Seasons Greetings Everyone!
We hope all of you are healthy and happy in your corners of the world. Lance and I are enjoying our lives in East Tennessee as farmers/teachers/physicians. Lance continues to diagnose the broken bones and various ailments of the community, though he plans to retire in 18.5 years and become a carpenter, chemistry teacher, or astrophysicist. I still love teaching English at East Tennessee State University where I’ve been supplying my students (many of whom subsist on Papa John’s garlic sauce and Ramen noodles) with fresh eggs and various canned goods. If I could only inspire them to become bookworms and farmers!
Though the garden has long turned brown, the farm is thriving—with chickens, goats, horses, and cats (and the occasional wild turkey). The chickens appreciate their new predator-proof accommodations: a deluxe coop with secure stone foundation, comfy nest boxes, high roosting platforms, and a spacious run (and they pay their rent with delicious eggs!). The chicks are three months old now, and they enjoy their daily ration of Start and Grow, grass, and El Paso corn tortillas (their favorite!) Henny continues to be the matriarch, though she is definitely showing her age, and her eggs are getting more fragile every day. We bred our goat, Iris, a few weeks ago, and if all goes well, we’ll have a kid around the first of April. Copper, Jezebel, and Ruby (the horses) are staying fat on sweet feed. Beaker (portly as usual) whines constantly for tuna (thanks to Mamaw Brenda). Poe—because he does not have to rely solely on mice and birds for food anymore—is even getting a tummy pouch—though he remains the fearless warrior cat. Needless to say, we are not making a profit—just spending money to feed our animals—so much so that a clerk at the local feed store said that when she dies, she wants to come back as an animal on our farm. As good as that makes me feel, I don’t think my grandparents—wise yeomen, they were—would be too happy about the fact that we’re not making any money from our little enterprise. Well, there’s always the farmer’s market next year!
We have hired a historic contractor and architect, and in January, we plan to start major restoration on our house—and turn the aesthetic clock back 150 years or so. Hopefully by next Christmas, we will have added a cabin (and radiant heat—okay, everything can’t be historic!)
Have a wonderful Christmas and New Years! Come visit us anytime!
