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I'd love to hear from you! Email Terry at terry@terrygolson.com

Eating Eggs is Good For You
March 31, 2008

The main reason that people give up eating eggs is the fear of raising blood cholesterol levels which increases the risk of heart disease. I've been saying this for a long time - the research is out there - that there is no link between eating eggs and heart disease. Recently, the Harvard School of Public Health conducted a research study of 10,000 individuals which found no link between egg consumption and developing heart disease in adults. The study showed that eating an average of one egg per day has little effect on total blood cholesterol levels and doesn't increase the risk of heart disease or stroke. The research did indicate that excess saturated and trans fats have the greatest impact on blood cholesterol  levels.

So, limit the junk food and enjoy your eggs!

What's your favorite way to eat eggs? I start my day with a sliced hard-cooked egg on a piece of good toast.

Crafts
March 28, 2008

Are any of you artists? Crafters? Are you inspired by your chickens? I'm not an artist, I'm a writer. But I love the immediate gratification of making something tangible that comes from crafts. Recently I bought a pinback/magnet maker. Find some fun images on paper, cut it, pull the lever, and I have something to hold and wear! Right now I'm struggling writing a book (the words are all tangled up so far), and so I take breaks and make things. Here's the latest. Chickens of course. They're for sale on my etsy.com shop.

What I Did in NYC
March 25, 2008

I will tell you about the first fifteen minutes. My train arrived at Penn Station at dinner time. Like many other people, I exited the building and stood in a long line at the taxi stand. Penn Station is below Madison Square Garden, where Ringling Brothers Circus will be playing. So, next to the line of folks waiting for cabs were a line of protesters. Now, I'm the first one to stand up for caring humanely for animals, but PETA and the like have an anti-animal, anti-zoo, anti-animal training, extreme vegetarianism stance. Their outlook is unrealistic, has a warped view of animal/human relationships and does more harm than good.

What can I say, I got in a shouting match with them. New York brings out that in people.

Eggs for Sale!
March 20, 2008

The girls are laying (well, all except for Snowball who lays only 2 weeks out of the year) and I have enough extra eggs to sell some to neighbors and give some as gifts. I got a call a week ago from a woman who does Pysanksy decoration - that's a Ukrainian craft that uses a batik-like technique on eggs. She can't use supermarket eggs because the chemical wash prevents the dye from sticking properly. I was happy to sell her two dozen. A neighbor bought a dozen to blow out and make a centerpiece for her dining room table. I selected a range of eggs, from tiny to large, from white to blue, for her. And, a mother of my son's classmate has her mother coming for a visit. Her mother grew up on a farm and remembers good eggs. I was pleased to be able to put a carton in her hands. Best yet, I have a dear, 95-year old friend going through chemotherapy. Of course, she doesn't have much of an appetite, but she looks forward to eating eggs from my hens. I can't think of a better reason to keep chickens.

I'm about to catch the train to NYC. I'll be meeting with my editor and the designer for my children's book about Snowball and her friends. While I'm gone, the dogs will sulk and sleep. The chickens won't care - my husband will feed them. I'll miss everyone, of course, but I do love a dose of Manhattan now and then. I'll catch up with you next week.

When an Egg Just Doesn't Fit In
March 16, 2008

Sometimes a hen lays an egg that is a very odd shape. Last week, one of my girls laid a torpedo-shaped egg that was so long and skinny that I couldn't close the egg carton lid over it. In my fridge, where foods get moved around a lot, that was sure to mean a cracked egg and a mess, so I fed it to Scooter.

But, first, I had some fun.

Pecked to Death
March 11, 2008

This is not a pretty topic, but just about everyone who has kept chickens has faced it at least once. Sunday night I got a call from a friend here in town. She's kept chickens for thirty years, but just this week had her first experience with finding two hens pecked to death.

Chickens are omnivores. In storybooks they eat corn. Sometimes worms. In real life I've seen a hen gulp down a frog. They like cheese. And meat. Chickens are attracted to the color red. They'll peck at anything that color, including each other. It doesn't make them mean or vicious. It's just who they are.

Chickens peck at each other all of the time. The term "pecking order" comes from flock dynamics. Chickens let each other know who has first dibs to the best food and the best roost by using their beaks. They rarely hurt each other. It's simply how they communicate. But, sometimes something happens that upsets the equilibrium.

Yesterday, I went to my friend's coop to solve the mystery of why her established flock now had hens with gaping wounds and one rooster shivering on a high roost.

The first thing to ask is "has anything changed recently?"

Here are the clues:
This winter two Wyandotte pullets were added to the flock of mostly Polish and cochins. Wyandottes are a tad more assertive than the other breeds already there. After a few minutes of observation it was obvious that the Wyandottes are pecking the other hens.
The weather has been awful - dark, rainy, cold. The chickens have been inside.
My friend used to let her chickens free range, at least part of the day, but the fear of coyotes (often visible in the fields) have kept the chickens confined to a small coop and fenced pen.
She owns two large roosters. Both are nice boys, not at all aggressive to people, but they are huge and active.
Only one of the hens shows a bare saddle area where the rooster has been mounting her (bare-backed hens are a sign of mating.) Roosters have favorites, and it looks like this poor hen was showing the signs of excessive male attention. That hen has been pecked severely.

What this all adds up to is that this flock, that is larger than normal, has been more confined than usual. Bored chickens peck. Once a hen has reddish bare skin showing, the other hens go after her.

The solution:
1. Give away the Wyandottes. Their personalities don't mesh with the other hens. They might do fine in a different, free-ranging flock of large hens, or they might become stew.
2. Put duct tape on the bare back of the the pecked hen (duct tape should be in every farmer's medicine cabinet!). By the time it falls off the feathers will be growing back in.
3. Any chickens with wounds need to be isolated in pens (dog crates work great), their wounds washed and topical antibiotics applied until healed. This is a pain in the neck to do, but necessary. (I once kept a pecked hen in the basement for 4 weeks. While there, I taught her some tricks, just for the heck of it. Chickens are easy to train. Remind me to blog about that…)
4. Give the chickens scratch grains (such as cracked corn) first thing in the morning to give them something to do. Get cabbage and kale (often supermarkets will give you boxes of trimmed leaves for free) and hang them up, or hang in suet feeders (see one in the inside hencam). Birds that have greens to peck rarely peck each other.
5. Sometimes chickens peck each other because they lack calcium in their diet. Add crushed oyster shell to the scratch.
6. If all else fails, reduce the size of the flock and expand the run. Rarely do chickens peck if they have enough space. (This is only true if all birds are healthy. Always remove sick or wounded birds immediately!)

My friend has some work to do, but I'm sure her flock will once again find a peaceful equilibrium.

I've Got an Etsy Store!
and other fun things for you
March 10, 2008

Etsy is a sell site for crafters - each seller gets their own "store" on Etsy. It's one of my favorite web sites. Not only is it fun to peruse (great user interface!) but since everything listed is made by the sellers, the individuality and creativity of each craftsperson/artist comes through. I apologize in advance if you lose work productivity today because you get entranced and can't leave.

I opened an Etsy store of my own to sell pinbacks and magnets. There will be more chicken-themed items up soon. But, if you know any knitters, I've got some lovely magnets available made from a discarded knitting book. BTW, there's a great photo of Snowball sitting on my shoulder on my Etsy homepage. Go see.

And for more fun, I've added a couple of Web sites to my link page on chickenkeeping.com. The chicken group in Philadelphia has put together a page of silly chicken stuff, including youtube videos and games. On a slightly more serious note, Christine Heinrichs has a blog that often discusses rare breeds and chicken issues - it's good to check in with her once in awhile.

Have fun!

A Clean Sweep
March 6, 2008

I dislike housework, but I enjoy mucking out the barn- especially on the first strong-hint-of-spring day. Today the sun was out, the snow was melting and I was in the coop, shoveling. The first step is to get all of the hens into the yard and close the door behind them so I can work without their underfoot interference. It's not a big barn - a complete clean out fills just three muck buckets, but it is satisfying to do. I also swept down the cobwebs from the ceiling (not a pleasant job!) I splurged and emptied an entire bag of pine shavings in the coop, and filled the nesting boxes with them. Then I opened the door and let the girls back in.

I wish that Hencam had sound (maybe some day...) because you should have heard the comments. It was like giving a designer house tour to a ladies' club. First there were the chuckling murmurs and quiet clucks. Then, Eleanor got louder and louder, which set Marge off. Buck- buck- BUKS! Then, Petunia had to try out the nesting boxes. She wiggled her butt and settled into the middle one on the bottom. Had second thoughts and decided to try the one to the left. Gave a chortle of admiration for the fluffy pine shavings, then got up and went to the nesting boxes above. By the time I left the barn, she'd tried out four of the six boxes.

So, it seems as if the hens enjoy spring cleaning as much as I do.

Oh, So Trendy!
March 4, 2008

This catalog of pricey clothes and bed linens came in the mail last week. Look at the image they are using to sell their goods - farmstead eggs! (I don't know of any large farms raising Americaunas - so I'm confident that these pretty blue eggs came from a small flock.)

I was disappointed that the clothes models weren't posed in farmyards with chickens. In fact there was nary a hen in sight. Still, I felt just a tad more trendy out in the barn collecting eggs. Perrie lays a blue egg as pretty as the one in this catalog. Edwina's eggs are speckled. The party girls lay dainty white eggs. The nesting boxes in my barn are filled with eggs as pretty as a picture - even more photogenic than the ones on this catalog cover- and better yet, not only do I have the eggs, but I have my feathered friends, as well.

Nightmares
March 1, 2008

What's your worse nightmare? Taking a final exam naked? Zombies?

We food professionals have our own anxieties. A few nights ago I woke up in a sweat- I dreamt that I was in a restaurant kitchen plating pie slices and that I was using canned whip cream.

In or Out?
February 28, 2008

It's cold - 20 degrees F. this morning, and a windy 25 this afternoon. But, the hens are winter-hardy. It's perfectly healthy for them to go outside, and you can see them on Hencam, trying to scratch a morsel out of the frozen earth and pecking at a bit of glittering ice.

What you can't see are the hens in my new barn. Lulu, Snowball, Alma, Maizie, Edwina, Twinkydink and Buffy live there. They rarely go outside. Why this difference in behavior? Because the new barn is so cozy comfy, sunny and spacious. It has twice the floor space of the old barn and windows on all sides. There's water and laying hen pellets and roosts and  nesting boxes. In other words, why leave?

The hens in the old barn aren't overcrowded. They don't show any signs of stress. They don't aggressively peck each other; they are healthy and laying eggs. But it's a bit like living in a dorm room. Nice, but tight. The party girls, the white bantams, like to stay together and have elbow (wing? space) from the other chooks. You'll see them outside the most.

The girls in the new barn have no reason to go out. Sometimes I think they have it too good in there. I feel like a mom. You kids need to get out in the fresh air I want to say. In answer, I can just imagine the girls whining do we have to?

The Poultry Industry
February 25, 2008

The worldwide poultry industry is huge. Here is a report on the recent numbers just from the USA:

Exports of U.S. poultry, eggs, and related products surpassed $4 billion for the first time in 2007, according to the USA Poultry & Egg Export Council (USAPEEC). Total worldwide sales last year of all poultry and egg products, including poultry meat, live poultry, table and hatching eggs, processed egg products, and other products such as feathers and down, reached $4.0167 billion, nearly 40 percent over 2006, said USAPEEC, citing year-end data compiled by the Foreign Agricultural Service of USDA.

Meanwhile, here at Little Pond Farm, my 15 hens have laid 87 eggs so far this month. Enough for me to splurge and have Salmon and Asparagus Quiche for dinner, hard-cooked eggs for snacks, French Toast, pudding, and more. Recipes can be found in my Farmstead Egg Cookbook, though all of these recipes are so easy that after you've done them once, you can do them again with your eyes closed.

By next month, the girls will be laying so many eggs that I'll have enough to sell to my neighbors. There's a need for big farms to supply food to the world, and I'm a realist about the necessity of large-scale agriculture. (I'm not a localvore - I'll have to blog on that in the future.) But, how delightful it is to have eggs from my backyard hens and to be able to sell them within my community.

Links
February 20, 2008

Every morning I get a report listing what internet searches have led people to HenCam. A lot of you are looking for information about building coops, some like animal webcams, others are researching chicken breeds.

Then there are the folks who find my hen  house when they've actually been trolling for something else. In England, bachelorette parties are called "hen parties." Personally, I'd rather hang out with my chickens than get silly drunk at a bar, however I doubt that the soon-to-be married are going to watch HenCam instead of have an embarrassing night on the town. (Too bad...)

Yesterday, the person who searched for this found my chickens:

Polish girls in Sussex looking for love.

And how did you find HenCam? Let me know!

Chicken Love
February 14, 2008

People get chickens for all sorts of reasons. Gardeners who like to grow their own food see a backyard flock as an extension of their vegetable patch. Some think that a few chickens will teach their children about responsibility and where their food comes from. Others are serious about cooking with fresh eggs. Some simply think that chickens look fun to have.

We are a nation of pet lovers. We go on about our dogs as if they are children. We sleep nose-to-nose with cats on our pillows. But, very few people who get chickens do it out of love. Which is why, when we realize that we tell stories about our hens, just like we do about our puppies, when our kitchens have chicken motifs, and we have a growing collection of rooster pins,  and wear socks patterned with chicks, and friends greet us with "how are the girls?" (and they don't mean our children) we are surprised as everyone else.

Yes, we've become smitten with our chickens. Head over heels in love. You can admit it. Go ahead.

So, on this Valentine's day, buy something red for your girls - strawberries, tomatoes, red chard - you know what they like. You don't even have to say the L word out loud. They know.

Dog Training
February 8, 2008

I have two dogs. Lily is a rat terrier/border collie mix, and so she is alert, prey-driven, smart, and intense. She is a good farm dog and chases flying hawks out of the sky over our hen houses, keeps the deer out of the garden, and the squirrels off of the grass.

Scooter is a chihuahua mix. He is a lap dog. He is sweet and playful. His job is to keep Lily busy so that she doesn't drive me crazy. He's good at that, although lately he's been asking for more attention from me. So, although he has perfect house manners and is easy to get along with, I've decided to do some training with him.

I've put off training Scooter - sheer laziness on my part - but it's time. I like training animals. I believe in manners (kids, adults, animals all need them), and the only way to get a dog to be polite is to train it. Safety is an issue - I want the dog to come when called, stay in the car until given an "ok," and be gentle when taking treats. And then there are the silly pet tricks. They're so fun!

But the biggest reason to train your dog (or your chicken, I've trained them too) is to communicate more effectively with them. And the best way to do that is by "clicker training." If you're not familiar with this, go to my friend, Karen Pryor's web site. In a nutshell, it's positive reinforcement, using the same techniques that are used with marine mammals. It's kind, it's precise, it's effective.

Here is a funny training story:

I am training Scooter to stand on a piece of cardboard. Sort of  like getting an actor to go to his mark on stage. While I work with Scooter, I have Lily in a down stay on her mat. I toss her a cookie every once in awhile to reward her for staying put.

Scooter is just learning to go to the cardboard. He tends to take his time, sniff around a bit, and looks at me to see if staring at me with his big liquid brown eyes will get him a cookie without actually doing the work. Lily is watching. Scooter circles the cardboard. Lily has had it. She jumps up, smacks the cardboard with her paw and then goes back to her mat. It is absolutely clear that she is thinking, "there you stupid puppy, just do it!!!"

What's really impressive about Lily's outburst is that I've never taught her the cardboard trick. She figured it out just by watching me train Scooter!

Mud Season
February 6, 2008

Here in New England we have five seasons - summer, winter, spring and fall and MUD. Mud season is usually around March, but this year it's come early. Of course, there's a chance that we'll have two mud seasons this year - everything could freeze up again, and then thaw once more.

This is what makes a mud season: snow on the ground, days of rain, temperatures warm enough for the snow to melt, but not enough sun to evaporate any of the puddles of water caught between the frozen ground and the few inches of mud above.

The chickens are happy to have something soft to scratch in, and they're even out there in the rain. But, I worry about them more now than when the temperatures get well below freezing. It still gets really cold at night, and if they're damp when they go to roost, they can get chilled and sick. This is the time of year when we lost our silkies and a Polish (that's the type with the "hat" of feathers.) These breeds just don't have the feather insulation of the sturdier breeds.

I also keep only clean-legged hens - none with feathers on their legs. I love cochins, but during mud season their leg feathers bring in the muck and get it all over the nesting boxes and eggs.

I know that some people cope by putting down wood chips to get the girls high and semi-dry, but we'll just muddle through here at Little Pond Farm. (Bad pun, sorry!!)

Candy, by the way, does NOT like mud. There's still a pile of snow in her yard, and you'll find here there, sitting on the top, keeping her paws clean and pretending to ignore the hens.

The dogs, of course, love mud season. The dirt smells great! I've got a towel by the door and they are trained to let me wipe them off before coming in. Which helps a little.

The weather forecast is for rain the next five days, interspersed with snow showers. I've got my polka-dot mud boots by the door.

Stay warm and dry!

Marketing Good Eggs
February 4, 2008

No one has come up with a catchy phrase that encompasses the good things about eggs from small flocks of chickens that scratch around outside. "Humanely," like so many other terms, is open to interpretation. The chickens might not be exactly "free-range", nor necessarily "organic," and "local" doesn't speak to the housing or care. Say "pastured poultry" out loud, and it's like you have marbles in your mouth.

I came across this 1933 egg carton on Ebay. Nearby Eggs. Don't you love that? Look at the graphics! The picture says it all. Just don't bid on it. I want it.

Little Pond Farm
January 30, 2008

My house sits on two acres; there's lawn, woods, vegetable garden, one peach tree, some raspberry and blueberry bushes, two chicken coops, and this beautiful water feature. The centerpiece of which is that 17-ton rock, a wonderful hunk of granite that we got when we dynamited out the foundation for our house. The rock has a blasting hole straight through it, and that is where the water flows. In the summer, there are frogs and dragonflies, fish and (yuck) leeches, and so we call it a pond, and our little corner of the world, "Little Pond Farm" - the name being false advertising as we aren't really a farm.

Anyway, what do you call a place that has two acres, in a town that's not suburbs and not rural? Are we in the exurbs? And what is a place that has chickens and produces some food but isn't a working farm?

A dear friend and neighbor, who has lived in this town for 60+ years, and has raised ponies and golden retrievers, calls her place a "farm." But she has more right to that title - not only does she own forty acres, but broodmares and foals make for a real farm, don't they? Years ago, she also kept chickens. In 1942, she did what I do now, sold eggs to her neighbors. Back then, she got 35¢ a dozen, which in today's dollars is $4.45, more than I get today!

Well, whatever you want to call this little slice of land, I'm happy to be here.

In or Out?
January 28, 2008

When I looked outside this morning, I was surprised to see that none of the hens were outside in the run. Sure, there's a new dusting of snow on the ground, but it's not deep. Usually most of the girls go outside at first light.

I spread some hay on the ground, but still the girls decided to stay indoors. Candy is delighted to have fresh hay and the run to herself, and unlike me, she doesn't worry a tad about why the hens aren't milling around.

Sometimes chickens stay indoors because they've had a fright from predators, but I don't think that's it. They show no signs of stress. And Lily, my Rat Terrier/Border Collie mix who always lets me know when there's an unwelcome animal in the backyard didn't sniff the ground or put her hackles up, so I'm sure the hens slept well last night.

I am hoping that the girls are indoors because they are thinking about laying eggs. Indoors is where the nesting boxes are. Maybe "thinking" is too strong a word. Maybe they just have a sense that they should be doing something in there.

The eight hens in the HenCam barn are laying between one and three eggs a day. I don't expect an egg a day - some of the girls are a few years old and slowing down - but four a day would be nice! I've got some custards I'd like to make...

Signs of Spring
January 22, 2008

It was 10 degrees F. this morning. There's 6 inches of hard, icy snow on the ground. But, there are two sure signs of spring:

1) The gardening catalogs have arrived in the mail. I will try (yet again) not to order too many seeds. It's easy to get carried away when the only green outside is on the pine trees. I don't have enough room in the garden to plant everything I'd like, so I try and limit my selections. I also have enough gardening experience to know that some things just don't do well for me; I'm death to sweet peppers. I've also got a terrible problem in my vegetable patch with cabbage loopers - but am thinking of planting kale anyway, just for the girls. Leafy greens covered with bugs is their favorite treat.

2) The hens have started laying! I'm getting enough eggs so that I can put the oatmeal back in the pantry, and have my hard-cooked egg on homemade toast in the morning. I know that a number of HenCam viewers found this site because they asked the question "when will the hens start laying?" or "what's wrong with my Orrpington?" The only thing amiss with your chickens is the dark of winter! So, even if it well below freezing, go out and check your nesting boxes - if possible twice a day, so that the eggs don't sit there and freeze and crack. Also, if you have pullets who have never laid before, put a wooden egg in each box to give your girls a hint about where to lay. (Purchase these eggs from poultry supply houses, like EggCartons.com. See my site, chickenkeeping.com for a list.)

New England Poultry Congress
January 14, 2008

I spent a couple of enjoyable hours on Saturday at the New England Poultry Congress, where hundreds of birds were on display. This view is of only half of the building! The man in the white coat is one of the judges.

There were classes for junior exhibitors.

There were people walking around with their favorite birds.

I had a chance to talk to knowledgeable people. I finally learned how to tell the difference between White Old English Game and Bantam White Leghorns. (Snowball fits a bit of each description but her yellow legs gives her away as a Leghorn. Let's just be tactful and say she'd never win a ribbon!)

And I checked out the geese. I have a hankering to get a couple of these Sanbastapol. I love how this breed looks like it's wearing a wedding gown.

But, even though there was a sale area, I didn't come home with any new birds. I think I should wait until we're not snowed in!

PASA Farming Conference
January 8, 2008

Once in awhile I get a question from someone who wants to be a real farmer and make an income off of their flock. I'm not the person to go to for that advice! The place to go is the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture's Annual Farming For the Future Conference from Feb. 7 to 9. There will be workshops titled, "Mistakes Not to Make Your First Year Farming" and "Raising Premium Pastured Poultry." I won't be there - but I have donated a Farmstead Egg Cookbook and HenCam hat to the charity auction.

I'd love to hear from you if you go!

Supporting Local Agriculture
January 7, 2008

When do you think this quote was written?

"we of the east send west of the New York-Ohio state boundary between 900 Million and a Billion Dollars every year for food products that could and would grow here in the east."

And this:

"If you are so unfortunate that you are compelled to live in a city where you cannot keep even a half dozen hens in your back yard, you can help some by insisting that your grocer supply you with nearby eggs."

No, this isn't from some recent locavore tract. It's from the Lay or Bust Almanac from 1921.

What's New is Old
January 6, 2008

I have a collection of poultry books and pamphlets from the early 1900's. The material looks charming and dated, yet the advice is good -or better- than what is found in books and on-line today. The Lay or Bust Yearbook, put out by the feed company of the same name is a case in point.

Their market is the "back lot poultry keeper."

My favorite bit of advice from this brochure is, "don't go into the poultry business if you do not like hens." Can you see Perdue saying that to their contract farmers? But, it makes great sense if you keep 50 hens in your backyard. The more you enjoy being with the flock, the more you'll interact with them, and be aware of their health and needs. A small flock is right there when you walk out the door. The girls will cluck to you. You'll see them out your kitchen window. They will be as much a part of the your life as the family dog.

Chickens were often vital to a household's income. Back in 1917, a dozen eggs in Boston sold from one neighbor to another, went for 75¢. In today's dollars, that's $12.32. Makes the $4.00/doz. carton of organic eggs at your local farmers' market look like a bargain, doesn't it?

Roosting
January 3, 2008

As promised in yesterday's blog, here are photos of some of the girls roosting.

This is LuLu, fluffed up on the shelf by the window. She's the only one who sleeps up there.

Here is Snowball, tucked between Edwina and Ginger. I had to turn on the light to get the photo, so Ginger stood up and Edwina peered around. Snowball wasn't about to lose her cozy place - she turned her head but didn't move her body. You can tell by her tail down position and her wings held out a bit that she's relaxed and settled in for the night.

New Year Eggs
January 2, 2008

Chickens need to bask in 14 hours of sunlight to lay productively, but once in awhile, you'll have a hen that will lay straight through the winter. The Wyandottes appear to be doing their bit to keep me supplied with eggs, but no one else is chipping in right now. I've stopped having scrambled eggs and smoked salmon for dinner, and I am baking recipes that don't require custards. I miss eggs, but am trying not to buy any from the market. I know that if I can make it through to February, the girls will start laying again.

Despite the weather (the snowiest December ever recorded in this area), the girls are all doing fine. It's been quite cold, but they are in a dry and draft-free shelter and don't need a heater. The two "party girls" (the small white hens) cozy up together at night. Snowball, the smartest hen, squeezes between the two largest girls, so that you can barely see her. Snowball has her own living down comforter! (I'll try to get a photo of that tonight to show you.) Even the hens who are molting and showing skin are keeping warm enough.

Candy is delighted with the white stuff and has made a U-shaped tunnel in the corner of the yard.

My big dog, Lily, found the discarded Halloween pumpkins, half-buried in the snow. She ate quite a lot, and then made a huge mess in the house (and people make fun of tiny bird brains!)

So, that's the mid-winter report. Happy New Year!

I'd love to hear from you! Email Terry at terry@terrygolson.com

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