We cannot believe it is already the new year. January is here in full force, with a small snowstorm expected to start overnight. But that's ok . . . if it's going to be this cold, it had better snow! We leave the year 2009 behind full of fond memories. It being a year of many good things. In July we welcomed a new niece to the family, Miss Isabel, the first grandchild on Sarah's side. At the O'Hara farm we completed several projects that helped to further our homestead goals. Late last winter we completed our living room (as we described earlier on this blog), and have been enjoying the new furniture, flooring, and paint all year. Outside, Ryan enclosed a significant portion of our property with a woven wire fence to make a pasture for livestock. Inside this pasture, we built a new and improved poultry house. Up off the ground, to discourage rodents, and with large south facing windows, this nice little building suits our purposes very well. 
We have been very pleased that with the extreme cold, the building seems to manage to be at least a few degrees warmer than outside, and on sunny days up to 10 degrees warmer. We decided to keep all of our birds in one house this winter, not separating the chickens and turkeys, and they seem to be thriving, with the rooster gracefully handing over the top dog position of the flock to the tom turkey (but hey if you only weight 7 pounds, wouldn't you turn it over to someone who weighs 20?). We enjoy their antics, and have appreciated the steady supply of eggs since they started laying earlier this fall. We help them out with a timed light that turns on before the sun comes up, so that their days don't seem so short.
We have been very pleased that with the extreme cold, the building seems to manage to be at least a few degrees warmer than outside, and on sunny days up to 10 degrees warmer. We decided to keep all of our birds in one house this winter, not separating the chickens and turkeys, and they seem to be thriving, with the rooster gracefully handing over the top dog position of the flock to the tom turkey (but hey if you only weight 7 pounds, wouldn't you turn it over to someone who weighs 20?). We enjoy their antics, and have appreciated the steady supply of eggs since they started laying earlier this fall. We help them out with a timed light that turns on before the sun comes up, so that their days don't seem so short.In 2010 we are hoping to add a little lean-to to the side of the poultry house to provide shelter for a couple of beef steers that we're planning on acquiring in the spring. While the ground is still frozen we hope to drag the turkey shed we built 2 years ago inside the pasture fence to provide a separate house for the turkeys if the female decides to set on a clutch this spring. And also move our garden shed to the other side of the garden to open up a new space, and expand the garden a bit.
We just finished perusing our farm journal and realized that in only a couple of short months we will be tapping maple trees, and starting seeds under the grow lights; the cycle of our growing year starting over again. Each year we build in more of the details of our yearly routine, and make this place more our own.
Wishing you and yours a blessed, bountiful, and peaceful 2010.
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