Monday, November 8, 2010

A two week grab bag


There hasn't been a morning above freezing in a few weeks now. This has led to a seasonal shift in my pursuits. When not painting, I had been gardening, but with these hard frosts every morning my gardening has been reduced to periodically checking in on our new cold frame.

I trash picked these windows the other day and Garth threw this together. It is not that we expected to garner a great deal of our calories via this contraption, but rather that we were called to build it by the innate romance of cold frames. Here it is coaxing what solar energy is to be had into these sprouts that may be a small salad for the three us us come January.


Without dirt under my nails I have thrown myself headlong into knitting. This is a cardigan with a diagonal button band and cowl neck. Below you will see my unselfish pursuits: a baby jacket with matching booties and the beginning of a hat for Garth.



Edmund and Garth have had a machine rented for the last 10 days. They are digging this trench to lay a frost free waterline for the cows. One of them digs from dawn until lunch and the other won't come in until after dark. I keep the meals coming, and they put them away. Cold days take it out of you, as evidenced by the fact that with time change, both of them were in bed by 7:45 last night.



You'll notice the cows are on the greenest portion of pasture we have available. We have been supplementing with hay bales because the freezing temperatures have taken so much from the forage. Edmund put a hay bale out for them this morning when he let them into a new paddock but they ignored it and went for the grass. So it must not be so bad if it still has more allure than the dry stuff. I am already looking forward to the first flush of green pasture in spring, and I am sure I am not alone in that.



- Alanna

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