by Meredith Chilson Photos by author Do you remember those days in late spring when the daylight stretched so long into evening?  Those days when your chicken girls were greeting warm weather with egg after egg after egg?  The days when omelets and custards and frittatas were the norm—when you tried to come up with […]

by Meredith Chilson Mrs. Parsons, a lady who consistently reads this blog and often comments on posts, sent me a suggestion for a blog topic a while back. I’ve been thinking about it, and it seems to me that it’s appropriate for this month of politics, reflection and thanksgiving. Mrs. Parsons feels that “some of […]

by Meredith Chilson November weather.  Cold with an icy drizzle. Howling winds high in the naked treetops.  Muddy boots, damp socks and gloves.  Creeping shadows early in the evening—dark by dinnertime….and the days that mud freezes and hard balls of snow slam against windowpanes and cheeks as feathered and furry friends are herded into their […]

by Meredith Chilson Back in May, I wrote a blog post on “Feeding the Flock,” in which I explained how I change the types of feed my small flock of chickens eat: from the medicated starter that they briefly receive in their tiny little feeder when they are first hatched, until they are on layer […]

by Meredith ChilsonThere’s a short cut to my house.  From the main state road, if you take the road past the old school house, around the corner by the lake, continue on and up the hill past Saunder’s Pond, down the dirt road and across the bridge over Phillip’s Creek nearly six miles of travel […]

by Meredith ChilsonThis has been a terrific year for growing pumpkins!  We’ve given each of our grandchildren their choice, taken some to co-workers, passed them out to family and friends, and there are still a few left on the porch!  Every once in a while, we’ll find one that has begun to “over-ripen”—has a spot […]

by Meredith Chilson The leaves are at their colorful peak right now, and the bright, bright blue skies with the fluffy clouds make it pleasurable to be outside doing chores.  Our cellar way is filled with buckets of potatoes, baskets of apples and squashes; braids of onions and garlic dangle from the rafters next to […]

by Meredith Chilson Photos by author The spring chicks have begun laying eggs, and the older hens are winding down their cycle toward the annual molt. As a result, I gather a wide variety of sizes of eggs: from the tiny first eggs known as pullet eggs or “pee-wee” to the extra-extra large eggs that […]

by Meredith Chilson Have you ever noticed how people with similar interests just naturally seem to gravitate toward each other? I’ve made some friends while standing in line at the feed store; for example, when they’ve noticed the chicken feed or pine shavings I have piled on my cart. Conversations have started in the library, […]

by Meredith Chilson Photos by author The rest of the story… I’ve been thinking a lot about cycles and seasons this week.  The summer season is quickly turning into fall, for example.  The hummingbird feeder has had no visitors for over a week, and electric and phone lines are full of birds waiting for the […]