Thursday, January 01, 2015 cut wood in the front…clearing a new strip…took down a maple nearly sixty feet tall..several smaller trees….cut til noon…lunch,,,replaced toilet seat,,,cleaned ashes from the new stove,,,moved and seeded behind chicken tractor,,,worked on new wheels for chicken tractor,,,low of 20…high 47 but raw and windy all day….when the goats were out they ate the leaves off of my azaleas at the stable….topped off the newest compost barrel as it had settled some,,, still not heating…mixed some high diversity seed with some late seed and a cup of red clover seed to use behind chicken tractor…idea,,,instead of mulch in the upper part of the tractor I am going to start using dry horse manure…

Friday, January 02, 2015 whew…I am whipped…put the last two heifers in with the herd and slim shady…of course when I opened the gate the whole damned herd came into the big back field…took me fifteen minutes to get them back out…then went back to cutting wood….took down two tall maples…no low limbs…real chore getting a cable on one of them to control the fall and keep it off of fences and power lines….finally got both down in the right place and dragged out and cut up…brought a load of older wood to the house…went to feed store in Montpelier…chores…supper…start a fire in the small stove that had let go out during the day…do this..bath and then crash in front of tv.

Saturday, January 03, 2015 do little day…still wore out from yesterday….went to grocery store and left 147 bucks plus change…big new years hunt going on so I had to keep the dogs close and in the house most of the day…did see a small doe come across Jacks front field and thru my front and into the cutover next to me….heard a shot over there a few minutes later…at least it was only one shot…not the usually assault at Normandy….put some bigger wheels on the back of the chicken tractor to make it a little easier to move….picked up a load of wood in the loader and parked it in the barn to keep dry….dreary day but did not rain much…tried putting the dry horse manure in the floor of the chicken roost…they had scratched and picked thru it a good bit more that the mulch….maybe need to put the mulch in the horse stalls first….before composting …..got my new pitchfork today…came in the mail….six tine short handle…had to order it as no stores stock them….easier to carry in the van or trailer and six tines pick cleaner….looks like a good quality tool….should see me thru…have an old five tine short handle but one tine is and has been badly bent for years….need to remember to ask Julie to heat and straighten it the next time she fires her forge….Star Baby limping…looks like an abscess brewing…cleaned and applied some hoof goo…

Sunday, January 04, 2015 Left hand is throbbing this morning…must have aggravated it with the contortions I was doing working on the chicken tractor….put together supper in the crock pot…at least the entree…barbecue chicken breasts…Marie will fix some mac and cheese and a salad…checked the cows AIed animals are still wearing chalk. Yvette and ASHOW are 22 days today…piddled around at the barn and dug out another old mineral barrel for a compost/planter….beautiful day…wind is blowing the clouds away and it is warm….only four weeks til ground hog day and then only six weeks til spring…looking thru seed catalogs and thinking about the garden….back to work tomorrow with the rush of things undone and now urgent…and the winter meeting season…at least we have the cover crop seed samples made up and labeled and ready to go to NRCS and the district samples in from Green Cover….I am still putting seed down behind the chicken tractor every time I move it….about a cup full of mostly mixed seed…sometimes just barley and a legume.