The Commissioner of Washington state's Department of Natural Resources, Hilary Franz, has been on a morale tour after losing staff to her vaccine mandate. She originally reported only a handful of people "chose" to leave last year but accommodations are only now being officially denied. Protestors joined me today outside her meeting with staff in the Northeast Region. I was fired from that region for refusing to comply with their demand that I stop interviewing people who they said "undermined" the vaccine mandate at DNR. Franz is a likely frontrunner for Washington's next Governor. As DNR Chief she heads the state's wildland firefighting force.
The morning after our coldest night in Florida was filled with bashing ice out of water buckets. When we lived in Washington state, we had bucket warmers, but we have never needed them here in Florida. Moving the chicken coop with all the insulation was a challenge. Milking the goats with frozen fingers was no fun but at least I wasn’t the goat having my teats grabbed by frozen fingers. Otherwise, it was just another crazy day on the farm!
We survived our coldest night ever in Florida since moving here in May 2023. It got down to 24 but the “feels like” was 16. Florida infrastructure is not built with such cold in mind, and we don’t have appliances like water bucket heaters on our farm because we never need them. It was a great reminder why farming sounds so idyllic until it gets really cold. I am glad we don’t deal with this every day for 6 months like our friends who live near our old home in Washington state. Kudos to the farmers who brave far tougher conditions than this all winter to keep food on our tables.
You think you have drastic hormonal swings? Meet Heidi, our first goat and Peter’s #1 lady. She is a total maniac every 3 weeks when she is ready to breed. Heidi is definitely the alpha female in the herd so she makes sure everyone knows she is in charge. This time she tried to show me that she is my boss and I’m hoping my NO was loud and clear.
https://open.substack.com/pub/rwmalonemd/p/homesteading-the-art-of-butter-and?
Make your own butter!
https://open.substack.com/pub/conservativeladiesofamerica/p/americans-must-wake-up-red-states?
Florida residents action
