Summer at the farm

Hello dear friends!  It is hard to believe that I have been retired for a year already!  As I was winding down my career I had a list of things I wanted to focus on in retirement...walking every day, reading, staying on top of housework, journaling, sketching and painting, photographing our farm activities and posting them on my blog weekly...and I have not managed to accomplish any of them!

So thank you to those of you that were wondering what happened.  We are all well and here I am at long last to share some of our activities.

We have had a strange summer in terms of weather.  We haven't really had the prolonged heat waves we can experience here in our region and we haven't needed our portable air conditioning units although we did set them up for Lucy (more on that below!).  We have had a lot of rain although much of it is what we refer to as nuisance rain (5 mm or less) which is not enough to soak the gardens but enough to make a mess of plans to paint or cut hay.   In general though it has been warm enough to allow us to enjoy our outdoor seating areas.

We refer to this as our "breakfast deck" but I think we should rename it the "morning deck".  We like to have coffee here in the mornings.  This veranda receives full sun in the morning and we installed bamboo blinds to provide a bit of shade.  We added an outdoor rug and there is an old table that has been in use to hold some of the many plants we started from seed.

This veranda is at the front of the house.  We added two more outdoor rugs to this area as well.  (The dog beds and dog toys are always on hand).  The area in the forefront is the "afternoon deck" and the other area is the "wine deck".  The afternoon deck has shade early afternoon and the wine deck has shade just in time for happy hour.

This is the kitchen deck.  Earlier this year we developed an addiction to facebook marketplace and this is one of the many purchases we made!  This is a very comfortable set of Hauser furniture that we purchased from a lovely lady whose parents had passed away.  

Lake Ophelia is still a work in progress.  We have a heron that makes frequent visits and is no doubt eating our frogs and fish.

We were so upset earlier this year when we discovered that all of our koi had been eaten!  We have had fish in our koi pond for about 8 years and they were a constant source of delight for us.  After some investigation we believe that a mink paid a visit to our pond and ate them all.  We have since purchased other gold fish but of course they are much smaller.  We have a shade over the pond as the big ash tree that had provided shade has sadly succumbed to the ash borer and is now dead.  We are debating what to do with the dead tree and are thinking of leaving parts of it standing and growing climbing hydrangea up the truck.

I purchased a number of little concrete statues including this little bird which I have added to a bird bath.

Another facebook marketplace purchase was coloured glass vases which we have hung in some of the trees.

More garden views....

I decided to add a garden in front of the chicken coop.  It is a work in progress.

My assistant Abby is checking for soil temperature and consistency.

Dear old Lucy has given us some worry this year.  She is 13 1/5 years old and struggled with some health issues but after many vet visits seems to be stable.  She has been struggling with hot and humid weather as well as the poor air quality we had earlier this summer due to forest fires.  She seems to be feeling better now.

We haven't had much use of the firepit this year.  Earlier this summer many parts of our province experienced wildfires and the smoke traveled to our area.   We didn't  want to have a fire when the air quality was already so poor and then for whatever reason we just haven't gone back to enjoying evenings around the fire.  Maybe tomorrow!

Bailey's garden is waiting to have mulch spread.

I always dread hay season.  We need the weather to cooperate (which has not happened this year).  We need the equipment to operate properly.  And the work is physically very hard and as I get older I find it harder and harder to help my husband with this task.  He does most of the work and I just complain about it!

Another view of our fire pit with Lake Ophelia in the distance.

Lucy is very happy about a stuffed purple fish that arrived from Auntie Brenda!

Abby is resting with her stuffed dog!

And of course Vera is preparing to destuff and desqueak her stuffie.  (And all of the other stuffies as well)

We have been thinking a lot about gardening for the pollinators and have some plans!  The echinops is popular.

We grew some hyssop from seed this year and it is a great plant for pollinators.

We always seem to have something happening here at the farm. This year we are having a garage built!  It is going to be a 2 car garage with a loft that I will be able to use as a quilting and craft room.  I am so excited!

The excavation is just being done so stay tuned!

Thank you for visiting and wishing everyone a great weekend.

 

Waiting For Spring

Hello dear friends, I am stopping by after a rather long absence to let everyone know all is well at the farm!  I have been adjusting to the lack of structure that can accompany retirement and as a result I don't know where the time has gone.  I had a very long (mental) list of things that I wanted to accomplish over the winter months but did not manage to strike any of them off of my list.  We are now officially into spring so it is time for me to get my act together!

Our winter has been relatively mild with most of the snow coming during March.  We had several snowstorms a week apart and the birds have appreciated the well stocked feeders.  The squirrels have enjoyed the feeders more and are a bit of a nuisance.  Still, the feeder outside the kitchen window has had a great selection of junkos, chickadees, cardinals, blue jays, a nuthatch and lots of sparrows.

The chicken coop nestled in snow in the distance.  And for those that are wondering that is my garden fork which spent the winter in the red maple garden!

Rose Cottage is also blanketed in snow.  We are looking forward to spending some time there over the summer, perhaps with a book or magazine and a cup of tea.

Vera is the newest addition to our fur family and has fit it very well.  She turned 1 year old in January and is a (mostly) welcome playmate for Abby.

Abby is now 5 years old.  She is a momma's girl and likes to be outside if I am outside.  If I am inside she much prefers the comfort of the furniture.

A view down the driveway towards the barn.  My husband built this gate last year and named it "Kodiak Gate" after a very special boy that passed away a few years ago.  We used to refer to Kodiak as the farm manager.

Two of the three musketeers.

A snowy view of our firepit this morning after last night's snow fall.  We optimistically moved these chairs to the fire pit last Friday and enjoyed a glass of wine there before coming in for dinner.

Dear old Lucy turned 13 years old last week!  She looks like a polar bear and still likes doing her solitary farm exploration walks.

A view towards our house this morning.  Yesterday was sunny and I am quite sure the grass was turning green.  Our weather for this spring is predicted to be cool and wet.

This little gazebo is mostly decorative.  In the winter I add a Christmas tree.  Last summer we turned it into an impromptu bar for a party and liked it so well that we will do it again this year.

We have so many projects under way.  Our old kitchen in being converted into a laundry room.  The woodwork in our dining room is finished and installed and ready to be painted.  Painting our upstairs hall is on the agenda as is painting our kitchen.  And of course we have already been busy dreaming about our gardens and starting seeds.

I hope everyone is well.  Thank you for visiting!