Corgi Hill Farm

So Long, Farewell or Facebook ate my Blog

It's been almost 3 years since I've been blabbing to all and sundry about the everyday happenings in my life.  I have finally come to the point where I have run out of words. 

I've made some lovely connections from blogging and some amazing friends.  I have enjoyed journaling our way from a consumer lifestyle to a more thoughtful one.  The trip from being a Day Spa Owner and having my own skincare line named after me to becoming a Market Gardener and Fiber Artist has been fun and interesting (although I would not recommend doing this in one of the worst recessions since the Great Depression, it has been terrifying at times).

I am finally to the point where I find my own life routine and boring and it's easier to post a few pictures here and there on Facebook and update in bite size musings rather than rack my brain for a blog post I actually find worthy of putting out in public.  Facebook has eaten my blog and I have connected with many of my readers there over the past year.  I really enjoy the peek into the daily lives of all of you.

It's time to say good-bye and thank you for three lovely years.  This blog will be removed January 1st.  Feel free to contact me if you wish to be friends on Facebook, there's always room for friends!

Cheesecake

Wes is a man of little taste.  Hmmm..... that doesn't read very well at all.  What I mean to say is he doesn't taste good, Hell, this isn't working either.  Wes has broken his nose many, many times and as a result he can't taste alot of things.  There, you get it?  Anyway, he doesn't ask me to cook very many complicated recipes and honestly he doesn't have much of a sweet tooth.  He's happy with rather plain cooking as long as there's a shaker of garlic salt nearby.

One thing he does occasionally enjoy is a nice piece of cheesecake.  Long ago and far away before we knew of the dangers of frankenfood we used to search out Sara Lee cheesecakes without toppings.  This was always quite a quest and we tried to get a few when we found them so they'd be in the freezer.  As time went on he could usually get a nice piece of cheesecake from our favorite restaurant in Idaho Falls and that was sufficient.

We just spent the past few weeks trying to see if anyone had plain cheesecake in the area that was relatively healthy without an ingredient list that rivaled the front page of the daily newspaper.  Honestly he just wants one piece now and then.  No cheesecake to be found.  They either all had objectionable ingredients or toppings. 

Fine, I said, I'll make you a cheesecake and we can freeze some of it.  He likes a graham cracker crust and I didn't feel like making the graham crackers so the search was on for those without objectionable ingredients.  grrrrrr..... you can see where this is going.  We finally found some graham crackers without High Fructose Corn Syrup or Hydrogenated fats in Canada.  I will be making my own in the future.

Finally I was able to corral the ingredients, make the cheesecake, chill it and get it taste tested from the tasteless husband.  I also tried to get a picture but as I was looking for the camera the pull from the cheesecake was too much and he dived in.

 

The cheesecake was pronounced a success, it is a simple and quick recipe (King Arthur Flour again) and once I start making the graham crackers and crushing them up I hope to have a supply of them on hand so I can half the recipe and make a smaller portion when he asks for it. 

In this case it definitely was All Good!

Searching for Food

Over the past year I've talked about Powering Down and after getting my latest electric bill I feel pretty dang good that we are on the right track.  We have a weatherization visit from the Vermont Weatherization folks scheduled for next week and I think that's the final tweak that will make our home as efficient as I can afford it to be.

I've decided the next quest for the coming year will be the search for food.  Specifically the search for humane raised, sustainable, no additive food that is tasty, doesn't take days to prepare and as local as I can get it.  This will mean growing more of our own, cooking more of our own from scratch and perhaps contracting for local meat to be raised for us.

Today was our first step in this journey and it took us an hour south to St. Johnsbury where we visited the Co-Op and the Natural Provisions stores.  What I was specifically looking for was pastured local chicken.  Unfortunately what I found was grain fed chicken that is raised in a large house.  It was organic but those birds never see the light of day and don't get to eat bugs and grass.  I did like that both stores had bulk sections and in particular Natural Provisions had bulk organic grains which was wonderful.  Unfortunately the long drive and lack of provenance as to where said grains come from doesn't make it likely I'll return to either store.

We had a fantastic lunch in Lyndonville at a restaurant that uses local ingredients in 80% of their menu items.  I had local pastured chicken strips with local potatoes and local veg coleslaw.  Wes had fresh biscuits with gravy and local sausage and potatoes.  Lovely! 

We made our weekly run into Canada for salad greens that are grown about an hour north of here and biscuits (cookies) that don't have high fructose corn syrup or hydrogenated oil plus crackers that have no crap in them.  One of the things I want to do this year is learn to make my own crackers and crisp good cookies.  It's winter so time to start baking again which I'm sure will make the UPS man, the Post Office and the Bank quite happy since they are the frequent recipients of my experiments.

Tomorrow I will call Pete's Greens to see if acquiring their pastured chickens is just for CSA members or can anyone order.  If I can order I will be very, very happy and that will be my local source for chicken.  It's about a 40 minute drive to get them but honestly I'm good with that.  We've waffled back and forth for more than a year about raising our own chickens and while I won't rule it out the zoning in our area does preclude doing it easily and I might just have to raise more of our veg and buy chickens elsewhere rather than raising them ourselves.  I really have to look at Energy Returned on the Energy Invested on this issue and growing more garden produce and buying chickens seems a bit more efficient to us for right now.

There has been batt making galore around here lately and many batts making their way around the world.  This is a grand and wonderful thing and being an artist makes me and Wes quite happy.  I love working 100% from home and Wes is loving having me at home.  We weave a dance of creativity all day long and he's going to be doing an apprenticeship in the dye room quite soon.  We'll be that colorful couple you see with rainbow hands entwined.

Agatha and Taffy were quite unhappy that we left them *horrors* for four hours today but as you can see here, Agatha still will deign to warm my feet under the table and that's just dandy!

Naptime

In my studio I have a lovely Daybed which is the perfect place for an afternoon nap.  As you can see here Taffy is very much a Daddy's girl and she is out of coat right now so gets a bit chilly.  Agatha on the other hand much prefers to be on the floor where it's cooler.  As for me?  As you can see there was no room so I took a picture instead!

Bloom where I am Planted

It has been a bit of a rough few months at Corgi Hill Farm.  The problem has been caused by a single dose of an endocrine necessary medication.  Apparently sometime in the past year there have problems with the manufacturing process of the one pill I take.  I don't know what the entire story is but I do know that when I was out of my pills that I had purchased in 2008 in Idaho that I refilled my medication and things started to go awry.

This summer was an emotional roller coster for Wes and I as we dealt with varying degrees of not feeling well and a resurgence of symptoms that led me to believe I needed to get re-evaluated for dosing.  Then in August I found out my regular medication was no longer available and I'd have to change.  I had 4 days notice and frankly I panicked.  Fortunately I have a lovely physician who not only listened to my panicked phone call but she agreed that things were out of whack and prescribed a dose she felt would fix things. 

She warned me it would take a few months and that things would be not fun.  I ended up with about 8 more weeks of emotional roller coaster, a few problems and finally things seem to be getting better.

During this time of *the crazy* I decided I hated my house, my village and we needed to move.  Wes kindly drove me all over hell and gone and I announced we were A.  going to buy land  B.  going to buy another house in a tiny village C. moving to Egypt.  Well, not really C but honestly I thought if I just did some huge change it would all be better.

Now that things have smoothed out, and my husband who is truly a saint has helped me make a few minor changes around the house, I love my house again.  The changes had to do with how my work space is organized and how the work load of Corgi Hill Farm is split between the two of us.  He managed to help me work through my discontent and helped me find fixes that work for both of us.  We moved a few pieces of furniture, bought a few (very few) storage bins that fit my existing fiber organization system and made some plans to change a few things as time and money permits.

Today the final brick in a wall of happy fell into place.  I love fresh produce.  I especially love fresh seasonal produce that doesn't have pesticides and is tasty.  I would love it if I didn't have to drive a long way to find this.  Wes drove me to a farmstand that had closed for the season, unbeknownst to us, and I was sad.  Then he suggested we explore just over the border, two miles from the house, and see what that grocer had.  Jackpot!!!  I found baby bok choy, organic cranberries, purple carrots, rabbit meat, 15 kinds of pate (none of which I bought but it was cool), 8 different local apples and so much more.  I also found biscuits!!!  Not the fluffy kind but the cookie kind and I got Blueberry/Flax/Wheat biscuits and they are good!

Little changes but huge results.  I am fantastically luck to have a husband who will help me work through things and I have come to realize that I can indeed bloom here in this tiny house, this tiny town and once again, it's all good!

Oh....  my Diva Dog, Taffy?  she's figured out how to tip toe her way around all the fiber tools and still get to her fave afternoon nap spot. 

20 Years

20 years ago today I decided to go to a historical re-enactment party.  I was a bit shy, terribly lonely and really just wanted a friend.  So many things in my life were broken and I was on the cusp of either going down a very bad road or just giving up altogether. 

As I stood in the doorway a young man across the room turned and looked at me....

Little did I know that my first step into the room toward him was going to be the path to a best friend, a fixer of all things broken, a lover, and the road to a life together that has been an adventure that I would not give up for anything the world has to offer.

Wes and I celebrate our 20 years together today with wood stove warmth, laughter, and just the knowledge that the next 20 years will be another amazing adventure.

Popcorn

This time last year I was freezing my buns off and I do believe this year is colder yet I don't seem to be freezing quite so much.  I remember the knock, knock on the door and two wee lads selling popcorn in short sleeve Boy Scout uniforms.  I remember thinking they were nuts for not wearing anoraks or at least a black bear coat or something.  They showed up again yesterday in the same short sleeve uniforms seemingly unaware that we were in the 40 degree section of the thermometer. 

We purchased a bucket of unpopped popcorn and my husband asked them when we could expect it.  The lad told us it would be here by the time it started snowing.  Since we are expecting snow later this evening we were more than a little skeptical.  Upon telling the wee lad it would be snowing on Tuesday he revised his statement and said by Christmas *g*

I don't believe it snowed this early last year and I very well remember that Halloween had children in costumes, not bundled up, so maybe it will heat up a bit in the coming weeks  For now it's chilly out but toasty inside with our lovely wood stove.  I've been playing in dye pots, thinking about the continued shoveling out of old stuff (and really need to be doing not thinking about that) and keeping together hearth and home. 

I've been trying to get cute shots of the girls for Ravelry advertising.  Sometimes they cooperate beautifully.

Sometimes.... not so much.

A drive in the Country

Yesterday was such a lovely day, slightly overcast with the promise of sunshine and the foliage here is truly amazing.  Wes and I have explored so much of Orleans county including all over Westfield, Troy, Lowell and Holland but we had not gone south yet so off we went to Coventry (don't blink), Irasburg, Albany, Craftsbury, Hardwick, Greensboro, and up the back side of Craftsbury to Glover.

Very picture heavy post ahead...

Scarlets in the forest near Irasburg.

Cow against foliage on the mountain near Albany.

Cemetary I think near Albany.

 

Birds on an old barn.

Christmas Tree farm against Fall foliage.

Really, really friendly cat at Pete's Greens who wanted lots and lots and LOTS of scritches!

The roof on the Pete's Greens Farmstand with loads of sunflowers, neat!

 

I want this place for my local grocery store.

Scarlet tree just peeking out of the surroundings near Greensboro.

House tucked into fall foliage near back side of Craftsbury.

Fields and Fields of Corn!

Headed down to Glover through the Holler.

Just before we dumped out into Glover there was this cute little waterfall, maybe three feet high.  Crystal clear water too.

I think we'll probably drive down to Craftsbury more because shopping at Pete's was amazing.  Fresh produce, the best chicken we've ever eaten (just finished that for dinner today), fresh eggs, an amazing loaf of Foccacia, local cheese and it's all on the honor system.  Yup, a HUGE selection of foods and you just write down what you got on a pad of paper, there's a board with prices and you add it up with the calculator provided, there's a cash drawer there and you just get it all and go.  Friendly cat, friendly teddy bear akita, friendly loud hound dog and good eats.  It doesn't get any better than that!

Fluff my Yak

This weekend may have been the perfect Fall Vermont Weekend (tm).  Seriously.  There was foliage, a fiber festival, a drive in the country and a visit to one of my all time favorite farm stands.  Photo evidence as requested (demanded).

I started the weekend with a drive down to Lyndon in the early hours to pick up Gayle and then on to the Vermont Sheep and Wool Festival.  This was my first New England Festival and I was super excited.  Sheep!  Alpaca!  Goats!  Fiber!  Yarn!  The only fiber festival I've ever gone to in the past was the Snake River Fiber Festival and it's held on a community college campus indoors with no fiber animals at all.

As Gayle and I wandered down the back roads of Vermont with Google Map in hand I had an inkling that maybe my navigator wasn't like me.  She didn't have a compass in her head and a hawk's eye for road maps.  We muddled a bit but we arrived at the festival and I forgot my thoughts about this.

I was thrilled to be there even though it drizzled, spit and outright poured.  There were knitted items everywhere worn by knitters not just consumers.  I wanted so much to take some pictures of these but alas I'm a lot more reserved than most would think and I never asked.  We wound through the animal barns, small old Vermont barns with small darkish stalls and critters.  We wandered through a smaller pavilion with old friends at the Montgomery Fiber Folks to talk to and more fiber and yarn to touch and dream about.  We wandered through the outdoor vendors who were bravely trying to keep things relatively dry in the inclement weather.  I had serious moments of weakness when confronted with cones of shetland yarn from vendors like Harrisville and Barlett.  I find myself drawn more and more to the slightly rough yet long wearing wools like these for sweaters and blankets.

We finally wandered into the main pavilion where wonders were everywhere you looked.  A woman spinning from a rabbit with another one right there to run your fingers through.  So amazingly soft and not the slightest itch to be felt as is my issue with commercial angora.  A booth of fabulous hand knits, another with wool blankets that took my breath away.  I was going to walk through the entire festival and then go back to buy.  See everything before I spent the money I'd been saving for the past five months in dribs and drabs for just this day.  I had good intentions.....

As I rounded a corner there was Judy of Ball and Skein.  We've practically been neighbors an entire year now and finally we meet!  She's an amazingly talented dyer and I've lusted long after her yarns but she dyes fiber too!  I managed to snag two amazing skeins of a vivid Turquoise silk/wool singles yarn that will be another soft shawlette for me.  I also managed to get 4 oz of the most amazing pansy colored fiber although Judy was giving me a bucketful since I dye fiber too.  She was going to make me dye my own, a long journey that everyone knows is fraught with danger.  Trying to dye the color you saw once and get the same look?  Not for the faint of heart and I wanted her fiber right there, right now.  She finally gave in and it's mine.

We had a long discussion on internet in rural Vermont, Balsam brush and finally how I'd left my husband home (hers was there) to care for Corgyn, drop off the post and fluff my Yak.  That does sound a bit... dirty?   We all had a racuous laughing fit and started asking one and all if they'd fluff our Yak and men scuttled away.....  For goodness sakes, when you dye a pound of yak fiber the day before and it's damp out if one fluffs it a bit during the day it will dry faster.  That's all.

From the main building Gayle and I went in search of sustenance and unlike the normal fair food they had the NOFA wood fired pizza oven so I had fresh grilled all local ingredient pizza and Gayle had a lovely lamb burger.  With new resources of energy we went in search of the elusive Norma.  Found her right away too decked out in fingerless gloves, sweater, scarf and new jewelry.  Only Norma goes to a fiber festival for glitters *lol*  We got to meet Joan and spent almost an hour nattering in the middle of a wide hallway laughing and cackling and that's what it's all about.  This weekend was all about the laughing, the fun, the friends and the fiber and I adored every wet soggy minute of it.  I especially adored the Maple Creemee and that's going to be an ongoing hunt for me because it was really that good.

I only have a few pictures but there's loot, the foliage at Tunbridge and folks at the fair.  Tomorrow I'll do the drive in the country post.  Oh and Gayle?  Apparently she can get lost in her back yard and on the way back there was this little side journey through lovely Royalton but we found the correct highways, did not run out of gas and had a lovely drive home in the rain.

Waiting in lines for food in the rain.

We heard churchbells alot and it was lovely.

 

Muddy ground and wet roofs.

 

One skein of pink Kauni, two skeins of turquoise silk & wool, 8 ounces of Merino Tencel, 4 ounces of Merino Tussah and the hard won 4 ounces of Pansy from Ball & Skein.  It's all good!

Instant Gratification

Interesting thoughts today on shopping and instant gratification.  Twice today I read in blogs about going to the store for an ingredient or an item that was needed in between regular shopping trips.  In both cases these folks have been trying to not shop.  It was interesting that even though folks talk about not shopping it seems to be so ingrained in our culture that stopping becomes akin to quitting smoking.

I have gotten to the point where I don't shop anymore.  Folks who have known me for years are probably rolling around on the floor in helpless laughter as I am known as the queen of shopping.  I'd shop on the way to work, on my lunch break and even on the way home.  I spent one day a week cruising my favorite stores just in case there was something there I couldn't live without.  My UPS man is my friend, I bake him cookies *g*

This past year has changed me in this regard because I've developed a new set of habits.  For online grocery purchases of things that are just not available here I have things sent to me that I use regularly at set intervals.  If I run out before the next shipment arrives (usually bi-monthly or every 3 months for a few things) I do without. 

Once a month I peruse my Amazon wish list and purchase a few books if there are four I want (buy four get one free) and I have the funds in my budget.  I do not shop for books anywhere else and frankly I buy about a tenth of the books I used to as I usually go to the library once a week now (same day as grocery shopping).

Once a week Wes and I go grocery shopping and buy milk, eggs, dairy and I look for loss leader sale items to stock up on.  Every six months I place a meat order and fill the freezer.    If we run out of anything in between it goes on the list and we do without until the next shopping day.  The only exception to this is milk.  I can't fit that much milk in my frig so we usually buy one gallon mid-week at the local store on the way to the post office (which Wes walks to daily).

So far I've managed to keep my larder stocked in such a way that I have quite a few options food wise and can be creative with meals.  I have staples that I keep in the freezer so we can throw something together.  We ate tons out of the garden this summer with grilled cheese sandwiches and fresh fruit.  Over the winter I will simmer soups and stews and the occasional pot of beans and fatback on the wood stove.  I don't really plan meals but I do keep a tightly organized and stocked freezer and pantry so I can generally choose from a wide variety of options every evening.  Lunches are usually leftovers for Wes and I'm a big fan of fruit with a roll and a hunk of cheese.  Breakfast is cereal for Wes and toast for me. 

It might be easy to say that we've gotten out of the habit of shopping because we are so far from it but really, we are closer now to a grocery store than we were out West.  I think the reason we developed these habits was part conscious thought and part weeny.  Last winter I really, really, really didn't want to leave the house for any reason.  I suspect if I could have built a shelf above the woodstove I would have slept there.  I was cold and going out into the cold wasn't something I did much.  Wes would drag me out either every other week or weekly so that I didn't turn into a three toed tree sloth in a corner by the wood stove but honestly I didn't want to go out at all. 

This winter I am much warmer, my blood seems to have thickened and I don't anticipate going out to be such a dastardly deed.  I'm hoping to continue walking this winter, something I didn't do last winter.  However, the shopping habit will remain.  Once a week is enough and unless we need something so bad that it's a health related issue I can't see myself changing this.

I have to admit sometimes I miss my shopping jaunts through TJ Maxx and Joann Fabrics but it has forced me to shop from stash and you know what?  It's all good!