I caught my rogue chickens! Broody’s adopted children have decided to de-coop themselves and run wild. They roost in the trees. During the day we have two factions. Broody’s Bunch I call the Chooks. Kevin and the babes … well I’ve been searching for a name. It’s very much a Westside Story. Every once in [...]
Archive for October, 2011
The kids dug up some potatoes for today. Lucy planted a pile of potatoes in the neglected veggie patch. Neglected by me because Zélie took priority. Despite the drought and neglect, the potatoes did very well. We have a lot of small ones, but if you keep looking you can find a “man potato.” This [...]
It’s Raining!
Posted: October 25, 2011 in family, farmingTags: curtis family in france, family, farming
At last, some rain. Our first year of farming in France has taught us much about drought conditions. It rained a tiny bit in July, but for the most part we’ve been dry, dry, dry. The kittens have no memory of July’s rain and are not impressed. They blame us for this wet stuff dripping [...]
I’ve posted on Brent’s farm wear before. We’ve increased his worker pants. He’s a man who likes consistency. He’s after a reliable source of pants. His favs are “bleu de travail.” These are the standard, blue, cotton worker wear pants of the nation. They are well made, but not branded (e.g. carhartt) which keeps predictable [...]
I made blanquette de veau this evening. I’ve never cooked veal before nor have I blanked it. I work with a very cool French cookbook that I love called Ripailles that assumes you sort of know what you’re cooking. Which I don’t so it takes a few tries sometimes. I’ve consulted with resident French people [...]
I’ve always thought that the sizes of hats tell a confusing and misleading story. I believe they should come in sizes “pea,” “normal” and “pumpkin.” A friend of mine gave me this hat a looooong time ago for baby Lucy. The pumpkin gene is strong in this family and is apparently brought in through the [...]
A friend of ours, let’s call him “Josh,” gave us a cookbook all about cooking pork. Many, many pages dedicated to cooking everything but the oink. Sadly he gave us this book at a time when we were experimenting with ways to feed our family. The pork book arrived at our “vegan phase.” I doubt [...]
Ms. Broody has gone missing. After a pile of white feathers was discovered, the photo for her milk carton announcement was quickly recalled and her unfortunate death concluded. It has been often fabled of chickens going missing while returning weeks later with little peeping mini-me in tow. Hope was kept alive. Meanwhile, “free range” chickens [...]
It’s been a year and it’s been a YEAR. I suppose I could sum up the year, but I’d rather provide a handful of lessons learned should you be foolish enough to try this at home. 1) Don’t count your chickens before they’ve hatched. 2) Sometimes you need to grab the cow by its horns [...]
But this time it’s Lucy who does the fencing. Lucy started her fencing classes a couple of weeks ago. Her class takes place in a very, very old building that feels very castle-like. The steps are old, old and stone. The courtyard is quaint. They practice all the techniques on the third floor right next [...]
