We had to put Marianne down on Monday. She sustained an injury on Thursday, so we brought her into the house to keep her warm and help her heal. By Monday it was clear that she was only suffering and not healing and that it was time to say goodbye. It’s tough, as she was easily our nicest rabbit. Agatha’s wool is slightly better, but Marianne was also much friendlier and a superb mother. It’s been a tough reminder that…
Two weeks ago we were sitting in 60 (almost 70!) degree weather as we boiled off sap into maple syrup. This week, we’ve been plunged back into the single digits without our wool gloves. That little jaunt with Spring was all too fleeting, but inside we’re continuing to get glimpses of what is to come thanks to UPS! On Wednesday, we received the first of two packages we’d been waiting on: a milk pail. Pepper is due in three weeks,…
After 6 days, the fire and smoke clean-up is pretty much done. Steve’s aunt, who worked for a fire department at one point, suggested an ionizer to get rid of the smoke smell. Unfortunately, every place that we could find rentals for one were closed for the weekend, and we were looking on Friday evening. In the meantime, we bagged up every scrap of cloth we had ranging from clothing to linens to stuffed animals and filled each bag with baking…
I almost did not post this as it was not one of our better moments. But, if we only posted our better moments I think that’d leave the wrong impression. So, here we go. Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. We went to church for 9 am, and afterwards I came home with the boys while Rachel stayed. She works for our church, and would be spending most of the day there. When we got home we…
After a full day slaving over the evaporator (umm, not really, I more or less just sat there), I can say that homemade maple syrup is worth it. It has a much rounder, whole flavor than any syrup I’ve ever tasted. Plus, after we brought it in from outside to finish it on the stove, the whole house was filled with the delicious aroma of maple. (And then I burnt two eggs and everything just smelled acrid. Go figure.) Anyway, I shared…