One of the big jobs on my revised summer honey-do list was a rebuilt staircase. The one we had, at 114 years old, was ugly and creaky and lacked a banister. Now we are likely to get house guests, it's important to have a safe staircase.
I began by assembling materials and putting polyurethane finish on treads and riser boards. Then I wrecked out the old staircase.
There was the usual moment of gagging and near-vomiting on encountering the obligatory 114-year old mouse nest, pictured for your viewing pleasure above. Yet more disgusting though was the decomposing dead rat. Rodents, unfortunately are a fact of life in an old Maine farmhouse. Both were soon dealt with, using appropriate arm's-length tools, and holding one's nose. Then I fitted the new risers and treads over the old staircase skeleton.
I'm not great at finish work, and in fact detest doing it, but was happy enough with the new stairs.
Meanwhile, Aimee was harvesting basil and processing it into pesto. She takes over the whole kitchen for this process, as well as the porch, which is where she picks the leaves. It's a lot of work for an eight-months pregnant lady.
I tend to avoid this process, mostly because of the big mess it creates, so I was glad enough to have my own job to do.
Big mess or no, the final product is delicious. This is just the first batch of Womerlippi 2014 pesto, about half of the total she will make. It gets frozen until needed, although quite a bit will be given away to relatives.
Meanwhile, I'd made cole slaw salad with our fresh cabbage, carrots, and onions. The potatoes are ready too.
This is the part of owning and keeping a farm I really like -- large amounts of very good, very fresh food.
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Welcome to our Farm Blog.
The purpose of this blog is for Aimee and I to communicate with friends and family, with those of our students, and other folks in general who are interested in homesteading and farming activities.
The earliest posts, at the very end of the blog, tell the story of the Great Farm, our purchase of a fragment of that farm, the renovation of the homestead and its populating with people and animals. Go all the way to the last post in the archive and read backwards from there to get it in chronological order.
After getting tired of spam comments (up to a dozen or more per day), I required commentators to be Google "registered users". You can write me at mwomersley@unity.edu if you have a serious comment or question and are not a registered user.
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