finally the rain has passed

after a few mad weeks of work and a car accident, i'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  my back is on the mend and a christmas break is imminent.  i don't feel quite myself and am looking forward to some rest and reflection.

the small ponds around the yard are draining after a few days of rain.  the animals were finally out and wandering in the sun.  the sheep shed was soaked, but now has fresh, dry bedding.  we're due for a sunny week in the 70's, and we're all looking forward to it.

the garden is almost done.   i picked all the beets and most of the carrots.   the beet harvest was small - i froze most of them, and and canned some in red wine vinegar.  the heirloom carrots were very sweet - shorter and plumper than the supermarket variety.  i blanched and froze most of them.  i planted an italian heirloom variety of red onions, which are growing very slowly.  i uprooted a few and added them to our morning scrambled eggs.  we still have a few small, green tomatoes on the vines.  not sure they'll have time to ripen before the temps drop permanently.

some of the bantams were stowed in the standard coop at night this week, when the temps dipped to freezing.  i used to put a heater in the coop, but now the birds create their own warmth because there are so many of them.  in the morning, there was a layer of ice on some of the rain puddles, but the coop remained close to 50.

skittle and sarah should be about 3 months pregnant.  i can tell because they are the first out of the shed in the morning, looking for fallen fruit.  their appetites are bigger and so are they.  sarah seems more lethargic, and moves alittle slower.  i scored a couple of boxes of green apples at the shoot yesterday, which the sheep will enjoy.