Happy New Year 2010!

I do like winter. Maybe not so much this bitterly cold wind. When it's this cold, it is very challenging keeping the house at a temperature where we are not in a "hunched over" state. We have radiator heat which is incredibly toasty, however, oil is incredibly expensive. We had two fireplaces restored and rebuilt and we found a thimble flue in the wall between the kitchen and dining room. Old wood stoves used to be located there. When their purpose was no longer needed, they were taken out and the wall was rebuilt. Luckily for us, there had been a leak at the opening of the flue inside the wall. A new discovery led us to an additional heat source(and we often say the best purchase we ever made!)...a woodstove. Once all of the fireplaces are going, the woodstove is roaring, and maybe roasted chicken in the oven, it is very comfortable inside this old house.

Since we're located up on a hill, it gets extra gusty up here. The other night I kept hearing what sounded like a ball bouncing. The sound would be slow and then gain speed as if a ball was getting ready to stop on a floor. I didn't think much of it at first. Maybe one of the cats was playing with a ball. But it was too uniform and kept on going for a while. A cat would have been bored after a few minutes. In the middle of the night, it was very easy to imagine a "Ghost Boy" playing with a bouncy ball. Of course I knew it was NOT that and before anyone asks....no, there are no ghosts inside or outside of this house! The sound wound up being the cellar window. The gusts were making the loose window vibrate.

I noticed the pigs are sleeping in a bit longer these days. Why would they want to come out in frigid temperatures when they are warm inside their huts. Last night I went to put extra straw in with the weaned piglets(15 of them) and as they all came out to see what was going on, I could feel the rush of heat from inside. That made me feel better. They are okay even when the temps dip into the teens.

We always assume we are going to have a "break" over the winter months. Sometimes I feel that we are more busy, just in a different way. We have two pig groups that need to be moved to another area. Usually not a problem but the blizzard didn't help with that. More fences need to be built but the ground is solid. I want to get my next pork group in the woods so they can finish on good roots, acorns and whatever else they might find. Next month we start getting broiler chicks already. Winter seems to go by quickly for us.

Jonah took this picture from his bedroom window last year. When it is this cold and windy, it's easy to forget that days will be warm and colorful again. "That's right! The trees do have pretty green things on their branches!"