A (BITTER) SWEET SURPRISE.
Yesterday, I was having some anxiety. I was sitting in our tiny little room of the barn worrying about my bees, sure that they must be starving, running low on their winter stores and desperate for spring weather. We had noticed them behaving somewhat erratically the day before, and I was positive that this must equal doom.And so even though it was snowing outside, I decided I had to do something. I quickly made up a modified biodynamic bee tea (I used honey, spring water, chamomile, and sage) and we headed off to give them some food. Upon checking the first hive, I was pleasantly surprised to lift the lid and see the circular bulge of bees huddled around the top board - a sign of health! I gave them their tea and then moved to the next hive. It was a weak hive from the very beginning, always less productive and lively then the other. And sure enough, I opened the hive and saw that it was done for. It contained only a sprinkling of half-frozen bees, barely able to move, and near the entrance of the hive - a mouse nest. The hive must not have been strong enough to keep out these invaders and the mice had taken up a cozy winter residence. And as sad as I was to lose the hive, I quickly realized that the entire top super was OVERFLOWING with honey. We removed the box and rushed back down the hill, spending the rest of the blizzardy day harvesting nearly 20 pounds of miraculous honey. The strange balance of life on a farm, the good and the bad, life and death. Out of the sadness, a little sweetness.- Hannah.
LET'S GO CEDARING.
We already knew that covering the house entirely in cedar shakes we made ourselves was a little unrealistic.....but it's a little unrealistic. I personally love the process, the felling of the trees, the wrestling with the shakes, the entire physicality of it––but it is a long process. So this week, we've decided to start cutting down logs to help take some of the pressure off of the shake-making. Eric and Cher are planning to bring a portable sawmill to the farm, and we thought we'd have some lumber of our own milled while we had the chance. So, the house is now going to be partially sided in shakes, partially in rough sawn cedar lumber, and we're actually looking forward to how it's (hopefully) going to turn out.- Jesse.
WENDELL WEDNESDAY.
Taking a walk with some new friends. I think he is going to be happy here.
BARN LIVING.
We are HERE....we are home. And in these few short moments we have with the internet, we thought we would share some scenes from our little "house" as of late. The cabin is coming along nicely, but until it warms up a bit we are staying in a borrowed barn.Every morning is an adventure for the moment. It's an adventure to the spring to get enough water for the day; an adventure to cook a meal; an adventure wondering how Wendell's going to react to all these adventures... It's an adventure, but it's been a lot of fun. Simple living like this is deeply rewarding, where most of your energy just revolves around food, shelter and warmth. Everything is physical, and for right now, we're having to figure out a lot of little things one rarely thinks about in the city, like how to wash dishes without using a lot of water, but honestly, we're sort of loving it.As far as cabin progress, yesterday we finished insulating the downstairs, we built some crazy looking stairs on the front porch, and installed our mailbox - how official! We will hopefully be back with more updates soon.- Hannah & Jesse.
