a man and his hoe

every day is a good day

Author: theMan

  • Time to Experiment


    With no farmers markets to worry about, I have time to hone my bread baking, and experiment. What if I add more levain, or change the moisture content of the levain, or let the dough rest longer, or rise longer, or, or, or … there are as many variables to play with as I can imagine. This morning’s cumin loaf was pretty good.



    Chuckanut Mountain looked like a volcano steaming ferociously, about to blow it’s top. Fortunately it’s not a volcano, just a mountain that clouds have a thing for.


    At home, late afternoon sun rays turned an apple tree into a burning bush.


    I’d gone out to rake more leaves for the garden beds. Though the leaves on the pond are out of reach.


    It’s impossible to rake leaves without stirring the interest of the chickens. They have all day to inspect the leaves, but something about me raking them, makes them more interesting to the chickens. It may not be the leaves that pique their curiosity. They are probably wondering why I bother gathering them into big piles and cart them off in a wheelbarrow.



  • Camouflage


    Snowgeese camouflage as clouds. Maybe that is one reason they gather in such huge flocks. On the ground they look like snow. When they take to the air, they look like a fog bank or clouds nestled against the mountains.


    Among the golden ferns, the Buff Orpingtons are nearly invisible. Are they the color of golden ferns, or are the ferns the color of Buff Orpingtons?


    What are the Silver-Laced Wyandottes camouflaged as? Winged Zebras?

  • What Passes for a Sunny Day in Mid-November


    In mid-July a day isn’t a sunny one unless the sky is crystal clear at dawn and no clouds mar the cobalt sky all day. By mid-November, our standards for a sunny day have crumbled, and if we can spot any blue among the clouds, a sunny day it is. If we can step outside and not get wet walking to the gate, a sunny day it is. If we can bicycle to the post office and back without having to crawl into rain gear, a sunny day it is.


    It’s a sunny day if rays of sunshine light up swan wings as they fly overhead. It’s a sunny day if the snowberries aren’t dripping raindrops.



    For the ducks, rain or sun, it makes no difference. Any day that ends with a splashy swim is a sunny day.

  • Mystery is a Tiny Egg


    Morning starts with a heavy frost, turning leaves to leather and wood to fine art.




    Watching coffee roasting is a pleasing activity. Having a nearby friendly coffee roaster you can enjoy a pleasant conversation with while you pick up your coffee beans is precious. So is feeling how soft a bucket of warm chaff from roasted coffee is. Evidently it makes great mulch and bedding for worm bins, earthworms love it.



    So is enjoying the sun setting over the San Juan Islands on the drive home. And so is coming home to find a tiny egg, the first egg from a young hen. Based on its size and color, it is a Turken egg. The mystery to solve is which of the six month old hens has started laying eggs.

  • Where Snow Belongs


    Snow belongs up there, not down here. Saturday’s snow is but a memory. The sun has seen to that. The snow has retreated up into the hills and mountains where it belongs.


    Mt. Baker can have as much snow as it wants.


    And so can Lyman Hill. From now until spring, it’s a fine line where the snow ends, is it up there or down here?