Christmas Week At The Farm

Hello dear friends!  Merry Christmas to everyone that is celebrating the spirit of the season!

Today is Boxing Day which traditionally is the day when those that are blessed with plenty "box up" extra food and clothing to distribute to those that are less fortunate.  The reality is that nowadays Boxing Day is the day in which many brave the insanity at malls and big box stores to take advantage of bargains.  Dear friends I can assure you that there is nothing that I need or want so much that I would venture anywhere near a mall!  Today we are expecting guests for dinner so I am puttering around the house and as we have stopped for a cup of coffee I thought I would share some random photos from the last week.

I am going to need to spend some time working on night photography.  This is a view of the side of our old stone farmhouse taken one evening on my way back from locking up the chickens with my trusty assist Abby The German Shepherd.

While I was there I popped into the barn to check on our new lambs.

I am told that there are 11 lambs in the barn at the moment with 8 lambs born in the last couple of weeks.  We usually start lambing around Christmas with most of the lambs born during January and February.

A view of our house from the driveway.  The original stone house is on the right and our addition is on the left.  This view has our dining room on the main floor and a guest room above it.

This is a view towards the house from the farm gate.  We have a Christmas tree in the gazebo and lights running along the wooden fence.

Years ago big twig deer were very popular.  I always wanted one but for whatever reason never bought one.  I haven't seen them for sale anywhere but these wire deer are readily available.  This one was attractively priced just before Christmas so I snapped it up.  It has a fake fur muff!

The front of our house.  I took these pictures with my phone.  I really must take some time practicing night photography using my camera!

Another view from the area we call The Grove which is behind our house.

Another view from the driveway.  We call the area on the right the Portico entry and I hope that we can build a railing for the deck next year.  The illuminated area on the left is the deck that opens from our kitchen, and the area just visible above it is the balcony off the master bedroom.

This is my little project for this week!  This tall narrow tree is in our Portico entrance and I am going to decorate it in a woodland theme.  No reason to stop decorating!  Yesterday my mother and I were making some felt owls to decorate this tree and I will do more over the next few days.  I will share the update soon!

Thank you for visiting!

A Little Pre-Christmas dinner

Hello dear friends, this is a very busy time of year for us at the farm!  We are not alone, I know!  Last weekend we had the first of what seems like weekly dinners at the farm for family and friends.  My favourite part of the Chrisrmas season is getting together with friends to get caught up and enjoy some food and drink in our festively decorated farmhouse.

A few weeks ago I was shopping in town for a gift and came across this lovely snow globe.  It followed me home.

The outdoor Christmas tree situation has been complicated by a lack of extension cords.  The outdoor trees are up and decorated but only two of them are lit!  Today in a windstorm both trees on the front veranda blew over but fortunately did not break.  In a previous windstorm a few weeks ago one of the big trees on a different deck blew over and literally broke at the base.  No worries though as I have some instagram inspiration that will allow that tree to be reincarnated for next year!

This pretty little tree sits on our portico deck which is a little more sheltered.  The little deer next to it takes frequent tumbles in the wind.

I love this Home For The Holidays sign!

A view of this year's dining room mantlepiece decorated for Christmas.

The crystal decanters are standing by!  Some of these decanters came from my great grandmother.  I dont actually use any of them but like how they look.

Friends gave us this collection of ornaments with a gentle reference to the number of Christmas trees we put up every year.

The gazebo has its' usual tree.

This weekend we will be hosting our family Christmas dinner to accommodate the travel plans of my brother and his partner.  I will make some time on Sunday to put up the last two trees in our guest bedrooms and then I think I will be finished with the decorating for this year.  Now it will be time to relax and enjoy the warmth and coziness of the  holiday season!

~thank you for visiting!~

A Kitten and Christmas

Hello dear friends, it has been a while!  December has already started and even though I feel that I have been trying to prepare for Christmas for the last month I dont have much to show for it.  Our Christmas this year is going to be rather low key as the house is still in a state of upheaval and we are getting tired of apologizing for how long it is taking to finish our projects.  So this year guests are restricted to kindred spirits-no judgy types allowed!

In the meantime we have as usual had distractions.  Please meet Henry!  An adorable kitten that was discovered in garden mulch by an Instagram neighbour.  After failing to find his owners and determining that he was not a good fit with three large dogs our IG friend put out a call for someone to take him off her hands.  Need I say more?

The little monster is absolutely adorable and received a clean bill of health at the vet this morning.  We have also confirmed that he has not been microchipped so he officially is now the youngest member of our family.

Moving on to the Christmas tree situation and the outlook is not quite so rosy.  Our living room tree is missing all of its' ornaments from the bottom 2 feet.  Both Henry and Horatio have taken a special liking to the Christmas tree and use it as a race track.  The burlap base has long since been flattened as have many of the branches.  Although the tree has swayed with cat activity it remains standing.  The tree is 7 feet tall and we hope is strong enough to withstand kitten gymnastics.  It does mean that any glass ornaments have been relocated to the Christmas tree in the dining room.

Isn't he cute?

I love this blue glass swan!

Here is a quick view of the pergola in the evening.  I hope you wont notice that we didnt manage to get the furniture put away.

And finally this was part of my trip to my office today.  The brief snow squall makes me feel quite Christmas-y although I do love the snow so much more when I dont need to drive in it!

My husband has confirmed that he has added to our collection of extension cords so I hope to have our outdoor lights working by Saturday evening.  In the meantime there is still much decorating to do.

Thank you for visiting!