When I looked outside this morning, I saw some very interesting ice crystals that had grown out of the earth last night. I now know that the crystals grow by adding to the bottom of the structure. You can see dirt and pebbles perched on the tops of the ice spikes after taking the ride upward through the night:









Here's a funny plumbing story. We noticed that the kitchen faucet flow rate was quite slow. The weird thing about it was that the hose sprayer - which feeds from the same main 1/2-inch line - had plenty of power. So, I unscrewed the aerator from the end of the faucet nozzle and found a small piece of some kind of gasket thing blocking the tiny hole that allows a limited amount of water through. Where this piece of junk came from, I don't know. It doesn't really matter, and now we have decided to leave the aerator off for faster water flow. Problem solved. Fast and free!

Taxes

The other day, a man and woman drove up to the house in a big black pick-up. He introduced himself as Bill something, and I don't remember her name. He said they were from the tax assessor's office, and they needed to measure the size of the house. In the time it took him to walk up to our door and knock, the great Dominecker hen had jumped up into their truck and was poking around the cab. The woman did not want to get too close to the bird, so Bill opened the other door and shooed her out. Crazy chicken. I was told to expect a notice regarding the assessment soon, but it would be October before we receive a new tax bill. I have no idea what the new amount will be, but the last amount was only $168.

It seems the worst of winter is in the past now, with high temperatures hovering near 45F on a daily basis. People say this was the coldest winter in a long time - which I am glad to hear, because maybe that means next year won't be so bad. Currently, our only source of heat is the heat pump system which is 100% electric. On extra cold days, it switches from the efficient technique of extracting the warmth from outside air, to plain old electrical heat. It's no different than running a whole lot of space heaters around the house. This is a very costly method of heating a house, so I had been considering the alternatives.

One option is to get a woodstove and burn firewood - which we have plenty of on the property. The drawbacks are that it requires frequent feeding and it would raise our homeowners insurance a bit. It would also add smoke to our inside air which would be smelly, too. And we would have to buy one and have it installed. $1000 minimum.

Another option is to have an outdoor wood-burning furnace installed, but that costs $7600 - enough said.

So, I decided that for this first winter, we'd see how costly it is to leave the heat pump to do the work alone. Our electric (light) bill for the past 38 days is $155, and approximately $40 of that is general non-heat use. So $115 for automatic, unattended, low fire-risk heat amounts to $3.03/day. I can live with that.

Headed for a Meltdown

Friday was the start of the great ice storm that swept across the mid-south, from Oklahoma to the Atlantic. JoAnna had to make a trip down to the IRS office in Huntsville to get some paperwork, so she went early. She made it home by 1pm, though it took her twice as long as usual. The snow was sticking to the road surface, and a layer of ice had already coated most everything by that time. When she got to our driveway, she played it safe and parked at the bottom of the drive rather than tryng to climb the incline on the slippery slope. It was a wise decision, since had she parked up on top next to my car, we would have been stranded at home if we needed to go into town for any reason. The storm coated the driveway with enough snow and ice that it would have been really dangerous to drive down, probably guaranteed to slide off and down the hill. Gladly, we were stocked up on milk and bread, so we stayed put.

I had to protect the heat pump from the water that runs off of the roof, because it was freezing onto the moving parts, causing it to make a bad noise. I turned off the unit, poured some warm water over the fan blades to melt the ice that had collected there, and then I propped the dog crate on top of the unit. After attaching a piece of plywood to the top of the crate at a slight angle, the temporary water diverter was complete.



After a night of listening to the sounds of cracking and shattering tree branches, this is what we saw in the morning:







This is a picture of the chickens' winter house, where they usually spend their nights. Since the ground was coated with ice and snow, all but one of them went back into the house during the day. This has never happened before, even on the coldest days. I usually cover the window at night with an old blanket to try to keep it warmer, but it was frozen in place when I took this photo:



Last night, the skies cleared and the full moon was shining brightly. Looking up at it through the ice-glazed trees was really amazing. I took these photos, and then accentuated the contrast of the images to try to show the detail:





This morning, the clear skies remained and the sun lit up the landscape. As the temperature climbed, the ice started falling. The sound of the ice landing on the crusty earth was like the crackle of a campfire. There was vapor rising from the wood pile as it warmed in the sun. It was a really beautiful day.

Super Chicken and Wonder Dog

Someone needs to tell one of our chickens that it's not egg-laying season yet. I went out to clean their house this afternoon, and I found 5 eggs in there. At first I suspected that JoAnna had placed the eggs in there as a joke on me, but that was not the case. The important thing now is to determine which of the hens is the productive one, and once the rooster starts getting frisky, try to collect her eggs and hatch them. This way, we'll be promoting the proliferation of those genes on the farm. I'm hoping the Dominecker is the hen with the special abilities, because she was the one to lay the latest as winter approached. She is also the one that was seen chasing down and eating a mouse, as well as a baby turtle just last week (I missed that event, but JoAnna witnessed it). It's all about breeding the best down on the farm.

We have been recently enjoying some locally-raised pastured goat meat. Even though our next-field-neighbor Bobby has goats and sheep on his land, we found a farmer in Franklin who had goat meat for sale, as well as other wholesome products. His name is Freddie Haddox. We drove to his place, dodging Berkshire piggies on the way up his driveway. He sold us a 7-pound cut of goat and gave us a bunch of samples of other products he had in his many freezers. We also paid for some Amish butter. So far, we have been enjoying the goat in Greek-style dishes. The flavor is much like lamb, and we both are looking forward to getting a whole goat soon. Someday, we'll try to raise a few on our own. We'll see if I'll have the heart to kill one of our own when the time comes, though they are quite tasty... Maybe if I name them Gyro, Stewie, etc...

Trixie the dog has been around again. She was away when we returned from our trip to Los Angeles back in mid-December, and she finally showed up again 2 weeks ago. She looked like someone had been feeding her well, maybe too well. She couln't race up the driveway like she used to, what with the extra pounds on her little body. We have been taking her in on the cold nights, and feeding her along with our own pups. I'm ever grateful that she is out on patrol; just last week she exterminated another possum. I arrived on the scene just after the fight to find her looking over the dead rat like she was thinking, "Is that all you got, Rat?" JoAnna told me that she was barking the other night from our doorstep where she sleeps a lot. When JoAnna turned on the light and looked out she saw what looked like the tail of a larger dog disappearing into the trees. Who knows what other trouble Trixie has diverted for us. We still have 7 chickens, and I attribute that number to Trixie's presence.

We went into Nashville last week to celebrate JoAnna's birthday by seeing the 3D version of Avatar followed by dinner at a nice restaurant. We both enjoyed the film, but agreed that it was mostly due to the eye-candy factor. Our dinner did not live up to our expectations, but sometimes that's how it goes. JoAnna is now even more determined to have a restaurant of her own. That's what we worked on today - talking about how we will move forward on this project, and figuring out the budget and timelines for expanding our empire. It's looking like the restaurant may be open for business as soon as mid-April. We're planning an open house event for that time, so schedule your vacation time now!

2010... GO!

We're all fine, especially after I put a small space heater in the chicken house for night warmth. It was probably near 12 degrees here last night. Our heat pump heater runs pretty much all night, and I'm forecasting a hefty electric bill for January. Probably up around $180, with $40 being the minimum/April-typical bill.

So, I went to see a guy about an outdoor wood furnace. The smallest model is an all stainless steel unit that is set up 60feet from the house and circulates hot water to a coil at the front-line of the ducting. It would be great if we were in Alaska and needed 10 months of heat, but not worth $7600 to us. That's a lot of electricity or propane. For now, I'll probably just buy a propane heater for emergencies like an ice storm that knocks out power.

Our new year's eve celebration included watching a scary movie (Cloverfield) at home, which we paused at the stroke of midnight just to hear if the folks around here shoot off their guns and such. But it was silent.

A pox on everyone who sings "LET IT SNOW"

 Startate: (Dec 26 10:44 AM) 


Celebrating xmas in Chicago this year. We drove up, eating at Amerigo's in West End (I won a gift certificate on Twitter!) and then driving up towards Seymour, IN to spend the night at a canine-welcoming Motel 6 since the dogs came with us.  In the morning, we progressed towards Chicago, stopping for a brief visit with Kelly's Auntie Norma (at the residence of cousins Brian & Jan) in Indiana on the way.

Staying at his parents' home is very comfortable. Kelly and I sleep in his old room when we're here, and I pretty much get to cook whatever I want!   In fact, since Kelly's birthday was Tuesday, he asked for a tagine with couscous, and I made that for dinner on our second night here.

There was a "girls-only" dinner at Bonfire, a local restaurant, which included all the female mothers, aunts, cousins, sisters, etc.  The place lived up to it's poor ratings on Yelp: the French onion soup tasted like sucking on a Wyler's bouillon cube, a few people had the perch said it was so riddled with fine bones they couldn't eat it. Those who got the cedar planked salmon liked what they ordered.  I didn't find anything that looked interesting so i ordered an appetizer of calamari as my entrée. (pre-frozen, pre-battered, deep-fried...how could they screw that up?)      The server, however, was wonderful, and if i lived here, I'd have happily invited her to work for me.

So, for those of you who want to know the latest progress on the Bed & Bistro...

I've been fluctuating between "i can't wait to get this started!" to "phooey let's scrap the whole thing".

At this particular moment, i'm in the fugheddaboudit stage.  To build the first cottage will be exactly like building the house: pour more concrete, put in a new post foundation, dig for & install a new septic tank, run electricity to it (new pole), run water to it (new meter), install plumbing, roofing, etc., etc.

Kelly is suggesting that we put it on the farthest, most remote corner of our property, which means that everything's got to be run out there 'from scratch' just as we did for the house, so the expenses are going to be comparable to what we spent on the house.  We don't have the financial resources to build another house, and seeing as how we don't have any mortgage on our current house, I certainly don't want to take out such a large loan for an endeavor that may-or-may-not be a profit-making business.

As far as the restaurant part is concerned, we can't make our home be a legal restaurant, as our current septic tank wasn't approved for a business. I thought I might do an occasional underground restaurant, but I don't think that it would be worth getting in trouble with local authorities, or risking fines and (gasp) litigation?

Right now, if it's just me, Kelly, the mutts and a few chickens, I guess that would be okay.

Today I learned: I'm becoming extremely sensitive to smells, such that every time I move to a new room, my eyes water, my nose runs, and I have a sneezing fit. Maybe it's being indoors so much?  Maybe I've grown especially accustomed to the exceptionally clean air at home in TN?

The grass is greener on the other side of the ...country

hi there!  long time no write.   man, the holidays can really come up fast when you're busy.

Kelly had another business trip to Los Angeles, and this time I went with him.  I called "Auntie Rebecca" and kelly and I dropped by on the way to the airport to hand off the doggies. 

Visiting Los Angeles is weird. When I'm at home in my tiny corner of Tennessee, i'm free to idealize and only remember the good parts, like lots of ethnic grocery stores with all kinds of interesting products and lots of fresh, beautiful produce. Every kind of restaurant, of every caliber, within just a few minutes' drive. Friends who used to think nothing of going out on weeknights. Funky, cool shops that offer endless possibilities for browsing. And I miss my friends.

That most recent visit, however, really reinforced of all the negative things that hide in the shadows of the golden glow Los Angeles always has in my minds eye.  The traffic really is unbearable. Finding a parking place can be murder. The constant drone of noise really gets on your nerves...  Instead of the milk of human kindness, it's more like pus:  People revel in their anonymity and think nothing of being selfish, inconsiderate, and even flat-out rude.   Many of my close friends have also moved away from L.A., and the ones who are there still have jobs, and they still have their day-to-day obligations, so they can't hang out all day. Then there's the weird feeling of wanting to contact friends I'd really like to hang out with, but either I've simply lost touch with them (my fault) or we weren't really that close, so it might seem weird to get an out-of-the-blue invitation to coffee or drinks. 

I couldn't wait to get back home, which surprised me a little.

I'm sure all those negative things are in all big cities. The concentration of people must intensify the impact of all those slightly irritating interactions that occur in the average day, when my new status quo has me interacting with only Kelly, the mutts, and the chickens on a day-to-day basis.

When we lived in Littlerock, CA for 2 years, the pace was slower and the people friendlier. I didn't appreciate it then...  nor would i have imagined that I'd be craving it as i do now.

Today I learned: Change is often unwelcome, even when it's going back to where you were.

An Unexpected Snow Day

I woke up at sunrise this morning to witness the first snowfall of the season. At first I thought it was a heavy layer of frost, but when I stepped outside to release the chickens from their protective coop, I saw the flakes on everything.

This is a view to the east...



...and a view to the west toward the pond.



The water in the various drinking bowls outside had an inch of ice on top, so I had to break it out and refill with fresh. Like a real farmer!

Yesterday, I was working in my home office, and I saw something running through the woods - and it was too big to be chickens or Trixie. I stepped up to see better, and there I saw another buck. This one was probably a six-point, but it was hard to tell from the distance and through the trees. He was probably chasing a doe, but she was out of sight by that time.

Today I built the winter chicken house. It is made to be more air-tight than the summer dwelling, so hopefully it will keep the birds warm on cold nights. It even has a glass window which faces south to help warm the inside of the coop on sunny days. I'm hoping it will be predator-proof, too, since we will be leaving the birds on their own while we travel during the holidays. As I was building the coop, I heard the chickens making a squawking racket like I'd never heard before. I got to the side of the house where the noise was coming from just in time to see a big hawk come sailing out of the forest as Rooster Man and one of his girls ran/flew to safety. I found all 7 of our birds huddled close to the house with no sign of injury. They stayed in that spot for about an hour, and then finally wandered away back to normal. Now that the hawk knows what's here, I'll bet it will be coming back.

Today I learned: Using screws to build an improvised structure using spare scraps of wood is better than using nails. A screw can be un-screwed, but a nail can not be un-nailed. Once a nail is hammered all the way in, you're screwed.