Happy New Year
 As we close in on 2014 I think back to it was a good year for us here on the farm. We were intensely busy with the wedding once the date was changed we flew straight forward and never quit. We had to try to get our place into shape for over one hundred and twenty people in hot, hot intense 50+ degrees. We had a lot of set backs, a lot of things to do some we did not get to we simply ran out of time. We had wind storms that took down fences and trees just weeks before the weeding, we had horrible winter kill on the gardens. We did it the whole family pulled together and we pulled off a beautiful wedding.

We had new additions added to the farm eight new bouncing goats and I am sure I will be kept on my toes cursing this lot as they try my fences. Their new names are of the reindeer Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donor Blitzen!! so that puts us at fourteen goats enough to find trouble I am sure.

 A lot of this went on this holiday I am ten toques  made for gifts, many scarves, fingerless gloves and blankets. I enjoyed finding the time to make things

 We had a lovely Christmas Eve we visited, sang and shared some laughs.

 Wishing you and yours a perfect 2015.

Road Trip with my husband and our youngest daughter

 

Early morning we headed out on an amazing road trip. We hit Kelowna and the mall was open at nine am so Miss Hyacinth did a bit of shopping. She was really quite happy with herself. 

We drove to a place called Boundry country it is a little place called Beaverdell, past Big white which is ski hill (that looked like it needed more snow around there) the little place was this side of rock creek. The only reason it went smooth asking my husband to take me is he hauled a load of logs out of there last winter. I had never been it so it was cool to see somewhere new. Our roads were perfect with all our crazy weather and so many horrible accidents on the highways we totally lucked out. There was not a lot of snow but the side roads and peoples driveways were crazy icy you could have put skates on and go and not even wreck your blades.

We came to a families farm where the are a goatery ~ dairy. They usual carry one hundred does for milking but they are selling off their herd. When the two boys opened up the barn door and over sixty goats ran in all I could do was smile. It was such an awesome site. So many to pick from so hard to pick which one when I really just wanted them all. Imagine just going and buying the herd.

 I bought seven from this farm. Three were a Christmas gift from my Mom and one was a Christmas gift from my Grandson, Daughter and Son in law and then the extras. Plus some friends of ours gave me a goat yesterday and my son's picked her up. So eight new goats which brings my count up to fourteen. All have been with a Billy Goat so we shall see what comes about in two months. I have thirteen does and all have been with a buck so it will be interesting what comes along in the next several months.

 

Tis the Season ....

Time to change the blankets over

I took a little time to swamp out our bedroom it can easily be the catch all of everything. I get it nice and then change something redo another spot and the extras end up in the bedroom until I get time. I made it nice put on our Christmas sheets and blankets. Our sheets are flannel and of course it warmed up so we have been melting at night

So cozy  and warm feeling see my old doll she is over forty years old her and I we used to go on the grandest adventures. This bed my husband made for us I love it. He always once to get a bigger bed but why when our is so comfy ha it is so comfy all my kids still like to try to sleep in it.

I love all our wonderful things.

 A snow day this little boy loves to go out and have a play in it.

 Cowboy likes to sit really close to this little guy while he is playing.

 We have been having up and down weather super cold to super mild hard on my skating rink we have had the rink where you could skate on it only to melt right away. So we are trying our luck again but the weather is too iffy so we will see how it makes it this winter.

Yesterday was so mild we worked outside for several hours it was so nice to not rush through feeding and fly back inside because it is so cold. We fixed a pen ( a little rough) where our pigs had been so we could put our little miserable Billy goat in there. He is friendly until he takes a full speed run at your knees and smells so bad, he loves to pee all over himself which I told him is a really disgusting habit. I can now go in and visit the does and pet them and get them to know me all over again.

Man oh Man is the cold hanging on we have already burnt so much wood. Our coldest we have hit here on the farm is -26 this morning is -20. It could be a long, long winter. With this cold weather  and garden time done I have enjoyed bringing out other things to do. I have been crocheting and knitting, redo the house, cleaning in general, painting, try fun things. I have our Grandson nearly every day so the days are at a lot slower pace and I am grateful the gardens our done as I would not be able to keep them up.

 Yesterday I was decorating the house a bit for Christmas we have an awful lot of snowflakes to use. Our daughter was going to have a winter wedding we went out and bought a lot of snow flakes to hang well she changed the date to a July wedding so now I get to use snowflakes as a theme. We will get our tree within the next week and half it is hard to fit it in our schedule well not ours, our kids. It is nice to see the decorations come out I am a little worried I have not found our Christmas stockings yet.

The renovation ~ hard to call it that I only did a bit on the living room but it is done. I really liked how it turned out. It wasn't like I didn't like it before it was awesome but I was worried about behind the wood stove. I will post pictures on here a bit later. I did mosaic behind the wood stove with tile it was hell to grout then on either side of the wood stove walls I painted and used a spackle to create faux bricks. It turned out great I would have loved to use all tile but it would have been too heavy for our home.

Now that the bulk of the garden work is done it is nice to take the time to do things in and around the house. Trying out some baking being creative we went to a thrift store and bought some fun cake pans. One of the pans was a cast iron with little farm animals and one with snowflakes. Perfect for mini pancakes and even soap.

Fall leaves have been floating down and with that comes pine needles I will be happy if all the pine needles just fall now and get it over with instead of in the Spring.

Thanksgiving weekend
Our weekend has been full and busy our youngest has a hockey tournament here in town. For years now hockey has been ruining our Thanksgiving weekends so we try to squeeze our dinner on the best day with the most time. Sad really~one more year of this and then Minor Hockey will be done and I am sure will not be running around as much.
Our dinner turned out okay everything cooked well as usual it was ate in record breaking speed they ate and ran.
Today was a typical fall feeling day not too cold but a bit dreary, wind blowing  fire going in the house type of day.
 I started some Christmas presents today hard to believe it is really close it will be here before we know it.

We have been bring in fire wood and that is such a great feeling. Our weather has been so nice it is hard to imagine there will be snow. I have been to general cleaning putting things away that get set out during garden time. Moving things around and finding any garbage that needs to be dealt with.
Flower Pots there are so many~ I threw them all out but the funny thing is I always seem to go back and get some more. Next Spring I will transplant some twisted willow and have them for sale at the lavender house. (www.petitcreeklavender.com)
Last night in the gardens it was beautiful, amazing with such deep rich colours every where you look. It is funny sometimes you can walk out and things just look the same you notice things that need fixing or removing and then the next time you can go out you are in awe of the colours everything catches your eye

 May your day be full of blessings and take the time to see the beauty around you

I have been getting things done here that fell behind with all the wedding prep. this Spring and Summer. Our boys fixed fences that were down and that alone is huge and such a great feeling to have done. The back door and steps are painted  earlier this year my dad's dog went crazy on a thunder storm and chewed them up ~ so now it is a bright turquoise blue. I have moved in the wood that was cut but seriously if it gets cold I will burn in a full week, fire wood is next on our list. Our hay is in, ready to feed all those hungry mouths during the cold snowy winter months. In front of our house I had a large bird cage that has been moved the pond has been moved and the area is in the process of being cleaned. It is a great feeling to get the tiding done because it can get messy real quick.

Yesterday was a soap afternoon made up of two batches that will be ready in about eight weeks. The flavours are orange and poppy ~ seed, lavender and lily of the valley.

 

September on the farm has proven to be a very busy time with the delay of school for three weeks it was a bonus and a time of frustration. We used the time to work here on the farm, to enjoy the extra summer,  and to play and entertain Cash our grandson. It was equally just as frustrating knowing the government and teachers had our children as pawns. In total they missed five weeks of school! do you know how we would be harassed if we kept our children home for five weeks? In the picture above this is our youngest son starting grade eleven.

So hard to believe.

 We have been making fruit leather here we took our plums from our trees washed them well in the sink and then dried them off. Each plum was cut in half, pip removed then laid out on cookie sheets with an edge cooked for twenty minutes at a temperature of 400 degrees it is important you stay close by so you can keep an eye on the plums so they do not burn. When they are cooked for the twenty minutes remove them from the oven (they are extremely hot). Once all cooked I put the plums into a food processor blend well so there are no big bits. Then pour pureed plums onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper approximately 1/4 of an inch deep and pop them into the oven at 170 degrees to dry out the moisture. This took me a very long time. You must keep checking so it does not over dehydrate or burn.

 Once free of all moisture and liquid cool and cut with a pizza cutter.

A day on the farm

Today was a bit of a rain day but we were better off than the places that got snow. So early for bad weather.
Tonight the boys fenced the last of the of the steel fence that we will use to separate the Billy goat ~ Man oh Man he is one smelly little goat. They are a mixed breed that we bought local here so they won't be too big of a goat. I would like to get them a bit tamer so they are easier to handle and so that I can have a bit more control over them.

It is a beautiful fall here on the farm it is just starting but it is promising to be awesome

First day back to school or at least it should be it is perfect weather dreary, wet and gray outside. The teachers have been on strike since June and the two sides still can't get their selves together. Then once they figure it out they think the kids can bounce back and jump in ~ oh they all say it is for the kids I truly believe at this time of the strike they are not thinking of the kids.
I have been using  a rototiller my sister and her husband have been letting me use. It is hard work and totally messes with my neck but I did manage to get the herb garden redone with the herbs replanted and sitting in the soil with a nice rain on them. I had let this garden go during the course of getting ready for the wedding.
This last weekend I used the time to visit with my kids our youngest daughter was home for a few days so I did a quick road trip with two of our girls it was fun to spend the time together. Our middle son we have hardly seen him he has been away all summer fighting forest fires the only time was when he was home for his three day break in between.
It is time to head to the auction one more time this year to sell off some ducks, rabbits a few turkey and a couple of lambs. Now it is getting hard to find the time to schedule a trip with hockey starting, hockey has a way of sucking the life out of life.
Our kitten have all gone to their new homes they were special kitties they were born on the full moon and on the night of our daughters wedding. Now as soon as I can afford to take Studio to the vet I will get her spayed.

Beautiful day on the farm  summer is winding down 

On the farm from the gardens

 

It has been a busy time here on the farm and it is so crazy to think it is the end of August.

WOW

summer flew by

We have had a few fun weekends visiting once to the lake to see family. We have headed of on little day trips on the weekends to visit our daughter. Our kids that are away have been home to visit so I guess that is why time is flying by.

 

 

It is a funny thing even with our intense heat I can still feel fall creeping in. The hay is being brought in and my mind has been drifting towards ahh we need to get fire wood!! We also need to pull off one more auction trip before the summer grass goes.
School is two weeks away and that is plain crazy the time has flown by even with the added days of the teachers strike I feel like I missed summer.
Today I canned peaches and only one jar sealed hmm so over it so much work for it not to turn out. I was going to do more but no point I will have to keep these in the fridge and I will be running out of room.

A beautiful morning here on the farm. We had some rain last night so it made a wonderful misty fog this morning. The drive into town was awesome.
It has been quiet on the home front this month of August and part of July once the crazies of the wedding settled the day after the wedding mu kids all departed. Two back to school for their summer semesters, one off to try a new job and jump into the grown up world and will add she is totally pulling it off, One off to be a married women and plan her future, one off to fire fight and has been kept busy right through and one left at home to learn what it is like to a be an only child.
The farm is always busy never dull moment.

Wow so much time has gone by and I have so much catching up to do. It has been crazy, unreal, unbelievable busy I can finally come up to breath. So much to tell you.

Happy Anniversary

 

Twenty six years married it is amazing how quickly time goes by

A lot has happened over the years but at the same time we have just steadily moved along.

 We live a simple life not a quiet life it is full of noise, kids and loudness.

 And, a life full of moving meaning working, running and just doing things always busy.

Stress loves to jump in all the time we could do without that but it clings on to us for dear life.

 

We have moved from babies to grown up children our youngest just turned sixteen and our oldest is getting married in about eight weeks ~ Too crazy for words

We have added a beautiful boy to our family a lovely grandson who is the apple of every one's eye.

 

Here's to us wishing us many more.

Time is marching on by we are already into May ~ how does that happen.

We are in birthday mode we have one celebration after another.
It goes Easter, birthday, birthday, birthday, Mothers day, birthday, wedding shower, grad , wedding shower, birthday wedding...all within the next three months.

Crazy busy

Our weather has been nice the last few days and it made a lot of the trees come out into bloom so pretty with a nice scent amidst the farm.
My new orchard is nearly all planted I need two more trees to even it out and I am thinking pear tree and maybe apricot. The only problem with pear and apricot is they bloom early and we always get frost.
On our road trip last weekend I saw Apple trees that are just like straight sticks column tree I think they maybe called whole fields of them. I would like to get some of those but I wonder where you find them. They really are cool looking

Well I must run and try to finish my walk way today and that means loads of smaller rock from the rock bluff and then that means a whole lot of heavy lifting

Happy Easter to all of you

It was nice all our children were able to make it home for the weekend. We had our Easter today so our oldest son could join us as he flies back to school tomorrow.
The weather has been okay not super warm and not super cold.

I made a new orchard here on the farm so far I have eight trees. I would like a few more then I will sit back and watch them grow.
We have been pretty busy here on the farm the days blend into one another it is an endless work but it is also very rewarding.

Today my middle son was called out to a fire this afternoon the fire season has started soon and it all seems to be Man started. Our wind has been crazy so people who are doing Spring cleaning and fire burning the wind picks up and off it goes.

It has been so crazy here on the farm no time for blogging at all. We have been in a mind crazy cleaning and sorting stage Huge, huge amounts of work done.
It is amazing how much work we are getting done. We have done some real nasty jobs that we looked at for years ~ yes years and could not face.
Our wood shed turned  into a storing shed which turned into a complete dump it is all empty  and clean now we are deciding pull it down and rebuild or leave it. Maybe we don't have to decide right now it is just clean.

I planted six new plum trees in a new area it will look so nice. First a couple of weekends ago my husband flattened the area with the tractor then we raked and made piles which I will move later today. We coyote proofed the back fence some more. Then in went six trees all plum five of one kind and one that is different plum. I would like to add some different fruit trees but I picked up the plum trees really reasonably priced. Now I will still work on the area throw a bit more grass seed and make into a relaxing orchard. Ahh so excited.

We also moved a cage and shed from my Mom's yard so we have an extra cage at the barn which is already in use. The shed is in the lavender garden to hold little tables, garden tools and lawn mower.
So we will keep ongoing with Spring cleaning

 

Good Morning this is the rock bluff where I get my rocks from this picture just does not show how awesome it really is. Always have one eye on those rocks never take for granted you are at the bottom...

 

 I have moved so many rocks but the gardens are looking great. I have been working like crazy here every Spring it is intense but with my daughter changing her wedding from November to July a little bit of panic mode hit me. Why? well it does not matter what I have plans for wedding etc. the lavender blooms like clock work and that alone is a huge amount of work.

My Mom and I are ordering some chicks and a few turkeys this Spring The turkeys are ready so I am getting them Sat. I already have a house cleaned for them all I have to do it put on the heat lamp.

I am so stalling this morning as it is snowing again ahh so miserable out'

A lovely weekend to all of you

 

These two little guys were hatched here only one of each they were so tiny and cute and now they fly at me and get all puffed up with so much attitude. Totally ungrateful

 

 This is our youngest son winning his hockey award MVP for his rep team he is a goalie.

 

 

 

 

This weekend I used up my time in the gardens we finished the raking of pine needles in the one garden and darn it if we did not have a huge wind storm. I am so over pine needles

 

This has been my last couple of days. A charming little boy has been hanging out with me. In this top picture we had been outside in the front garden me cleaning him on little adventures. He has had a cold so I think all the adventures, fresh air just tuckered him out. Isn't he absolutely beautiful.

 

The next day we did not go outside as much as he quite a good cough and a cold. However it was a cupboard day one where every drawer was calling his name so I gave him a cloth and told him to clean. He absolutely loves to clean and sometimes he sings clean up clean up...

 

At the beginning of the week I did manage to get quite a bit of cleaning done on the farm, mainly on the gardens it is so overwhelming in the Spring. All you can do is one step at a time or you just don't even know where to begin. My one goal has always been to have the front yard nice for Easter then it is set for the summer.

Enjoy your day

Spring time finally found us and I am sure we may still get some cold spells like it is still -4 this am. I managed to get an amazing amount of work done in the lavender garden no I am no where near being done but I will win. You know if I did not have pine needles 99.9999 percent of my work would be gone. This tree is huge he has been hit my the pine beetle quite a few times but he has managed to hang on. Mano h man if he dies and has to come down I am leaving for the weekend I would cry to see all the damage

 Poor little lavender plant it was crazy how it just squashed it the branches were huge when we cut them down they do not look so big in the tree.

 hmmm.

 

 

I truly do not know where the time goes. We are still having winter and even though it was a fairly mild winter I am so over it now. I have so much work to do that I need to get outside. My daughter has moved her wedding form November up to July so I need to clean, clean and more clean. I know I can do it, it just seems overwhelming right now.

 These two pictures show of a very nice way to add nature to your home and garden without spending any money. I have Cedar branches living beautiful in the jars of water and I could change them over to nice vase if I choose to. I just clean out the water now and then and they stay so fresh.

 Here are more branches that add a little green and nature to your home. This was a sweet mistake and the liven up the house during these dreary months.

I hope to bring in more rocks this weekend for my walk way to the lavender house. I need to make it nicer for the wedding. So that is my agenda this weekend.

 

We have had a busy month here. A lot of family time we celebrated family day it was a perfect day cold enough to skate this will be the last time for our rink we are now warming up and rain. All the kids skated and hung out together.

 I have been enjoying learning my new machine. It is time consuming but it can be pretty cool. This is a shirt I had made for my brother for his birthday. I had to rush it but once I had it ironed up it looked okay.

This is our baby Alpaca she lost her Mom this winter so we are keeping her close and giving her lots of love. It has been a rough winter on the animals. Which I am not too sure why as it was pretty mild, yes the temperature has been jumping around and we did hit some cold days and nights but over all not too bad.

Winter has found us again temperature is dropping this is not too good for the lambing. We have eight little lambs now and so far everyone is fairing well. We have five ewes left to birth out. There is nothing fun about tip toeing across the yard in the middle of the night at -18.

For me lately every little spare time I have I am debudding the lavender I am sure I must be winning at this.

Hockey season for us (Minor Hockey) is done for us another practice it is a shame for Sam but for us we are okay with it ~ time to move on. The kids seem to be getting colds they go so long without one then it slowly creeps into them. Gosh I sure hope I do not get it!!!

This pictures are off my iPhone and then I have a new App that makes them turn into water colour painting. Pretty cool and so much fun