Changes in the Wind

Nothing last forever. Sometimes, around here, it doesn't seem to even last a week.

We're always on the move, trying to improve and make life easier for all. So, what has changed in the past couple weeks? Well, we added a kitten to the homestead on Friday. Today Kristen renamed her "Roamer" in honor of her favorite boat that belonged to Grandpa David. Suitable since in not-so-many months hence, she will indeed be roaming woods and fields hunting down rodents and the like. We've had to find a different hay supplier because sadly due to some health issues, our kind neighbor, Mr. Clement, won't have enough hay to supply our needs this winter. And, with the generous gifting of a new-to-us refrigerator from our neighbor and friend, Roger B, we've made getting milk, cheese, and eggs easier for our goat rental and CSA share customers. How? Read on...

THIS DOES NOT APPLY TO VEGGIE CSA SHARES. Nothing has changed with that program.

Behold our oh-so-simple plan for providing your farm products to those who have signed up to receive them. Are you ready for this? When you want or need something, go into the white refrigerator (now living in the mudroom) and take what is yours. Y'all know what you have signed up for and I trust you to take your portion as you want it. It is now available for you 24/7; so whatever works best in your schedule, works fine in ours, too. I attached a piece of paper to the freezer and supplied some pens for you to record what you picked up and when you did that. Pretty slick, huh? To prevent other folks from missing out on products that belong to them, please only take products that you have already signed up to receive. Those eggs might look inviting, but at this time of year, we usually only have enough to satisfy those that are already reserved. But, do ask about additional eggs if you need them. If we have extras, we are pleased to share them with you. To date, this is the list of shares and rentals we have planned for:

Goat Rental (Monthly Amounts)
Nancy- 3 cheese, 1 soap, compost
Judy- 3 cheese, 1 soap, compost
Jan- 3 cheese, 1 soap, compost
Roger- 4 gallons milk, 1 soap, compost
Sherri- 2 gallons milk, 4 cheese (unflavored), 2 soap, compost
Dotti- 2 gallons milk, 4 cheese, 2 soap, compost

Egg Shares (Weekly Amounts)
Nancy- 2 dozen eggs
Judy- 1 dozen eggs
Vanessa- 1 dozen eggs
Sue- 1 dozen eggs
Lisa- 1 dozen eggs
Heather- 3 dozen eggs
Jamie- 1 dozen eggs

The final "change" I wanted to share today is more of an inspiration. I have yet to get bored with our farming business because it evolves just so to prevent it. Take our line of eggshell jewelry, for instance. I have always loved my creations. This is not meant to be a vanity, just an admittance that I enjoy what I create. Last winter when I added wire wrapping to accent my pieces, I fell in love again. This past week, there has been another inspiration afoot. I don't know what to call it, precisely, but I would love to share with you some of my latest creations. These are not available on our Etsy shop, but if you see something you want, desire, need or love, please let me know and we can make suitable arrangements to get your special piece to its forever home. :)

But, they all began
with THOSE...

THIS became THAT------------>

Unused Wire Wrapping Mishaps

If you are a facebook fan, you have perhaps seen these images before. But, with the kooky way facebook works, perhaps not. Either way, I hope you will enjoy seeing them. In the interest of honesty and full disclosure, I share this secret with you. For every new design I come up with, what you don't see are the many, Many, MANY pieces that are epic fails; a design that just didn't look right, a piece that crumbled in one of the various steps, wire wrapping that I could not get to cooperate with me. I'll set a few of these aside to maybe use at a later time, but most of them will go into my scrap bag until I collect enough copper or sterling to return for money.

In contrast, here are some that I just LOVE and hope you will enjoy, too:

It feels so good to be back to writing and sharing adventures with you. Tomorrow when I am at the Bucksport Farmer's Market, I think I will try to grab some pictures if the weather cooperates and I stay dry. Y'all might find that interesting and I would love to share some of the new friends I have made this season.

For tonight, it is time for this girl to get some dinner on the table and spend a little time with Sean. Thank you for stopping by today, friends. :)

~Sonja ♥

What's New???

I wanted to be productive yesterday, but I wasn't. Instead, I went to bed early with some strong pain medicines to attempt to sleep off the Migraine I had been fighting for 2 days straight- uggghh. Not good. Tucked into the recesses of my mind lay the inviting thought of "sleeping in"this morning and wakening to a quiet home in which to putter about and "work" on some pieces for our Etsy shop. Instead, at precisely 6:36 am, I woke to thump, thump, thump... knock, knock, knock... and the ever-dreaded, anxious cry of, "We missed the bus!" A fraction of my brain engaged, considered the unenviable task of dressing and then driving 40 minutes (round trip) to drop my teens at their schoolhouse for a few nano-seconds, and decided, "You're staying home today." As much as I love my daughters (and I do with all my heart), the shattering illusion of my quiet day home was almost more than I could handle. I fell in love all over again when Sean said, "I'll take them to catch the bus. Go back to sleep." No lovelier words had ever been uttered in all of human history.

Of course, once awakened, sleep alluded me. At least my Migraine was reduced to a dull ache- much more manageable! Rather than lay in bed, awake, I dressed and went upstairs, ready to help Sean with the morning's chores. We took care of our routine haying, graining, and watering of the hungry hordes. Everyone looked in good health and fine spirits, despite the rain that threatened.

As, we collected the morning's eggs, I noticed one of the Mallards has gone broody in the corner of the chicken coop. Poorly placed, her backside was splattered with chicken droppings. I added Sean attaching a wooden guard to cover her area to my list of things to do today. Sean assured me it would be a relatively quick and easy thing to cut a board to fit over her nest, giving her some privacy and protection. Once that is handled tonight, I will return 10 of the duck eggs we've been collecting to her nest and we'll see what happens!

Chores completed and plans for the evening firmed up, Sean headed off to work and I began my day. First, I settled some housework that needed my attention. Then, it was time to tackle some projects that needed doing. These included:

 

Inoculating milk to make a fresh batch of cheese.

 

Starting seeds of 5 non-GMO, organic varieties of tomatoes. We planted 12 each of Soldaki, Hogheart Paste, Amish Paste, Heinz Paste and Cherry tomatoes today.

 

Additionally, I took some pictures of my latest eggshell art projects, updated the look of our blog,and attempted to sew my first grain-bag tote. That was a little rough, as my sewing skills are rusty, but the project is coming along and I certainly learned a few things not to do! I'll post more about the tote bags later. For today, I want to share some images with you of the wooden eggs I created over the weekend.

Crimson Mosaic Goose Egg & Teal and Cimarron Blue Mosaic Egg
 

Look carefully to see how the shades of teal change to cimarron and then to
 marine blue. The bottom is painted marine blue, signed and numbered.

 

Teal, Cimmaron, & Marine Blue Mosaic Egg next to our
fresh hens' eggs. ♥

Crimson Mosaic Goose Egg next to our fresh goose egg. ♥

I use the same technique to create these unique Mosaic Eggs as I do our custom jewelry pieces. First, I have to boil our hen's eggshells and peel both membrane layers from the inside of the eggs. These must dry overnight. Once they are ready, I use a quality glue to carefully mosaic the eggshells to the outside of the birch wood form. This must dry completely before I begin the multi-layered process of painting with watercolors and sealing each egg with glaze. From start to finish, it takes about 2 days to create each egg.

I am very pleased with the results. Each egg is hand painted with water-colors I mix specifically for that individual egg. No two will ever be exactly alike. Also, I personally sign and number each one.

You can use them to decorate your home for Spring, place one as an interesting paper-weight for your farm fabulous desk, or group them for a stunning county chic table centerpiece. I am betting you creative readers can think of several other ways to display one or more of them in your home or office. ♥

Our Mosaic eggs will be available for purchase shortly on our Etsy shop and listed with full details as to exact sizes, weight, and colors available and of course, we'll have more images! Come on over to browse our selection of items.

Remember, if you use the code: FARMCHICK, you'll receive 10% discount on any of our hand crafted goodies until March 31, 2013.


Sean just called and he is on his way to pick up a new addition for our homestead. We received a call yesterday about an animal needing a home. After talking with the owner and asking some questions, it seems like we might be a good fit. I don't want to let the cat out of the bag just yet, but if this new creature does come to live with us, I will spend some time taking pictures and posting about it tomorrow. Anyone care to guess what it could be???

Thanks for stopping in for a visit today, friends. We're glad you came.
Sean and Sonja ♥

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