The Red Dragon...and the Snow

Doesn't it?

Alyce and I went walking and, randomly choosing a spot to enter the woods, we came across this beast.  It is actually a giant wood chipper that attaches to the tractor!  And when it is spitting out the wood chips, as seen on previous pages, it is fearsome looking.


We have had a week of snow and ice.  On Thursday it was -11 degrees and the cold bit into our faces.   The pond froze over and we walked across it because we could.  

Pano view of frozen pond

On the sunny days, spring must have been in the air because the ducks and chickens starting mating! I'm not sure these picture aren't pornographic!

But you can see in the picture to the right, that it was most enjoyable.  They seemed to love the snow. They would lay down and dig their beak into the it.








The kids don't seem to ever get cold.   They would come in with wet shirts or mittens and red hands and faces whinning because they had to take a break.

Again, it is the quiet of the place.  It is an adjective and a noun.  It is a verb - a state of being.  It swirls around you and if you are still...it enters.

Learning the Principles of Small Gas Engines from a Stream & A Home Insulation Specialist

The small engine class that we took did not pan out so well.  Even though we each had a small engine in front of us, the teacher only read from a powerpoint presentation!  At one point I did have a 'moment' when I recognized the piston in the engine in front of me from the picture on the board and then it started to make sense!  And this brings me to the stream...

Alyce and I were exploring the woods and we came to one of the many little streams that run all through the property.  We were looking at the flow of the water through the rocks where the stream had narrowed and the water was moving much faster.

Slow moving stream

Narrowing caused water to speed up

Alyce said, "that is just how the carburetor works"!  (Inside the carburetor is a narrow space called the venturi which causes the flow of air to speed up as it moves from the wider part through the narrow space.   The application of pressure difference is the basis of carburetor function.  Using the principal of atmospheric pressure.)   WOW lots of new words!  So I saw that the calm water was really a result of reduced pressure created by the narrowing of the stream.

Now if you are still with me....A lesson in Atmospheric Pressure made clearer by a Home Insulating Specialist who came to the house to evaluate movement of air (cold or hot) through the house.

So evidently, if you have spotty insulation in the top or bottom of your house, it is like the venturi mechanism.  The small holes speed up the movement of air from the large inside space of the house to outside to equalize the pressure.  But it really can't stop the process because the holes are always open.  So when you air condition or heat - that hot or cold air is constantly being sucked out of the house by the principal of atmospheric pressure create by the small uninsulated spots in the house.

I UNDERSTAND ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE!! and could have saved myself $149

Which brings me to what happened today.  The family went visiting friends and I had almost an entire day alone.  It was 16 degrees outside...but not to be deterred....I decided to venture out into the woods alone.  I have not felt comfortable leaving the paths and forging into the woods (as the kids keep asking me to do).  But my daughter assured me that my iphone would allow me to find my way back.  So armed with my iphone I left the beaten path and ventured into the unchartered.  My iphone actually showed that I left the driveway! pretty cool.  So I walked and walked and decided to take a panorama of the woods to show how dense they were.  As I turned around I saw that the trees had actually been planted in rows!  All I had to do was get inside a row and I would find my way back to the driveway.  How could I have missed the obvious!  But I did....

One of my favorite parts of James Cameron's movie Avetar was the 'I see you" scene.  My son told me that maybe the atmospheric pressure principal also applies to my change from the fast pace life in the city to the slower life of the farm.  The city life was the venturi, speeding up life so I couldn't always 'see'.  Now I am in the lower pressure life of the farm and I am beginning to 'see you'.....

Just a Regular Day....

Now that we are in our fourth week, the days are flowing like smooth river current instead of a raging river.  There is a rhythm of work taking shape; - wake up, breakfast, home school,  and then outside for everything that needs to be done.  Here are some pictures of the 'outside work'.

Fixing the baby chicken coup

Stacking the firewood

Chippen the trees

gathering kindling

Alyce and I have found a way to fill in all the little spaces of work that supports this farm - dishes to wash and put away 3X a day, holding fence post (it is a 2 man job), keeping some of the 'clutter' away for a day  - until the next day, reading books, playing board games, making breakfast, keeping the fire going... and so much more.  These little jobs that allow the big jobs to get done.

Taking a break

These Farm kids dress any way they want to, they play with dirt, sticks, stones, whatever they find becomes a treasure.  They are making their own toys.  Interesting!!

Climbing Trees

Burning the trash on the trash pile

Adding new tool to tractor - road grader

Learning how to drive the small tractor

and so .... we move from day to day, sometimes the moon wakes us up it shines so bright through our windows.  It is so cold some days and yet we still end up outside all day. The new fence is starting to take shape.  We watch the sun rise and set everyday with wonder, watch the ducks walk to the pond in a single line and the new trees the beavers have cut down and the new houses they are building from the down trees.  Today we found little beaches with white rocks (I suspect they were quartz)  Tomorrow I will start making a starter for bread...

And so another day ends so that another day can start again. 

Beaver Sausage, A Full Moon and Chocolate Pie

Today was a special day for my son, his first beaver sausage - grinded, seasoned & ready to add some wonderful flavor to any dish he decides to add it to!

His Grandmother's Kitchenaid

He used his grandmother's very old kitchenaid to attach the new meat grinder - which really makes the story even better!




Every evening he starts dinner.  Here is the view from the other side of the table where I or we, sit,write blogs, talk and drink a beer or wine.  I tell the grandkids that this is one of the way their daddy shows his love - he creates great meals for them.   He believes in the benefits of good, healthy food that he knows the ingredients of.

Lunch of Fresh Salmon patties & pears!

Tonight there is still a beautiful, full moon.  A full moon in the country is so bright, quiet and peaceful.  It makes me understand the statement: "a hush over the land" because that is what it feels like.

Alyce & my son have been cutting down dead trees and chopping them up and there is lots of wood & trash to burn in the burn pile.  

And we have all been helping collecting the wood for the wood burning stove as well.

It was very cold....

And we come to 'the chocolate pie'  which we are having tonight.  You might notice I look a little tired!!  Because by the end of the day 5:00 - I am exhausted.  And everything done has lots of little helpers.

Time....Today I was thinking about 'time' again.  There is no 'time' here - life 'IS".  You are 'in the moment'  You have choices to 'be'.  The farm is not a 'flow' of life, it is the Mississippi River of fast movin water.  It is fast, hard and intimate - in the moment.  Time isn't controlling me here - I am the one in control......

Learning a new Language & barbecued Beaver Ribs

We now start our third week on the farm.  It is a full moon tonight and very beautiful.

They are framing the loft in the barn for our apartment.

A picture that shows how far away the house is from the back of the barn

There was dried mud all over my Coach purse!  I should have taken a picture because it spoke volumes of how things have changed.

There is so much mud from all the big trucks bringing construction supplies and workmen, that some of them are refusing to come until the road is fixed.  UPS got stuck the other day.   My son bought a large chipper that attached to the back of his large tractor.  So Alyce and my son started up the tractor, figured out how to work the chipper and began feeding it small trees.  I might add that the entire process of having the chipper delivered, figuring how to get it on the tractor, pulling it on level ground, then figuring out how to work it too hours.  And it was raining!

Last Friday, we ate Beaver Tenderloin and Beaver Ribs.

 He Sous Vide the ribs and cold smoked everything for 3 day to preserve it and tenderize it.  We will have sausage from the haunch & the belly!  The meat was cooked perfectly and was very tasty and tender.  There was also a lot of meat on the ribs.

He cooked the tail and made a "beef broth" and added vegetables for a tasty soup.  I never would have thought I would one day be eating beaver.

I started  Small Engine Repair class tonight from 6-9.  I was very excited as I sat among the other students waiting for class to begin.  By 7:00 I felt I had made a big mistake and still had 2 hours to go before it was over.  It was an intro class, but the teacher moved very fast through his powerpoints stopping briefly to ask if we had any questions!  Yeh, I had lots of questions - but it was a class of men and I was the only one who didn't seem to have a clue.  I was so disappointed that I wasn't going to "get" this stuff and wondered if I was going to have the same experience with my beekeeping class.  Then all of a sudden I looked up and it was 8:00 and I was engaged!  There was a 2 stroke engine in front of me and I suddenly recognized the piston, then the fly wheel, the intake & outtake valves!  OMG I was speaking the language... I was getting it.

Here is a picture of the disappointed ducks returning from the pond because it was frozen.

And Roosters, ducks & hens begging for food at the kitchen door

And....just another hilarious moment with the grandchildren!!!

First nite of our third week.  We are still exhausted by 7:00 - but so then are the parents!