Monday 29 April 2013

Boats in the Water Hole

While on my walk on Friday, I noticed a piece of Styrofoam in the ditch.  I thought...BOATS!

The girls insisted on decorating their sails.


The boys insisted on checking the mud to see just how muddy it was.



This was the skating rink for the winter.  It will dry up in the summer.  But right now it's a perfect place to float some boats.

 


Brenda

Friday 26 April 2013

Roosters Crowing

I got up at 4 a.m. this morning just to take this video of the roosters crowing.

Do you believe me?

The movies make it seem that roosters only crow in the morning.  That's in the movies.

This is real life.

Roosters crow all day long....not just in the morning.

They even get up and crow at 2 a.m.  Only at 2 a.m. it sounds like a woman screaming outside.

And that makes me get up and check to make sure that everyone is still sleeping in their beds.

Roosters sure are fun.

Here are my boys talking this morning....


Brenda

Thursday 25 April 2013

Little Stuffie Puppies

Remember the Stuffie Puppies?

Well, we got a big surprise on Sunday night.  We had been over at the other farm and luckily Johanna was home to accept a special gift for Sophie.  A generous lady from Douglas came to our house with a basket of little Stuffie Puppies.  This lady sometimes sits behind us during Mass and I think she has noticed the Stuffie Puppies in our pew.

Johanna left the basket by the door so we would see it as soon as we came in.  Sophie started screaming with excitement!

A whole basket of little stuffie puppies!


There was even a little black poodle named 'Frenchie'.


These puppies have been busy all week.....some went in the basket for a bike ride.


Some flew a kite.  See the stuffie puppies in Sophie's pockets?



They even watched a movie.


Sophie loves to draw, so I asked her to draw a picture as a 'thank you'.  I suggested that she draw a puppy.  This is what she drew....


WOW. 



Brenda

Wednesday 24 April 2013

Just Watchin' Sheep and Pickin' Teeth

This video is dark.  We were just watchin' the sheep and the girls were pickin' their teeth this morning.


Brenda

Monday 22 April 2013

Another Disappointment

It's not all farm babies and happiness.

It's work.

It's disappointments.

Today was one of those days.  I asked the boys if they just wanted to pack it in, move to town and buy all our food at the grocery store.  I was having a moment.  I was thinking that it would just be so much easier.

They didn't answer me.

And then they said...."Let's just order the meat birds at M & R Feeds.  We'll get rid of that rooster."

Jack  had put a select number of hens in with his pure bred rooster over a month ago.  He collected the eggs and kept them in a safe place.  Then he was ready.  He had 49 eggs. 

He put them in the incubator. 
He turned those eggs a few times a day.
He made sure the temperature and humidity was always right. 
He did this for 3 weeks.
Everyday. 
He never forgot. 
He worked so hard.

These eggs were going to be our meat birds.  They were from dual purpose birds.  It's the type of bird that can lay eggs and yet be fattened to become a roasting bird.

The eggs were to hatch this past weekend.....but they didn't.  Nothing happened.

So, this morning he cracked one open and he was disappointed.  The egg had not been fertilized.  He cracked more open and they were all the same.

We won't be getting rid of the rooster.  I think he is just a little too young....he's not even a year old.

I think we were asking too much of that rooster.

Brenda

Saturday 20 April 2013

Stuck in the Mud?

I took Grady over to the other farm to feed the year olds after supper tonight.  When I was leaving, I backed the van up, down the laneway and tried to turn onto the road.  But my back tire hit a bump...that I didn't remember being there.  I was stuck.  Grady got out to see how bad it was and he motioned for me to back up...so I did.  I put the pedal to the metal and I got the back tire out...I was moving...still backing up.  Then I noticed Grady shaking his head, "NO".

And then the front tire went into the hole that the back tire had just come out of.  It just sunk.

I got out and had a look.  The tire was really deep in the mud.  The front of the van was nearly touching the ground.  AND the ground around me felt all squishy.  I panicked.  I told Grady that it was a sink hole and we were going to sink.

He went and got the tractor.  I jumped in and we went home.

I told Terry just how bad I was stuck.  He didn't look impressed.

Then I started washing the dishes and he left.  I figured he was gone to get the van unstuck.

He was gone for a long time....and I was feeling really bad....I was thinking about just how much trouble he was having getting that van out of the mud.

When he got home I asked him if he got it out.  He just looked at me and said, "Did you even try to get it out?"  I told him no because it was stuck so bad and the gas was below the empty line and I figured that if I started flooring it I would just run out of gas....and then I'd have two problems, not just one.....AND the ground is all sinking.

He said, "I just put it in drive and drove it out."

There were no problems.  The van is fine and the ground is not sinking.  The frost is coming out and that makes it squishy.  He was visiting a neighbour and that's what took so long.

Brenda

Friday 19 April 2013

Spring!

Spring has finally arrived!

The fields are full of geese and wild turkeys.  I've seen deer and blue jays and robins.


This flock was right over my head and this was the photo I managed to take.  My photography skills are simply amazing.


Something has been making a home under the hen house.....most likely a ground hog....at least I hope that's what it is!


The pastures are beginning to turn green but they aren't ready for the horses and cattle yet.  The horses probably can't wait to get out and run through the field.  Although, I will miss the morning visit.


We have moved some hens back to the 'Farmhouse' property for the guests.  They spent the winter months in a warmer log barn.

 

These girls have been naughty and they have been pecking and eating their eggs.  We fixed that problem by putting some golf balls in the nest.  Peck that.


Hello sweet rhubarb!  I see you!  Sophie has already asked for a cake and I'm looking forward to the pie....so keep on growing!


The ducks have returned to the pond too.  I tried to take some photos but I didn't have much luck.  As Sophie said, "Those ducks just have too much moveness."  Hard to take pictures when you can't get very close and the subject never stops moving.


I've also been watching a 'family' of ducks fly around the field.  It must be a mother, father and baby.  I haven't managed to get any pictures but it's so beautiful to watch.

Happy Spring!

Brenda



Wednesday 17 April 2013

Stuffie Puppies

Sophie has been obsessed with puppies for over a year now.  Real ones are the best but she has learned to be satisfied with the stuffie kind.  It started with Belle.


Belle would come everywhere with us....to town, to Mass, to Grandma's....anywhere.  And that was fine.  She treated Belle as if she was a real dog.

Then she convinced a friend of ours to buy her a pet carrier.  Yes...we have a pet carrier for stuffies.

She received a stuffie puppy for her birthday and she won another one at the fair.  Anytime she received money from someone, it would be spent to buy another puppy stuffie.  And so....the collection has grown.  She now has many stuffie puppies.

I thought it would all wear off, especially when we got her an actual real puppy last summer.  But she still loves her stuffies.

She watched the movie 'Air Buddies' a couple of weeks ago.  It's a movie about talking puppies that play soccer.  She was 'over the moon' excited.  Her puppies needed uniforms.  They needed to play soccer.

So, I dug through the scrap/rag bag and made these...


I sewed on the felt numbers and she stuck heart stickers onto them.





She even convinced me to sew a felt number 7 onto the back of a shirt for her.


Now we have two soccer teams of stuffie puppies.

And a very happy little girl.

Brenda

Monday 15 April 2013

Barn Board Shelves

I bought a cupboard to store all our books, puzzles and games a few years back.  It was in our living room serving it's purpose.....but it was ugly.

So, when we tore down the old machine shed....I saw an opportunity.

All that beautiful barn board.  It needed to become shelves.

I emptied that old cupboard and moved it out of the living room.

I told the boys my plan and I figured that we could do it.

They sawed and screwed the boards onto the wall.  But it wasn't quite right.  The boards just weren't the right length.  It wasn't going to work.  I told them to take it all down.

We were left with huge holes in the walls.  We have the old style walls....lath and plaster.

I wasn't too excited.  I could patch those walls and just move the cupboard back.  But we were too busy, so we just left the big mess and did the chores instead.

Then Terry came home from work and he got a little excited when he saw the huge mess.  He said the walls were ruined and.....What were we trying to do anyway?

I told him not to worry.  I'd just put the cupboard back.

But he insisted.  He wanted to know what the plan was.  So, I told him.  I think he liked it.  He said he could do it....but not tonight.  There were too many other things to do.

So, quite a few days went by and the mess remained.  The girls thought it was great because they could get into all the games and puzzles without having to ask....everything was all over the room.


Then it froze rain and snowed on Friday and Terry decided to make the shelves.


They are fabulous.  Not only do they hold all the stuff from the cupboard but they hold more!


And they are so rustic looking.  I love them.


Brenda

Saturday 13 April 2013

Old Photos

The ground is white outside once again.  We managed to go for a walk this afternoon...but I had to put on my snowpants, winter coat, mittens and insulated boots.  We walked across the field instead of on the laneway.  The field was 'cleaner' with snow....the laneway is all puddles and slop.

This snow and cooler temperatures has made me want to clean inside...which is a good thing.  I tackled the boys bedroom and then I ended up going through a storage closet.  I became side tracked when I got into the photo album box.  Old photos...of me, of old school pictures, of high school, of our wedding, of our babies....

I found this one.


It's me...about 30 years ago.

I remember there being another one of this same evening.  There was a tractor in the yard and I had gotten up onto the seat.  I think my sister and one of my brothers is also in the picture.  But I couldn't find it.

Then I was wondering what Picasa could do with this old photo.

So, I scanned it and then cropped it and played around a bit.



It's still blurry.

I'd like to try it with some other 'old' photos.

Brenda

Friday 12 April 2013

Online Shopping

I'm not a clothes shopper.  I just don't enjoy it.  I can shop for an entire day and not buy a thing.

When the kids were younger, I could shop at consignment and thrift stores.....actually, I still do!  I was also blessed to always have friends and relatives coming through my door with bags of 'hand me downs'.  But the kids are getting more and more particular about what they wear.  We have a big box store in town but sometimes that just doesn't cut it.

A trip into Ottawa is an absolute nightmare for me.  I hate shopping for clothes, let alone shopping for clothes with five children with me.

Online shopping has become my solution.

The last couple of days I have been sorting through drawers and there are several bags ready for the 'Sally Ann'.  They were in need of some new spring/summer clothes.

We are having our last winter storm today.  The buses were cancelled and the windows are covered in ice.  This morning, I suggested we go shopping and I asked them to boot up the laptop.

The next two hours I spent shopping with them.  They picked out all their new stuff and were so happy.  I was really surprised with the selection and that nearly everything they wanted was available in their size.  And the prices were fantastic!

I even managed to pick out a couple things for myself!

I proceeded to the checkout and then I was so disappointed.  The child that had turned on the computer had went to the USA website....not the Canadian one.  We were on the wrong site.

I was ready to cry.

I wrote the order down and then went into the Canadian site.  The selection was dismal....there was no selection....and there were no sizes available.  It was pathetic really.  I told the kids what had happened and they were so disappointed.  I had a look at the plaid shirts that Jack had been looking at.  There were two on the Canadian site....neither of which we liked....and there were about 10 different ones on the US site.

I couldn't stand it.

I went back to the US site and put the order through.  I wanted to see what the total would be.  The shipping was really reasonable.  It was the duty and taxes that was pricey. 

I asked Terry what to do and he said, "Just buy it."  That price was worth it.  It's everything they want and we don't have to go anywhere to get it.

I love him.

Brenda

Wednesday 10 April 2013

Spring Calves

There have been more calves born during the last week.  Sophie went out to the barn this morning and took some photos.

 

 
 


Of course, there is always one that needs a bottle....


Ruby is always there for assistance.  Those calves need to have clean chins!

Brenda

Monday 8 April 2013

Lambs on the Lawn

The girls went out to ride their bikes but then Jack decided to let a couple of lambs out to play in the sun.


I'm not sure who was having more fun....the lambs or the kids.


This is the wee twin that was born and we saved it.  We've been feeding it Coke....three or four times a day.




It's amazing to watch it run and jump.



Lydia decided to take a couple of videos.  She took one that's 17 minutes long.  She focused on the ground and then left the camera on the side of the lane.  Jack picked it up and put it in the pocket of his hoodie and then he was either running or riding his bike for a bit.  Then he brought it in the house and set it on a chair....then you can hear me washing dishes and people coming in and out of the house.  Finally, I pick up the camera and set it on the kitchen table and then eventually I pick it up again and notice that it's on.  It's a great video...or not.




Brenda