It is January. The Christmas tree and decorations have been taken down and we're ready for winter.
I say ready for winter because it doesn't really feel like winter has started. We've had a few days of double-digit, below-zero weather, but they have been tempered by double-digit, above-zero weather. This week is a case in point. Today temperatures were -8C and the forecast for Friday is for temperatures to be +8C. We've had more rain than snow and certainly no weather for winter sports like skating, skiing or snowshoeing.
Rob and I just returned from a walk around the fields. Already, less than a month after the winter solstice, the days are getting longer. It was still dusk when we returned to the house. Monday night was the full moon.
The mild weather has made keeping chickens relatively easy. They continue to go outdoors for at least a few hours most days. We've had only a handful of days where we experienced their water freezing. We keep a heat lamp over it and on really cold days we fill it with warm water in the morning and again at night. They are producing seven or eight eggs most days.
I made bread on the weekend with help from Jess. It made me wonder if I could use the crock pot to proof the dough instead of sitting it on the back of the oven. A little research showed I could do more than proof the bread, I could actually cook it in the crock pot!
So that's what I did today. On my lunch I quickly whipped up the dough (less than 15 minutes) and then placed it in a heat proof dish raised up inside the crock pot with a little bit of water in the base. I have to say I'm quite pleased with the results. The bread is light and airy. It tastes like my wheat germ was a little old. I'm already thinking of a couple of modifications to try the next time -- molasses instead of honey, seven grain cereal instead of rolled oats and wheat germ. The bread cooked for three hours on high. The only down side is it doesn't really brown.
I don't know if raising chickens and baking my own bread makes me a homesteader or not, but I'm still having fun. The Stokes seed catalog has already come in and I'm already keen to start picking out what I'm planting this year. I really am looking forward to gardening and doing more canning. I love this feeling of self-reliance I even recycled the Christmas tree by cutting the branches off and putting them over the remaining turnips and the garlic I planted last fall.
