Work Resumes

Yesterday Mick was able to resume work on the cabin! He began framing the interior walls. We are especially thankful now for a small cabin and a simple floor-plan! He started with the 2x6 plumbing wall (between the bathroom and the bedroom) followed by the wall between the bathroom and the kitchen.

He then worked on the wall that would be to your right as you walk down the hallway from the kitchen/living room to the bedrooms. The framing for the bedroom closet is to the left, and the framing for the bedroom door is to the right.

It is nice to be back to work!

Swimming Ducks

Yesterday was a big day for our ducks! Several of them have enjoyed dunking their heads in the water dish (resulting in rock star hairdos), but yesterday their pa decided their feathers were developed enough that they could go for a fullblown swim. At first they weren't sure what to make of the tub filled with water that had just been plopped into their home.

A few adventurous souls figured out how to climb to the top of the ramp so they could dabble in the water. One of the Khaki Campbells led the way.

Things moved quickly from here.

The splashing was impressive! :)

Pa finally broke the party up, leaving a group of bedraggled-looking but very happy ducks. :)

After preening themselves, they settled down for a contented nap.

We love happy ducklings!!

Ducklings' New Digs

Not really, we just released them into the wider pen we set up. Magazines, then a tarpaulin, then newspaper, then shavings. Much bigger! They've enjoyed running, exploring, and dabbling at the cardboard set up to keep the shavings in.

All that eating and drinking and running can become pretty tiring.

Bunnies and Ducklings :)

Last Wednesday we wanted a break from what we were doing around the house, so we headed to Tractor Supply Company (our favorite outing). They had just received several Flemish Giant rabbits. We admired the rabbits, then headed out to the rest of our errands. A few stores later, Mickey looked at me and said, "Do you want to buy rabbits?" So back we went to TSC, and came home with a male and a female Flemish Giant rabbit, both about one month old (according to the man at the store).

We have named them Samwise and Rosie Cottontail, with the hope that our rabbits will produce offspring in the manner of their prolific hobbit namesakes. We wanted the youngest rabbits available, so they could become comfortable with us from a young age, and also so we have time to figure out how to raise rabbits before they start having babies! We chose Rosie because she was exceptionally curious and active (jumping in the water dish, etc.), and we chose Sam because we particularly liked the colour of his fur and eyes. They are both very active and curious and seem quite happy and content in their hutch, which is currently located in the back room of our trailer. Mickey has mixed some sap with their water, which they seem to really enjoy, and Sam especially likes to hop on top of their "house."

Roscoe, as expected, is a very curious big brother. He and Rosie checked each other out through the wire.

If you're looking for more extended bunny cuteness, here are a couple of videos. It can be tricky to tell the two rabbits apart, but Rosie is a little lighter in color than Sam, and (thanks to the store employees) Rosie has a pink mark in her left ear, and Sam has a green mark in his right ear. (The toilet paper roll is for them to play with; they like to flip it around.)

They like to munch on shavings too, and they very conveniently do most of their business in one place.

Moving forward in the trailer, our ducklings are settling in to their new home in the green room.

We picked them up this morning from the post office -- neither snow storm (yes, even in March!) nor train (it always seems to come through Cortland at the wrong time!) could keep us away! They hatched in California on Monday morning, flew from Oakland to Rochester on Tuesday, and traveled by Express Mail truck from Syracuse to Cortland this morning. Amazingly, they all survived the journey! We have 13 Welsh Harlequins and 2 Khaki Campbells who eagerly watered themselves, fed themselves, preened themselves, and now seem to be settling down to rest.

Roscoe was very curious about the ducklings too.

Gerard, on the other hand, remains true to form and isn't particularly impressed with any of our newcomers.

We're excited though! And now that we can get our car to the top of the driveway (at least we could before it started snowing this morning), we're just about in business! :)

Cheers!

The Making of Syrup

Spring has finally decided to make an appearance in central New York! Last Friday we were greeted by a geyser flowing down the hill in front of our driveway, ushering in the thaw with flourish.

The end of the video shoots up the driveway, which you can see was still covered with snow. Today, it is mostly clear! (except for a drift which unfortunately is right at the beginning of the driveway, so the driveway, though almost entirely clear, is still impassable)

But I'm getting ahead of myself. With the warmer temperatures this week, the sap has been flowing like crazy, which has provided us with a very convenient excuse for spending a great deal of time outside enjoying spring while we boil sap (and clear brush and plant our first vegetables and stake out our future apple orchard).

Mick designed a very effective setup for boiling resting two evaporator pans on cinder blocks, with a smokin' wood fire underneath.

The pan on the right is in the front of the fire (the wind blows from front to back, except when it decides to switch it up on us), so the pan on the left is generally the hottest. We empty the sap buckets into a galvanized bucket, which we empty into the cooler (lighter-colored) pan.

After that boils for awhile, we transfer it to the other pan and add fresh sap to the first pan. This method preheats the sap that goes into the second pan and concentrates the further-along sap. It is mesmerizing to watch it boil! When it is going hot, you can practically watch the level of liquid drop. The steam smells wondrous (as long as you don't get a good full sniff of smoke instead).

Mick keeps busy stoking the fire, trying to keep up with the wind's temperamental changes in direction.

It seemed a shame to let all that beautiful fire go to waste, and we were after all getting hungry......

Delicious! :) Meanwhile, back at the trailer, we had further proof that spring was here to stay! Monday was a non-sap-boiling day. I was washing dishes while Mick was doing schoolwork, and out the window I saw...

Hooray! I have been looking for them for weeks, but I guess they wanted to wait until there was at least some grass visible. Sunday morning we heard redwing blackbirds for the first time, and we have seen (and heard!) many flocks of both snow and Canada geese. Mick spent Tuesday afternoon on the hill while I was at work and said the loudest noise he heard up there was the geese. I joined him for dinner that night, and we inaugurated our first batch of Colby cheese!

Not too shabby! And at last after much boiling, the time came to finish the syrup at home. Mick transferred the second-stage pan to a pot.

We boiled it on the stove until the temperature reached about 217 -- and boy, did it look thick!

Our first round of syrup-making, and so far we have nearly a gallon and a half, with much more still to boil.

Life is good!

The Last (we hope) Throes of Winter

Yesterday, about a third of our yard was snow-free -- the glaciers had officially begun to retreat! -- along with all driveways, sidewalks, and roads. This is the picture this morning, after Mick shoveled 5-6 inches of snow last night and an additional 10 this morning!

So much for our snow-free yard.


Gerard thought he wanted to go exploring, but that didn't last long.


This weekend's storm was reminiscent of the storm last weekend, which dropped 6 inches after a week of beginning-to-melt.


We are tiring of snow, but Roscoe loved it!

He's a lot less courageous about braving the cold when he's indoors though.

We (the humans, that is) have been taking advantage of the last stretches of cold weather to clear out the freezers, particularly the foods that we figured we won't particularly care to eat in the summer, like venison backstrap (thanks, Nick!), which Mickey cooked to perfection!

Now that I have your mouth watering, meet the newest members of our family! They arrived last week in a box from Pennsylvania.

2000 red worms!

We have put them to work as vermicomposters. So far they seem very happy -- we have only found one escape attempt (which, fortunately, Mickey discovered and not me!!) :-)

Cheers!