week 42: on tap
this week on the little dream farm
Every now and again I like to do a run-down style Farm Note of the things we’ve got going on around here on the LDF. Today will be one such Farm Note.
Mr. Chris:
First up—today is Chris’ birthday!
Now, something you’ve likely observed about Chris through the years is that he’s a pretty straightforward, super low-key kind of guy. He’s not on social media at all (except Twitter to follow sports) and you can usually find him somewhere in the background as I share on IG.
Knowing this, you can imagine Chris hates for anyone to fuss over him in any kind of way. So this will make him roll his eyes real good when he reads this while having his coffee in the morning (haha even Mr. Chris reads the Farm Note on Sunday mornings!), but I’ll take a moment to brag on the birthday guy that I get to see up close every day:
Happy Birthday to the man who gives absolutely everything to and for our family.
Thank you Chris, for always going above and beyond for me, for our animals, for this farm, for the life we’re building together, and for yourself.
Me…and our 16 animals(!!!) are so lucky we get to call you ours…my love, my very best friend, and the ultimate dada to the critter crew.
I love this life we’ve been building through the years. And I sure to love you. Here’s to many many more. Happy Birthday!
Breakfast and dinner here on the LDF for the Furmer crew are two of my favorite moments of every day. When we switched to Darwin’s raw cat food, I knew that we were making the very best decision for our seven kitties health and wellbeing.
But the way they show up to meal time excited for every single meal. The way they all go to their respective places and wait patiently for their bowl. The way they all smack their food as they eat. The way they lick their bowls clean and gobble up every single morsel, and the way they all sit together in the kitchen and lick themselves silly post-meal.
We swapped to Darwin’s for their health, but we stick with Darwin’s because the cats are obsessed with their food, and we can’t get enough of meal time with the Furmers every day.
Ready to make the swap for your cat(s) or dog(s)? Use the code: FURMERS at checkout to get 50% off your first order by visiting Darwin’s site and placing an order here.
And now back to the Farm Note…
Co-Birthdays:
Chris and I happen to both be Libras and I celebrate my birthday on the 16th. Every year we call October 18th our Co-Birthday, and this year we spent it taking the day off work for some last leaf peeping of the season!
We knocked out the morning chores on the farm, hit the road and headed south to the Hudson NY area. We made a stop for coffee and breakfast at one of our favorite little mountain cafes, drove along some of the prettiest mountain roads to catch the views, stopped into a specialty butcher shop to get some really great cuts of meat and a few fixins, headed into downtown Hudson for some antiquing, then made our way back home.
I knocked out the afternoon chores while Chris picked up some Thai food for us for dinner from a nearby place that does the very best chicken pad thai and drunken noodles—as always it hit the spot!
Saturday To Do:
Saturday I sent Chris off to the gym while I got ready to hop in the truck and head to the Washington County Fairgrounds for the fall antique festival. This event happens twice a year, but sadly we’ve not yet had a chance to go! Got to make that right and threw some cash in my wallet, took the truck in case I found some larger items, and spent a few hours bopping around from booth to booth talking to so many of the vendors about art and farm life and cooking and furniture. I came home with two incredible finds: a giant cast iron kettle that can be used as a humidifier (it’s one of the biggest I’ve ever seen!) and a cast iron pot that I can’t wait to re-season and make a nice hearty meal in!
The big chore on my list this weekend is breaking down the Dahlia Patch, and I’m proud to report that as of Saturday evening all the corralling twine is taken down, all the t-posts are removed, all the plants are cut down, and all the drip irrigation is taken up. Still left to do is dig the dahlias, get them boxed up once they’ve had a few days to dry out in the barn, take up the landscape fabric, drop the boxes off in our friend’s basement, and call it a wrap for the 2024 season!
Molly-Max:
We finally finished Molly-Max’s lengthy stint on antibiotics and while he still has a lingering noticeable infection in his hoof, he’s faring much better overall. This weekend, for the first time in a month, we were able to let Max and Dominic out into their pasture to stretch their legs and munch on some grass, now that we’ve had a few good frosts and the grass isn’t so green and full of sugar.
I happened to catch this video of Molly-Max out in the pasture while I was in the Dahlia Patch…
Black and White Kitty:
Now why would BWK need a section all her own? Well, lately she’s been a lot more accepting of Chris’ attention and they developed this whole little routine where every night when he’s hanging out in the living room, he stands in one spot, calls her over, she comes to him, makes this adorable little trill, and then lets him pet her and scratch her and rub her head.
This week he focused on picking her up a few times and she’s getting better every single time!
It’s so nice to finally see her really coming around to us in the house and she’s definitely going to be a daddy’s girl through and through!
Winding Down the Farm
We’re busy finishing everything up for this growing season and tidying up the farm for winter.
Chris is blowing leaves every few days and dumping them into the Big Garden onto all the cleared out garden beds as a winter mulch. That’ll be ongoing for him for another week or two.
I’ve cut down most of the growing beds and spaces so far around the farm. Ideally, you’d leave all the spent plants, both for winter interest and for insects, but we had some leaf blight in a few places this year so I proactively cleared the beds and I’m relieved to know they’ll be ready for fresh planting come next Spring and that clearing them is one less chore for future us.
We’ll be re-stacking hay bales to ensure we’re full up for the winter and will grab more from a nearby neighbor if needed.
We stock up on bedding for the hens and donkeys so we have it on hand for winter.
I am finished mowing the farm for the season and it feels good to be able to park and cover the zero turn for the winter and bring the batteries inside for winter storage.
Next week I’ll be taking down all the patio planters and remaining hanging baskets to clean up the patio.
This week we’ll be placing our order with our farmer for a Christmas roast (we’ve already placed the order for a fresh Thanksgiving turkey!) and we’ll likely go with another nearby farmer again for a New Year’s duck! Gotta get those orders in ahead of time so the farmers can plan ahead!
Celebrating Three Years
If you made it this far then you’ll probably find it hard to believe that we’ve been on the LDF now for THREE years! October 19th marks our anniversary of the day we moved to the farm. In a way it’s hard to believe so much time has gone by. On the other hand, it feels like just yesterday we pulled up the driveway to our new home and very first farm. It’s bittersweet for sure and I’ve spent the weekend feeling super sentimental about our years spent here on this farm, and excited for what’s ahead.
See what I mean?! We were due for a run down so I could catch you up on the goings on here on the farm!
I’ll leave you with this snap of Molly-Max and Dominic out in their pasture with the gorgeous fall color as the backdrop:
Take care of yourself and enjoy the rest of your weekend. I’d love to hear about anything you’ve got going on in your corner of the world if you’d like to catch me up!!
Here’s a few fall/winter things I just got in from Old Navy that I can’t get enough of:
*Note: Not all, but most of these links are affiliate links. That’s no matter to you, as it costs you nothing. However, if you make a purchase, we -may- receive a teeny weeny commission.
Happy Birthday to Chris! Thank you for sharing your life and your furbabies and little girlies!!! You are such an inspiration!
Love all of your posts!
Happy Birthday to both of you! Lights in our world for sure🎶🎈❤️🎂