the week in wilds

 View this morning:

Today is going to be spent quietly, and every tiny task crossed off the list will be celebrated with a sense of accomplishment out of all proportion to the actual endeavor. It's been a challenging week, and I am not feeling my best. I intend to be as kind to myself as I would be to someone else. It's an experiment.

Meanwhile, here are a few images of visitors to the Wildlife Area,

 taken over the past week:

A chickadee, the official Commonwealth Bird, 
about to fly off with a sunflower seed.

A bluebird(!) waiting for a turn at the water basin or a feeder.

Two mourning doves resting in the young maple.

And three varieties of woodpecker!

"Hairy Woodpecker"

"Downy Woodpecker"

"Red-bellied Woodpecker" 

The lack of imagination - and observational skill - and relevance! - involved in the "common naming" of woodpeckers has always baffled me. I am sure we can do better.

Let's think about it, shall we?

And finally, although it IS snowing at the moment and has BEEN snowing for many hours, it has NOT snowed every day this past week. So here is one character who lacks neither observational skills nor imagination:

grey squirrel

I'm so glad the red squirrels and grey squirrels seem to have reached an agreement to coexist here in peace. I have even watched one grey squirrel and one red squirrel play together, and I watched them for quite a while before feeling convinced that's what they were doing. Made me very happy.

I hope you're weekend is shaping nicely!

~~~~~

marching on

 I've lost track of the snowstorms.

We are having Winter at last!

It's a relief, really. 

A relief to have snow at a time of year when snow is expected. An actual pleasure to have a cold day followed by another cold day. (Did I mention that this year I was still showering outdoors in late December because every other day felt like October?) And ice-crusted snow that is hazardous for a human to walk on and a problem even for goats. (I admit I could do without the ice. I've often said I'd rather have two feet of snow than a quarter-inch of ice, and it's true.)

There's plenty of food for cats and humans in the cupboard and freezer. Plenty of organic feed for the hens. And plenty of seeds and mealworms and suet for the wilds.

There's still enough hay for at least a week before I have to get another truck up the driveway, hopefully after a brief thaw and before another snowfall. So I'm not going to worry about that today.

You know the expression "Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof"? 

I think sufficient is also the good thereof.

I think life is plenty hard

and plenty good.

~~~~~

sunday snap

 

Wishing a happy birthday and a heart-full year to Tammy of T's Daily Treasures

~~~~~

winter cheer

I think Della speaks for the entire household today.

Outside it's very cold and murkily grey, and everything is covered in a sheet of ice. Doing chores last night, I had to punch my boot heel into the ice crust every time I took a step, in order to stay on my feet. The cleated boots came out this morning for the first time all Winter.

There's been a lot of this lately:

For a person who has enjoyed - well, let's say "reluctantly swallowed" - coffee about once every two years over a long lifetime, I am making up for it now with a taste for Turkish coffee. I started out making an occasional traditional serving, in a traditional cezve, and drinking it in a tiny cup, unfiltered. A bit of a pleasant ritual. Only one "local" shop carries this coffee. It's in the same town as Faraway Feedstore, so an 8-ounce can of Mehmet Efendi has been on the list for that every-few-months trip.

Well. There's been a gradual uptick in indulgence over a couple of years, and this Winter I've been brewing an entire quart, filtering it, then refrigerating and doling out daily for iced coffee with lots of milk. I recently made the feedstore trip and now the cupboard holds two cans of coffee. 16-ounce cans. Felt very much like getting in a load of hay.

It's so refreshing to the eye to see green, isn't it? I'm trying to keep a few little spearmint plants alive until they can go forth and multiply in the Spring. There hasn't been spearmint growing here in many years, but I am going to try very hard to reintroduce it in 2023.

And speaking of refreshing colors and reintroductions:

Several years ago, I saw the first bluebird here. It was tremendously exciting, and a couple of years later when I saw a pair, I hoped they would decide to stay nearby and visit the feeders often. Then there seemed to be a lull. Well, it's taken a while, but this Winter there have been five or six bluebirds visiting every day! I've added daily mealworms - the very nicest mealworms! - to my hulled sunflower seed and suet buffet. I've been trying and trying to get nice photographs to post for you, but this is the best so far. Stay tuned: someday the sun will be shining and the windows will be washed and the birds will be sitting still, all at the same time.

I hope you are having a lovely weekend, with the companions and activities and beverages you most enjoy!

~~~~~

more light

In Autumn 2021, I was once again pondering buying a small greenhouse - KB, are you here? You gave me some very helpful guidance based on your two greenhouses, thank you again. The greenhouse decision rolls around every Autumn. But in 2021, after many weeks of research and pencil-chewing, I came up with sufficient justification and a budget for a kit. For about 24 hours I was SO excited about finally deciding to invest in a greenhouse - a dream for over 30 years!

Then I took a hard look at my current ability to assemble a greenhouse. This put a stop to my gallop. I started wondering who I could hire to do it for me, and what it could cost. It's not a simple task. And it takes multiple people. Site preparation possibly requiring a digger? Oh my. Then, the (all too familiar) question came up: where on my forested property would a greenhouse have enough light?

Overnight it occurred to me to build the goats an extension on the barn instead. (I know. You might not want to go shopping with me.)

West side, framing underway.

I sketched up the design but it was built by Actual Professionals, which is why things look so neat and level and square. The whole construction process was remarkably quick. Usually I don't enjoy standing idly by watching other people work, but this time I just stayed out of the way and took a few snaps every day.

My idea was, that with another 20x8' shelter that can be divided - in minutes! - into two, three, or four little open stalls, more goats could happily share the barn area without intimidation or fisticuffs. I'm pretty pleased with the design. It's a pleasant, flexible, run-in shed. I call it the Peace Pavilion.

the southwest corner

It's been about as successful as all my previous peacekeeping missions in Goat World: i.e., improvement, not perfection. But it's also a very bright and airy place for hoof trimming and cashmere combing! Here, Fern prepares to demonstrate in April 2022:

And although it's not a greenhouse - remember the greenhouse? - the roof is clear corrugated panels, so there is plenty of light, at least until leaf-out. There are also big corrugated windows on the east and west walls, and the south side is completely open. So I told the goats right from the get-go that the southwest "stall" might be seasonally commandeered for use as a seed-starting area. Last Spring I was too busy with extended cashmere harvesting to close off that corner for starting seeds, but this year it could happen.

Fern says, "Really? You're expecting
an easier cashmere harvest this year?"

Hmmm. You have a point, Fernie. Well, we'll see.

By the way, one last comment about light.

Here's what I did with the floss from the milkweed seeds:

And here's why:

magic lantern!
~~~~~