well:  the animals we share our hearts and homes with have personalities, too.  In fact, according to “They’ve Got Personality,” an article by Cynthia Berger in the February/March 2009 National Wildlife ... More

Wednesday, March 11

Knitting Therapy
Awhile back I discovered a forgotten ball of yarn in the little box on my spinning wheel. I'd spun it a year ago – badly – and the yarn looked lumpy--thin-lumpy--but the color took my breath away:  variegated shades of indigo blue, deep ocean blue, violet-blue. MORE >>




WedNesday, March 4, 2009

Bicycling Out of Hibernation

Emerging from hibernation, my husband and I grab bicycles ... Climbing on, I experience a fleeting worry after our hiatus: maybe I've forgotten how; maybe I'll wobble and gravity will yank me to the ground.  MORE>> 

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Change in the Weather

I’m writing this first blog with weather on my mind, sneaking suspicious peeks at the lead and silver skies of a typical Puget Sound winter day, wondering what Mother Nature and global climate change will dish up next. More »