Hiatus

hi·a·tus  noun \hī-ˈā-təs\:  an interruption in time or continuity :  Break; especially :   a period of time when something (such as an activity or program) is stopped. (Courtesy of Merriam Webster online: www.m-w.com)

Well, hello there! I’m sorry for dropping off for a while, but the work-life balance went a bit sideways on me. Things haven’t quite leveled off yet, but I miss this space and it’s time to get organized again.

We’re into the time of year that many of us folks in the Pacific Northwest affectionately refer to as “the dark days”. For as long as our days are in the summer, they’re quite short going into winter: sunrise today was at 7:16 am and sunset will arrive at 4:30pm. This translates to a bit of fumbling around in the dark, both before and after work, when it comes to taking care of the chores outside.

It’s also the time of year where our weather turns… well… soggy. I was going to say unpredictable, but let’s be honest: we can pretty much count on it being wet. Hollywood likes to paint us a little rainier than we really are (fact: we get fewer inches of rain per year than New York City) but it’s not too far from the truth. We’re the Evergreen State for a reason, after all! Before you start to think I’m complaining, I have to say that I’ll take the damp over months of snow, any day.

In truth, I do love this time of year. When spring starts coming around, I end up packing away my “inside toys” and focus on everything outside. But once the clocks change, I settle in and it’s all about making things. I’ve been spending quite a bit of time sitting by the fire with my spinning wheel these past few weeks; hands down it’s one of the most soothing hobbies I have, and definitely a favorite. Spinning is art, science and music all rolled into one happy little woolly package... so much fun! Spinners, you know what I mean.

If you don’t spin, but enjoy making things, I highly recommend giving it a shot. There are lots of (Free!) resources available on the internet to get you started, and a basic spindle is super easy to make. When I first was looking into spinning, I made my own spindle because I didn’t want to fork out the money for something I wasn’t sure I’d like. Now that I think about it, I’ll do a post on how to make a starter spindle, if anyone’s interested.

What do you do to get you through your ‘dark days’ of winter?

 

Houston, We Have a Broody

It was bound to happen eventually, I suppose: Flo, our alpha hen, went broody in late June. For those who aren't familiar with the term, it means that a hen is ready to hatch out some eggs, and she will take up residence in a nest box for approximately 21 days- regardless of whether or not she has eggs to sit on. She also stops laying during this period of time, and if you're really lucky (like us) you get to watch as your previously normal hen turns into something akin to Godzilla with feathers.

Things started out normal enough: Flo eased in to being broody over a few days; the only clue being that she was heading off to the nest box in the evenings a little early, instead of getting up on the roost with the other chickens. After a couple evenings of that, though, she went full-on and wouldn't leave the nest box except for once a day to eat, drink and poop. Then she'd take her cranky self back inside, and sit on her empty nest again until the next day. Thinking I might be interested in getting some fertilized eggs if she does this again, I was content to leave her be and let this run it's course.

Alex wasn't so sure... He was worried about her, he said. The weather was supposed to get hot, and he'd read something on the internet about broody hens overheating and dying. I tried explaining that we live in the northwest, and that 80 isn't really *hot* by most standards. Married folks, you know how this goes: sometimes, it's better if you just roll with it. So, after 2 weeks of being allowed to do her own thing, we started picking fights with the chicken.

For our first try, we just took her out of the nest box. She'd protest; puffing her feathers up and clucking at us. She'd wander around for a bit, and as soon as we weren't looking, she'd run back inside.

Our next trick was to take her out, and block off her access to the nest box. Not so easily put off, she went to a different nest. (Really? How did we not see that coming?)

Time to get serious. We tried closing off access to the coop altogether when she was out. This just made her angry- like The Incredible Hulk angry- she'd scratch around in the grass for a few minutes pretending to be normal, and then run at the door shrieking like a banshee with all of her feathers standing on end. Then she'd walk away like nothing happened, only to flip out and try again later. I think I lasted four rounds of that before I gave up and opened the door again.

We even went so far as to try a cool-water bath. You've heard the saying "madder than a wet hen", right? Well let me tell you: it is 100% accurate. After her dunking, she tore around the yard screeching at the other chickens, then me, the dogs, even the fence... you name it. I actually saw her hop 3 feet straight up in the air, just to kick the gate to the chicken run. Flo's a big gal, so for her to catch any air is no small accomplishment.

I gave up at that point. Alex continued to take her out in the evenings sometimes, but nothing seemed to help. It wasn't until the beginning of September that she finally started to snap out of it... and now, she's molting. Poor thing can't seem to catch a break. Next year, I'm getting some fertilized eggs for her to set on, since she's proven to be so determined. But for now, she's getting extra protein in her diet to help her through the molt and so she regains some of the weight she lost over the broody time.

Catching Up

It's been pretty busy over here; first we went on vacation- we've been taking a trip out to Glacier National Park in Montana every year, since 2008. I can't get enough of the place... it's like going home every time we go there. We spend almost the entire time hiking; this year we logged just over 60 miles for the week. Whew!

     
When we got back, the garden (as expected) was in full swing. My mom housesits for us when we're away (THANKS MOM!!) and she did her best to keep up with everything. There was, however, a zucchini hiding from her:

                Feed Me, Seymour!

So, as soon as we got back, we had to hit the ground running. I picked, blanched, and froze three pounds of green beans, and have been cycling pounds of zucchini through the dehydrator. I also had to scramble to get the apples that were starting to fall, and canned up some pie filling and applesauce. Blackberries are off the charts as well, so many pints of jam were canned up during the week after work.

Now the pears are here. I picked a bunch the other day and I'm just waiting for them to ripen a little bit more before I can them. I'm thinking I'll put them in a medium syrup with vanilla... mmm.

Plums are also on the way- the tree is loaded and I'll be up to my ears in those in another couple of days. I've scavenged the few early ones and have them soaking in some vodka; I'll give them about a week, and then strain out the spent fruit. A shot of that, plus a little simple syrup in a glass of seltzer makes for a nice treat after all this hard work!

True to form, my tomatoes are just putzing along. I have 3 (would be 4 but I ate the first one) reddish ones on the vine, and oodles of green ones just taking their time. I'll be stopping by the farm stand down the road tomorrow, to see if they have any uglies boxed up and ready for sauce. I nabbed a flat from them last week ($18 for 10 pounds of organic heirloom beauties!) and had a batch of sauce in no time. I like using my crock pot for stuff like this; I can put it on in the morning before work and when I get home it's pretty much ready. Beats standing over the stove all day- it's still too warm here for that!

What's your favorite thing to put up for the winter?