Saturday Farm Report

It's a grey, damp day here at Pine Ridge Farm. The sun is brightening up the clouds, but a cloudy day is predicted.

This week I made a little progress on the garden and kept the pigs and chicks alive. My friend Wendi likes to say that young animals "are just looking for a way to die," and I've come to see that that's not too far from the truth. Case in point; our little chicks started making a ruckus about 10 minutes ago. For now, they're living in a small trough/tub in our breezeway, until I can get them securely outside in the coop (before the end of the month.) When I went out to check, I found that two had managed to get themselves out of the tub, where the cat was eying them. They were not unaware of their predicament, hence the ruckus. We caught them and put them back. So to say that I kept these little critters from doing themselves in is saying quite a bit.

I've been putting broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower starts out in the "greenhouse," the cattle panel/plastic cover I showed you on Thursday, in a process called hardening off. My plan was to plant them outside for good today or tomorrow, but we've had some rain. Although the ground in the bed is dry, the ground in the paths is wet, and I just don't feel like tacking that today. I think I'll stay inside and sew.

If I can. Although I had some help in getting my sewing skills hauled out from the dark recesses of my brain, I'm still not the most skilled seamstress. Despite measuring, trying on, readjusting, remeasuring, trying on again and making what I thought were final adjustments, when I put my newly made black skirt on for church last week, it was still about 3" too big for me. So I'll be making some further adjustments to that today. It won't turn out as nicely as I would like, as a result, but, it is what it is.

And tonight I'll be meeting my sisters and our men at Olive Garden for dinner and a discussion of our European itinerary. -squee- It's now 23 days until we enter that slim metal tube to be hurled across an icy ocean and hopefully land, not on some mystery island, but on a runway outside of Rome. I thought it might be time to discuss some particulars. And if there's garlicky breadsticks, gorgonzola sauce and merlot to help the conversation, well, all the better!