What a very beautiful morning here. I woke up around 5:40am and I could here birds singing in our front yard. They sounded so pretty. The night dropped down to -3 which is perfect for work. Then the sun was shining so beautiful this morning. And, with the trees coming into bud and the sun shining on them it was a picture made for fairy tales. So very, very pretty. The mountain up behind is way up behind us. Is so full of fresh thick snow and the sun is shining so nicely on it. It actually takes your breath away and one could look at it all day. I did hear on the news today we are in for snow. That does not surprise me, Easter weekend always seems to be so cold.
Down the road from us there is tow little boys who are friends with my Sam. They have a Momma cat with four or five kittens, she did not come in from being outside the other night. So now they have to feed the kittens every four hours. Poor little things or poor Momma cat. Some of our neighbors have had coyotes get their cats. It will be a full time job feeding those babies.
Well I must go and do some work I just wanted to tell you all what a beautiful day it is here today.

We are heading down to another break for school. The kids get another week off for Easter Break. I am so looking forward to it. I just wish Nisha was going to be home and not traveling across Canada. I am sure she will love it but I worry about her going. We are on our third day of our two billets...hmmm not to sure what I think of teenage girls.
I had to head into town tonight for a teacher interview for my middle son. As I was driving into town all these thoughts about my parenting skills were coming to surface. Second guessing myself wonder if I am doing it right... a little too late as half my kids are grown up. I was feeling really quite upset about it all. Then I went into the classroom the teacher said some very nice things about my children and about our parenting. Telling me how we have done a good job and what very nice and wonderful children I have. I so needed to hear that. I couldn't even respond back just said thanks. So how come people, teachers think our home is okay, fun , full of adventure, great place to learn... but some others think it is too small, too many people, and the only good thing is my oldest son !!??? and they wish they were not staying here. How does one deal with that. When everything we do here in our home and our life is and has always revolved around kids. We truly thought we had done everything to make everyone feel at home, bought little gifts, new towels so no one has to use ours, nice clean bed, house clean, a lot of extra food we usually do not have...Sigh....I really only like my own.
Today was a much drier day here. Cool but good. Allan went to work tonight. Today or last night was very long for him. He did not get home until after two pm. He was so tired. He went to sleep pretty quick then he is off again tonight at seven pm.
I have spent most of day working on finishing touches on Nisha's transition plan for school. It is a book or type of scrapbook on her that she has to present to the school. It is time consuming but fun too.
I am waiting for Nisha and her two billets to come home they will not be here until eleven pm. They are in Kamloops watching a movie, visiting the mall and having supper out. Well I am off to tidy up for the night. Have a good night

Oh my goodness did we have horrible weather today. So much rain, wind and snow. Quite a cold day!
The girls came home from school and soccer just frozen. It is amazing how the weather can change from one day to the next. Today I ordered sheep tags it took me awhile to figure out where to get them from. It has been so long since I have bought any I could not remember.
It is so funny to watch the goats. They so hate the rain. The first drop and they are off running. And, yet the ducks they love the rain the wetter the better. It will be hard on the animals tonight as it is freezing now.
We are getting organized for Tanisha's grad. The dress is bought, the grad fee's are paid all I have to do is order the pictures. With a grade twelve year all we seem to do is hand out money.
Well I should head off to bed it is amazing how fast morning comes. Good Night

A full day today. Our two billet girls came. They had a very long day and were absolutely knackered. The week planned with the school is full also. We had to wait around in town today for quite awhile so a lot of day went with not getting anything done. I had the boys fix the fence for me while I was in town. Then I opened the gate so all goats and sheep are together. The black male Alpaca jumped at his gate and broke it open so he is now in the with the girls which is so not good. Mark the calender for one year...for babies. Then we had this miserable whether smashing the Alpacas legs it was awful. The whether was suppose to be quite tame which he is but the move her has triggered of an uncertainty feeling in him and he is going after the Llama and Alpaca males really bad so I as soon as I get some tags he will be going. I can not keep anything that we have to look over our shoulders with.

An extremely busy day. I am very tired and I am so looking forward to bed time. We had a guy come at seven fifteen come to work on our truck and he was her until after one pm. I was getting ulcers waiting for him to leave. We seem to get up a bit on our bills and damn something else comes up. I am off to hunt for that lottery ticket. Maybe the Easter bunny will bring a winning ticket...
Tomorrow our billets come so we finished getting their bed ready, towels and a little gift for each of them. They must be excited they look quite young. It is going to be a full week of running around. The weather has turned quite windy actually very windy. It has also warmed up enough for it to thaw my under ground hose. This is all good. I just hope we can haul!
It seems lately the worry of work or being able to haul is over taking my life. That is all I seem to concentrate on. It feels like it is a night mare that won't go away. Eat just seems to eat away at me and I can not make it go away. Gosh it is a horrible feeling. I hate it. I know we are winning but we are running out of time. We figured out we have had to buy thirty two tires plus three full sets of tires in the last half of the year. And those are logging truck tires not car tires... Damn I should own a tire shop. Hmm what could I sell.
I have been trying to fit a few crafts in to my time in the evenings. I have been covering plastic eggs. I also set up and polished my spinning wheel and put some lovely bamboo on it.
Well I need to go to bed so I can wake up early and clean up after my kids. I hope you all have a wonderful night. Pleasant dreams

Dancing on the roof. She is so not suppose to be up there.
Last night we went to Tanisha's grad hockey game. Grads against the police and Grads against the teachers. It looked like everyone was having a lot of fun.
Today again the day flew by. I spent a lot of it working on some papers on the computer. Then a quick trip to town. Now tonight I have two kids at sleep overs. I kid in Kamloops picking up our parts and going to a movie. And, me I am so heading to bed really soon. Tomorrow I will do a a quick clean up of the house. Then Sunday our to billets come from PEI for my daughters exchange. It will be a very busy week but my daughter is so excited.
I had a nice visit on the phone with both my sisters today. Now that was very special! With the internet and facebook we do not talk as often as we should. As we can keep up with what we are each doing everyday.
Today is my niece's birthday. I hope she had a wonderful birthday and that her day was soooo special. Love you Mandy

It is funny how fast time is going. I think I just wrote on my blog but I really have not since Sunday. In this picture you can see some of our new sheep. We have a total of twenty one sheep now. I will probably cut down on a few. We also have fourteen goats, three alpacas, Harry the Llama, bully the bull, plus all the feathered friends. The sheep are Shetland sheep. I will also be getting a ram in the fall. I won't however be getting a Shetland ram they are awful, both of mine have been so mean. The rams are constantly wrecking things. It is ten pm so I should head off to bed. Have a good night.

What a great weekend so much was accomplished. I have worked, worked, and worked some more. However I am paying for it too sore to sleep at night. My front yard is just about ready for the Easter Bunny to visit. A few more flower beds to clean up. Right now I have a hose draining the hot tub. For some reason it quit working on us as soon as Allan gets time he will have to have a look at it. Today Dalton, Sam and I brought the sheep home. They are quite content no one seems lost or is crying. They just jumped out of the truck and had a look around. It is funny none of them were lonely or nothing. Our did grow quite fast. I will take some pictures tomorrow.

Yeah they won!

I know this picture was already on the blog but I just love the writing.

A busy weekend for the first of Spring. I so wanted to make something cool but instead farm work was calling . Ahh but the weekend is not over yet. And my pond is up and running.

Today was one busy day. We fixed a fence, we moved hay, we raked and we cleaned the barn. Then I worked on the pond and cleaned it out then refilled. Dalton and I were trying rearrange rocks to make the water flow through. We finally quit at six thirty because we could not move anymore, our backs were so sore. So it was a hot bath and now bed. It truly is amazing how much work there is to do here. I like to think I am winning but I am truly beginning to believe there is no winning...
Well I am off to bed tomorrow is another day that is waiting for me. I would like to make something for the first of Spring out of my drift wood and shells. The ones I brought back form Campbell River. Have a wonderful sleep. Think Spring

PS Dalton and I heard some lovely Spring birds today. All they made you do was smile. Actually come to think about it...it was a wonderful day

Here is Tanisha winning her scholarship. You can tell by the picture she is full of piss and vinegar and she was cracking a joke.

Tanisha won MVP for the Midget house team plus she won the Merritt Minor hockey scholarship. A very exciting night for her.

Waiting in the house for the lunch hour in case my kids need or call me. Yesterday I had to go pick up two of them. Today I have one at home who really needed a break. The reason being he has gone to school for a whole month with out missing a day...oh... that is if we don't count the week off for Spring break. I have been over at the barn cleaning, raking, piling, moving hay. I do believe I am winning. I wish I could wave a magic wand and it all be done everything I need doing. I can only do so much. I need to hire a man who loves to work and has some machinery to get things done. There is so much work on acreage.
While I waiting in the house I baking chocolate cupcakes for the kids for school. Sam also says he needs chocolate icing.
No work again today but they are going to give it a go tonight. It is suppose to drop to -2 so cross your fingers. Well I am off to clean some more.
hockey awards tonight. We have one winning an award so camera is charging.

EXHAUSTED... that is what I am... I have raked, cleaned, shoveled, burnt, washed, carried... I am doing yard work. Unfortunately our yard is forty acres. I am getting a lot done but it is a drop in a bucket. I will never truly get caught up here. Our last two days have been really nice unfortunately that is no good for our work. My husband showed up at home at two am...really not good. Of course I know it is March but still...

This is fun a bit blurry because Lulu is just so fast. Spring break past in a blur way too fast and I am not happy about that. We have been having bear troubles again. Last night my kids were out back playing hockey and Miss Hyacinth was playing with the little dogs. When Hyacinth saw something right above them. She thought it was a beaver and it so looked like one. So she ran in to get me and all I could think " a beaver there is no water up there and I wonder what tree's it will eat" Meanwhile Sam our youngest runs up and is less than ten feet away from a bear. A young bear. It was acting very different I am wondering if it was sick. Very, Very thin bottom of his feet worn off. I do not like this way to weird, way too close. My little nephew were playing right near it earlier in the day and they are only four and five... not good way too close. Way too close for a very weird acting bear...

I love this picture it looks like a river but it is only my pond.
I have decided I need to find time during the day to write a post as I am way too tired at night. Last night was a long night. My husband woke up at seven fifteen headed out the door by eight pm. I then tried to get kids to bed, we did lunches, homework that was saved until the last few hours of spring Break. Then at twelve thirty am my husband phoned trouble with the truck...he then told me some long winded message to tell my oldest son. I then went and woke up my zombie son retold the message. And, all I received back was " I am so confused"... My husband then phoned back at two am to tell us he was back in town so oldest son had to go pick him up. They came home and had to get a tire off our other logging truck trailer. No easy task no light, no close tools, looking over their shoulders for bears. yes we are having trouble with bears. Then off back to the bush which is hours away. Take off a tire, put on a tire again no easy task no real tools, snow dark cold tired, pissed off. As of seven forty five my son was heading back into town and now has to go to work. Fun night and now we are all exhausted and in need of dire sleep.

It has been a crazy full weekend. We have been so busy. A full schedule of hockey that just went on and on and on. I am so done with cold arenas. I brought home some new goats a total of nine. Wild Oh my goodness they are crazy. It sure is different when they are handled a lot from he kids. I will write more later.

We are on the last day of our youngest son's tournament. At five thirty tonight we go to semi finals. If we win we go the finals for a chance of first. No matter what, we play two more games. Then we get to start this all over again Saturday and Sunday for our middle son.

Spring break on the first day. It was really warm and our only warm day. Today is snow, snow and more snow.

Today was done in the arena. I was so cold and I am so past sitting there... but I was asked so nicely. Sam really, really wanted me to go. So how could I say no.
I have my oldest son home and boy oh boy did the kids miss him. It has been a full whirl wind here. Laughing, joking, checking muscles out, kisses, hugs, wrestling, stories, full cooked meal by Tanisha and dessert by Oma, laundry, a truck load of stuff, magic bullet set up... Tomorrow I am off to the arena again early we have to be there by 9am.
I so just want to stay home and do things. So I had better run and get organized. Have a wonderful night

Today we did a whirl wind trip to Kamloops. We found a very nice grad dress. I am so glad we have that done. The grad dresses were a bit of a disappointment. I thought they were in rough shape, frayed, pulled threads. Do you know what Velcro does when it hooks onto something that is what some of the dresses had on them. I felt that some of the dresses were dirty. For over $500.00 they should be a 100%. Don't you think.
Tomorrow my kids hockey tournament starts. I am so done with hockey. I don't care if I see another hockey arena for the rest of the year.
I had better get kids ready for bed or no one will get up in the morning.

Enjoying our time on the top level of our property

Having fun on our walk.
Today the day went by so fast. It was a cold day it did not get above 5 degrees and we still had a cold wind. This evening I worked on some trading cards. They are a lot of fun to do. I use rubber stamps, pictures I love from the Internet. and painting. It is a fun way to keep some great pictures.