December news from the farm,

We all finally feel a bit rested from the whirlwind of the 3 Thanksgiving deliveries one after the other. Our backs were pretty tired and we just wanted to do anything but work in the walk in freezer! So the holiday was a welcome respite from the hustle and our family dinner at Uncle Walt’s was a delicious and warm success. We all bring our “usual” dishes with the flair of different recipes each year. This year I made 2 cranberry delights; Mom’s fresh relish with oranges, lime, lemon, cranberries and maple syrup all finely chopped and mixed in the blender and my new blueberry, currant, cranberry and maple syrup compote cooked for about 10 minutes and deliciously juicy. It was a wonderfully warm day and a baseball game and a football game perked up the kids’ appetites.

The warm weather as been very welcome but it seems odd that the ground is still very soft and the big rain this week made for some pretty muddy tractor tracks up into the pastures. We are taking advantage of the lack of the warmth and began feeding the cows hay up in the hilly pastures by the house. Until a bit of snow and ice deter Colin from wanting to drive up the steep slope with a big round bale on the front and back of the tractor, we’ll be able to have the cows fertilize these fields and also introduce more varieties of forage from any leftover hay. When the snow arrives, the herd will move to the flatter fields at the Waite’s part of the farm.

The slow down of our pace has allowed me to get back to the local yoga class periodically to stretch out those back muscles and spend some time with my sister and niece over the holiday weekend. Alan has been keeping up a robust pace. He has been creating an acceptable Town of Jackson annual budget and trying to pare down the Washington County annual budget. In November he had to run for re-election for town supervisor against his first opponent in 15 years. He won! Only half of the 1000 voters turned out for the vote. Now the next month is filling up with holiday events and getting ready for the snow.

Over the weekend to our amazement, we had our first snow and it was a beauty. It was one of those light, fluffy, big flake afternoons with our dark colored dogs looking like reverse dalmations. The snow stuck to every surface, twig and windshield. It was just enough to cover everything and turn our little valley into a white snow bowl looking suitable for skiing. The cows were a bit surprised to find all their hay and grass had disappeared but were eating it and finding the grass underneath! It was a bit harder than usual for the tractor to make it up the steep hill but Alan, the expert driver that he is (on the tractor and in the delivery van!) made it to the top. Today it is all still here; not much melting happening and there will likely be more by Wednesday! I just wish the ground would freeze! Hope you are all staying warm on those windy streets!

We hope you all have a wonderful December season and stay warm and be healthy!

Best wishes, Nancy & Alan