curled up with a brick

I am happily curled up on the couch under a blanket with a brick. Yes, I'm hugging a brick that's been sitting atop the wood stove, heating up. I was freezing and my husband is a genius.

We spent the day working outside and it's cold. There's a thick blanket of snow covering the farm and gusty winds that force the snow to dance across the fields in wisps. The kind of wind that hurts your face and stings your eyes. Did I mention that it's cold? The kind of cold that gets deep into your bones. The kind of cold that turns chicken's combs black with frostbite.

We spent the day getting the old turkey greenhouse ready to house the hens for the winter. This will give them a nice, big, passive solar, snow-free and draft-free space to live, roam around and lay their eggs. Tonight, after dark, when the hens are at their calmest, we carried them into their new space and carefully set them upon the roosts. They're in such a mellow, barely conscious state when it's dark that they aren't really aware of what's happening. They'll wake up tomorrow, hop off the roosts, do some exploring, eat breakfast and lay their eggs.

We're putting together an order for new layer chicks. We'll order more than we need this time and will offer 'backyard chickens' to sell along with chicken-keeping classes, coop design ideas or custom built coops by Nate.

For now, we're hanging close to the wood stove, reading, knitting re-organizing and making plans.