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Nov. 1st, 2006 @ 07:15 am november 1
Echo Valley pumpkin patch (slightly muddied still) had another booming business year. Now it's time to clean up and get ready for snow. The chickens are laying light but consistent with 3-4 eggs daily.
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Working Hard
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Oct. 18th, 2006 @ 07:26 am Rainy Rain Rain Rain
Pumpkin sales have been steady. Not having a stellar pumpkin crop has certainly impacted the amount of money coming in but I have no complaints. It's like Christmas, checking the money jar everyday.

Today it's pouring. Last night it poured. Yesterday afternoon it started to pour. The pumpkin patch is flooded. Again.

Have been thinking about selling wreaths retail either on line or out of the barn. Need to check my supplies and crunch the time and money numbers to see if this is realistic...could be interesting. If only every chain store in a fifty mile radius didn't sell them....

Today we have parent conferences so I get to go in a wee bit later than usual. hehehee! I love setting in front of the computer with a cup of coffee. It feels so decadent!

Chicky-chickies are still eggless. I'm getting frusterated with them. Why won't they lay?! Don't I have the sincerest hen house? Won't the Great Chicken come visit?! (insert pathetic music here)
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Oct. 7th, 2006 @ 08:19 am peak foliage
All the weather forecasters agree that this is going to be one spectacular weekend. i'm squeezing in one more cup of coffee before heading out to pick another load of pumpkins. Sales have been good so far. I wish my squash had done better as I feeling the sting in loss of sales. Of course I love to eat those little things too.

No eggs yet from the green mountain girls. Made a joke last night at the dinnertable about frickin-chicken pie should they not start laying soon. Of course it's all lip service but i would love an egg soon!

So much to do today my head is spinning. Will take along the camera and try to capture some of the glorious color our dear mountains are providing.
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Oct. 1st, 2006 @ 07:22 pm Life on the "Farm"
Picked the first two loads of pumpkins for the road side stand on Saturday. Gorgeous fall day--perfection! Then, of course, it was a day for ducks to follow. Organized the barn, fluffed up the chicken coop and generally tried to make a go of it today. Ended up on the couch for part of the afternoon watching NASCAR. Guilty pleasure!
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May. 1st, 2006 @ 06:27 am May Day
Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit! Happy May Day! Happy first day after the excavator came! Yes, that's right. The excavator came yesterday afternoon while I was helping my Carol at the Maple Festival show. I got home and...the trees are gone...the stumps are gone...there's a good sized spot for the barn...it's ditched for drainage...there's a small pond for ducks and dogs...wowee-zowie!

It's a huge step forward!

This morning the sun is shining and the air is chilly--a very good way to start May. The chicks come this Friday and the barn posts should be up by then. Yeah! Spring is sprung.
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Apr. 28th, 2006 @ 06:27 am Aaarrggh!
This morning I was sitting here on the couch feeling overwhelmed. The barn hasn't moved an inch forward--I'm still waiting for my excavator to dig out the stumps. Things at school are rough right now and taking a lot of physical and thinking time. Soon school is going to impede on my building time with two Sunday events in a row. My house is a mess. I'm still having water problems. Wah, wah, wah. I was sitting here thinking, "this sucks" when sudddenly, but quietly, the unmistakable odor of skunk came wafting my way.

I sniffed. I snorted. Was it me? A faint trace of our previous skunk encounters? No. Of course it's not me. Faint? Not anymore. AAAARRRGGH! Jesse and all three cats are outside. Aaarrrgh! I ran outside, sniffing all the way. "JESSSSEE!!" (no dog in their right mind would come to someone using the tone of voice I was using). Luckily, Jesse was feeling generous this morning and came running, full tilt, directly at me from over by the neighbors. Emmett was in hot pursuit.

She smelled normal. Emmett smelled normal. Ada was inside. Thank goodness! It's not us! It's not us! It's not us! Poppy has yet to turn up but I saw her this morning and she's far too lazy to get sprayed by a skunk.

So, essentially, this was a nice little way of being reminded that things are rough, but not *that* rough.

Some might say that things can and will always get worse but I look at this morning as a blessing. It'll all work out. Peace. Peace.
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Apr. 22nd, 2006 @ 03:26 pm Earth Day
Aaah, Saturday. I got quite a few of the regular Saturday errands done today. Looking back over the week I would say a lot has been accomplished. We finished sawing up the lumber on Friday afternoon. I surely hope there is enough....

In addition to being done with the lumber, Todd Liberty gifted me with a a surge milk bucket and pulsators for the goats. Unbelievable!!

Now I've got to switch gears and get cleaned up for a presentation at Black Sheep Books by the Albany Free School. It should be interesting. I'm meeting Allison and Allison there.
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Apr. 19th, 2006 @ 10:25 pm Straight Out
Wowee zowie! It's been a whirlwind of a week already. The three big trees and all the brush has been cut. The portable sawmill arrived (surpise!!!) on Monday night and we've been cutting lumber every night since.

There are two stumps that are in the ground and in the way. I went to the John Deere place today to buy a part for the crawler--a very expensive, ambigious part. It should be here on Friday--hopefully it is the right one!!

The chicks arrive on May 1st. They'll be at the feed store for pick up. I'm ordering 12 buff orpingtons, 6 barred rocks and 6 rhode island reds. No meat birds this time. If they have ducklings I may be sorely tempted to pick up a few of those too.

Overall things are coming together. I was hoping to set the posts for the barn this week but am glad we're waiting to get those stummps out. It will make a big difference in the size building we can build.

OOOOh, did I mention the thrill of burning brush? Oh my, oh my. The weather has been loverly but a bit windy and dry. Monday the brush just wouldn't burn. On Tuesday...well, we helped it get going! And go it did....I feel very lucky that no trouble emerged. And, the brush--a huge pile--is gone, gone, gone!


That's all for now! More work tomorrow!
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Apr. 17th, 2006 @ 07:26 am Peepers and other Signs of Spring
The peepers all seemed to emerge at the same time--Thursday last (4/13) and have been singing up a storm every night since. I love that sound--a sound that will stop my truck in it's tracks.

I have this week off from school and will putting a ton of time into getting the barn all set. Today Dad and I are hauling the posts down to the my house, cutting 3 trees and hewing out the back bank to get as much room as possible.

Easter was a coldish day but the food and famiy was fantastic. I'm absolutely counting my blessings.

Happy Patriots Day!
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timber
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Apr. 9th, 2006 @ 06:51 pm Logs are in
Today was the day to haul the logs that we cut in February up to the house. All told we brought in around 970 board feet of spruce and hemlock. I'm so pleased! Some of the logs were much, much bigger and much, much heavier than I remembered...to the point where I thought the tractor would tip and roll onto it's side. A few harrowing moments to be sure. Happily they all made it onto the trailer and we got back to the house before the road warmed up and turned to complete muck. Yea! We've called the portable sawmill guy and let him know that he's welcome ANYTIME (the sooner the better) to come and cut up the logs into the framing for the barn.

There are three pair of Canada geese at camp. All the noise etc. of the tractor didn't deter them in the least. In fact, they seemed quite interested in what all was happening. I wonder if all 3 will nest at camp? It will be interesting to follow this!

I've just returned from Dan and julie's. Becky and Justin were up there too. A lovely chit chat time with good food. It's nice to get together and hang out a bit.
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timber
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