Life at the Farm

Hello dear friends,

These are trying times, are they not?  One cannot escape stories of the Corona virus -it is absolutely everywhere.  I am sure that we all have friends and family that are experiencing feelings of fear and anxiety, and we may be feeling fearful ourselves. Over the last week there have been many stories of grocery stores with empty shelves with people hoarding supplies.  On Saturday we traveled into town to arrange for the measuring of our kitchen counter tops (yes, we are making significant progress in the kitchen!!) and we were shocked to see that two of the major grocery stores had entire sections completely empty.  We picked up a few items and I noticed a lady at the next cash had loaded her cart with canned vegetables.

 I decided that I would take a little walk around the farm.  We have many signs of spring and I thought that this distraction would help to keep me focused.  

I love to garden.  I wish I could do nothing but garden!  It is so relaxing for me and I love the challenge of imaging an outcome and then painting it with plants.  Of course in reality I have a full time job in the city, and a long commute, and while I would like nothing better than to spend all day every day puttering in the garden the reality is each year my best intentions fall a wee bit flat.  Being a gardening spirit however means that every year is a new year to start over.

So I observed that tulips, daffodils and crocuses are popping up.  

Our chickens are enjoying the fresh air and sunshine.  Jerry The Rooster is in his element, preening and crowing in an effort to impress everyone.  

Chipmunks and other little rodents have been feasting on windfall apples.

We took a little stroll towards our pond.  We still have snow in the shady area by our forests.

Vole tracks!

Abby in an impatient puppy.  It takes too long to open the gate.  If we are not sure where the gate is Abby will point it out.

Lucy cant go anywhere without carrying a toy.  Some of the toys make a one way trip and need to be recovered later.  Our darling Willow was tired so she stayed in the house.  Willow will be turning 14 years old and is enjoying her old age at the farm.

More snow along the rear of the property.  This area has forest on 2 sides and is fenced off so that the sheep dont graze here.  Over the years we have lost several sheep to coyotes in this area of our property.

Lake Ophelia is still covered in ice.

We are starting to see signs of greening up in our pasture.

We have lots of mosses.  I must take some time to learn about the different types.

This oak always holds many of its' leaves through the winter, only losing them when new leaves start to bud in the spring.

The chickens are still out!

Everyone enjoys a virtual trip into the barn to check on the lambs.  This little lamb is 2 days old.

We believe this to be an oriole's nest which is quite exciting.  

Some honey buttermilk bread for sandwiches.  I really enjoy baking bread and have been working up some courage to try a sourdough starter.

The cats have spring fever.  Horatio is contemplating his domain.

Or perhaps he is just contemplating his new brother, Henry.

Dear friends, I had actually taken these photos on the weekend and started writing this post but didnt finish.  Now we are mid-week and the news around COVID-19 is completely dominating the news.  I feel fortunate that we have a farm in the country to provide some distance (physically and emotionally) from the anxiety that is gripping so many people in the city.  As with so many areas over the world store shelves are being emptied and other items are being rationed.  This is such a new experience for many of us.  

I hope this quick farm tour provides you with a few moments of distraction.  Wishing everyone a safe and healthy week and thank you for visiting.

End of Winter

Hello dear friends, we are in crazy times are we not?   With all of the panic and anxiety about Covid19 in the world right now I thought I would share some quick photos that were left on my camera to provide some relief!

I had kept a plastic net bag that onions come in.  I filled it with dog hair, lint from the dryer and tiny little threads from a project I had been working on.  We hung the bag in a tree thinking that the birds might pick away at the contents and use it to build nests.  I don't notice any difference in the appearance of the bag but we will have to inspect some birds' nests to be sure!  Each year we find nests that have been constructed using all kinds of materials including sheeps' wool, grasses, and pieces of feed bags.

The weather has been unpredictable to say the least.  This week however we have had some very mild temperatures and our snow has been melting.  It is of course too soon to hope for a complete end to winter but I have a very strong case of spring fever. 

I have not been in the right place at the right time to capture the many birds we have here at the farm.

One of many photos of our chicken coop in the winter.  We did however have a surprise visitor!  One evening while locking up the sheep I was surprised to see a possum behind the barn.  Surprisingly my trusty assistant Abby The German Shepherd was so engrossed in sniffing that she didnt even see it.  That is fortunate as I was not sure how that encounter might end.

Possums are not very attractive, are they?  My husband however has done some research and has learned that overall they are beneficial creatures and like to eat small rodents and ticks.  As we had ticks at the farm for the first time last year I am happy to hear about this.  I am not that happy to learn that the possum was in our chicken coop.  Possums will eat eggs.  The chickens were rather stressed about this visitor but as we have not observed the possum in a few days it may have relocated elsewhere. 

Here is one of our Muscovy ducks.  I am not sure which one this is but we apparently have a female as we have a nest with eggs in the barn!  We are anxiously waiting to see if they hatch.

We are busy working away on our kitchen which we hope to have finished...mostly finished?? before Easter.  The floor is down but the hardware for the drawers needs to be installed before the counters can be ordered.  So many counter options!  I think we have narrowed down a choice and hope to be able to order the counters in the next couple of weeks.

~Thank you for visiting!~

Winter storm

Hello dear friends,

We have had some active winter weather over the last few days!  We had a storm that stretched over over almost 3 days and I have some photos to share with you.

A view from our driveway down towards our farm lane.  Our farm tractor comes in very handy for clearing the snow through this area.  

Here is the same area a couple of days later.

It took some doing to dig out the gate!

Millicent in her winter headdress.  

Our little garden arbour nestled in snow. 

The walkway and stair case have been shoveled out.  What a difference in weather in 24 hours.

The chicken coop has a snow drift measuring almost one meter in front of it.

A view towards our dining terrace after the snow started on Wednesday.

The little garden privvy is tucked in.

A view of the privvy from our portico deck.  The shovel handle in the photo is a happy accident.

The Christmas deer will soon be an Easter deer!

The dining terrace on Saturday when the snow had finally ended.

Wishing everyone a great week!  Thank you for visiting.