Tag: Maine life

Maple Syrup and the Good Life

~ Crystal Sands ~ Leave a comment

I have much to report. We are on Day 7 with the Rhode Island Red eggs, and all seems well. Maggie’s two babies are getting big, and Maggie seems to be figuring out motherhood. Our little Salmon Faverolle, Prudence, has been sitting on seven turkey eggs. I candled them this week, and six are very well developed. They are due on the 29th. Please cross your fingers for Prudence and her turkey babies. We also found another of our turkeys, our fierce girl, Athena, was hiding 24 turkey eggs and sitting on them. It was Ron’s job to collect the turkey eggs, but he is fired now. I let Athena keep thirteen eggs that seemed to be similarly developed. I have broody mamas everywhere, I am their assistant. We are trying to raise a round of turkeys for food instead of pets. I am scared we are going to be in trouble, but we will see.

In addition to being a broody hen assistant, I told Ron last week that I am a hunter-gatherer of sorts. I am getting pretty good at finding local farms for things we cannot grow or raise or make ourselves, but after I hunt everything down, I have to connect with each farmer and then find times that work to meet. They are all so kind, and I appreciate that they all love what they do so much because I know the work is hard.

I often have great talks with the honey people, the beef people, and so on because they all care for their animals so deeply and care about providing good food to people.

But, today, I had my first long talk with the maple syrup people, and it was a treat!

This farm is super local. It’s in the same small town we live in, and they specialize in blueberries and maple syrup. Today, Ron made pancakes for breakfast, and we had so little maple syrup that we had to ration it. This is unacceptable.

I grew up in the south, and Ron grew up in the west. Neither of us had ever had maple syrup until we moved to Maine. I don’t know how I ever lived without it.

And I don’t want maple syrup from the store. I want it from someone in Maine who makes their living making maple syrup. It will be cheaper, better, and I believe 100 percent in supporting local agriculture. I don’t believe the global food system is going to hold up super well in the coming years. I want local to thrive as much as possible.

I went to the website to see if the farm store with the maple syrup was open today. They were not. They said they were busy getting ready for blueberry season but would take appointments. I texted the number, asked if the woman could meet me this afternoon. Thankfully, she could.

I met her right at 2:00 PM, and I went straight to the biggest jugs of syrup. I got three.

“You mean business about maple syrup,” she said.

I laughed. I hate taking up a farmer’s time unless they want to chat. I know they are incredibly busy this time of year. I am so thankful when they will make time to meet with me.

“Yeah, we love your maple syrup, ” I said. “We needed to stock up.”

Then, I told her about Ron’s waffles because they are the best waffles in the history of the world. They are so good we are planning to make them for friends and neighbors this summer.

“We figured out how to make sourdough waffles, and they are amazing,” I said, feeling the need to explain myself but also wanting to express my gratitude for sharing their good work with the community.

“Oh, do you make Belgian waffles?” she asked.

“Oh yeah,” I replied. “You gotta have the deep pockets for your delicious syrup.”

After that, it was on. She was telling me how you are supposed to eat waffles, and I was agreeing wholeheartedly. When it comes to maple syrup, she and I are on the same page.

As we were talking about how much we both liked maple syrup, she said some people like “just a little drizzle” on their pancakes or waffles, “but not me.”

“I have to make it so my waffle or pancake is so full of syrup it’s like a sponge.” I nodded in agreement. That’s how it has to be.

“But that’s not enough,” she continued. “I need some extra on the side to dip the sponge in.’

We were both laughing, and I was in full agreement. That’s exactly how I want to eat waffles and maple syrup.

We talked a bit more while she helped me get the syrup to my car.

“Really, pancakes and waffles are there just to give us a reason to eat maple syrup,” I said in conclusion, and she laughed and agreed.

As I was getting into my car to leave, she said something that really struck me.

“We’re living the good life, aren’t we?”

I paused and thought about that all the way home. Indeed, we are.

I am thankful.

photo credit: Nadine Primeau, Unsplash

After the Rain

~ Crystal Sands ~ 1 Comment

Spring is keeping us busy. Ron is planting. I am raising baby turkeys, pruning fruit trees, and keeping a young cellist on track with a very busy May schedule. I have found that December and May are the two busiest months in my son’s musician life, but I think Mays are the busiest. It’s a very good busy, though. All of these performances are giving him such good experiences, and of course, even though I am constantly planning travel, food, water, and wardrobe, I am rewarded for my efforts with beautiful music. It has been a good spring.

Last week, it was a bit hot, and I am thankful that it cooled down. Yesterday it rained. It has been a pretty wet spring, which means tons of black flies and mosquitos (it has been one of the worst years I have ever seen for the black flies), but the garden is very, very happy. So far, Ron has planted peas, potatoes, lettuce, onions, spinach, beets, kohlrabi, and he has all the tomatoes, peppers, and melons started in the house. He has been so busy. I have felt badly for him planting out amongst those epic black flies. I am covered in bites just from my limited time pruning trees and such. I don’t even know how he stands to stay out there some days, but stand it he does.

And the garden is looking beautiful.

And speaking of beautiful, yesterday, after the rain, I got some great pictures of the fruit trees and of Ruby. By the way, we let the ducks come over and hang out with the chickens last week, but the ducks kind of bullied the chickens–except Ruby. I was talking over the fence with my neighbor when I heard a commotion. I looked over, and Ruby had had enough with being bullied. She was throwing down with the ducks!

Before I could get there, she had won, and the ducks moved on. I have no words for how much I admire that hen.

Here are some lovely photos from after the rain yesterday.

pear blossoms
Ruby under pear blossoms, being magnificent
Anna Maria in the front
cherry blossoms
apple blossoms

Late Fall

~ Crystal Sands ~ 2 Comments

I realize it is not really “late” fall. But I am looking out the window this morning at my maple tree friend, and all of her leaves are gone. Only the oaks still have their leaves. The yard is full of leaves, and the chickens are so happy. The love digging through the leaves.

It has been a strange fall in many ways. The weather has been quite hot by Mainer standards most of the time, with a swing into the chilly every now and again. Today, it is chilly. I think this one might stick. Ron has the basement full of wood and wood stacked near the garage for this coming winter. He is now on a mission to find wood for the coming years, and it seems like his work in that area never ends. We have had our wood stove since 2020, and so far, a storm brings down some tree some where every year in order to provide enough wood for the following year. It could be, however, that the strong winds have cleared out all they are going to clear out, so Ron is wondering if maybe we will have to buy wood to heat our home next year. We’ll see though. Who knows what the winter storms might do.

The chickens have mostly stopped laying. We are getting just three to five eggs per day, and we have feathers everywhere from the molt. I got this picture of Ruby the other day because she looks so cute. She’s still being her Ruby self. She’s very busy and still very vocal. The ducks had completely stopped laying last week, at least I thought. This morning, there was a single egg in the duck house. I was so happy because duck eggs are my favorite. Our plan is that we will not get ducks again after our flock passes away over time, but it will be tough to never have duck eggs again. We talked about how we could just buy some, but I have not seen anyone in our area who raises organic duck eggs.

I have been really busy wrapping up fall classes and processing more food from the garden. The long summer meant an epic tomato crop. I think I have made enough sauce for two years. I was gifted some organic grapes and made grape jelly. Ron planted a fall crop of greens, so today, I will be gathering spinach and lettuce and bagging it up to have it for just a little longer. A big freeze is coming tomorrow night. We have had a couple of light frosts, but the greens can handle that. Ron says they may not handle this one though, at least not the varieties he has planted. I guess it really is late fall.

Mostly, things are going well here on the homestead. Boudica and Bairre, our Pyrenees are busy and healthy. It’s cool enough that we can take them for walks every evening now. In fact, if Bairre doesn’t get a walk, he pouts and refuses to eat, so we are sure to walk. The evenings are just gorgeous, and the walks are good for my soul.

The only bad news is that after over a year with no rats, they are back. I just saw one last night, as I was getting the chicken food to put up for the night. Just a few weeks ago, I was feeling a little smug, thinking that being so neat and careful with the chicken feed has really worked to keep the rats away, but then I remembered that there is a garden full of food, our neighbor’s compost exists, and we had owls living right by the house last fall. I thought it was probably really just a matter of luck that we had no rats. I guess that was right. I am so bummed. They are beautiful, intelligent creatures, but they are so, so destructive. My teenage son loves the owls, and last fall, they hung out with him in the evenings. I told him I needed him to summon his owl friends. He looked at me like I was a crazy witch lady. I get that from him fairly regularly.

I guess that’s all the news for this morning. Stay cozy, friends, and stay sane. It’s a tough time for our culture. There’s a lot of instability. I am just trying to remind myself that, no matter what happens, it’s a good idea to keep learning to be self sufficient. In so many ways, it feels like we are on our own. In so many ways, it seems like we need to stick together.

top photo credit: Ronan Sands

The Night Before

~ Crystal Sands ~ 1 Comment

Tonight, we are expecting another big storm, another nor’easter, and I think we are ready. There is gas for the generator; Ron cleaned the chicken coop since the poor chickens will likely be confined to the coop all day; and I made enough homemade pizza to last three days.

I am not really ready mentally though. I feel especially worn of winter this year, and I worry about the poor chickens. It’s been a back and forth spring for sure with quite a few storms. The chickens get some freedom, and then they lose it. They get some freedom, and then they lose it. I noticed during the last nor’easter that tempers were flaring. In their older age, Bertha and Cora are pretty grumpy.

But I wanted to tell a quick story about Luna.

Luna is living her best life in the mud.

I have been making sure I touch her every night during peas because I don’t want her to forget about me. When Anna Sophia was in the house for a couple of months, we were best good friends, and a few weeks after she moved back with her people, it was like she forgot all about me. The only thing I notice is that she is almost always the last one in the duck house after playing the duck game after peas, but that’s all I get. She went back to her wild and free self. I don’t want that to happen to Luna–at least not all the way.

Luna is certainly living it up as her wild and free self. Ducks love mud season more than life itself it seems, and Luna, who was so clean and neat in the house is wild and dirty every day. She’s the dirtiest one.

Tonight, I got a sad surprise because, when she was eating her duck peas, she wouldn’t let me touch her! I tried twice, and she moved away from me. I stood above the ducks while they ate and watched the wind blow through the trees, signaling what is to come tonight.

I was thinking to myself, “This is how it goes. You love things and then you have to let them go.”

But, then, when we were playing the duck game, I noticed it was Luna who was the last one to go into the duck house instead of Anna Sophia, so I decided to see if I could pick her up. She let me. She looked a little concerned at first, so I said, in my sweetest sing-song voice, “Luna baby,” And the look in her eyes changed. I could see she remembered me still.

I leaned my head in and she leaned her head in, and we just stood there, leaning in for a minute. She rubbed her head on my cheek just like she used to do, and I was so grateful.

I sat her down in the duck house and told her I loved her. She went back with her people.

I miss Luna–and other updates

~ Crystal Sands ~ 3 Comments

Tomorrow will mark the two week anniversary of Luna returning to the flock. We had to keep the bully duck separated for a week, but Mean Girl has now returned to the flock as well. Our plan worked, and Mean Girl is no longer Mean Girl and is now just Carmelita again. Luna is getting along very well, though, I swear, in all of the snow and ice here yesterday, I think she looked at me with a certain kind of longing for her warm fire and Back cello suites.

Still, she is doing very well overall. The other ducks will not let me touch them unless they need some kind of help, but every night, when I deliver the bowl of peas at bedtime, I just touch Luna all over her little feathers and tell her I love her so much. She lets me. And that’s the extent of our relationship now. I can’t stop missing her, and I am definitely changed for the better by my experience with her. This summer, I’m going to make our son play some Bach on his cello outside on the deck where she can hear. I want to see if she remembers.

In other news, the ducks and chickens are laying in full force. I have been too worn out to try to sell eggs, even to most of our regular customers, so I think right now we have about 10 dozen eggs in the house–and that’s with our son eating many, many eggs every day. He loves fresh eggs. It’s a good thing he lives on a chicken farm.

Look at these beautiful duck eggs. That striped one is the little miracle Luna left for us the last night she was in the house. I did pretty well keeping her out of the light, and she only laid an egg about twice per week. I guess her “ink” was doing funny things. What a treasure!

We have had some terrible weather the last couple of days. Everything was all spring like, and I was ready for it. Then, we got snow and then more snow and wind and rain and ice and then some more snow. Ron and I spent all of yesterday shoveling trying to keep the ducks comfortable and trying to stay ahead of the ice. We did pretty well overall, but still, this morning, I had to use warm water to open the doors on the chicken coop and shed with the straw.

I told Ron this morning that I had never seen anything quite like this morning, but then I realized I remember saying that last year when we had the -50 degrees with the wind chill and that this is what climate change is all about–a whole bunch of “I have never seen anything like this before.”

Speaking of climate change, I actually went back to really writing this week. I have been in a drought for a long time. I have much to write in the blog, but I spent last week working on an article about climate change in Maine that will be published next month. The article was interesting to research, and I learned so much. It also felt good to be back to work in that way. When I was really struggling with COVID, I made a bunch of deals with myself and the universe that, if I could just get better, I was going to focus my energy on things I love much more. I am happy to be back to writing.

I sure miss Luna though.

Beautiful Maine

~ Crystal Sands ~ Leave a comment

I didn’t write all weekend because I have been having some accidental adventures away from home. My son, the cellist, had a big music camp this weekend, and I ended up having to chaperone the girls the first night. I was not expecting this and didn’t really want to spend my Friday night sharing a cabin and a bathroom with 12 girls.

It turned out great though because I loved hanging out with such smart kiddos. Those girls were great. Very sweet and polite. Plus, I got to stay in a beautiful place. I was in an uncomfortable bunk, but it was in the Maine woods, in the fall, on a lake. That helped.

photo credit: Ronan Sands

I have found myself falling more and more in love with Maine the longer I stay here and get to know it. I have loved living here for the longest time, but I love it more all the time. I have always had the soul of a wanderer. I have lived in several states and moved back and for the across the country three times. I guess I was trying to find my place. I surely did.

On the drive to my son’s camp, I saw the most beautiful Maine. And, on the last day, as we drove to our son’s concert while the sun was low in the sky, I saw a tractor, on a beautiful farm, with colors of fall in the background, and the sun shining so orange. It was breathtaking. I have no picture, of course, as we were on the road, so I can only try to capture that beauty in words. I literally gasped.

I read that this fall is going to be particularly spectacular for the fall colors here in Maine because of all of the rain we have had. My Maple tree is turning full red. I’ve never seen her do that before. I can’t wait to see how she lets go for the winter. I’ll definitely keep you posted.

I am sharing this picture taken by my son at camp. There were these fantastic nut trees in front of the cabins at the camp (though this picture might be of an oak). I have to confess that I wanted to pick up all the nuts and take them with me if they were just going to sit there, but I resisted and left them for the squirrels.

Isn’t it a beautiful photo?

Footprints in Snow

~ Crystal Sands ~ 4 Comments

Day 280 of 365

Over the last two years, I have been collecting photographs of footprints in snow around our little farmstead. I love seeing the footprints of all of the animals who live here with us or just come visit us and share this space with us. I admire all of these creatures.

The other day, I finally landed footprints I have been coveting–crow footprints! I decided then and there I was going to share my collection in the blog. I hope you enjoy, as these are magnificent to me!

duck prints
chicken print
squirrel prints
Great Pyrenees print (This was from Gus. I treasure this.)
deer prints
These are chicken prints (Ruby) and Blue Jay prints. The Blue Jays love to share Ruby’s food I leave for her. Aren’t those Blue Jay prints precious?
And these are crow prints! I saw these prints before I let the chickens out in the morning, and they were so big I panicked. I thought one of the chickens was out, but then I saw the crows and was so pleased!
I love these prints. These are my boot prints, and chicken footprints, and wild bird footprints–all together.

Ruby gets her way…again

~ Crystal Sands ~ 5 Comments

270 of 365

This is Ruby tonight at bed time, all snuggled into her straw. I know she’s thinking, “I’m just gonna stay here from now on.”

Last night, I had a dream Ruby died, that she was bullied to death by the rest of the flock. I have no idea why I had that particular dream, but I have been having a variety of anxiety dreams all week. In this dream about Ruby, I went outside, and the chickens were all in the snow and had killed Ruby. Rooster was standing back watching it all, and I was like, “Rooster, why didn’t you help?” And then I woke up.

This morning, Ron and I did final rounds of prep for the chickens and ducks. He lined the walls of the duck house with straw, and I picked up any spots of chicken poop, made sure the coop was super clean and dry, and then added nearly a whole extra bale of straw. That coop was fluffy.

When I first went out to put in the food, Ruby tried to escape through the front door as she usually does in the mornings. But I wouldn’t let her out. “Not today, Ruby,” I said. “It’s too cold today.”

She tried again when I went to get the water. I stopped her with my boot, and I could tell she was quite upset over this. I figured she was just going to have to be tough today, and I dismissed my dream, deciding I could not let an anxiety dream dictate my decision making. It was hard though when I saw her try to eat and get pecked on the head by Circe, who is Ruby’s exact age but clearly above her in the pecking order. Poor Ruby is so low on that pecking order, and I just don’t know why. Some people just never fit in, I guess.

When I finished spreading and fluffing the straw, I saw a hen with her head so far in the corner I couldn’t recognize her. She had her head down so low and cornered and was trembling. When I went to pick her up, she didn’t fuss a bit, so I was surprised to find it was poor little Ruby.

I feel this is an important side story to tell: Normally, when I pick up Ruby, she acts like she is going to certainly die. She screams and fusses. I am always and forever just trying to help her or get her put up, and I know she knows me well because she will follow me around for treats. But as soon as I touch her, she acts like it is the end of the world. I feel terrible because I am sure everyone within a mile thinks I am abusing my chickens.

Today, when I picked her up from that corner, she just put her little head on my arm and went along for the ride. She didn’t make a peep.

I took her to the garage, but even the garage was cold. I had to go back out into the cold, get a dog crate, go get more straw, fill it up, and then get it into the garage between our cars. I got her fresh food, water, scratch, and even brought her cornbread several times today. Each time, the temperature in the garage seemed okay, as did Ruby. My original plan was to put her back into the coop tonight to sleep with the flock, but Ron said, “why don’t you just let her stay in the garage tonight.” And then I told him about my dream, and we agreed that Ruby could stay in the garage for a few days until this cold spell breaks. Plus, she is just finishing her molt, so she just barely has all of her feathers back.

When I went out to check on her at bedtime to make sure she was snuggled up in her straw, she was there. So content. She talked to me in a such a sweet voice. I love that chicken. I am honestly not sure how much she is playing me or if she is just a deep feeler, which makes her seem kind of dramatic. Some people just feel everything so deeply that they come across as being melodramatic. Maybe that’s just who Ruby is. Either way, she has my heart, and I am glad to give her her way.

PS Right now, it is -16 but feels like -40. When I went out to give the ducks their bedtime peas, I couldn’t get the door latched with my gloves on. So, for just a second, I took off my glove and touched the metal latch. I have apparently been frost nipped. It hurts quite a bit, but I read it will stop hurting in a day or so. I can’t believe it happened that fast. If you’re in Maine and reading this, be safe out there. Don’t take off your gloves. And stay as cozy as you can.

Snow Shoveling…with Friends

~ Crystal Sands ~ 4 Comments

Day 253 of 365

The snow was real snow today, not ice-snow, and the sun was out making for a lovely day. It was a good day to shovel snow, especially when you have such good friends who hang out with you while you shovel.

This is little Arwen. She is, perhaps, my favorite chicken. She’s the last baby from Rooster and is the great grand baby of Poe. She reminds me a lot of Poe. She’s smart and chill and observant. She hung out with me the whole time I shoveled in the chicken area, and then, when I went to shovel the deck, I saw her roaming around the whole yard, just walking on top of the snow. Isn’t she beautiful? And do you remember her from this summer? She was the little chick who would sneak under the fence and steal watermelon from the big chickens this summer. I had never seen anything like it. Her boldness was surprising, and I wondered what she would be like as a grown up. Really, really smart. That’s what she’s like as a grown up.

This is Dvorak and the back side of Piatigorsky. My little crew I raised this summer mostly sticks together still. I think Dvorak was the first one out of the coop today. Being cooped up with Rooster all day long was stressful. Dvorak completely understands that Rooster is the boss.

Every time I shovel this path, many hens will follow me out there. That’s Arwen in the front, and Poe Jr. Jr. is behind her.

These are some of the trees in the chicken area. They look so beautiful to me in the snow. We have lots of oaks, some maples, and some birch. We also have a lot of pine and fir trees.

You can see we are starting to get a little pile of snow. After a winter of no winter, I don’t mind the snow. The chickens, on the other hand, are not fans.

This is little Arwen. After I finished shoveling, she just took off around the whole property all by herself. Here, she is exploring the garden, which looks so empty in the winter time.

This is on the other side of our property where the ducks live and the dogs work and play. Bairre can’t be trusted with the chickens yet, and he’s barely able to be trusted with the ducks. We have had setbacks in the last week. It’s a reminder that Great Pyrenees do have to be taught not to chase the little things. Boudica is rebelling and not helping, which is unfortunate because she’s the best teacher, but today, Ron told her, “If he gets into the ducks, I’m gonna be grumpy at you.” I am not even kidding. Bairre did not get into the ducks the whole rest of the day.

And here she is. I think she’s the most majestic being I have ever known. Isn’t she beautiful? I think I ask that all the time, but I just marvel at her.

And last but not least, here comes Bairre. He was just playing with his stuffed gnome in the snow, but I was making such a fuss over Boudica being so beautiful. This meant Bairre had to come assert his cuteness. He is definitely majestic too.

Winter Came All at Once

~ Crystal Sands ~ Leave a comment

Day 252 of 365

I am so tired. Not only did I spend the afternoon shoveling some very heavy ice-snow, I couldn’t sleep last night because I could hear the ice coming down, which made me fret. Mainly, I was fretting about what kind of day the poor chickens and ducks were going to have. Today was miserable weather here in our part of Maine. It was ice then snow and then ice again–all_day_long.

I shouldn’t complain because we have had a very, very mild winter. I was just seeing a farmer friend call this year in Maine “the year without a winter.” Well, I am sure my farmer friend must have jinxed us because winter came today–with force.

The poor ducks stayed out in the terrible weather all day. I took them straw and tried to give bring their water and food to them, but that just upset them. You can’t move the food bowl. It is wrong to move anything. Everything must stay the same always and forever.

Thankfully, I was able to clean out their duck house in all this mess and tuck them in tonight with a bowl of warm peas and a house full of fresh straw. They seemed happy after a long day.

The chickens, mostly, just refused to leave the coop, so they sat in there and got on each other’s nerves all day. I delivered treats once and stayed for a visit. I also visited off and on while I shoveled the snow.

The cutest story of the whole day relates to Ruby, Juliet, and Kate–mainly Kate. This morning, despite the terrible weather, Ruby and Juliet took off out of the coop front door while I was bringing in the food. Later, I realized that, somehow, Kate also got out, but she may have gone out the back door and then flew over the fence. I didn’t check for tracks, but she does that kind of thing all the time. When she was young, she used to trek through the snow all the time.

Anyway, there was nowhere for the driveway crew to go today, except under Ron’s camper shell for his truck. So, all day long, I took treats and food and water to the camper shell. There, under the shell, Ruby, Juliet, Kate, and a red squirrel hung out all day long. They all seemed to be pretty happy with the arrangement.

But in the late afternoon, just as I was getting ready to go out to shovel snow with Ron who, by the way, shovels snow like a miracle, I thought I heard someone at the door. Turns out, it was Kate. She was ready to go into the coop, and she knows to come to the door to get us.

I took this picture of her at the door because it was the cutest thing. If we had a doorbell down low, I have no doubt that she could ring it. Isn’t she wonderful?

I sure hope tomorrow is a better day for the chickens. I told them when I tucked them in tonight that tomorrow would be better. I hope I didn’t tell them a lie.