I guess I was a little overzealous with the work when I got back from Montreal. I went out a couple of days ago and harvested the last hundred pounds of (super-sweet) carrots from the greenhouse. I wanted to get them out of the ground before the real cold came, and I felt the need to do some work outside. My hands were frozen by the end of it, but still, I felt good. The problem came with transporting the carrots from the green house to the root cellar. I didn’t use a wheel barrow, because of the snow, I just carried them in a bin. I only carried about 30 pounds and asked Ed to carry the rest, but the way I walked with the bin made for an awkward position. I guess my back did not like this, because yesterday all of a sudden I started having lower back pain, which has intensified quite a bit since. Now I feel like an old woman, and that exuberance that made me go out there for the carrots in the first place seems like it belonged to someone else. I’ve been sitting around the fire and shelling beans, a task that had to get done, so at least I feel like I can still do something useful.

Cow update: Things look good. We found a Dexter cow who’s pregnant and due in about August, and a 6 month old Dexter heifer, both on a small farm in New Hampshire. The family selling them seems very nice and easy to deal with. We’re hoping to go up there next week to have a vet assessment of the two of them, and pick them up shortly after, weather permitting.

Sena made her first cheese, with my help – paneer. It came out delicious, I thought, but unfortunately I was the only one who thought this. I made curry with half of it, and ate the rest raw all by myself. It was a real treat, and I was kind of glad I did not have to share it. Sena was really proud of her first cheese even though she did not like the taste, and now she wants to try other cheeses, but I told her we’ll have to wait till my back feels better.

 Peace