Purple States

Today is "my" day at Purple States. Check it out.

Little lights

little light, originally uploaded by maggies farm.

It's the season of waiting and watching. It's the time of lighting candles against the darkness. I have been in such a dark hole, and am slowly climbing out following the little lights of Advent. Monkey is counting down each day of Advent in anticipation of Christmas - more for the hope of presents than for the coming of longer days or the messiah (whichever you prefer).

Me, I'm watching and waiting for many things. I'm watching the ground and the rain in anticipation of spring, still months away. Seed catalogs have started to arrive and I'm dreaming and hoping, plotting and planning. I'm patiently (although patience is wearing thin as a virture) waiting for promised funds to arrive. I don't as well with debt as I do with the cycle of seasons. In the mean time I'm trying to hold all the little pieces together.

Our Christmas may not be extravagant this season, but we have each other. The days will get longer soon and the light will begin to return.

In an effort to keep my thoughts positive and engaged, I've started a new project. I'm doing a painting (or drawing, or something) everyday. You can view them at Little Visions. For my birthday, Charlie winterized my drafty studio and now I can work! We may not be romantic here at Little Creek Farm, but we are practical sometimes...

I'm not a fan of cold...

11 December, 2008, originally uploaded by maggies farm.

We had two days of warm weather and rain. Four inches of rain. There is finally water in the creek again. Now we're back to cold. The goats are not happy. At least the sun is shining. That always helps my spirits pick up a bit.

We got the release from Monkey's school district yesterday and today are meeting the principal of what will hopefully be her new school. She doesn't seem to be sad at all to leave the Montessori school. I think this has to do with the fact that one of her friends told her all about the school cafeteria. There's nothing like the promise of nachos for lunch to lure a first grader.

What can I say? It's been awhile.

Life has been throwing me lots of punches lately. So, I just put certain things on the back burner for awhile. I have missed my blog, but the need to focus on family, finances, and sanity were a stronger pull. My friend Cinnamon has pulled me back. She and her husband have a project - Purple States and invited me to be their blogger from North Carolina. So, I'm thinking and planning and will be posting soon. North Carolina is coming up awfully fast!

Life on the farm keeps chugging along with the seasons. As long as we can make that mortgage payment we should be ok. I'm getting used to not really working and not finding a job. It really sucks to have to close a small business. Being laid off by your spouse is the worst. (I'm not bitter at all...) Charlie is loving his new job, although he did take a 10% pay cut along with everyone else this fall. Times are tough when you are even remotely connected to real estate. We have been making lots of cuts here at Little Creek Farm. Monkey will be leaving her private Montessori school at Christmas Break and will start the second semester of first grade in the world of public education. Right now we are working on getting her into the elementary school of our choice. You see, we sit right on the wrong side of a district dividing line. We are closer to one school (the one we want) than the other one, but such are the vagaries of the county system. Keep your fingers crossed for the Monkey.

We finished our root cellar earlier this fall and it is stocked with potatoes,sweet potatoes, beets, cans of tomatoes, tomato sauce, apple sauce, apple jam, apple butter, strawberry jam and way too many green beans. Who needs money for groceries??? It's not that bad, yet. Really.

We managed to put together some great row cover/cold frames and have a huge crop of greens, lettuce and beets thriving under cover. Gardening is easy this time of year... And the seed catalogs have started to arrive and make us a little more optimistic about things. The thought of new things growing in the spring, even though it is far off, can't help but make us happy.

The animals are all hunkered down for the winter. I'm saving up for a new batch of hens this spring. My old girls are not laying. I haven't seen an egg in weeks. For the last couple of years we kept the henhouse lighted. That meant by fooling the hens we got more eggs. They didn't really get to rest though. So this year no artificial light means no eggs.

O.K. Everyone caught up? Charlie has a job. Maggie doesn't. Maggie needs one (or will accept winning the lottery in place of gainful employment...). The farm is ok. The bears are hibernating. The goats are fat and wooly and the chickens are lazy. Monkey will learn about standarized testing this year. And everyone is receiving jars of jam and barbeque sauce for Christmas.

I'm back, I promise.

Living in the Wild

hey, it's empty!, originally uploaded by maggies farm.

I love living with nature, but sometimes it can be a little too close. We had ursine visitors today - A mamma and THREE cubs. I now know how Monkey's pool got broken. They all had a swim, pulled down the bird feeders and headed off into the woods. I banged a few pots together to send them on their way.

Now I have to keep an eye out for Monkey and the dogs, not to mention the chicken house and goats. This particular bear and cubs wander all over the valley, although this is the first visit to our house that I've witnessed.

Some bears destroyed our friend's orchard across the valley this weekend. There's not a lot of food for them out there right now because of the drought. They better leave my berry bushes alone, or else...

Three Ducklings

three ducklings, originally uploaded by maggies farm.

This week three little ducklings joined our menagerie. We've had horrible luck in hatching this year. Of course, I haven't been very attentive to the situation and have left it all up to nature and the whims of broody hens.

Most of this hatch didn't make it. There were a lot of fully formed chicks that just didn't hatch properly. I'm not sure why. The crested duckling may be a clue as the crested gene has a fatal gene connection somehow. (I just skimmed over most of the crested information in my reading). I do have one duck with a very tiny bump of a crest and she must be this one's mother.

The three are very happy in the brooder. We are playing with them in hopes that they'll be a little more people friendly than their parents. They're just so cute and fluffy!

Say hello to my little friend

boo boo chicken, originally uploaded by maggies farm.

The Monkey named her Boo Boo Chicken. She's a Polish bantam and like to ride on my shoulder. I don't think she can see too well, but she's awfully cute in a goofy sort of way.

A friend gave her to me along with two Ameracaunas and a Silver-Pencilled Rock bantam. I helped him out this spring by giving him a couple of laying hens. When his chick order came, he raised them up to a decent size and passed on four to me.

Funny looking creature.

Back from the brink

I took a much needed break from everything for most of June and July. I seriously have ignored almost everything except the garden - it helped mentally, physically and spiritually. It always does. I'm feeling much better now, enough said. Now let's move on.

The garden is literally buzzing. Bees (honey, mason, bumble and all) are everywhere. I've yet to be stung. I move slowly and no one seems to mind my plodding and poking. Did you know that different bees have different sounds? Really. Each type buzzes a little differently. I told you I've been spending a lot of time in the garden.

In the spring we started building walls for our raised beds out of rock. We have a lot of rock. I should be honest and say Charlie started building walls. I haven't been able to move too many rocks in a while. They look nice and have become home to many little garden predators. I'm getting over my arachniphobia. Spiders are good... Also, we have tons of toads. O.K., not tons, but more than ever. Monkey and I have made several toad homes for them. I don't think they actually use them, but they look cute in the garden.

My tomato plants are looking spectacular and a few of the fruits are ripening. I've been hand-watering them lavishly. The lack of rain and an heavy mulch of pine straw has kept them mostly disease free. Next week I may start selling them at market, but right now we are hording the first of the crop as our own. Stupice has again this year taken first place in early ripening. Charlie wolfed down the first Black Prince that I plucked. Greedy man. But he has done most of the heavy work this year, so I'll forgive him.

Enlightenment - one second too late

Have you ever had that flash of insight that tells you "I really shouldn't be right here, right now"?

I had one of those today when facing a 1200 pound beastie who was thinking about bolting and I was standing smack dab in the middle of her only escape route. I noticed her decision to "spook" in the tensing of muscles, the flick of a nostril and the roll of her eye. (Never mind that she was escaping from a big block of dock styrofoam that had somehow ended up in the middle of the riding path. And that she had stood quietly while I dismounted and removed it from the path. And it was styrofoam and she is a big horse... The equine mind is one vast vacuum.)

I now have a slightly swollen, bruised foot with very little skin left on the top. It's not too bad. I can move all toes and walk with only a slight limp. I only have three more days at camp. But I am rather angry with myself for standing in that particular spot at that particular moment. In her defense, once she stepped on my foot she did a rather agile twist (thus the removal of skin...) to avoid taking me completely out.

Monkey has had a rather positive time with the horses. Today she had a private lesson with me as the campers all left for the weekend. She says she wants to gallop, but for the moment we are staying at a walk. I did let her trot today. She's my girl. I'm thinking Charlie and I better start saving for a pony...

Oh, and I saw the fox kits again. I think I'll go out early tomorrow morning with my camera (if I can walk...).

Living in the woods

One of the things I love most about summer camp is that it allows children to experience the world at a different pace. There is a schedule, of course; but within that framework there is time to see the world in a different light.

This morning I was on a trailride with 10 girls. As one child decided not to ride, Monkey rode along with us. As we came into the cover of trees from an open field, we had an issue with one of the horses (they've been out to pasture all winter and the first week or so they can be rather "frisky"). While I helped the one girl, the rest of the group stayed still around us. A camper heard something in the woods, just off the trail, and then three of them saw a grey fox kit in the shadows. Then they saw another and the mother. Amazing. We were all able to see them (twice, as we had to pass by the spot again). A grey fox is a rare sight. Her den must be right there off of the field and near the trail to the lake. I guess living that close to camp has made her a little braver than most and we were graced to see her little brood in the shaded underbrush.

One of the girls commented that if the horse hadn't acted up, we may never have seen the foxes. Quite true. If we hadn't stopped in just that spot, we wouldn't have noticed the rather well camouflaged kits. Today we were thankful for a difficult situation that allowed us to glimpse the magic all around us.

Take time to look in the shady spots and to the sides of the path you are on. No telling what you will see.

Monkey Hood

Monkey Hood, originally uploaded by maggies farm.

Monkey is taking to the summer camp lifestyle swimmingly. We've canoed, swam, and shot arrows. We are working on a bird house in arts and crafts. We are here to mainly be training the horseback staff. Monkey is turning into quite the little equestrian. Hmmm, should we make Charlie buy a pony? It could live with the goats...

It is hot as Hades here in Georgia. The Monkey trotted on a trail ride yesterday - a big deal. I've been sweating my butt off in the barn on a daily basis. Hot, hot, hot. I was much more resilient in my 20's. So, this afternoon we are heading to the pool.

Charlie sent news from Little Creek Farm. There was a hidden nest of eggs with one little hen on it. So, that's where all my eggs were going. Good thing to know, I suppose. Let's keep our fingers crossed for a few new chicks. The first carrots are coming in. Oh and it's hot. Hot, hot, hot.

Yes, we are alive...

Has it really been since April 10 since I last posted anything? Well, apparently so. Sorry.

I needed a little "me" time. I basically shut down all non-essential things in my life for awhile - it was the stress of closing a business. If you haven't figured out by now, the economy is taking a big down-turn. We laid off employees, circled the wagons and hunkered down for a month or so.

Things are looking much better. Charlie was offered a rather high-paying job from a client, and accepted. The garden is rocking. Monkey just started summer vacation. And you wouldn't believe how big the puppy has gotten. He's a monster. A golden-eyed, shoe-stealing, monster.

The Monkey and I are taking off for summer camp today, but will be back to the farm in a week. I promise to post more frequently and am thinking of wonderful things to write. (I actually had several fantastic posts that never were written in May...)

I'm excessively happy with the results of the Democratic primary and the winner of American Idol by the way....

the future holds cherries and geese

"Starkrimson" sweet cherry, originally uploaded by maggies farm.

Cherry blossoms hold such hope! The wild ones are blooming as well in the woods. There are clothes drying on the line. It feels like spring.

And, one of the geese has started to lay (which is good). She built a beautiful nest and layed a lovely egg - right in the goat stall (which is bad). Now what am I supposed to do??? Hmmm, must think...

Puppy Tuesday on Wednesday

what?, originally uploaded by maggies farm.

Today's work - process invoices then take a puppy break. Life is hard.

We took a walk in the woods after a morning of boring. There are new things to discover each day. I found a vast amount of crested iris just coming out of the ground and wild geraniums are carpeting the forest floor. Blooms should follow soon. It will be a year ago this weekend when we had our second nasty freeze and lost the greenhouse to gale force winds. The blueberries have started to bloom, so are the strawberries. The sweet cherry has a few blossoms open and the apples and pie cherries aren't far behind. It's easy to see why the freeze was so damaging last year.

I'm keeping all fingers crossed that the weather remains mild and spring-like.

It's spring and I'm busy as a...

little helper, originally uploaded by maggies farm.

I'm busy as a you-know-what. This time of year there is so much to do around the farm. For the last two weeks we've been planting - peas, lettuce, cabbage, brussel sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, radishes. Radish seedlings and peas are starting to pop out of the ground. Inside we've started tomatoes, peppers, herbs, and cauliflower. There are onions and more onions (scallions and keepers) to put in the ground. There is also a flat of lettuce starts waiting on me. I'm waiting impatiently on the arrival of our potato order which was shipped last week. Charlie will have to plant those. I have a letter from my doctor excusing me from heavy work...

The hens are upping their egg production and I've started a collection to put in the incubator. Normally I store them in the cool garage until I have enough, but yesterday's temperatures were around 80 degrees so the eggs are in the house where it's a tiny bit cooler. The ducks have been moulting. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that one of them will go broody. I'm hoping that the geese will do the same. If not, I'll load up the incubator after the chicks hatch. We didn't order any chicks this year. The money situation is rather tight at the moment and my eggs are free.

Ah, and money - it is tight. We have a company to run. And if you haven't heard, there is a recession going on. And we are an area that some consider a luxury. Thank god, not everyone considers their landscape and natural resources a luxury, but still... Our expansion funding didn't come through (at least not yet...) and we had four expected clients (that would be loads of money...) decide to not sign contracts at this time (so really, no need to expand, really). One client has cut back so much that it is basically non-existent. It's not good to be tied to the real estate market at the moment. We had to make some really tough decisions in the last couple of weeks. We stopped our expansion and had to lay off a few employees. Hopefully, we will be able to hire them back soon. We've decided to use one as a contract employee. And after talking to our accountant Charlie decided to not move into the new office space in downtown Asheville, but convert space here at home to office space.

It does make more sense. The garage is big enough for office space down and a studio/loft up top. And money spent on it only increases the value of property we already own. Most of our work is done on-site and on-line. There really is no need for expensive rental property. I'm also excited because we are going to go back to doing some residential work - just design, no installation. That's easy, creative and enjoyable. You draw what fits in someone's budget and meets their needs; they pay you (half up front, of course) and you're done. I'm hopeful that we'll be back to turning a profit soon. Oh, and the dogs are excited that they get to go to work everyday. Anyone for a frisbee break? I'm going to go plant lettuce.

Puppy Tuesday!

why he's tired, originally uploaded by maggies farm.

It was almost 80 degrees today. I really have a bunch of things I want to write about, but I'm over the top busy. So enjoy Moonpie and Tank as they enjoy spring.

coq au vin

coq au vin, originally uploaded by maggies farm.

There's really only one way to take care of an extremely unpleasant rooster.

Puppy Tuesday

puppy tuesday, originally uploaded by maggies farm.

I could seriously take pictures of him all day long. I'll try to show some restraint. We are trying out the names "Goose" and "Tank", but we most often end up calling him "Little Man".

We had a wonderful weekend. It was a great start to spring break. Saturday's weather was the best so far this year. It was around 70 degrees and sunny. We all were sporting lightly sunburned cheeks.

The garden called. I planted shallots and a lettuce. Charlie butchered one rooster, two guinea fowl and a turkey hen. We spent the afternoon clearing vines out of the woods and cleaning up the streambed.

The turkey was close to 40 pounds. We roasted one side of the breast for Easter dinner. Oh, it was so good! The rooster is ready to become coq au vin. Tonight I'll cut it up and put it in marinade. Monkey has been begging to eat him for months. He attacked her and has since been in solitary confinement. And to think, at one time I worried about how she would react to eating the animals...

We planted more lettuce on Sunday afternoon. It's that time. Yesterday we set up shelving in the living room (we must garden when and where we can), and started flats of peppers, cauliflower and some lemon grass. Tomatoes are next. I need to get some peat plugs. We've had the best luck with them for tomatoes. It makes it really easy to pot them up as they grow. I am missing the greenhouse, but some day we will rebuild. We have the plans, it's just that money is oh so tight at the moment. Some days owning your own business is not so pleasant (but that's a whole other blog entry...)

Today just enjoy those bright blue eyes and soft, soft fur. That's my plan for the rest of the afternoon.

Happy Spring to you!

happy spring!, originally uploaded by maggies farm.

My mother presented me with a box of daffodil bulbs from her yard the first summer we moved here. After almost 4 years they are well established. When she died, I searched for something to keep her memory alive. I miss her, (I didn't know such sadness could exist until she died), however these a lovely and gentle sign of her continued presence in our hearts. I didn't need to search so hard. They were here all along.

Puppy Breath

puppy love, originally uploaded by maggies farm.

This is the last thing we need at the moment. But how could we refuse? Who would dump such a creature?

I said we would foster him and I'd start training, but I'm in love. He needs a name...