Dear Friends and Family,

February was travel month. I got back from California on the 9th. Had one transition day with farm family before they left for their first big family trip. Itinerary took them to Boston by way of Lexington, Ky, and Ghent, NY. First stop was to drop off our tobacco at the farm of John Bell, who graciously agreed to take it to the sale with his own crop. (The February trip was planned to coincide with school break for Phoebe and Rob. Also on assumption that tobacco sale would be held in January). The day they left was windy and cold. In fact there were reports of tractor trailers blown off Interstates in the western part of our state. Paul and Robin felt better with the tobacco (1200 extra pounds) in the pickup, although they made a very strange profile with tarp covered bales heaped as high as the cab. Inside the cab was stuffed with pillows, blankets, food, AAA maps and trip-tik. When I tucked Madeline into her seat I felt like I was putting her into a padded cradle. Thankfully, the biggest problem they actually faced was a tarp that kept flying loose. Made the first day very tense for Paul.

The second stop was to a farmer's conference at Hawthorne Valley Farm, a nationally recognized biodynamic agricultural and educational center. Luckily, Paul's dad lives only an hour away from there so Sasha and Madeline got to spend some time with their grand-dad. Phoebe and Rob drove there to help with the children, too. Then on to Boston for a great week of seafood (Woodman's in Essex), seals and penguins (New England Aquarium), maritime history (USS Constitution), and a triple-threat birthday (Madeline, Paul, Alice). Unfortunately the timing made it impossible for Mary Anne, our other February birthday to join in the fun. Since the tobacco sale occurred during that week, Paul got the very good news that his tobacco was judged "some of the finest the buyers had ever seen". YESSSSS!!

Meanwhile, our neighbor Bernadette had agreed to come each morning to get the animals set up for the day. An experienced farmer, she could handle some of the heavier hauling as well as casting an expert's eye on the animals. She even planned to ride one of their horses here in fair weather. I could handle the afternoons on my own.

On the first Sunday after the family left I came back from church and went to check on the animals. One ewe had triplets, two mostly black, and one very small spotted lamb. She seemed very accomodating, squatting low, so all three could suck. (Even so, the little one died a week later). Two days later there were twins and a single. Then another set of twins. One of them could not get up on his legs, that very first survival task that allows a lamb to suck. This one died the next day. I began to wonder if for some reason we were going to have a bad lambing season. So we kept watch each day, making sure there was plenty of hay, water, and kelp (for minerals). By the end of the month there were 20 new lambs leaping and dashing around the pasture, much to the pleasure of our "senior" lamb, born at the end of January. Brad, Bernadette's husband, reminded me that the more births, the more likely you are to see animals not properly developed. Helps me remember that each fully-functioning creature truly is a miracle.

Early on, we had a couple days of fierce wind and torrential rain. One afternoon I was feeding Manley and Sweet Thing, our mascot turkeys, when a gust of wind almost blew their tractor (cage) over. I realized there was not much I could do. If it blew over they could always take refuge in the barn for the night. I was very glad to see the tractor still standing the next morning. However, one of the other tractors was blown into a tree and shattered. I noticed the galvanized chimney pipe for the woodstove in the A-frame had blown apart. I asked our friend Mel to come and put it together so we could get a fire going for the return of the family. He came. It took a bit of doing to get it together and upright. But the cap was missing. Not good as there was more rain in the forecast. On Sunday, the day before the family returned, I was helping Bernadette pump water out of the creek for the animals in the back pasture. I went down the bank to check that the hose was still in the water. As I was walking back I saw something farther along the creek that I thought might be a bird-feeder. When I picked it up, it was the chimney cap. It must have got stuck on some rocks when the water level receded after the storm. So next day, when Mel and John lit the fire to warm the house for the family's return, the cap was ready for replacing.

That day was sunny and cold. I made a pot of lentil soup early. Then about mid-afternoon I put a pan of cornbread in the oven, thinking I would take it all over to their kitchen for whenever they got back. I looked out my kitchen door and noticed a pickup coming slowly down the road. I was looking for black, this one was gray. Then I realized, it was them. The truck was covered with salt dust from the trip. I ran over to the A-frame to meet them as they pulled up to their front door. Robin was carrying Madeline into the house. Sasha was weeping with fatigue. After settling them in the house Paul and Robin and I enjoyed a quick catch-up and big hugs before I ran back to take the cornbread out of the oven and bring them a hot meal. That was just about a week ago. Already lettuces, cabbages, kale have been seeded in the greenhouse. This past Sunday our first intern, Jenny, arrived.

Our 2009 season has begun. Love, Louise