I was all excited about my new wheels and was going to post about them but it turned out that Jim was more excited about my excitement…so excited that he put the story of my new wheels on the home page of our website! Eesh!
What Jim didn’t cover in his story was my complete and utter surprise when the wheels were revealed on Christmas morning.
I’d been asking… pleading… begging for them for over a year! I was told the research had shown that new wheels weren’t happening. There was no hope.
By now you’re surely wondering why I didn’t just buy a new cart. Well, it has to do with weight. I haven’t found another cart that is as light weight but still as sturdy as this one. The Vermont Cart Jim bought to replace mine weighs just about the same as mine with 2 bales of hay in it. When you add 2 or 3 bales of hay to it, I can barely move it. And that’s why it’s now Jim’s cart!
Now for my Dark Days meals for weeks 5 & 6. We woodland-raised some Berkshire pigs last summer and kept one for ourselves. We enjoyed a dinner of pork chops with caramelized onions, potato pancakes, apple sauce and steamed carrots. I made the apple sauce from wild apples that grow on our land…no sugar needed.
I have no idea of the variety but they’re very tasty despite no care. The trees self-prune during winter storms. Potatoes, carrots and onions were from our CSA and the egg that held the potato pancakes together came from our own hens.
Mother Nature gifted us a few 50 degree days…what a treat! We were ready to bring out the lounges and the grill called to me. (We never really put it away but 50 degrees makes it much more appealing) I grilled a lovely london broil — part of the grassfed beef quarter we bought from our friends at Meadowsweet Farm in Swanville. Assorted potatoes along side were simply roasted in a little olive oil, salt & pepper (not local) and
we enjoyed their different flavors and textures. Steamed green beans finished the plate. Veggies were from our CSA.
It may have become obvious that carrots and green beans are on the menu often around here…way too often if you ask me! I’ve never met a veggie I didn’t like. Problem is that Jim isn’t a big fan of cooked veggies. Carrots, green beans, wax beans, ummm…that’s about it for him. I’m working on him, though. Hey! when we got married, he didn’t eat tomatoes and thought iceburg was the only lettuce on the planet.