Ending a Year like no other...

We started off the year with me turning 60! My family gave me a small but sweet party. The year started off fun but soon took a turn like we had never seen before.

We heard terms like, pandemic, social distancing, masks, shelter in place, appointment only for everything, hand sanitizer, wash your hands ,shut downs, stimulus checks, among others.

Businesses closed, restaurants closed, public buildings closed, schools closed and were replaced by on line learning. Doctors appointments became Telehealth. Everything we once knew was so different quickly! We treated each other with suspicion, they very well could get us sick. 

Zoom meetings became the new norm and how we connected. 

 We had arrows in the store and it was like the jackpot if you were going to an aisle with the arrow going your way! By the time you went around you forgot what you were there for! 

No one was on the roads.

Grocery stores had lines.

Toliet paper and paper towels were no where to be found.

February brought us and new family together...only to be separated by the pandemic.

We evacuated work and I brought a few of the animals home. However, being home was such a feeling of being safe. My anxiety was in over drive with this virus. The sense of looking out the window and realizing all the evil out there was so scary. Watching the numbers daily of people loosing their life to the virus was unnerving.

We were under a lot of pressure with a pair of foxes but Autumn kept forever vigil watching over everything and us as we sheltered in place.

I kept busy making product in hopes that the pandemic would burn its self out quickly, but day in, day out, week in, week out, month in, month out kept us confined and hoping it would end soon. My bins are full with anticipation for the fall until we got that awful email that the New England Fiber Festival had been cancelled as well. Plan B was set into motion using social media as a tool to move our product and to keep the animals fed, which proved very successful with contactless pick up. 

Our chickens went into over drive laying which helped to meet our feed bill each week.  

And the Jeep's front seat came in handy! It became our new contactless pick up zone since it never left the driveway! 

We did get out for some fun in the sun aboard my brothers boat, "The Frivolous". What a great day it was!

"The Grandkids" started school! We were lucky to get a back seat ride as Scarlett was being dropped off into the hands of her caring teachers. It saddened us all not to be able to walk her in but they were both troopers. This was my view of Scarlett as she faced her first day of  Pre School with so much bravery. Who knew that our children would be masked and dropped off. 

We sent Brandon off to the Navy with pride as he was stationed in Japan. It will be a couple of years until we see him again, but we are so proud of him and will look forward to hearing about this amazing chance and adventure. Amanda graduated college too! 

Our niece Cassie graduated nursing school with honors! We are bursting with pride! She jumps every obstacle and over comes everything that comes her way! She will be an amazing nurse!

We added some new chicks and this handsome guy who we named "Mr Copper". He is a Black Copper Maran who we will pair up with our newly acquired hens to breed for an amazing colored egg! New baby bunnies graced the farm too! Next year we plan on adding a big surprise so stay tuned!

And then this happened! In January after being challenged by my Dr who said I wouldn't do it, I did it! Many said they gained weight during the pandemic but I did quite the opposite, I was able to focus which is something I haven't been able to do for a while, take care of me. The structure of being home, creating a schedule and a food plan helped me drop 40 pounds! 

The most divided and unprecedented vote for the President happened in my lifetime. Tim and I went to make sure our votes were counted. 

We said goodbye to our beautiful Winchester, perhaps the sweetest soul that graced this earth. He passed away on Christmas Eve morning peacefully the way he lived his life.

 As we say goodbye to 2020 and thank everyone who supported us through these hard times by shopping local, we look to 2021 with hope and getting back to a new norm. Perhaps we have learned something here, I know I have. Nature is bigger than all of us and we need to start listening to her.  Take time to be in the moment by making time for that moment. Putting yourself first isn't such a bad thing at all. Lets all look to 2021 not as a cure all for everything but how to take what 2020 taught us and move on where we take the time to breathe. In this year to come, all we can ask for is hope...

Feeding the Honeybees for Winter

Last week on Christmas Eve (I'm behind on my posts), the weather was warm and the bees were out, it was a great day to get the Candy Boards onto the hive. I used 10 pounds of sugar and water to make the recipe. The water had to come to a boil and then add the sugar. The temperature has to get to 242 degrees to get to the candy stage. Then once it has reached the temp you must let it cool off to 180 degrees. Once it gets there you throw it into the blender until it gets opaque and "ribbons" when you take the spoon and run it over the top. If it stays in a ribbon on the top of the sugar mixture it is ready to go and be added to the Candy Board.

You have to be quick in spooning it onto the candy board. It's still hot but sets quickly.

The girls were out, more than likely doing "cleansing flights" which means they were going to the bathroom! They will hold it for a while, in their winter cluster but once they can get out on a nice day and if there is snow, you will see yellow dots in the snow, that's the bees waste! It gets a bit annoying when they do it on your car!

So now that the sugar is spread, it has to be inverted onto the top of the hive. 

The Candy Boards are quickly inverted onto the top of the hives. They will come up and feed from them as they begin to run out of food stores. 

 

It appeared the girls had done some house keeping during the nice weather. Some of the older bees die off and have to be removed from the hive. Fingers crossed that they make it through the winter and we can have a better year than last. 

Farewell Sweet Winchester

This week we sadly lost one of the sweetest souls that has ever blessed this earth, our sweet Winchester. He was just the best. Always patient with the others, waited his turn as the others would push and shove to get to the feed first. He had a kind heart and soul. You could look into his eyes and just see his pure, gentle heart.

He wasn't much for the camera as he suffered from a case of severe shyness.

He spent his final months with his best bud Teddy. He and Teddy have had some struggles in old age. Our herd is now between 13 and 15 years of age. Winchester was 15.

Always patient with others, he always let everyone eat first.

Poor Teddy is lost without his buddy and he will be missed by all of us here. When we discovered he passed, Teddy was sitting next to him as if he just couldn't leave his friend. What a blessing it was to know such a sweet soul. Rest peacefully our sweet boy, we love you.

 

Gotcha Day for Tawny

 Today marks 7 years since I got up in the morning, was a bit annoyed that my family didn't take the thousands of hints that I wanted an English Angora bunny, and drove across the State of CT to bring back my precious Tawny Ann. She was so tiny, sweet  and cuddly too! I was head over heals in love with her from the moment I held her! She made me fall in love with the English Angora rabbit breed and is now the 1st generation or 4 that we now have. 

She grew up to be tenacious and a bit of a Diva. 

I am meant by this beautiful sweet face everyday. Currently she is housing with her Granddaughter CoCo who she just adores. She always has a kiss for the babies when they are all out together. She has been such a wonderful part of our farm and the last 7 years with her have been amazing!

Item of the Week: Handspun/Hand Dyed Hair Ties/Wristlets

 

This weeks item along with all the other items are still available so send us an email, call us @ 203-881-1986 or message us on Facebook. This week we have handspun, hand crocheted, and hand dyed hair ties for small $5 and large for $7.00. These will make great stocking stuffers too!

We have them in a variety of colors, fibers and sizes.

Even some made from our rabbits too!

Item of the Week: Santa Ornament or Santa Kit

This week we are offering 2 items just in time for the Holiday! A Santa ornament hand needle felted with merino wool and alpaca. These ornaments are made right here on our farm!

The kits would make a great gift for a secret Santa crafter or a unique stocking stuffer!

The kit is just $15.00 and includes everything you will need to make this cute ornament plus instructions. The Santa ornament is just $22.00 and is made completely from hand dyed wool and alpaca.

 The Santa kit and everything included to make this adorable Star shaped Santa.

Item of the Week: Needle Felting Kits

This weeks Item of the Week is Needle Felting Kits. It's a complete kit with 8 assorted mini Merino Wool batts. A foam felting board, 2 felting needles and an Instruction Sheet with tips and how to's. Each kit is $22.00.

If interested, message us, email us @ CoonHollowFarm@aol.com or call us on our farm line @ 203-881-1986. We have local pick up and can ship.

The kit as seen open with a holder for your needles.

  The batts are hand dyed and are pure merino wool.

 Also available is a package of 12 hand dyed batts for $18.00. 

Item of the Week: Gnome Felting Kits

This weeks Item of the Week is our adorable Gnome Kits! Each kit is $12! We also have other felting kits upon request. 

We also offer different colors of wool for the hats. We can switch out a special color upon request.

                      We have 2 types to choose from, a gray beard or a white bearded gnome. 

 Each kit imcludes: All the wool to make your gnome, complete instructions and 2 needle felting needles! 

Extract Obsessed!

One of my favorite things to do is make my own extracts. Unlocking the secrets, realizing what junk we are buying at the stores and just knowing they are mine is the best way. I recently bought these jars from a man selling them on MarketPlace. I collect these whenever I can and store all my herbs in them. I knew what I had planned for these and went to work filling them. I had already made the extracts over time, but wanted to expand and get them into bigger jars. I have always made my own vanilla extracts as well as others but I decided to expand as holiday baking is coming up, also some will go on as gifts. 

Also as I looked through my cupboards at the ingredients of some of my store bought extracts and there were things added especially water! What kind of extract is that?! 

The sources on line are unending and so many resources as well as Facebook pages to join. I have also found that some extract people are intense and sometimes rude! Nothing like a know it all extractor!

Almond extract gets a bit tricky. While the almonds can have a cyanide precursor, 

using raw skinless almonds is best, however using cherry pits crushed along with apricot pits gives it a real nice flavor too!

One of my absolute, totally, unbelievably favorite extracts is Anise Extract! Just adding vodka and Star Anise pods, soaking for 2 months was amazing! I tasted a bit on my tongue and tasted like anise all day! 

After soaking for two months, I strained the anise, placed all new pods in the jar and poured the already extracted liquid onto the pods. I will let this sit another few weeks and bottle it just in time for holiday gifting!

               I'm in love with this little funnel, I use it for everything. It's just small enough to put a

 small piece of cheesecloth to strain out anything that I don't want in the bottles. 

    I also made Lemon Extract...

                                       and Orange Extract which will be amazing in whipped cream!

Peppermint Extract, a mixture of peppermint, spearmint, chocolate mint, apple mint and even some mojito mint for good measure! This I also did a couple of strainings and re-adding fresh mint.

And of course, Cinnamon extract! Just cinnamon sticks and vodka soaked for a couple of months. I just love everything about cinnamon! There are so many things you can do with cinnamon extract, put in coffee, add to hot chocolate and my favorite, add it to french toast batter before you dip the bread in! It makes your french toast taste incredible! My shelves are full of extracts as this has been this years obsession! What's a year of a Pandemic without obsessing about something?!