Bee Haven Acres… Tales From The Farm

 I’ve received a lot of emails asking where we are.  We are still here -which is obvious to you if you are reading this.  (Still with no ability to send mass mailings without getting my email account shut down.  And yes, I could pay for that service, but I hate to have to do so.)  Hopefully, those who care will dig deep enough to find us – we’re really not hard to find.Yes, we are still here – each day figuring out the new normal – the new normal that each passing day brings to us on life’s journey.  I am sure that this is something common to all of us – the new normals that the passing of time gives us.Yes, we are still here, and autumn is heading towards winter – as are we – both figuratively and literally.  Without the advantage of foresight, it’s hard to tell when one leaves the autumn of their life and enters the winter.  At some point, I believe that the realization hits us in the face – but the transition, well, now, that’s the tricky part.  So, here we are – somewhere on that continuum… grateful for each day, and trying to fill it with meaningful things.  And then the realization hits us – even the most mundane is meaningful.  Meaningful… in the understanding that we simply get to experience it.Yes, we are still here, feeling gratitude that we are.Amazingly, in the past week, many of our trees have lost their foliage.  That which tenuously remains is still quite lovely.  And yes, although we tried to avoid the tick-infested woods, we couldn’t help ourselves and walked there this weekend.  And yes, we pulled ticks off of ourselves.  I am sure that these tiny, parasitic creatures have a place in the order of things – something that’s hard to consider when pulling them off of your skin before they have a chance to infect you with some nasty disease.   Still – the woods are so peaceful, so beautiful at this time of year.The mercury dropped as low as 26 degrees this weekend and the garden took it’s last frigid breath… leaving behind nothing but our frost-tolerant kaleand a whole lot of green loofah gourds hanging from frozen, dead vines.  I am still keeping my fingers crossed that they will dehydrate enough to peel and use.  I have been able to harvest about a half dozen so far – and although they are a little skinny, they are quite lovely!I have bathed with one ever since our Chilean bicycle trip, and I’ve got to say there there’s nothing better for ridding oneself of dead, dry skin.Last week I ordered a new bread making book.  I have always loved King Arthur Flour’s in-depth recipes and when I saw that this book was available, I immediately knew that I needed to add it to my library. I don’t typically buy cookbooks any more.  However, breadbaking books are irresistible to me.  I am eager to work my way through the recipes in this book – many of which are from other countries.  Some of the recipes require sourdough starter, other’s utilize yeast.  I thought I would begin with a bread from France, called Gateaux Voyage, or Traveler’s (cake) bread.  It is a hearty sourdough whole wheat bread chock full of nuts and dried fruits – and it is delicious!  I ground the whole wheat flour for this bread – the first entirely whole wheat bread I have made.It would be perfect to pack when traveling, to stave off hunger – especially with a nut butter slathered on top.Because I had the sourdough starter freshly fed, I decided to also make a batch of English muffins for Jack (his favorite).After last week’s sell-out, I have made several more batches of soap over the past few days – two batches of our favorite, orange calendula with the last of summer’s dried blossoms, a batch of sea salt with sea clay, a batch of Frosted Balsam, a batch of Lavender with a hint of Rosemary, and a batch of a new scent, Vanilla/Black Raspberry.This summer’s chicks are now full grown and beginning to lay eggs.  Every other day or so, we find a deep dark chocolate brown egg in their house.  Soon there will be an assortment of dark brown, light brown and green/blue eggs from this group of gals.  I had a feeling that egg-laying was imminent, when their handsome rooster, Bruce, began to show an amorous interest in his girls.  Love is in the air!As for our small flock of guineas (7), they have begun roosting with the runner ducks every night. After all of these years, they have finally learned to come in out of the weather to sleep.Everyone else on the farm seems to be happy and healthy at the moment… and we hope that this continuesYes, our numbers are far fewer than years ago – (perhaps you were with us in those days).  Life on the farm has taught us… it’s not always wise to add more animals during the winter (both literally and figuratively!). Thanks to all who have stayed with us through the seasons.