Latke's for All

My daughters and I made a lot of Latkes recently. I mean a lot!

My very best friend makes them much better than I. So I have been told by my family. That is fine. She has taught my girls well though. Both girls shredded and drained and squeezed potatoes by the hundreds. (It seemed) Then I was instructed to add flour and salt and pepper and nothing else. No, not eggs. That isn't the way my friend does it.

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Because my daughters were in charge of how the Latke's got made they were perfect and "almost" just like my friends' Latke's. They were very, very good.

Feathered Friend Friday

Joining Tammy at Our Neck of the Woods today for her Feathered Friend Friday. I love my girls! They have had it rough lately. It has been so very cold. Then we had one day of very warm temps and down pour rain and they had a lake in the run.

It has frozen right back up again here. Milder temps are in store soon. Too mild for my liking but I can't control the weather! Mostly the girls have been staying inside the coop. They just don't like the wind and ice.

They come out when I go out there to give water or a treat or two. Some of them have a little frost bite on the combs but for the most part they are doing fine. Still laying, although not as much of course. But we have just a bit more daylight coming every day and I am sure the egg production will improve soon.

I hope everyone's chickens and farm and homestead animals are surviving through this blast of winter weather we are having!

A Real Winter

There has been a lot of talk about winter lately. Well, it is winter isn't it? Really though, there is always a lot of talk about winter. Or Spring, Summer and Fall. "What a weird winter! So warm!" or "No snow!" This winter, as always, people are talking but for the first time in a long time we are truly having a 'real' winter. Lots of snow, early and consistently. Lots of cold, cold temperatures. I have loved it.

I keep reading posts about how dang cold it is and how long it has been. Yes I will agree it has been a long stretch of cold. It is winter though folks. It is a real Maine winter. Lots of people are very happy about it.

We had a day recently that for some 'weird' reason it got into the 50's. It was a mess. I am not a fan of Spring because of the complete mess it makes and I did not like that warm day at all. I had ice jams in the chicken coop to deal with. Essentially the chicken run was turning into a lake because of all the rain we were getting and the ground was frozen solid and the water had no where to go. We also had a skating rink in our driveway, which is long and at a bit of an incline to the road. I would have much preferred it to stay winter and have a foot or two of snow. I was not the only person that had problems though. I heard all about roads flooding in town and people's basements flooding. All of which can be dealt with when the temps are staying above freezing. Unfortunately the warm temps lasted only 24 hours.  Then we had a very hard single digit number freeze again. No, Spring, don't come yet. I am not ready. I am happy with this real winter.

Moosehead Lake, Maine

We recently took a mini-vacation to Tomhegan Camps at Moosehead Lake in Maine. It is about a three hour drive from our home in Central Maine. Maine is a big state, area wise anyway.

I will not be able to fully explain how beautiful and peaceful it was. We did some snow shoeing. It was so, so unbelievably quiet. Not one sound. I didn't even hear birds. I once did hear a red squirrel chatter very faintly. The lake was still, frozen and silent. The woods more so.

We had a lovely cabin that fit all of us. Off season rates, (ice fishing season started the day after we left and the rates went up). We brought our own food, and games, and even attempted to put together a 1000 piece puzzle. The kids all loved the ping pong table that was in the main room. We had a wood stove and plenty of wood. It was very cozy and relaxing.

It isn't often that we all get to spend time together and even more rare that we can go away together. It was very enjoyable.

In With the New

Happy New Year! Here is to another year of love, fun, family, daily walks, garden adventures, chicken managing, and of course all the sewing, stitching, and knitting anyone can do.

Right now I am reminding myself to enjoy this moment. This winter. This season. It is so nice. My walks sound like I am surrounded by hundreds of chimes in the trees as we still have much ice covering everything. Plus snow. It is very beautiful and quiet. Perfect for walking.

Enjoy!