You Know It's Cold When ...

... Meowy wants to stay indoors!

Meowy is 100% farm cat. She loves to prowl, loves to hunt, and loves to be outdoors. She runs into the house only long enough to grab a bite to eat if hunting isn't good, and then it's out and off again. All day long she's busy stalking and catching mice, shrews, rats, chipmunks, rabbits, and squirrels. I've even seen her worry a snake or two. She loves going squirrel hunting with Dan, and is willing to fetch the prey, even though it's almost as big as she is! She's just a wee bit of a cat.

Sam and Meowy

Meowy hates rain. When we have long rainy spells she'll come inside, but paces constantly like a caged panther. She'll try to lay down for a catnap, but soon pops up again to pace some more. Every ten minutes or so she'll go to the door and meow, but when either Dan or I open it for her, she just stands there and glares at the rain, tail switching impatiently. Then she'll turn back and give whomever opened the door a good swat on the ankles as though the rain is our fault!

Because she's small and lightweight, we've always made her come in at night when the weather gets below freezing. She would prefer to spend the night nestled down in the hay, but we figure she doesn't have enough spare calories to spend on keeping warm. Over the years she has grudgingly accepted this. And anyway, hunting is poor when all the critters worth catching are burrowed deep in their dens for the night. Even so, Meowy is always the first cat out the door in the morning, ready to begin a new day.

These frigid January temps, however, have been too much even for Meowy! She not only volunteers to come in, but has been taking long daytime naps indoors as well. That's fine with us, because everything is frozen solid now. She likes to accompany Dan or me when we go out to swap frozen water buckets for fresh, but she's also willing to come back in when we are. You know it's cold when Meowy wants to stay indoors!

Sam, on the other hand, never passes up an
opportunity to be as comfortable as possible.

Do you have a "you know it's cold when ...?" Let us hear it!

You Know It's Cold When ...  © Jan 2018 by Leigh

at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

Hayloft Roof & Weathervane

Cold, rainy days have made this project a slow go, but at last the roof is on the hayloft.

With ridge beam and rafters

With nailers

 

With metal roof

From the side

And the crowning touch - the cupola and weathervane!

Next will be the roof on the back section, and then we can start working on the walls.

Hayloft Roof & Weathervane © Jan. 2018

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

Homestead Goals for 2018

Happy New Year! Somehow, the middle of winter seems an odd place for the new year to begin, especially in terms of seasonal rhythms. But nobody asked me, so as long as I have new calendars and remember to end the date with an 8 instead of a 7, all is well.

No matter when the new year starts, winter is a good time for evaluating and adjusting our goals and plans. These have mostly been geared toward homestead infrastructure, or what I call our "establishment phase." Trying to become self-sufficient is a lot of work! None of our plans for the upcoming year are new ones; they are either extensions or modifications of things we've been working on,

1. Finish the barn. I'm sure that doesn't surprise anyone, and there is still quite a bit to do: finish the roof, then walls, windows, doors, workbench and shelves for feed processing and storage, feeder, pens, hay feeder. Then we'll need a corral with gates to facilitate pasture rotation for the does. That leads to goal #2.

2. Fencing and Pasture. Once the barn is done we can work on the fences and pasture improvement:

• Fencing. The bottom line is that we just aren't set up well for a faithful rotational grazing program. What we thought would work, hasn't. Having a number of fences squashed by falling pine trees hasn't helped, but if we have to repair fences, we might as well consider a better subdivision of paddocks.
• Pasture improvement. The goal is sustainable pasture, but it has been a huge challenge to make it so. I've tried a lot of things over the years and have made some progress, but it's not enough. Grazing rotation is key, but that must wait on the fences. So as we reestablish fences, we will also work toward further soil and forage improvement. 

3. House. Another ongoing project, but there isn't much left: front porch ceiling, front bedroom windows, and the back gable end of the house. However, the roof on our little addition off the kitchen is badly in need of repair, so this will have to be the priority house project.

So that's it for us. Have you thought about your plans for the new year? Are you continuing with long-term projects or starting something new? May it be a productive year for us all!

Homestead Goals for 2018 © January 2018 

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/