'Tis the season for harvesting festive "greens"

by Fern

Earlier in the week it was in the sixties! But yesterday we had the first snow!

Rainbow Swiss chard in the back-porch planters.

(Don't tell Mommy but the chickens were in there yesterday

having a feast.)

When it started snowing a little bit, Mommy, Blossom and I rushed out to the garden to pick the rest of the red cabbage and a few heads of bok choi and some Brussels spouts.

Kale and chard harvested on December 3,

when the temperature was 62 degrees F.

We left some vegetables under garden blankets, maybe for Christmas. We may have to dig through a snowbank to harvest them.

But we do still have some greens handy in a little greenhouse planter box we made on the back porch. It has parsley, some leeks, mache, arugula, minutina, and spinach.

Space spinach under the blanket

in the back-porch planter-box greenhouse

Minutina tucked under the blanket

If you were a girl who wanted a goat...

by June

If you were a girl who wanted a goat, a girl (or two) who wanted a goat not a little bit, not mildly, but madly and a lot, you would look forward to the county fair. You would squirrel away quarters all year. And then when the big day would come at last...OH!

You'd rush right past all those whirly-gig rides...right past the deep-fried pretzels and the maple-cotton candy...right past the guy hypnotizing a whole crowd of people. You would beeline for the goats.

Those goats right there with the chickens, don't they look as though they are waiting just for you? Hurry, hurry! And there's the machine with the little nibbly bits that you can buy for only a quarter. And look, you have a handful of quarters, don't you? Wow! Those nibbly bits drive the goats wild. They lick the last crumbs up with their sweet pink tongues. Oh, life is good when it's time for the fair.

When you run out of quarters, you consent to some of that cotton candy. You watch a big guy take off his shirt because the hypnotist tells the big guy that the temperature has climbed to 100 degrees. Hmm...you've been wondering about hypnotism and that is pretty fascinating. But, really, the fair is over for you. It's time to get home for supper.

Supper is the time when you can demonstrate how well you learned that new vocabulary word. Not only can you use it in a sentence, you can perform it by the paragraph: to wheedle. You've been wheedling for a while because you want a goat, maybe two (because one goat might be lonely though maybe not because you do have really really friendly chickens to be her friend). You say you'll milk her after you learn how (and luckily the Cottage Comtesse recently posted a how-to). You say you'll hook her up to a little wagon and walk through the neighborhood calling, "Fresh eggs, milk and cheese for sale!"

In fact, you promise to get your little egg business up and running as soon as the pullets start laying. You promise to save all your quarters this year too -- not to buy nibbly bits for the goats at next year's fair. Oh, no. You are going to save your egg money to buy yourself a whole goat, a real cuddly pink-tongued soft soft soft funny little mama goat.

Isn't that right, Blossom and Fern?

First raspberries!

by June

Today our darling daughters, Blossom and Fern, turned ten. Of all the sweet gifts that came their way from far and near, the simplest was a discovery out in the brambles: The first raspberry harvest was ready! Fern picked the berries and dropped them into the skirt of her dress. What a birthday treat!

Happy, happy birthday, sweet girls!

Ten reasons we love our daddy so so so dearly...

By Blossom and Fern

Us with Daddy when we were little

...because he has a strong back!

...because he built a chicken coop for our chickens.

...because, when we are craving chicken tikka masala, he makes it.

...because he always comes to Chinese School and helps out.

...because sometimes, just for fun, he lets us drive the tractor.

...because he makes the BEST bagels.

...because he admits he is freaked out by cockroaches.

...because he can fix anything on the computer.

...because he worries about when we are old ladies, and he is not around to help us.

...because he is going to cry when he reads this.

Happy Father's Day, Daddy!

Here at last!

by Blossom and Fern

Aren't they so so SO cute? Introducing our six puffball Silver-Laced Wyandottes:

Pansy

Zinnia

Poppy

Rosemary (mostly known as Rosie)

Pepper

Petunia

Introducing...Maple and Sugar!

by Blossom and Fern

We had to show our chicks to Grandpa Hickory on iChat

We have been feeling really sad about Tuesday. And we thought it was going to be better because last Thursday we were going to get our next batch of Silver-Laced Wyandotte chicks. But our farm store called and said that the chicks were delayed for a week. We were really disappointed. We already had the food and the box and the light and the water ready for them.  And we were really looking forward to holding them and playing with them. After art class, we kept thinking about how we should have our chicks right now. But we didn't.

Mommy suggested we look at the farm store and see if they had extras. That didn't work either. All the chicks were ready to be picked up by other people who pre-ordered them. There were little puff balls all huddled up in a little circle, but we had to leave without a single one. The sign said that on Saturday they would sell leftovers who nobody picked up. Mommy promised could we go back then.

Saturday finally came. Six chicks were left: three Rhode Island Reds and three Golden Comets. At first, we wanted two Rhode Island Reds, but the owner said that we had to buy them in groups of six. So...what to do? We had six Silver-Laced Wyandottes coming, but we really really really really really wanted to scoop up a little puffie and listen to it peep. But we couldn't even touch the ones in the pen.

We decided to buy all six. We will keep two Rhode Island Reds and give away the other four to friends who live in the next town over (so we'll still get to see them).

Here are our new babies...

Maple has a stripe on her head.

Sugar has a constant dingleberry.

 (Daddy is really embarrassed that we said that, but it's true.)

We were so excited that we tried to sleep with them in our room, but they were too peep-y. We couldn't even think to read. Now they sleep in the basement. But we play with them outside all day long. And when they need a little cozy time, guess where they go? Up our sleeves!

Hands on the keyboard

by Fern

Now that we are blogging, I am learning to type! Our Grandpa Hickory made an easy chart to show us where to use each of our fingers. If you are learning to type too, we would be happy to send one for you to try. Just e-mail us here.

Meet the Hens

by Fern

Tuesday is one of our favorite chickens. Blossom and I like her because when she was a chick she was the littlest one, and we had to take special care of her. We can always tell her egg because it has little brown spots on the top of it. Tuesday likes to sled and ride in the wagon.

Marmalade is another of our favorite chickens. She is the pretty one with the fan-shaped tail. Her egg is pointy at the top.

Dottie is especially soft and white. Her breast is covered in white feathers. Our white cat likes to rub his nose on her breast feathers. We identify her egg by how white it is compared to the others.

Lemon Drop got her name because she had yellow dots on her forehead. She is the one who got her egg stuck. Daddy had to hold her upside down to make it come out. Her eggs are always the largest ones.

Stormy is named Stormy because she has a very stormy personality. Her egg always comes out with a poop on it.