2 degrees and 47% humidity this morning.  Made it all the way into the teens during the day.  How cold is it?

The eggs are freezing IN THE COOP!  We keep feeding the frozen eggs to the dogs, so they are happy.

I spilled water on my jacket while watering rabbits.  My jacket didn’t get wet because the water instantly froze on my sleeve.

I had a runny nose and ended up with snotcicles.

The horse poop is freezing to the ground from the moisture content.  We need a shovel to break the pieces free.

My truck almost didn’t crank with the heater block plugged in!

I came in from doing chores and picked up some frozen meat to prep for dinner.  It warmed my hands!

On our trip, we vowed no stops at McDonald’s. We did this because every time we eat there, Anna and I feel sick. The food just isn’t healthy and we want the kids to learn about healthy eating. So, for lunch today, we are at the Dutch Pantry. It is an Amish store that makes sandwiches and has an eating area. It was a great atmosphere and the kids learned about checkers.

We pulled the kids out of school 4 days early and we are hitting the road for Christmas vacation. We are headed to AL. The van is loaded and the kids are watching movies. We have a farm sitter who has worked for us before, but not for this long and not since the farm grew this much. This will either solidify her desire to have animals and cause her to swear them off forever.
2 days of driving, here we come.

As the weather is cooling off, the garden harvest is slowing down.  Yesterday afternoon, Anna assigned Alex and Vicki to pick bell peppers and tomatoes.  The peppers looked so good, that I went ahead and ate one while they were working.  Of course, Amanda decided she needed to eat one too, but she wanted a purple bell pepper.

93% of all statistics are either made up or used in a  way that misrepresents the data.  Think about that for a second.

Opponents of raw milk almost always bank on the argument of public safety and pasteurization is needed to keep us safe.  However, if you ever actually take the time to look at all the evidence yourself, instead of relying on our media’s headlines, you will begin to understand the actual risk you assume when consuming raw milk.  I don’t want to convert everyone to raw milk, but I think people should recognize how much the mainstream media misrepresents scientific data.

Luckily, someone has already done an independent review of the data and added perspective to the statistics.  http://chriskresser.com/raw-milk-reality-is-raw-milk-dangerous

As some of our close friends know, I have been in discussion with my detailer about my next orders.  For the past few weeks, all indicators have been pointing to a move out of Groton.  Luckily, this morning I got some good news – orders to Newport, RI.  I don’t know the details of the job (and it doesn’t really matter), but it is something on staff at the War College (not a student).  This is significant, because Newport is close enough that I can commute without having to move.  Hopefully, I will be able to get a follow on job that allows us to continue to stay in the Groton area.

To say that we are relieved of some stress is an understatement.  While setting up a farm to the extent we have carries risk, we have decided to live the life we want now, instead of dreaming about it for the future.  Therefore, we will continue to farm.  We will continue to fine tune our operation to balance what we want for our family while trying to develop some income for the farm.

Our goal remains, Rob retires from the Navy in 2019 to be a full-time barefoot trimmer and farmer.  Hopefully, that will be in CT, which allows us to build the customer base.  It’s good to have a goal.