Throughout September 2023, Charlie and I spent several sunsets sassing the Chinese chestnut trees, agitating via climbing and shaking and lobbing of various sticks with our eyes toward stuffing our pockets with rich brown, smooth, shiny nuts.
After collecting, we washed and scored the chestnuts. The x made by paring knife is critical to shelling, as I understand. Then I soaked for a couple hours before oven roasting them.
After roasting, I shelled them then sautéed with some chopped bacon and onions- delicious! (Dish not pictured as I gobbled them up hastily!)
This year, we’re adding two American chestnut hybrids in the mix. What a privilege to nurture these struggling natives on our land.
To learn more about efforts to rehab the native chestnut population, go to The American Chestnut Foundation site at https://tacf.org/
We are flush with chanterelles! Along the tractor path to the southeast of our house, among invasive Japanese stiltgrass are many pounds of bright gold fungus. Zack and I harvested as much as be could before today’s storms rolled through, and there’s plenty more that will ready for picking tomorrow. I suspect we’ll eat lots of them fresh and dry the rest to put up.
Admiring the find
I look forward to a breakfast of eggs, mushrooms, berries, and tea that the Hillstead and I created. Getting to experience these nourishing payoffs has me feeling like we’re really the richest people alive.
Chanterelle mushroom haul from the Hillstead 7/29/23
Today I witnessed magic. Today I watched a monarch lay eggs on the milkweed I planted 3 years ago. To have privy to this beautiful moment was such a gift from one mother to another.
Minute old monarch butterfly egg on underside of asclepius incarnata 7/27/23
We have found 4 hungry monarch caterpillars on our asclepius incarnata (aka swamp milkweed, narrow leaf milkweed, rose/pink milkweed) and we are doing our best to foster them along their big journeys ahead.
Monarch caterpillar as 2nd instar on asclepius incarnata buds 7/20/23
I placed a mesh pop up hamper over a couple stalks of the milkweed and anchored it by pinning the traps down with bamboo stakes; the intention is to protect from elements and predators a bit.
Mesh hamper shelter2 monarch caterpillars at 3rd and 4th instars on asclepius incarnata under a mesh enclosure 7/27/23
Though I can’t protect these little lives from viruses, all predators, or global warming, I can check on them through the polyester barrier, provide a safe place to attach a chrysalis, and maybe prevent them from being washed away by this week’s storms.
We all need a little mothering sometimes, someone looking out for us, even the queens.
We didn’t know how much this creature would love or challenge us.
Our family misses our social and daring sweetheart of a rural to city to farm cat, Sir Neilium the Hotdog-Stealing, the Explosive Diarrhea-On-Pregnant-Sarah, the MOST Supreme of Altitude Bros, the Northside Kitler on the Roof, the Hawk/Owl-Attack Surviving, the Bird/Rabbit/Other Giant Cats/Rat/Mouse/Snake/Mole-Exploding Beast of a Hunter, the Deer Intimidator, the Buddiest of Buddies to His Humans, the Guardian of Hillstead Chickens, the CANNOT Be Contained in a House, the Stinkiest and IN YOUR FACE Loving On You, the Kiddo-Companion, and through and through the most kind and loyal animal I’ve ever known.
In mid-fall 2022, Neil took a walk into the woods and didn’t return. I like to imagine that he found a lovely sunny spot to nestle into and went gently in a final catnap. After a week of not seeing him, the Hillstead Humans had a weenie roast in his honor/in a last effort to call him home. When he didn’t come running to abscond away with our hotdogs, we took turns sharing our favorite Neil stories and having a good cry.
I love it when folks share their Neil stories. If you feel so inclined, please do leave us a comment or share a photo. Enjoy this selection of some of my favorite Neil photos. It was an honor to know such a rad cat, and I think we’re all amazed that he lived to be about 18 years old.
Our 20 ladies have been laying poorly the past couple of months (fewer than 2 eggs per day, should be at least 15 per day). I have many theories about why, but for now I just want to share the good news that the Ameraucana laid an egg for the first time in like 9 months. And what a beaut! Check out that aqua gorgeousness.
The other eggs are from a couple of the 18 Bielefelders and they tend to range in color from a cream-beige to dusty pink to warm and speckled chestnut. Happy Spring.
Hello there! One of my mornin’ chorin’ thoughts today was about this blog and that I think it’s time, as it is almost Halloween and the spooky-ooky vibes are very much here, to cast a most terrifying spell on myself: holding myself accountable (ooooOOOoooOOOO 👻).
Since I last wrote here, I’ve kept a running list of blog topics/foci that I’d like to give more thought to and write about during the less outsidey times. I do a considerable amount of writing and sitting and looking at screens for my paid work, and find it heartbreaking and uncomfortable to do more of it when I don’t need to. When the days are like the one today weatherwise, with all the golds and crimsons and bloranges in the trees and the sun is warm, I have to be outside or my chest feels like it will cave in. I like to avoid that feeling.
For many years, I had two main seasons in my life: Knitting season (cold times) and Gardening season (zone 6 growing times). I’ve scaled back on the knitting part of my fiber arts interests in favor of macramé and taking up loom darning (more to come on how those are going). The addition of Writing season to the cold months has my brain feeling cozy already.
And so, with what frequency or rhythm I’ll write about developments and endeavors at the Summer Hillstead over the chilly months- I have no idea. But! I know that more content is forthcoming, and I’m grateful that you stopped by to read about it.
We’ve had this loving, daring, fierce, cuddly, and kinda maladroit lady for about a year. Daisy is dynamic and I love that about her. She is equal parts violent mouser and loving cuddler. She has been a joyful presence at the Hillstead and I look forward to another season with her.
Some of her favorite things are cozy snuggles on the porch with me, murdering snakes, and rolling around in/playing with the driveway gravel.
Enjoy some curated classic Daisy antics below. I’ll note that if you choose to watch the video, please know that one silly kitten was severely cuddled right after, and no one was hurt.
March can be a real jag. Temps swinging from 60s to the teens, sunny afternoons followed by snowfall. This is the time of year I get very restless and yearn for warmer days. Good thing there’s not much time to rest with all the projects we have afoot!
CHICKS!
We have 20 Rhode Island Red and 5 Bielefelder chicks coming our way via USPS next week. Our current flock residing in the coop consists of Ghostie the rooster and 4 hens: one each of an Ameraucana, olive egger, Rhode Island Red, and Mystic Maran. Once the chicks hit 6 weeks they will move from our garage to outside then shack up with the 5 older birds. I’ll post photos of the little fluff butts asap!
EGGS!
Our above mentioned ladies have been working hard at perfecting their new skill of egg laying. Look at these beauties! More about egg laying in an upcoming post 🙂
1 week of eggs
GROWING THINGS!
I, so far, have successfully resisted the urge to start seeds. In a couple weeks, I’ll get the eggplant and echinacea going and that will tide me over for a bit. Meanwhile, I’m keeping an eye out for wildflowers making their annual debut. I was ecstatic to find skunk cabbage poking up throughout the woods behind our house!
Skunk cabbage flower emerging
The goats also say COME ON SPRING! My hat must have looked like some tasty browse, or maybe these guys are getting tired of all this snow!
Hungry goats miss the lush pasture
Hang in there, all. It looks like we’re in for a big (hopefully LAST) snowfall this weekend. I’m looking forward to snuggling by the fire with some graph paper to draw up my kitchen garden plans while Winter drags on.
Hello dears, until the Yule post, it had been a hot minute since I’d written here. My brain is bursting with updates I want to share with you and so I’m starting the process of jotting down what I’ve been up to in batches, in no particular order. Most of these will be goat-oriented (not sorry), but I’ll give it a solid try to present on other topics 🙂 anyway:
KITTEN!
In May, we welcomed Miss Daisy Mae to the Hillstead. A family member’s cat had kittens on St. Patrick’s Day and we are so grateful to have gotten one. Daisy is an affectionate, daring, funny, very active kotka- and she is one heck of a huntress. She and Neil keep the vermin population pretty in check around the house. They’re about the same size now and sometimes we have a hard time distinguishing them when they’re bounding through the fields.
How we named her 🙂Daisy and Neil (who can barely contain his enthusiasm about the new kitten)We love Miss Daisy Mae!
GOATS!
At present, we have a herd of six goats: three mini alpines, two Nigerian dwarves, and one Nubian. We added two young Nigerian dwarf wethers to our herd in November: Bernie and Blaze! They are so soft and sweet. Both fellas are still warming up to the Hillstead Humans, and it’s lovely experiencing that gradual trust building up.
Bernie (white left) and Blaze (brown right) experiencing their very first snowfall ❄️
And then we have Nanny! Yes, our neighbor’s Nanny :). She loves being part of a herd again and spends most of her time with our goats in the pastures. At the end of the day, her laments over having to turn in for the night alone in her own shelter became increasingly heartbreaking, so she’s shacking up with our guys in our barn. Nanny never had her own kids, it’s awfully sweet to see her mothering Bernie and Blaze.
Some of the kids fall 2021
In much less happy goat news, we had to say goodbye to Spotswa our Nigerian dwarf earlier this month. The little guy ate a nylon hair tie off the end of my braid one day, which we believe caused an obstruction/infection and made him very sick, and we had to put him down a week later. We will always cherish memories of Spotty frolicking through the pasture, nuzzling with Charlie and giving kisses, and how he was constantly at the sides of his favorite humans eager for scritches behind the ears or apple slices. We miss him dearly.
Daisy and I nursed Spotty as best as we could with our cuddles (and broad spectrum antibiotics, electrolytes, and Epsom salts)
CHICKENS!
Over the summer, we tried out a mobile coop design to see how our chickens would do free ranging in the pasture and then returning to the mobile home at night. They all seemed to enjoy their living situation enough, but unfortunately the local weasel population enjoyed it even more. Within a couple weeks, we went from 15 to 2 chickens. So, back to the old coop and drawing board on that one.
We all helped to build the a-frame mobile coop, which we tried in pasture 1
Now, we have 5 month old rhode island reds, olive eggers, mystic marans, ameraucanas and Ghostie. We bought the new ladies as day old chicks from a local hatchery in mid-August. We’re looking forward to fresh eggs again later this winter or early spring!
Day old floofs 8/17/214 months old 12/22/21
HAY!
With the changing of seasons comes the change in feed needs for all Hillsteaders, whether they be ruminants, mammals, or mini dinosaurs. The hoofed dudes don’t have the browsing banquet they mostly subside upon in the pastures in front of the house during the cold months. So that means having lots of hay on hand to satisfy our hungry goaties. Thanks to Facebook marketplace, we found a local farmer who sold us 20 bales of hay and kindly tracked down another 20 bales of straw (more on that in another post) from a neighbor which he delivered to us in his giant horse trailer. I marveled at his driving skills and he maneuvered a lot of machine all over pasture 1. After Zack and the hayguy unloaded all the hay by the barn, Zack and I got to the task of loading the hay bales into our barn’s hayloft for safe and dry keeping. This chorin’ made me feel like a legit farmer, and I get a thrill every time I ascend the ladder to access the loft to toss down a new bale for the goats (it also probably has something to do with my slight fear of heights).
Hay deliveryIn the hay loft, ‘tis a dusty place
That’s all for now. It’s a vigorous cycle of new life, problem solving, caregiving, death, and all that blood sweat and tears stuff. I’m here for it all.
Coming soon: 2021 garden review and lessons learned, things we’ve been making, and good times in the snow. Take good care, please ♥️
The Summer Hillstead 
