Many Blessings

We cooked Thanksgiving dinner in my class yesterday. We have a full kitchen and we had the oven packed with turkey, yams, and pies. Even our tough kid who rarely participates rolled out the pie crust dough. It was a fantastic and bountiful meal. We managed to get everything ready for brunch at 11. I only have them half a day so we had to eat early. We went around the table and everyone gave thanks for something. The kid who rolled out the dough couldn't think of a single thing to be thankful for so we helped him. Finally we asked him about his little sister and he nodded yes. It was one of those "moments." Upstairs in the palatial cafeteria they were serving a Thanksgiving lunch with all the trimmings for $6, but our dinner was far more gratifying in many ways.

Dark at Five

So little light left when I get home from work. Just enough to take the doggies out before I start dinner and chores. I bought new batteries for my headlights. I can't be without them in the barn. The light blinds the animals when I look directly at them so I try to point it downward so I can see where I'm walking. I've got lights in the barn, but I've bashed so many of the bulbs with my head there are not very many left. I have to check for lambs every so often now, as several have dropped and I can see little lamb movements in their bellies. Lambs come from heaven, ofcourse, but I'm not ready yet. I hope they wait until after the two December shows, but maybe not. I got the turkey cooked for our Thanksgiving Feast in school tomorrow. The aroma filled the wing and had everyone asking where's the turkey? The kids are excited and will cook all the other dishes and eat before they leave at 11:30. Thanksgiving Breakfast I should call it? I don't think attendance will be good next week due to hunting season so we are doing it early. This way I'll be sure everyone in my GED class has something to be thankful for on Thanksgiving, or at least a full belly.

Grrrrrrr....

Trying to get "up" for the day. It's not happening. I'm out of cat food, what else is new, so I make my French Toast for them - bread soaked in milk and butter. They love it, and probably has everything commercial cat food has in it except for the road kill. Two teachers I work directly with are out for the week with H1N1 flu. Oh, Joy, please let me not be next. I can hear Matt's voice as he sails happily out the door to his fun and fulfilling job saying Bye - Feel Better!! as I lie choking and gasping flat on my back and animals mill around the water tank waiting for a drink. Well, we won't let that happen. I'm trying to observe the "three foot" rule and wash my hands all the time. A school is one big biohazard with sick kids whose parents have kicked them out the door to get on the bus and bring their germs to us. Okay, it's wash-hair day so I better get in the tub. It just might improve my mood - not likely but it's a chance I have to take.

New Eggs

A hen was sitting on eggs she laid on a small ledge behind a rabbit cage in the barn. When I fed the bunnies I watched her, those little chicken eyes in a trance, concentrating on keeping those eggs warm. I was worried that the chicks would hatch and freeze or fall down from the ledge and be eaten by cats. Sure enough, this cold morning, 24F., Mother Hen was gone when I watered the bunners before leaving for work. There were the eggs, chilled but not frozen. I tend to find things to do in the barn that make me late enough that I have to fly down the road at breakneck speed, and just my luck this morning was no different. I gathered up the eggs and ran them back into the apartment and put them under the lamp in the bathroom. The last batch of chicks I raised inside are in the barn now, so the familiar box and lamp under the sink is back in business. There is a kitty in there now, warming herself under the light bulb, keeping the eggs even warmer. I hope I got them in time to revive the little bodies inside. Every life is precious. I'm watching the WWII in HD on the History Channel. The new footage is amazing, and I'm fascinated with the way our nation was entirely committed to the cause of saving the world for democracy. I'm so proud my mother and father were both in the Army. That's very special. They survived to have four kids in five years, a true affirmation of life. So much unspeakable carnage and suffering in that cataclysmic event that was WWII, so many perished and generations were lost. I feel so unworthy compared to what they were called upon to endure. (I'll try to remember that when lambing starts and I'm complaining about no sleep.)

Bags in Waiting

I have a stack of bags cut out, waiting for me on the sewing machine. Wish I could stay home and make them. It's always a challenge to pick the right lining for a bag. It means so much and seperates my bags from so many others. I essentially craft two bags and sew them together. The inside has to be prettier than the outside. My Southern mother taught me that you should be able to wear a garment inside out, that's how important the lining is. I like that idea, and have always applied it to my bags. Carol Crayonbox sent me some fabulous lining fabric that works better for this particular bag, so I'll save the lining fabric I already cut out for another time. I'm waiting on snap frames from Ghee's in Louisianna. There is so much I have to order in to have everything I need for the products I make. Soap making supplies are very bulky and pricey. Bundaflicka Bags require cedar shims for the boxy bottoms, Sculpey or Femo clay for buttons and a LOT of thread. The woven labels took three months to come from England by way of New Jersey. I need jars, labels and many ingredients for my Shepherd's creme. Luckily, UPS and FED EX has finally figured out that I live in this funky old barn, except when there is a new or substitute driver. Then I have to go searching for my stuff. Luckily I have enough fabric for a couple of year's worth of sewing and the sheep keep producing that marvelous wool. Oh, yes, the sheep. They require a fortune in hay, feed, wormer, vaccines, lambing supplies, etc. Better saddle up and get out the door to my teaching job - my farm subsidy.

Monday Morning Musings

The NY Times says it costs 1 million dollars to keep a soldier in Afghanistan for a year. Just imagine what that kind of money could do for a spay and neuter fund in New York State... I got some work done in the barn yesterday, specifically the milk room, which was extremely gnarly. I gave it a lick and a promise for more, as they say. I have to get roto rooter in to check out my broken drain. I tried to snake it but can't get through. Possibly a pipe collapse? Just my luck. The floor gets wet from the hose I use to fill the water tanks for the sheep then has no where to go. Hay tracks in and gets wet, turning to something really nasty if I don't sweep it up. I surely do not want to jack hammer up the concrete floor of the milk room. What a mess, and I need it for the laundry, washing and dyeing wool, and keeping my outside kitties warm when the blizzards start. Might have to wait until spring, like so many other things. I have to buy a milk room heater at Tractor Supply to heat that room and keep the pipes from freezing, another expense looming. An old farm is a huge hole to pour your time and money into. Don't know how much longer I can keep this up, but I'm having fun in the meantime, and oh, the stories I will write someday. I got most of the giant wether fleece picked outside in the pleasant winter sunshine, washed it and got it dyed a lovely cherry red. I love to see a dark fleece dyed a bright color. It has such pretty variations in color. I'll dye another white fleece scarlet red, then blend the two with fuschia angora, and another color I haven't decided on yet. That's fiber art and it's so much fun. Got my patchouli soap cut and set out for curing. This recent patchouli didn't hold up in the soap making process the way I hoped it would. The anise essential oil seems to survive the lye better than any other EO I buy. I'll cut the almond tonight, which means I have to clean off my drying rack which is stuffed with fabric and other business accoutrement. Oh, what I would give for a big studio where I can spread out.

A Taste of Summer

I thawed some blueberry sauce from berries I bought at the farmer's market last summer and poured it over hot pancakes. Very delicious and a real Sunday morning treat. Gray and misty outside but the forecast calls for a warming trend over the week ahead. Great time for new fleas to hatch and the barnyard to get muddier. There comes a time in the fall when I wish for a good freeze that will harden the ground. Every farmer knows what I am talking about. I got a couple of bags done yesterday and will cut up 33 pounds of patchouli and the same amount of almond today. I have the fabric and labels all ready for wrapping after it cures. I always thought soap making would be a good business for someone with kids at home, as all those little pairs of hands could do the stacking and wrapping. I have bags on the machine too. I'm torn between making product and working in the apartment, my old tug of war. Big show in three weeks and another a week later. I don't think I'll make any more Patchouli creme, as so few people like it. I'll give what I made for Christmas gifts. Sharon, our BOCES special ed. secretary is crazy about hers, and I adore mine. I put some on before class and the boys started hooting and hollering what's that smell?? Eeewwww!! I told them it's something men couldn't possibly understand and they liked that answer. They attributed that earthy aroma to the mysterious world of females, something they can relate to. I better leave my patchouli creme home. We're doing a Thanksgiving dinner in class next week. It will take some planning and logistics, but I think it will be a lot of fun and nice for the kids and me.

My Head is Spinning

Wide awake at 6. Got up to make coffee, feed the inside kitties and spin, spin, spin. What a treat. I've got a giant bobbin of my latest natural colored roving plied with a tiny thread of yarn from a cone of sock yarn. It's just gorgeous and will make fabulous socks. I want to knit some boot socks for myself but it will have to wait 'til January when the shows and Christmas is over. Too much to do before then. Have to get to Waterville this morning to Louis Gale feed mill before it closes at noon. I get 100 pound sacks of chicken layer mash and cracked corn for the same price at 50 pounders at the feed stores. Worth the effort to get there, but OH, my aching back. Matt is going to work on my new 1946 Ford 8N tractor tomorrow. It should be ready to bring home in a couple of weeks, just in time to plow snow with the rear blade. Yes, you can plow snow from behind, a new concept to me. We are VERY excited about our first tractor, a long time in coming. It's old and needs a lot of work but Ron, a trucker friend who hauled in up from the South somewhere, is helping Matt fix it up. We'll paint it next summer. There are some terrific YouTube videos of people working on 8N tractors and doing things with them that we didn't realize was possible, like pulling balers and hay wagons. Tough little tractor, the 8N is well-suited to my hilly land with so many dips. It's almost too thrilling to think about, but I might be able to make my own hay next year. Unfortunately the only land left when I got to this farm was the worst for hay. Jan got the best hay land but it's not within their comfort zone to buy equipment. We'll go to auctions and find cheap equipment to fix up. It will be interesting and fun. Speaking of the outdoors, I better get out in it. The day is just beginning.

Back to the Front

Had the best night sleep in a while, all the way to 6 am. My internal alarm clock which usually goes off at 5 is slipping. All that sleep is intoxicating...better drink another cup of French Roast. We dutifully watched the Military Channel last night, very interesting. The island of Tarawa, now called Betoi (sp?), has many cemeteries that are covered over with garbage dumps, desecrating the hallowed ground. The island government picks up the soda cans and anything they can recyle for money, but the other trash is left on the ground. Construction companies often dig up bones when they build things around the island. One vet is waging a one-man campaign to clean up the garbage and identify the war dead. Many are soldiers who are still listed as missing. He fears the whole island will be underwater in a few years and the remains will be lost to history. Fascinating and inspiring story. The next show featured the Vietnam War Medal of Honor winners and their stories. Tears kept running down Matt's face so I gave him a giant bowl of vanilla ice cream covered with chocolate sauce. Worked like a charm. No more tears, just sucking and slurping sounds. I like to think I'm writing my own war story here on the farm. Speaking of farm, I better get my own act in gear and get going. I hung my giant American flag in my classroom. When I had it up in my old room, the French teacher took it down to put up a project her kids were working on. Good to see it proudly displayed again. We don't pledge allegiance in this school, but my flag makes a statement.