Missing Willow Farm

It’s how you tell if a lamb is getting milk when it nurses.  The tail swishes back and forth like crazy.

Calvin is the largest lamb we have, and the youngest.  Beatrice sure does grow them big.

Our microgreens are going to be served tonight at a James Beard Celebrity Chef dinner.   They are using our logo on the website.

http://www.celebritycheftour.com/events/The-Palisades-Restaurant-2014.html

We’ve just had four beautiful inches of snow here.  It should be the last snow of the season, we have a gorgeous weather outlook in our forecast.  The outdoor TV will go back up on the back deck tomorrow, and outdoor dining season will officially begin.  I think we’re all set.

Our live trap has captured a few possums and raccoons both inside and outside our chicken barn this year.  Most recently, it caught a neighborhood stray cat who was quite happy to be released.  Just last week, we captured something that literally chewed it’s way through the metal bars of one of these traps and escaped.  What the heck does that??  I’m not sure I want to meet it.

We brought a Cowboy Cauldron home with us from our trip to the Charleston Food and Wine Festival,  it was quite the experience.  A Top Chef Masters chef was the first person to cook on it and another one tried to sit in it with the coals still burning.  There may have been alcohol involved…

When we got it home, we realized we didn’t have the perfect spot for it.  Two trips to the home improvement store and we came up with this stone patio.  It’s our new favorite thing!

Our hens have started their regular laying routine now that it’s starting to warm up again and our customers are starting to call to place orders.  We’re currently sold out.  We’ve lost three of our ladies to predators this month.   The cage trap is set out behind the chicken barn where they’ve been trying to dig in.

I made Jack a bed for his kennel stuffed with some of the fleece from his beloved sheep.  He immediately tore into it and has been demolishing it a little at a time.   He makes me laugh.  Every.  Day.

I’ve been playing with the terrazzo glass sampler I purchased a few weeks back.  I made a few test vehicles (ancient engineering term) of pottery to try them out with.  I learned that some glass chips hold their color better than others at the temperature we fire at.  The little square dishes are ring holders.  I didn’t use nearly enough glass in them but can refire with a little more.  It seems the darker colors show the raised designs the best.  The birdbath dish is just something silly I made.  What I learned is this one also needs more glass (which I can fix with a refire) and since it’s a pinch pot, the surface is uneven.  I’ll try adding glass to a wheel thrown pot soon.  The last little dish was slab built and is my favorite.  It’s like a tiny town at the side of a lake.  Fun stuff!

Our peach trees are starting to bud.  Fragrant blossoms should follow soon.  Then the peaches will come and the deer will eat them.   *sigh*

We spent the weekend supporting a friend at the Charleston Wine and Food Festival.  The whole lamb on the spit was served as sliders on Friday at 11PM (we got back to our hotel really late).   Saturday night we served lamb ribs and kabobs cooked on a cowboy cauldron in the courtyard of the most amazing residence for a charity event.   One of those cauldrons lives in our backyard now.  We need to figure out the best spot for it… and chop some wood.