Fall Colours

Hello everyone, it is a very warm and windy Thanksgiving Monday here at Carogil Farm.  

The wind has been whipping the tall ornamental grasses.

 A view down the country road with Lake Belwood obscured by the trees.

There are so many shades of yellows, golds and reds in the leaves.

 Vibrant berries of the Mountain Ash.  So sad to think that so many Ash trees are vulnerable to attack and may disappear from our landscape.

More glorious fall colour.

Drakk takes bringing home the sheep very seriously.

Our old stone house dates from the 1850s but the adjoining wing was just completed earlier this year.  We are fortunate to be the caretakers of such an old Ontario farmhouse.

~Thank you for visiting~

Thanksgiving Weekend

Hello everyone and Happy Thanksgiving Weekend.  The weather today has been glorious.  The leaves have started to change colour although with the high winds this weekend they they are starting to come down quickly.

A blown glass apple.

And a blown glass bird.

Beautiful yellows, golds and oranges in the sugar maple.

A view towards the road.

~wishing everyone a safe Thanksgiving Weekend~

Early October

Hello everyone, this weekend is Thanksgiving in Canada!  I have a few quick photos to share with you.

We have had this birdbath forever and it has been moved around the property several times.

On the way to the barn....

An old bench made of reclaimed wood from the bottom of the Magnetewan River.

An old concrete water trough in one of the pastures.  It was there when we moved here and will probably stay there forever.

The sheep love windfall apples.

~Thank you for visiting~

Early Autumn

Hello everyone.  I have been quite busy lately and have not been sharing pictures of our farm as often as I had hoped.  I am so pleased that many of you still pop by to view my blog!

An early morning shot taken from our upstairs balcony off of the master bedroom.  The early morning light is so serene.

Another shot from our balcony but a slightly different view looking towards Willoughby Gate.  

A view towards our old bank barn.  This barn was part of the property when we originally purchased it over 20 years ago.  We suspect that the original barn may have fallen down and this one was constructed to replace it.  We believe it was built in the 1940s.

Another early morning photo taken from an upstairs window.

After a wet spring we have had a dry summer.  This is a view looking towards a new hay field which unfortunately is not doing very well.  There are 5 different types of grasses, alfalfa and hairy vetch as part of the seed mixture we selected for this field as it is a produces a very good hay for sheep.  After germinating however many of the seedlings dried up.  We are so dependent on favourable weather conditions and this year the weather has not cooperated!

Another misty view.

 One of our sideroads in the morning.  Now the trees are quickly starting to produce their fall colours so I will need to take more photos to share.

~Thank you for visiting~

End of Summer

Hello everyone, I havent had much time to take photos lately!  Yesterday morning was quite misty so I tried to take a few quick shots.

 The sun just starting to shine through the cedar hedge.

 An unusual early morning sky.

 The garden privvy.

 A view from the veranda towards one of the sheep fields.

 I drove past this field on the way to town and loved the look of the round bales.

 The trees down our road have not changed colour yet...it seems late in the season for so little colour.

Heavy dew on the cedar hedge.

We recently enjoyed an afternoon reception at Fort York where we had the opportunity to view the Canadian International Air Show.  There were so many boats in the harbour! We left photographing the air show to the professionals as we simply couldnt do it justice!

Summer Storm

Hello everyone, the heat and humidity we have been experiencing create perfect conditions for summer storms.  This rainfall started a few minutes after I arrived home yesterday.  Although I dont have a picture of it the winds and rain were so strong that the Virginia Creeper on the north side of the house that almost reaches the roof actually came down in the storm.  In a recent blog I mentioned planting climbing hydrangeas to ultimately replace the Virginia Creeper....but I was thinking in perhaps 5 or 10 years?  

The water came down as an incredible rainfall by our kitchen deck.  I wanted to take a picture but the wind was so strong that when I opened the kitchen door the rain came inside...even though this area is covered by our balcony above!  So I had to take a picture from the side veranda instead.

Another shot looking back towards our kitchen deck.

Same veranda but now looking towards Willoughby Gate.

A slightly different angle.

The view from the balcony upstairs.  In the end the storm lasted about one hour and the rain gauge measured 36 mm of rain but I am convinced that we received more than that, the winds were so strong at one point that I dont think the rain gauge could collect the water.  

Today was warm and sunny with very brisk winds so the rains we received wont have much beneficial impact.  The summer has been very dry and many of our plants and shrubs are showing signs of stress.  Next week's forecast calls for another rainfall and with the longterm forecast calling for a warm dry fall we could certainly use the rain!

~Thank you for visiting~

Another Misty Morning

Hello everyone, we have gone from very warm to quite cool and now back to very warm temperatures again.

This was the temperature just before 6 pm on Monday.

The warm days and cool nights are generating a lot of mist for early morning shots!  This is the view from our deck looking towards the barn.

The lawn towards the garden shed is still quite misty.  There is a large statue of a cupid lying on its' side near the garden shed...it is a statue to remember Hercules, our first dog here at the farm.  The statue is quite heavy and I need to move a large piece of flagstone into position so it can stand properly.

Another misty view taken from a different angle on our deck.  We have two of these lanterns that need to be reinstalled after our recent renovations-they will be used to light the lane going towards the barn.

Another spider web.  The dew highlights the web beautifully.

This ewe is wondering if I am going to bring her some apples.

A view from the upper lawn looking towards one of the sheep fields next to the barn.

A view from Ash Alley looking towards Crab Apple Grove.  This mist was still quite thick.

Handsome Drakk loves being on the farm.  In his previous life he and his sister lived in a garage in the city.  At ten years of age he is quite a senior boy and enjoys patrolling the farm.  His sister is 9 years old and also loves being a country dog.  When we are home they love being outside with us.  During the day they enjoy sleeping on the furniture in our living room!  We are very happy to be able to offer safe and loving homes to so many pets.

One last shot before heading out for the day.  The forecast into next week calls for very warm temperatures and unfortunately no rain to speak of.

~Thank you for visiting!~