A few “highlights” from the farm journal this past year.

Best Books Read (out of 64):

• The Solace of Open Places (G. Ehrlich). 
• The Last Bookseller (G. Goodman)
• John MacNab (J. Buchan) 
• Galloway, notes from a vanishing landscape (P. Laurie)
• In Praise of Good Bookstores (Deutsch)
• The Southern Tradition (R.M. Weaver)
• The End of the World is Just the Beginning (P. Zeihan)
• The Narrative (DeVasca)
• Narrowboat (LTC Rolt)
• Cottage Economy (W. Cobbett)
• The Sea of Grass (C. Richter)
• Shantyboat (H. Hubbard)

Best Advice: Stop Buying Stuff!!! Except books, must buy more books.

Do not trust this weatherman (me): January 1^st, it looks like we will have a warm month. January 11^th, just had our fourth snow, looks like it will be a snowy winter. March 8^th, winter warming trend seems locked in now. March 13^th, low of 14 with seven inches of snow.

It is the heat: June 1^st, 93 degrees at 4pm. The trend continued all last week. Doing all chores and work projects between 5:30-10am. Tim and Ali processed 25 chickens on our equipment yesterday as the temps hit 99 degrees.

Best observation: Cindy threw me a surprise birthday party for my 60^th. The last one she did was for my 30^th. I’ll be using a walker for the next (at 90).

Second best observation: September 11^th, these are the beautiful late summer days that make June and July worth enduring.

More weather: September 30^th, fourth day of a strong drying wind. High pressure continues to prevent the remains of Hurricane Ian from dropping much needed rain.

Best menu note: Fixed last night. Pork chops with tomato gravy. Winter squash stuffed with pecans and brown sugar. Okra fritters. Field peas with tasso.

Best condescending remark: We had Julia and David as guests for dinner (gumbo) last night. She was a former WWOOF volunteer. Surprisingly intelligent and well read for a young couple.

Most maudlin note: November 22^nd, 25 degrees at 6:45am. I took the ham out of the salt today. How many hogs, how many pairs of brown eyes, have ended up as joints of meat curing under the stairs?

You can take the boy out of Louisiana…: December 6^th. Proposed Christmas dinner. Roast goose, roast potatoes in goose fat, Brussel sprouts in a peanut butter vinaigrette, creamed collard greens, and sweet potato pie.

Farming and Weather: December 31^st, 53 degrees at 7am. Continued clean-up after the deep freeze last week. Lambing begins in four weeks. Ginger should farrow around the 11^th. The geese should begin laying in the nests any day. Looking forward to our 24^th year on the farm.

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