Sunday Walkabout 12-7

Wow! Can’t believe it’s Sunday again…so soon.

Squeekie's commentary on December

This week flew by.
And, I certainly don’t have much to show for it.

First, I would like to apologize for my blogging absence. After 30 days of non-stopped blogging, I kind of ran out of stuff to say. I have been writing, but nothing seems to be turning out quite like I would like it. So, rather than torture you with some really awful stuff…I’ll keep thinking…and editing.

But, for those of you who keep up with what goes on 'round here...here's my weekly "walkabout"...

This week has been a whole lot of hurry up…and wait. Not one of our more productive weeks, but we did have a great sales day. (but, I’m getting ahead of myself)

I spent most of Sunday afternoon working on a new email campaign for our Winter customers. I wanted one with pretty colors and pictures that would be easy to send each week AND come through on all our customers various email providers AND look nice on all their devices. It needed to be completed ASAP, since the first sale day of the season was scheduled for Wednesday. I figured out the technical aspects, I imported my email list. I finally got it looking really nice. Only to find that it would NOT, could NOT, ever…work just the way I wanted it to. Never. Talk about aggravating. A real exercise in futility. I grumbled and fussed, but what could I really do? Nothing. Just go back to my old, dull email. It might be boring…but, it is effective! (and I was able to use the two product collages I created)

veggies and eggs for Winter '14

meats for Winter '14

Then, it was off to help Blondie paint her kitchen. We had a good time, we did some “mother-daughter” bonding, and we got the kitchen painted. I completely forgot about pictures, until I was back home doing chores. Here…this is the color of Blondie’s kitchen.

Truthfully, the paint looks far better on the walls than it does on my hand. The color is appropriately called "baked scone". It's bright and cheery, perfect for the kitchen. She did the last coat of paint on her own and then had the task of getting everything back in place. The finished kitchen looks great!

After that, it was time to focus on our floor project. I know I have referred to the re-flooring project before. (like a 197 times before)…sorry…I’m becoming obsessed. I really don't know why. The Boss can do anything and I have proved myself as a good"carpenter's helper" numerous times in the past.

THE PROJECT begins

The Boss wanted to have all our supplies on hand before we started, so he tore up some of the living room carpet to see if we would indeed need some plywood to make the two floors level. Of course we would. That’s always the way. And we needed a few (hundred) other things. So, this past week has included four trips to Lowe’s…in two different towns. (and that’s not even a record!)

market trailer doing double duty as construction trailer

However, we now have everything we need (we think) and once we start, we can just roll on through the house. (somehow, I really don’t believe the last part of that sentence)

Right now, there are boxes of flooring in nearly every room…just sitting there…taunting me.

Easiest floor ever! It says so on the box. That remains to be seen. At this point, I really want to just get started and get it finished. I can’t wait to see if it looks as beautiful as I hope it will. (honestly, anything would be an improvement)

100# of white fluff in the rearview mirror
now, that's fun driving! (not)

Somewhere in the midst of our trips to Lowe’s, Ellie Mae needed to take her annual trip to the vet. It was fairly uneventful, although the clinic had an emergency early in the day and we waited forever to see the doc. But, everyone was very nice, and the newest vet is a “cow person” (meaning she really likes cows…not that she is actually a cow…but, you knew that, right?) so we had an interesting conversation. I also picked up some supplies for lambing season. (more about those in another post) But, that shot the better part of another day. So much for productivity.

Winter delivery

I did get our weekly sales email sent. And, the response was amazing, even if it wasn't quite as spectacular as I had hoped. Our customers are great!

this is the good stuff

chilly harvest weather

With the cold, gloomy weather, the harvest window is pretty small. That meant I picked for a little while on both Thursday and Friday. Picking is very slow when it’s wet and cold. My knees and fingers get more than a little chilly and stiff. (I really need to write about the downside of winter harvest)

But, look at these colors! This stuff tastes great! There’s no way we could ever grow enough…

picking lettuce

pretty chard

the "view" most of the week

The entire week has been cold and gloomy. Which means the harvest for next week will probably be pretty slim. But, the snow melted, so the sheep could go back out in the paddock. There’s not much to eat out there, but it gives them some exercise and nice views while they ruminate.

The nice views don’t count for much with them, because given the opportunity, they will go IN the haystack and eat. Yes, someone (that would be me) forgot to latch the gate and they helped themselves. Fortunately, I discovered it before they made too much of a mess. I even found the gate chain!

finding the gate chain in the hay is a real success

Here are two other noteworthy items from the barn.

Irish Spring does NOT repel rats. I don’t care what you (and I) have read elsewhere on the internet. Not true. We had tried putting it down the rat holes in the hoophouse and in the barn. But…It does NOT work. Rats were not repelled. Irish Spring does, however, attract large, white dogs. Oh, wait…that’s just Gus. And, he eats ANYTHING! He really did taste it, I could smell it on his breath.

I have yet to find anything Gus won't eat

…and I still need something to repel rats.

As a sidenote, I do think I have discovered the source of the odd behavior around here. There is a large patch of catnip behind the barn. I have seen both Gus and Tess indulging more than once.

(maybe it’s dog-nip, too) Yep, that explains a LOT!

catnip patch under investigation.

Tess should be the poster cat for
Just say NO to catnip!

Mud season began on December 1. The battle of the muck started real early this year. This is what happens when you combine 10 inches of snow, over ½ inch of rain and 96 sheep hooves.

These pictures don’t begin to communicate the gross-ness. The mud is an entity in and of itself, sticking to everything and nearly sucking off your boots. And, then there’s the smell. Ugh! To say mud season is not pleasant is a complete understatement. And, it looks like it’s here for the duration. The Boss is talking about building a new bridge from the back of the barn. We’ll have to do something, or buy water wings for all the babies once the lambs arrive!

I nearly forgot, we did actually see the sun this week. After the rains, the skies are always SO beautiful!