Day 14 – Dawn ’til Dusk – Just Another Day on the Farm

What happens on a sunny morning after a night of rain.

Mid-November around here is generally pretty wet, so what a delight it was yesterday to head out to a dripping landscape being warmed beneath a brilliant winter sun! When I started on the morning rounds the whole world seemed to be either steaming or glistening.

By the time I was making my way back up the hill when I was done, the special effects show was over.

At dusk I was treated to a show of a different type.

The rising moon kept getting tangled in the tree branches! It was so bright and clear that the moon shadows were black and distinct, so heavy on the ground I wanted to step over them – an odd effect, though not really photographable…

In between the showy dawn and dusk, it was a pretty typical Wednesday with stops at the feed store, farm stand, and coffee shop. During the afternoon worked on the new book (about different types of housing around the world – another in the Orca Footprints series, co-authored with Dani) and then continued with the job of cleaning out the vegetable beds. Wimpy always materializes when I pick up a trowel and he worked alongside me, snatching up grubs and worms as I made my way along the bed where, earlier in the season, squash had filled one end and a gorgeous yellow/orange/gold calendula party had been going on all summer. The turkeys, chickens, ducks, and hogs eagerly consumed all the weeds and bits of leftover veggie plants Wimpy and I dug up, so the whole process felt extremely satisfying and made a whole lot of creatures (including me) quite happy.

After that, made a delicious tomato vegetable and venison soup. Roasted more beets, parsnips, and carrots for good measure because really, is it possible to eat too many roast veggies? Gobbled that up with hunks of tasty olive bread before heading back out one last time to feed the night hay and check on all the creatures.

Ordinary day. Extraordinary day. Sometimes, it’s hard to tell the difference.

Interested in learning who else is participating in the 30 days agriculture blog-a-thon or the five things Holly Spangler will be talking about this month? Head over to Prairie Farmer to find out!