Before Nine....

Morning is my most productive time of the day. Call it biorhythms. Call it a 'new day' kind of energy. Can't blame it on the MAN who gets up in the middle of the night to go to work, either. I've had this rhythm as long as I can remember and nearly always turn off the alarm before it ever goes off. My eyes pop open before the light of day regardless of what time I go to bed and I just roll with it. If I happen to wake and daylight is beginning to peep over the horizon, I feel 'late' to the day. So by mid-morning, if all goes well, I've already accomplished enough that I can take a tea break with a little computer time....
Here is the run down before nine today: First things first: Tea water on and all else follows...
~Built two fires in two woodstoves (brrrrr, dang it's cold in here!!) When the fire gets going the tea pot goes on the woodstove, but I can't wait that long for the first sip. Patience is not one of my strongest virtues.
~Put a big turkey in the oven. That'll help warm up the kitchen
~Started two batches of cheese for Saturday's class (one goat chevre and one fromage blanc)
~Poured, labeled and shrink wrapped a big batch of lip balm and started two batches of rose cream.
~Packed out a big wholesale order set out for delivery this afternoon
~Typed up final class lists for Homestead Herbalism Saturday class, Homestead Herbalism Sunday class, and Homestead Herbalism Grad Classes...wow! Thirty six full time students this year. *Note to self- mix up Gingko, Rosemary, Holy Basil tea to help me remember all those names!!! Better add name tags to my Staples list, too.
~Pushed all the furniture back in the new Green Bedroom and hung new lace curtains. Looks so yummy. (I'm rethinking this as the official guest room instead of preparing it for the Iceman's return home. He sorta called dibs on it once his sister moved out but, you know, he's hundreds of miles away from home and I'm here doing all the work...so, I think I gotta pull out the 'Who Rules the Roost?' rulebook here. We'll duke it out when he gets home, which could be as early as next week or in a month, depending how playoffs go. Yesterday Green Eyes gasped and threatened to move back home after seeing her old room with a new face, too) ummmm....no.
When I finally decided to get outa my pj's and get outside another few tasks were waiting:
~Fed, watered and cleaned the chickens after I shoveled yet another path for them to walk through the drifts and stuffed my shirt pockets full of eggs when I finished! I then followed a bunch of animal tracks around the property to see who came to visit during the night. See these at the end of the post.
~Ate a few sweet maple sap icicles...mmm and brought in some clean snow to try and make some quick snow ice cream for dessert tonight. Thanks Susanna and Nancy from Rosemary House for the inspiration. I'm gonna put a spin on your recipe using what I have in my pantry! Recipe and photos to follow.

My break is over...so gotta get back to the old 'grind'. Yeah right. I love my life. I can't ever say I'm bored in this big old farmhouse and when I fall into my down pillows and multiple quilt layers at night, I KNOW I've earned a good night of rest. Carry on friends, and Seize the Day- all before nine, if you can! And if you're lucky, like me, there will be a warm turkey sandwich waiting to be had by lunchtime!

the tracks...Mister fox...he's a regular. Tiny tracks. The size of a cat's but obviously canine. Foxes always step into their own tracks forming a single set , like this.

Can't be certain but I believe these may be the tracks of the mysterious white faced coyote that all the locals are yacking about over at the feed store...and it was running fast. The paw prints are canine and the size of my palm and there is at least six feet between each set of tracks. It was definitely on the move. Fortunately, he had no interest in the chicken coop...last night anyway.the elusive MAN tracks circling the woodpile. Guessing he was figuring on how to best tackle this latest pile of four cords.


Which way did he go? An obviously confused meadow vole left his mark here.
Wonder if he found some fermented beer grains on the compost pile? And if you look around the perimeter, he had an audience too!