Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Turning Back The Dial

   Alright, so it's probably been fall for a little while now... but we're finally getting the full of crispy gold and crimson leaves, frosty mornings, and my heat is on more often than not.  I have mixed emotions about fall, on one hand I think it's my absolute favorite season, I love the smell of woodstove in the air (and am frequently extremely jealous that it isn't coming from my house), fabulous colours, apple cider, and fall festivals.  On the other hand, it seems like fall is just setting in when winter takes over with it's disgusting snow, wet grey road sludge, sub zero temperatures and getting into the car to go out at a dead run, sometimes forgetting kids/dogs, you know, typical parent stuff.

   We picked up four more silkies for our 'flock' last week.  I came to the conclusion that we have four silkies, one is a roo, two who both lay almost daily, and one that I'm not sure what's up with.  My instincts tell me that he's a silent roo.  I had thought he was going to be my roo all along, until the one 'hen' I thought for sure was going to be a hen woke up crowing. With two roos, someone's going to have to leave, I think the farm we got these chickens from will take the roo back and replace him with a hen, which is awesome, something we'll think about in the spring as long as we stays silent over the winter.  But with only two pullets laying I'm still having to buy eggs from an outside source which seems ridiculous, so clearly the less ridiculous solution was to purchase my chickens... Don't shake you head at me, or ask why I didn't just buy a breed known for it's prolific laying ability, I'm pregnant and entitled to doing things that make zero sense to others, including but not limited to, Mr Pretties.  So we picked up 'Part Two' of our flock and ended up with a group of solid white ones.  I like this because I would really like this arrangement for several reasons (none of them at all ridiculous), I would really like to hatch out some chicks this spring and our first flock is all related, so this brings new non-related members in, and second I would love to experiment with breeding the 'Paint' or 'Splash' type silkies and whites are an integral part of that process I believe. 

  I don't think we're any closer to finding a farm.  Not to rent, and certainly not to buy.  Every farm we've looked at that was available for rent either didn't include out buildings, didn't want any kind of farming taking place on the property, or is 2hrs + away from our families and Mr. Pretties job.  Purchasing looks even bleaker as we definitely can't afford the kind of acerage we would love to have.  I also left out the part where what I'm looking for is insanely particular.  As in, it probably doesn't exist and we'll never find it.  I am really looking for an old 5 bedroom farmhouse that isn't A) falling down on itself or B) been 'renovated' (Read: ruined) of it's character and charm.  This farm needs to have 5+ acres, an old silver barnboard bank barn, and I guess that's it really... I'd even be happy to find an old farmhouse that had all it's outdoor charm, and things like baseboards/doors/floors that haven't been touched inside and then we could just go to salvage auctions and purchase cupboards/counters/etc... from there and 'un-renovate' rooms like the kitchen and bathroom that way.  I'm just always disappointed when I see an old farmhouse, get super excited, and then look at the pictures inside and you feel like you're looking at a brand new model home, no character, and lots of stainless steel, granite, and ceramic tile.  While I can appreciate how nice it feels to have a home like that, it's just not me.  I guess I just want to 'turn back the dial' on life and head back to the farm, back to handmaking soap (I'm taking a course - eeee!!!!), spinning fibre (I bought a drop spindle, we all have to start somewhere!), knitting, and eating out of our backyard. We'll get there, and in the meantime we'll enjoy some mean free range eggs!!!

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