Over the last year my backyard flock varied in numbers from 12 to 16. Some hens were older, some were too young to lay. Some laid eggs everyday in the summer, others went broody. A few were sick. Sadly, some died. Still, the girls managed to produce 1,874 eggs! Around here, eggs from pastured hens sell for about $4.00 per dozen. Minus some eggs that were cracked, or dirty, or just plain weird, I figure that the hens laid almost $600 worth of eggs in 2008. I suppose that they paid their own way, but I refuse to add up how much I spent on them. Luckily, my livelihood doesn’t depend on making a profit. But my sanity depends on having the hens in the backyard.

Happy New Year!

I’ve had quite the break from the goings on here at Little Pond Farm. My two sons, my husband and I went to Rome for a week!

I drank a lot of very good cappuccino.

In between the eating (my sons are now addicted to gelato,) we also walked and walked. Rome is so OLD. Here in New England, a house is considered historic if it was constructed 250 years ago. In Rome, that’s nothing. At the Roman Forum, the cobblestones have ruts made by wagon wheels from 2000 years ago. The highlight of the trip was an excursion just a half-hour out of the city to Ostia Antica. These ruins cover acres. You are allowed to walk just about everywhere. We stepped on mosaics laid down 2500 years ago, and clambered over walls and ducked through doorways that were used by everyday merchants in Roman times. My favorite mosaic was this sign in a fish store for fast food.

I wouldn’t be able to go away if it wasn’t for my wonderful pet sitter, Luisa. She comes 3, sometimes 4, times a day. She rubs Candy’s ears warm and gives her fresh water. She brings bread crusts for the hens. She plays with my dogs. It was cold in Rome – but not as cold as it was here. Luisa had to shovel snow and convince little Scooter to go outside in the bitter cold to potty. It is reassuring to know that there’s someone caring for my critters who loves them as much as I do. Without her, I wouldn’t ever go away.

Like writing in a diary, blogging is an edited keyhole into a larger life. I don’t ever lie in this blog, but I confess that I’ve omitted some things. Sometimes, looking back, like at yesterday’s blog, I think that I’ve painted too narrow, too didactic, a picture. Notice how I even did that nostalgic photoshop effect around the photo of Main Street?

It is absolutely true that I love shopping in this little town, but I do shop elsewhere. Yesterday, my teenager bought clothes at Kohl’s. I buy sheets at Bed, Bath and Beyond, I’ve bought dog food at Petco, and yes, I’ve had coffee at Starbucks.

In the summer I buy at a farmers’ market, but in the same week I’ll end up at a Stop and Shop Supermarket, the Whole Foods, and Trader Joe’s.

I love Indie bookstores, and as a writer I am ever-grateful to their love of books, their ability to sell the obscure author and the personality they bring to towns. But, I also buy books at Barnes & Noble (my teenager loves their superb magazine selection), and I buy off Amazon and Abebooks.com.

Obviously, there are a zillion choices out there. I try to be thoughtful about them, but not a self-righteous localvore. That said, I stand behind yesterday’s blog in that if I can find it on Main Street, I’ll go there first. And then I’ll get a cup of coffee. Not at Starbucks, but at Nashoba Brooks Bakery. It’s really good. Their chocolate biscotti are made in-house. They don’t come in a plastic wrapper like at Starbucks.

I’ll meet you on Main Street. Happy Holidays.

I am lucky enough to live 6 miles from this small town. Looks like a picture-postcard New England tourist town, doesn’t it? But, there are still useful stores – a hardware store, a cheese shop, a bookstore, a shoe shop. There’s also a gallery that sells the most gorgeous jewelry (useful in its own way!)

We get our share of out-of-towners (Walden Pond is nearby), but a town like this survives only because the locals support it. My husband and son are there picking up last minute gifts. I just came back. No, the sweater I got my husband wasn’t on sale, but it’s exactly what I had in mind for him, and the shop owner is the father of a son’s classmate. I figure that I got just what I wanted – not only the sweater, but also this community.

Santa will certainly have easy sleighing in my neighborhood.  Nineteen inches of new snow is on the ground, and on rooftops, and in the chicken’s yards…..  Candy is delighted. The chickens are not. We’ve shoveled an area for them in the run, but they refuse to go outside. Smart birds. It’s 15 degrees F. out today, and very windy. Several of the hens are at the end of their molt and are a tad naked, poor things. But, it’s cozy and draft-free in the coop. The waterer is on a heating pad (specially made for chicken barns), so it never freezes. The hens are winter-hardy breeds, so they don’t need a heat lamp. Scooter, my little chihuahua mix, does. Actually, he’d like us to keep the fire going in the hearth all day for him. He also needed a potty area shoveled out. Lily Dog loves bounding through the snow, but she doesn’t have much of a coat and so she, too, would rather be in front of the fire. Me, too.

The snow is work and inconvenient. But isn’t it pretty?

I’ll be taking a blogging break between Christmas and New Years. Enjoy your holidays!