Earth stood hard as iron .......

......... water like a stone.   Familiar lyrics from "In the Deep Midwinter, " and very descriptive of the conditions here, only it isn't even winter yet, much less 'mid.'   We had a couple of inches of snow here last weekend that are still hanging on, because it's so coooooold! 

Not much farming goes on at an urban farm in the winter.   I still haul bunny poo out - 5 gallon buckets at a time - and dump it on the garden, but I quit composting when it started getting so cold.  I know it should still be able to 'cook,' in the winter, but mine is such a haphazard pile, I doubted it would do that for me. 

I've upped my diligence about filling the bird feeder - and don't mind other critters that share in the dropped seed.  Last winter I saw definite wild bunny tracks going from heap to heap of bunny poo - checking it out.

Abigail is still broody, the Angora bunnies are about halfway through a coat-growing cycle, the Mini Rexs are molting, and the cats are practically hibernating.   Not much going on here - farm wise.    I went to Versailles after work one day this week to pick up chicken feed, and there inside the door was a huge, black, stove (coal? wood?) giving off lovely rays of heat - just the thing when walking in from the cold.  The hiss of the stove, the homely smells of the feed, the people in coveralls coming in and out.......why do I live in the city?

I made another score at the auction last week - that as usual I did not plan to go to - a lovely old piece of transferware: 

I had said in another post that I would like to find another piece or two of brown transferware, and even though this is a LOT more elaborate in design than what I really like - it was mine for a low bid.  A blogger who seems expert in this area was nice enough to tell me the pattern when I e-mailed her.   The really exciting part is she is sure it was manufactured between 1826-40.  I don't have to have old things, and I'm usually just has happy with reproductions and Home Goods ware, but the history-lover in me was impressed with the age of this.

Lastly, thank you to Michelle , who surprised me yesterday with a package of some samples of her Shetland fiber, because I said that was one breed I had never spun.  The samples are luscious, and I can hardly wait to get to them.  I may even pull out a spindle for the occasion.   I keep telling Michelle I wish someone in this area would get into Shetlands for fine fiber, and now that I've felt her Shetland roving, I'd like that even more.

Until next time from Wren Cottage ..........

Gleaning

End of harvest clean-up, or whatever you want to call it.  I went over the pots on the deck and the mini-garden, to see if there is anything left that can be of some use.  I came in with some salad tomatoes, rose hips for tea **, flower heads for saving seed (marigold, mini snapdragon, and my favorite blue salvia), and I put the red pelargonium in a pot to see if I can overwinter it inside.

**For tea, Rose Hips  may be used fresh or dried:

• For fresh brewing - steep a tablespoon or two of clean hips in a cup of boiling water for about 10 minutes. Sweeten with honey and enjoy.
• When using dried hips, use only two teaspoons to one cup of boiling water and steep for 10 to 15 minutes.

The monster tomato plants at the corner of the deck were showing no ill effects from either the drought or the chilly nights we've had lately.  They are 7-8 feet tall and just as wide.  They didn't seem to produce much, though.  All foliage and little fruit.  I cut them back by about half and threw the cuttings on the compost heap.  I don't know why I didn't just cut them down.  Lo and behold I found several pounds of green tomatoes,  medium and large.  I have ripened a few inside already, and will do the same with these.  I like fried green tomatoes, but juicy red ones beat that for me.

I have seed beans saved from the pole beans and I put some herbs I have dried in jars and labeled them - Dill (weed and seed), oregano, peppermint, lemon verbena and basil.  I still have some marjoram to do.   There are still chard, lettuce and turnips growing, and I'm hoping the seed on the basil will develop and begin to dry before frost.

 I'm doing a little gleaning inside, too.  I pulled out a couple of boxes and started looking around the house with an eye toward what to get rid of - some to Goodwill, and some I want to take to the auction to sell, and see if I can recoup a few of the dollars I have spent there.  It is usually a buyers market at the auction I go to, so if they sell, I don't expect to make much.  It's better than messing around with selling on-line though and it feels good to have some of the clutter going out of the house for a change. 

This week - be still my heart - I bought a partial set of old (Enoch Woods Woodsware) cranberry red transferware dishes, for a price that I have seen one or two pieces go for in on-line auctions.  22 pieces in all.   I was so convinced I didn't have a chance at them, I was shocked when I had the winning bid.   They are in pretty good shape for being old (1900-1940).  No crazing in the glaze,  and only 3 pieces had chips.  My favorites are a small platter and vegetable bowl.  The pattern is "English Scenery" and each type of piece has a different scene.  The serving pieces had a man and boy herding sheep (no wonder I like them best) and the man has stopped to talk to a woman in a cottage.  The boy has his arms up and hands on his head, and even on such a tiny decorative element, the body language screams "I'm bored.  Let's go..." 

I would like to find a few more pieces of brown transferware, then I'll quit.  Like the silver spoons  I collected, my view is there can be too much of a good thing, where decor is concerned.  I like the charm of old transferware, and have several pieces of blue, and now the red/pink.  I only have 1 piece of brown , and those are the only colors I like.  When I get enough, it's easy for me to stop.  (She says.....am I in denial?)

Now, with books, or animals for that matter, it's a bit harder.....

at the Auction this week

I didn't intend to go at all. (but of course I did)  Then I wasn't going to bid on anything (but of course I did)
I got a couple more Ball jars with zinc lids.  Pints this time, for storing dried herbs from the garden.  I also got a kerosene lamp converted to an electric that is cute and just needs a shade.  My real find was this though,

It's a pewter chamberstick, a Colonial Williamsburg reproduction made by Steiff.  No one else was interested because it appeared to have been dropped, and had a little dent in the candle cup.  I don't care about that, and thought I got a real bargain. 

In the 'ones that got away'  catagory, I went to a different auction a couple of weeks ago, specifically to bid on an antique standing skein winder.  The arm assembly was a tad wobbly where it attached to the stand, but it was beautiful.  I was way out of my league there, though, and it sold for more than twice the amount I could pay.  As it happened, I ended up in the "pay" line (I did get one hand blown goblet for $5) next to the guy that bought it.  Of course he had no idea what it was - they had advertised it as a Flax Wheel.  He has his Aunt's spinning wheel, which just sits, for decoration.   The winder was going to do the same.  When I told him I would have used it, as a valuable piece of equipment, he just smiled.  Grrrrr....   What a waste. 

They had 4 spinning wheels there that day, 2 that had all their parts, and 2 that didn't.  One huge 'walking' wheel sold for less than $100, and you could have stepped right up to it and started spinning.

Can you tell there's not much 'urban farming' going on at Wren Cottage right now?   The Angora bunnie boys will be getting clipped soon, and I'll try to post some 'before' and 'after' pictures.