Another Early Gift from the Mother.

Tomorrow, at 7:04 am EST, the sun will be bouncing off the Tropic of Capricorn. To many, it means the beginning of winter. To me, it means summer is officially on its way! Viva Le Tour.

First Eggs

Woo-hoo! We're getting eggs from our new hens...finally. Five since Saturday. These girls were supposed to start laying in October, but I guess due to the waning light of the season and the colder temps they decided to hold off. Now, slowly, they are starting. Once February comes and the days start to get long enough, we should start seeing about a dozen a day from our 13 hens. And let's give credit to the rooster for keeping the girls company.

The Big Moon.

"The full moon Friday night will be the biggest one of the year as Earth's natural satellite reaches its closest point to our planet.

Earth, the moon and the sun are all bound together by gravity, which keeps us going around the sun and keeps the moon going around us as it goes through phases. The moon makes a trip around Earth every 29.5 days. But the orbit is not a perfect circle.

The moon's average distance from us is about 238,855 miles (384,400 km). Friday night it will be just 221,560 miles (356,567 km) away. It will be 14 percent bigger in our sky and 30 percent brighter than some other full moons during the year, according to NASA."

Sorry, I didn't feel like writing. But I will tell you this is the far side of the moon, not the "dark side of the moon".

Ode to our Food - Sauerkraut
We've made some sauerkraut and have been enjoying it. We're psyched because the cabbage is from our garden and the only other ingredients in it are salt and caraway seeds. It easy to make, the hardest part is chopping the cabbage. Once the cabbage is chopped, simply salt it and spice it, put it in a crock with a weight (see glass jug filled with water), cover it and let it ferment. It has been delicious on sandwiches (beef, cheese and mayo) so far and we plan to do one of Sally's pork roasts with it soon. Yummm... so nice to have homegrown food in the winter!

An Early Gift From the Mother!

It seems every year, someone comes up with some reason as to why you should open a Christmas gift early. Well,...the Mother has something I need and want right now. I can't wait another 14 days to open it especially with the multiple days of rain hitting our area and every car on the road trying to check me into the gutter once the sun goes down! Its a small gift but one I know I will use and greatly appreciate!
It seems today is a big day for sunsets. If you find yourself always fighting daylight, tomorrow will be the turning point; the high water mark for the sun's radiation. Yes,....today is the earliest our sun will set. If you round to the nearest minute, the sun will set at 4:44p.m., but that is at approximately 39 degrees north latitude. In the coming days we will gain about a minute of daylight every couple of days. That's my small gift that I get to open before Christmas. But the nice thing about it is I get to share it with everyone,...not that anyone is reading this!

This is the Coldsmith Family Blog, made to chronicle our family's life gardening, biking, and child rearing (which fills in just about the bulk of what we do!). The name may seem like it is ode entirely to the garden, but those of you who ride with Travis know that he is indeed the Tractor.