It was actually 3 men on my roof, able representatives of the Nevada City Fire Department, with five more on the ground holding ladders and taking care of all the confusion I created by having a chimney fire this morning.

I have never called the fire department, but when I saw flames up my chimney and my rock wall in front of the fireplace started crackling and popping, I was afraid I’d burn the house down on the coldest day of the year.  They pulled up in a few minutes, 3 trucks and men streaming out in all directions, checking out the problem and calming me down.  It all turned out fine and gave me a real appreciation for where our tax dollars go.

Sunny day with a bright blue sky against the white snow on the trees.  Chickens still hate the snow.  Their water was frozen this morning inside the coop, so I’m grateful they weren’t frozen too.  Guess those downy feathers do a lot of good keeping them cozy. They won’t budge out of the coop and their small run and I now have a new sense of what the term ‘cooped up’ means and where it came from.  They also don’t like to lay eggs when it is too cold–only 3 today.

Three fireman make sure my chimney fire wasn't going to burn down the house

a few apples left on the tree, in the snow

Sunset over the snowy orchard

I awoke to the silence and purity of a foot of new snow.  My rubber boots crunched and sank as I made my way across the white expanse to the garden to let the chickens out for the day.   One of them plopped into the snow and then ran back into the dry space of the coop.   She was a ’spring chicken’ and has never seen anything but dirt.

I grew up in Southern California and in the 19 years I’ve lived here in the foothills, I never get over the marvel of the changing seasons.  We just finished harvesting, sharing and selling apples and figs and putting the garden to rest for the long winter.  Now the trees are covered in white cloaks, their trunks stark gray and bare in contrast.  It looks like Christmas and I’m amazed and grateful.  Now if the pipes can just not freeze tonight when it’s supposed to get down to 19 degrees…

The chickens are not sure what to make of the fluffy white stuff...

the apple orchard wearing her white winter cloak

winter has arrived

perfect!

The crisp days and nights made for bright fall leaves. Color at every turn on the farm.

I never get over the wonder of the seasons, reminding me to slow down and notice the subtle changes day by day.

My daughter Heather and Grandson Hunter discover the chickens

My grand nephew Dylan (age 3) thinks apple picking is fun!

apples ready to be picked

Stella joined the farm along with eight other baby chicks in March 2008.  I had picked out the other little cheeping puff balls of the breeds I wanted and was ready to leave. Then I noticed a tiny Americana chick, all golds and reds and all by herself.  I just couldn’t leave her behind, so added her to the mix.

This was my first try at raising chickens, so I learned a lot.  First of all, there really is such a thing as a ‘pecking order’ and the chickens, even when they are tiny, seem to know if they are different breeds.  So the other chicks had each other and Stella was a loner.  But she hung in there and stood up for herself.  We named her simply because she was so easy to tell apart from the others.  She was our favorite.

Her eggs were light green with little speckles on them.

But she tended to hang out alone, rather than in the pack with the others.  This may have made her vulnerable.  Even though they were supposedly safe within the garden fence, something got in and took Stella, leaving only a patch of golden feathers and her lovely memory.

So here is a photo of her in the garden near the flowers.

We’ll miss you dear Stella. May you rest in peace in hen heaven with lots of worms and grains and soft nests to sit on to lay your green speckled eggs…

Everything gets ripe at once!

Right now, there are grapes, plums, peaches, pears, apples, tomatoes, corn, melons, cucumbers, zucchini, figs, carrots, beans and chard.  It’s amazing to witness Mother Nature’s abundance first hand.

I love the miracle of watching a patch of rich dirt turn into all this food. Of course there’s a lot of sweat and effort that goes into it.

In the end, it’s magic, pure magic.

Some recent pickings...

White peaches 8/27/09, sun ripened...

ready to eat

Today I picked some of the white peaches that have been gorgeous looking for weeks, but hard as stones.  I covered them with bird netting and have been checking them every day and TA DA!  Today was the day.  The first ones gently placed into a basket with a cloth in it to protect them.  Juicy and delicious, so worth the wait…