Thursday 28 February 2013

More Snow...and a New Lamb!

It snowed again yesterday.  The temperature was just at the freezing mark....so it actually felt warm.  It was a 'spring' snow....the kind that's heavy and wet.

The kind for making snowmen....


...and making snowballs....JACK!


The kind that sticks to all the trees and makes the world beautiful.


It made the snow banks along the side of the roads bigger.  This gate is waiting for spring....


It made my trek with the water pails to the sheep and hens a little harder...

























The kind of storm that makes Rosie lamb!
YES....that's right!  Rosie had her lamb last night.
We had been waiting and waiting for this.  Last year she lambed during a wild thunder storm in March.  I guess she was just waiting on a storm.


We covered him in love this morning.


He is so so sweet....with his black ears and feet.


But we need a name for him.  Do you have any suggestions?  Leave me comment.

Brenda

Wednesday 27 February 2013

Eggs in our Pockets

We have a problem here.  We put eggs in our pockets.

I don't know why but I can never seem to remember to take a container to put the eggs in when we go to do the chores.  So, we just put the eggs in our pockets.

I've lugged pails of water to the sheep...with eggs in my pockets.  I was just lucky that day.

One of the kids sat down...with eggs in their pockets.  That was not good.

A sweet girl went for a bike ride last summer....with an egg in her pocket.  She was VERY lucky.

And then there are days when the eggs go from our pockets to the drink holder in the van or they are put in the holder in the door of the van...and then we forget about them.  I have driven to town with eggs in my drink holder.

"Where are the eggs?"....if I had a dollar for every time I have asked this....

They could be in a tractor, or in the truck.  Most likely they are on the washing machine at the back door.....and hopefully they haven't rolled onto the floor.

One day a beautiful, brown egg had went from my pocket, into the drink holder, into the house and as I was setting it on the counter it rolled over the edge and into the sink...and broke.  Make me GROAN.

Why do we even bother with hens and eggs?  They taste SO good.  They are amazing eggs.

I've had guests at the farmhouse ask me what they should do with all the eggs that they collect because there is no way that they will eat that many eggs....this would be on their first day at the farmhouse....and they hadn't tasted them yet.  I let them know that they can just leave the leftovers in the fridge and I will collect them at the end of the week.  But when they leave there are no leftover eggs.  Then I read the comment that they have written in the guest book.....usually something about eating all those amazing farm fresh eggs.  And I smile.

But we have to stop putting them in our pockets.

Brenda

Monday 25 February 2013

The Tylenol Wrapper Hat

It was 7a.m. and I had given Sophie a bowl of cereal for breakfast.  Then she asked for a pair of scissors.  I heard Jack ask her what she was making and she said, "A hat."  I took a look at what she was doing.  She was trimming around the square wrapper from a Tylenol cold pill and making it round.  You know....those wrappers that individually wrap each pill in the box.  The Tylenol cold pills are round so the little bubble in the middle is round.

Terry had taken a Tylenol before he left for work...he has a cold...and he left the wrapper on the table.  You know....like when someone leaves the band aid wrapper on the bathroom counter....it's just one of those things that can't be thrown out....

Anyways, Sophie took the Tylenol wrapper and made it into a hat.  Then she got out the pink fun foam and decorated it.




This was the scene on the kitchen table this afternoon.  She had gathered the mini Barbie with all the Barbie dogs and cats of the house.  They were having a 'circle time' and checking out the new hat!  See the little white cat beside Barbie...she was the one that nearly went down the drain last week.


Brenda

Sunday 24 February 2013

A Big Culvert and a Birthday

Terry worked this weekend.  He usually doesn't work on the weekends but this was an exception.  He works for a construction company....so I can farm....and they are doing this 'culvert job'.  It has a deadline and it needs to get finished.

So, Saturday evening I notice that one of the guys from work posted a photo of the culvert on Facebook.  I mentioned to Terry that it was good to see that the culvert had arrived for the 'culvert job'....I guess I didn't look close enough at the picture.  He said that it didn't arrive like that....there was no way that it could be delivered to the site in one piece.  They have been building the culvert.  It took 4000 bolts and it's 16 feet high....and 3 miles long....no, not really...I forget how long it is.  But it's simply amazing and he said that he could drive his truck through it.  So I asked him if he did and he said no.

Anyways, while he was away building the culvert, I was taking care of everything here.  We still have cows calving and the sheep are going to start lambing....so everything was being checked several times a day.

Jack came down with the flu on Friday.  It's a crazy flu...Grady had it for nearly a whole week.  He had a fever and he was dizzy.  Jack was laying on the couch yesterday and then he said to me that he felt like he was upside down.  I told him to close his eyes and go to sleep.  He was feeling somewhat better today.

I had a Cake in a Jar order to fill...and it was Johanna's Birthday today....so I made a couple of cakes.  She turned 15 and requested a carrot cake with cream cheese icing.  I was thinking that that was pretty lady like.  She said she was feeling 'old'....but I think I was feeling 'older' as I realised that it's been 15 years since I gave birth to her and I remember it like it was yesterday.  Seriously.  Then she asked if she could start driving the van...you know, just for practise.  I could feel grey hairs growing out of my head.  Seriously.

Brenda




Thursday 21 February 2013

Back Roads

The wind howled last night...and I mean HOWled.  It might have snowed little bit more too.

My darling husband got up an hour early just to plow out the laneway.  Actually he went all the way down our township road too....right to the county road.  He made a path for me to get through with the van.  And it's a good thing too....because the plow hadn't come in yet when I left.  His track was still partly there...it was filling back in with snow...but I got through.  The van groaned a few times when I hit a larger drift.

When Jack and I went back out at noon to check on Rosie, I took the camera...hoping there would be some new lambs to take photos of.  But there wasn't....so Jack took pictures of the road instead.  By this time, the plows had been out and the roads were good.






 
I love back roads. 
There are no traffic jams.
Just make sure and wave if you do meet someone....even if you don't know who it is.
Or stop and roll down your window and have a chat.
I love back roads.
 
Brenda




Wednesday 20 February 2013

Ruby...the Hockey Dog

 
 



 

Jack and Sophie were trying to play hockey today...but I think Ruby was having the most fun.

Brenda

Tuesday 19 February 2013

The Cat in the Drain....almost

It snowed quite heavily for a bit this afternoon.  But it didn't amount to much...just a few more centimetres.  I decided to just take Jack to do the afternoon chores.  Grady wasn't feeling well...he's been sick with a flu the last few days.  The girls would be fine here with Johanna and Grady in the house.

Jack wanted me to help him put up some lambing pens with the gates he had made last week.  He thinks that Rosie is ready to lamb any day now....as well as some of the other ewes.  We worked away and got the pens made....so we were a little longer than usual.

When I came in the door I was greeted by Lydia.  Her hair was soaking wet...dripping all over the floor.  I could hear the water running in the bathroom.  I asked her what was going on and she told me that she had needed to wash her hair....as there were knots in it.  It didn't look as though she had fixed the knot problem.  As I glanced into the bathroom I saw Sophie washing Barbie's dogs in the other sink.  They were having a great time with water in the bathroom.

Grady was lying on the couch.  Johanna was up in her room.

I started to make supper.  Then there was a shriek.  Sophie screamed, "I think the cat went down the drain!"  I thought...good grief....I don't feel like looking down that drain for a cat.  But a few minutes later all was well again...she found the cat on the bathroom floor.  Barbie's little...and I mean very little...pet cat was safe after all.  We could all breathe a sigh of relief.

Brenda

Monday 18 February 2013

Lent

We are already 5 days into the season of Lent.  I don't 'give up' anything for Lent.  Instead, it's a time of prayer, fasting and almsgiving for me.  I try to say a daily rosary, not eat between my meals...and just eat less in general.  I try not to bake during Lent....although I find this really hard....so sometimes I'll make a Sunday treat.  I made these for the Sunday treat yesterday....but it was for a big family get together...so I had a good reason for baking.

I tried so hard not to eat any...but I did...I had one or two.  BUT I won't be making these again anytime soon.

I will spend my spare moments cleaning out a cupboard or drawer....and I will try to pray as I do so.  I would rather be cooking or baking than cleaning but during Lent I clean more and cook less.  It's a time of reflection and renewal.

Some days are better than others....sometimes I forget....and as I'm making that snack for someone else I will snack too.  I need to be reminded and I'm a very visual person.  So today I decided to make a centrepiece for our table for Lent.

I took out some glass things from the cupboard....a few candle holders, a vase, a couple of drinking glasses.  Then I took Sophie and Lydia outside and we gathered some rocks from the rock pile in the field....it was the only place to get rocks as everything is still covered in snow.  I filled one of my barn board boxed with the candle holders, vase and drinking glasses.  Then I placed the rocks in the vase and a couple in the box.  I placed a wooden cross in amongst the rocks making it stand up in the vase.  I tied some burlap around the bottom of the vase.  I also added my red, blessed candle in the box.  We lit the candles at supper time.


35 more days to go....

Brenda

Saturday 16 February 2013

4-H Square Dancers


Last night was the Achievement Night for the 4-H Square Dancing Club.  A night for the kids to get dressed up and strut their stuff.  They invited parents, grandparents, friends, neighbours....

I had a little fun editing the photos...

 

 

Then it was time for group photos....

 
 
 
 
 
These kids are FUN.
 
 
 
Then it was time for everyone to dance...
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Brenda

 
 




Friday 15 February 2013

Penny's Puzzle

We said good bye to our guests this week.  They had been with us for over a month.

We have so many good memories of their adventures with us.  One night while we were waiting on supper to finish cooking, they took apart Grady's remote control snowmobile and then put it all back together.  They fixed it!  Other nights they taught the kids card games and shared their stories of Ireland.

Here is a 'puzzle' that Penny taught us....as she would say 'good for when you have mates over'....

1. Pick a number between 1 and 10.

2.  Double it.

3.  Add 8.

4.  Half the answer.

5.  Subtract the original number.

6.  Then match the answer with a letter in the alphabet.  So A=1, B=2, C=3, D=4, E=5 and so on.

7.  Think of a country in Europe beginning with the letter.

8.  Think of the next letter in the alphabet.  Think of an animal beginning with that letter. "Big or small"

9.  Think of the colour of the animal.

I bet you are thinking of a Grey Elephant in Denmark!

It's fun when you have a room full of people and they all have the same answer.

We had moments of confusion and we'd look at one another and say "What are you talking about...or...what do you mean?"

I learned that if it's in the press....it's in the cupboard.  The skirtin is the baseboard.  We drive around in a people carrier.  Our jelly is really just jam....and their jelly is our jello....and you can't put it on peanut butter!  They learned that when the operator says to press the pound key, she means #, not the pound symbol for a money currency.

I've caught myself saying "That's class", "That's mad", "That's mental", "What's the craic?", "Happy Days!".  The kids just shake their heads and tell me to stop talking like Penny.

We wish our new friends safe travels.....and we hope that someday we will meet again.

Thank you Penny and Norbi, not just for all the work you did for us here, but for all the great memories.

Brenda

Thursday 14 February 2013

The Old Machine Shed

We have been wanting to tear down the old machine shed for over a year now.  It was just one of those jobs that we didn't have the time....or energy....to do.

So we decided to give our guests one last job before they left.


They started by pulling away all the barn board on the outside.


 
The boys were eager to help.....here's Grady with his saw.


 
I didn't know this but when Johanna, Grady and Jack were younger, Terry had told them to never go up in the machine shed...he told them the boogie man lived up there!  He didn't want them up there because many of the boards were rotten and he was afraid they would fall through.  The kids never did go up there...his story worked!  But they were excited to be able to get up there now that they could...and have a look around.  There was a fanning mill....here's Jack cranking the handle and making it spin....
 


We waited until a blizzard came to remove the old tractor that had been stored in there for years.  Terry needed to use the tractor and the chain to pull it out.



Working in a blizzard is much more interesting....here they are hitching the chain to one of the main poles of the barn....


And it's down!



Then they pulled away all the tin.





They actually worked so fast on this day that I missed taking photos....it just seemed to all become piles of tin and barn board and scrap within a few hours.


 
 
A job well done.
 
Brenda