Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Winter Wednesday

We hope that all of our blogger friends are staying warm and toasty this winter. We have had a really hard winter so far and are making it. I joke and say that we are learning to be Mainers. It is said with amazement and respect. These are hardy people with skills up the wazoo for surviving.
After suffering through -31 degrees we finally had a warm up and got about a foot of snow. It was too cold to snow. I went out this afternoon and took some pictures of the pasture and the front of the house. It is beautiful and I never get tired of the snow. We did find out that our thermometer goes to -28 and croaks. Our neighbor has the old fashioned kind and was able to tell us what the actual low was. Ok, I'm not the most graceful person and I'm glad that no one was taking a picture of me today because I fell in the snow and had the darnedest time trying to keep the camera up and get up too.

We called around and found someone, probably the only person who still has seasoned wood, and ordered 2 cords. Why do we need wood? We were in Home Depot last week and they had a wood stove on sale for half price. I guess this was an impulse buy but one that paid off with the low temps we had.
We traded out this lovely old antique, but not really functional ,for this not quite state of the art wood stove. Anyone want to purchase this turn of the last century Imperial Clarion? It is made by Wood and Bishop Company out of Bangor, Maine. If so just let me know and we can arrange something. It has it's own water tank. It needs refurbishing but is beautiful. We can make a deal!
The chickens are surviving well. We added another brooder lamp, which makes 3, when the temps are really low. So far they are doing well. We get about 2 dozen eggs a day. Notice the new feeder? We bought it at Perco Feeds so that they will keep the shavings out of their corn.

A great way to end the day is with a big pot of homemade soup. It warms the kitchen and warms the soul. May everyone be well and blessed. Keep warm and happy. With Love from Mainely Ewes Farm.



9 comments:

Peggy said...

Oh how I wish I lived close enough to purchase your stove. I love it! If William should happen to get another load to Maine I will see if you still have it. Love your snow! We finally got 6 inches and I thought I was in heaven!

Anonymous said...

Hahaha! Yes, Maine and Michigan are looking ALOT alike in those pics!! :) Glad you guys are surviving. The birds look great! (And so does that soup!)

Don said...

We got pretty cold here in Michigan, and also we have lots of snow, but we didn't get to -31 F!

I love your stove! I wish I had a bigger kitchen to put it in.

What do you feed your chickens?

Kelly said...

We feed our chickens Layer Pellets and cracked corn. Any vegetables that we can get/buy. Every once in a while I order crickets online and they go crazy. This is mostly for our entertainment. Our girls are really pets in chicken feathers. Do you have any additions to help them maintain body weight? Can you feed them bird suet, like the kind for wild brids?

Don said...

I feed mine the layer mix from our local grain elevator, and also I buy a scratch mix. Scratch usually has three or four different grains. My hens tend to pick out what they like. I gave mine some of the suet and they didn't do much with it. They really love it when I roll in a couple heads of cabbage!

Anonymous said...

I love that stove! It would go perfectly in that log house I want.
Too bad you are so far from Georgia.
I love your pictures, but I don't know how you adjust to those tempertures. I just thought we have been cold down here.
I like seeing the snow photos. That is something else we don't see much of.
Stay warm. The soup looked delicious!
Pam

Pintura Springs said...

I would love to have a stove like that! But don't think that we will be in Maine anytime soon.

Anne-Marie said...

What a perfect way to end a COLD winter day! Your soup looks delicious and soothing!

Country Girl said...

Ohhhh....I like that stove and a good deal, I like them too. Just so happens I do not live far from you. Please e-mail me @ achornfarmer@yahoo.com
What does it need for fixing up?