Wednesday 27 May 2015

18 years.

Terry and I celebrated our 18th on Sunday.  We went out for supper.  Alone.  All by ourselves.  We hadn't done that in years.  YEARS.  It was nice.

If I was told 18 years ago that I would have chicks in my kitchen....I picked up the meat birds today!....


And I would feed lambs on my lawn....


And I would talk to men in a feed store about nipples....without even blinking an eye...

Or that I would even shop in a feed store....and say things like "just put it on the bill".

18 years ago I would say that that was crazy.  CRAZY.

But there is so much more....

That's not mud in my mudroom.

And I helped to load a bull into the trailer this morning.

And I have delivered a lamb....in the middle of the night....all by myself.

And I got really excited on Sunday when the boys texted saying that they had sold all 12 roosters at the bird sale.  Because waking up to the sound of only 3 roosters (that they couldn't catch) is SO much better than waking up to 15 roosters screaming.

Only then the boys came home with a box of chicks.  And I wasn't very excited.  Because those could all be roosters.

And there are hens outside sittin' on eggs and hatching them out.  Yesterday a girl had gotten off her nest and left with her new chicks but then Jack noticed that there was another egg hatching...all by itself.  So of course, he brought it in the house and we watched it hatch out of the egg.  And I've been making sure that it is drinking and eating.....and I got up last night to check to make sure that it wasn't too cold.

It's in my kitchen too.....


Because I'm a crazy farmer's wife.

And my life is crazy amazing.

And I am so very blessed.

18 years.

Brenda

Thursday 21 May 2015

Chicks in the Kitchen



That's right.

We were swimming on Sunday.

Sophie was looking for her toque yesterday morning.  It was freezing!

And this was happening.




And the house was so cold.  Terry had to fire up the outdoor furnace.



Because these sweet things were chirping and really cold.

And well.....maybe I was sort of doing the same thing.

So we got the house warmed up.

And we got them upgraded from a box to a plastic home.  Only now they can see us and every time you go near them or walk by them they all freak out and run to the corner of their container.


 
Lydia has been keeping them company.
 
Brenda

Wednesday 20 May 2015

River Run 2015

We headed to the river on Sunday.

To relax.


And fish...from the new dock!


And wait.


Yes...FINALLY....here they come...


It was the Annual River Run...it's been a spring tradition here for about 25 years.


Homemade rafts, canoes, a rubber dingy, boats....anything that will get you down the river.


The water was a little low this year and many of them had a hard time getting across the set of rapids at our place.  USE THOSE MUSCLES BOYS!!



We had a few rescues.

And we sort of ended up having a party.


These two guys were so funny.  They came down in their boat with a boom box blasting...and I mean blasting...and they were talking to each other...or rather trying to talk to one another.  They were having a conversation but they were shouting and they were completely oblivious to all of us standing on the shore.  Until we hollered at them.  Then they noticed us...



I felt sorry for this girl in the bikini....she was the only one to get off and pull and push the raft across the rapids.  All the guys on the raft with her just stood around and watched her do all the work.


So much fun.  Good memories.

Brenda

Friday 15 May 2015

This Week

This week at a glance....

1. Shaun keeps growing.  We are still bottle feeding him...along with Barry and Garry (or Dickie and Donnie)....there seems to be a discrepancy in the names. 

They all want to be fed at the same time....and that's rather difficult when you only have two hands.  I don't usually go out there unless I have all the bottles made and someone to help me.  But Jack sent Sophie ahead out to feed Shaun while he made the bottles for the other two.....


She handled it all very well.  That girl can do anything.

2. Lydia lost her first tooth.  She actually ripped it out herself because it was a little wiggly.  She did it at the perfect time....she was in the van with Terry and Sophie waiting on a guy to come and load cattle.  Apparently there was blood EVERYWHERE.  It was a good story.  A very good story.  It was perfect because Terry can't handle the sight of blood and Sophie can't handle the loosing of teeth.


She didn't put it under her pillow.  She has taken Sophie's advice and she is going to save up the teeth and then cash them all in.  They will not be getting 100 dollar bills like they think they will.

3.  I made some chocolate cupcakes and Sophie ate one and then made the wrapper into a mini flying airplane.  She can turn anything into anything.  Remember the Tylenol Wrapper Hat?

That girl can do anything.

4.  I've been trying to master a homemade butterscotch pie with meringue.  I tried this recipe here.  I thought I had cooked it enough...I was so tired of waiting for it to get thick....and it was thick...but when it was suppose to be setting in the fridge it turned all runny.  Terry ate it anyway.  So I tried again but this time I didn't cook it on a double broiler.  I cooked it in a regular pot on the stove.  And I made it get so thick that my arm was sore from mixing and there was no possible way that it could get any thicker...it was that thick.  And it turned out perfect.  That's what Terry said.  And he knows butterscotch pie...it's his favourite.


5.  I made this cake to be raffled off at our local library's community yard sale.


6.  Johanna spent a few days in Toronto this week with the high school band.  They competed at Nationals and got a Gold Award.  Woot woot!  But she was disappointed that she missed the Two Little Pigs episode.

7.  The grass grew.  And we cut it.

8.  The rhubarb is ready!  I made a sour cream rhubarb cake today...one of the kids' favourites.

9.  Jack and the girls collected a whole bunch of worms the other day when it rained.  They are all in jars in the fridge.  Lydia asked what those worms do all day in there.  Sophie told her that they squirm around and have fun.  Good answer.

Terry built a dock at the river and they are going to fish this weekend.  I bought them short 'dock' rods and Jack has been teaching them how to cast.

He is also teaching them how to catch frogs.  and play ball.

He's a good guy.

10.  Wild turkey breast meat is usually really dry.  BUT if you slice it up and soak it in some salt water for a few hours and then soak it in Italian salad dressing for a few hours and then you bbq it....it's really good!  We had it with potatoes and carrots and salad but it would be really good sliced up and put into wraps too.  Just sayin'.

Brenda





Thursday 14 May 2015

Two Little Pigs.

I was heading down our road last night, on my way to pick up Grady down at the milk barn.  I was sort of in a hurry because I wanted to get there and get back and eat supper.  And Grady had been waiting on me because I wasn't as organized as I expected to be.  I had been making homemade pizzas for supper and Jack had taken Sophie and Lydia outside to find frogs.  I thought that was a great idea.  I could make homemade pizzas without any helpers.  Only Lydia came in the door completely covered in mud because she hadn't followed the path across the rocks and logs that Jack and Sophie had walked on.  She made her own path.  And she was so so mad.  And covered in mud.  And I had to put her in the tub while in the middle of making the pizzas.  So then the pizzas got in the oven later that expected.  And Grady called saying that he was ready to be picked up.  But the pizzas were in the oven and I couldn't just drive away.  I had to wait for them to bake.

So then I left in a bit of a hurry to get Grady and as I drove down the road I saw these two pink things up head on the road.  WHAT.  They were pigs.  And I slowed down and drove around them.  And continued on my way.

And I was thinking....did I just see pigs.  little pigs.  walking down our road.  to our house.  that is too good to be true.  or maybe I'm losing my mind.  because pigs just don't walk down roads to your house.

So I picked up Grady and told him that there were two little pigs walking on our road....heading to our house.  And he looked at me and said WHAT.

I told him that I was pretty sure that I saw what I saw.  Only I was really hoping that those two pigs would still be there by the time we got home.  Or I might be declared crazy.

I mean we have had dogs and a horse and a huge pet goose show up at our house.  But pigs?  That's too good to be true.  I just emailed someone last week wanting to buy a pair of pigs so we could raise them this summer....but her pigs were all spoken for.  And the boys were disappointed that there were no pigs for us. 

But now these two pigs were walking right to our house.  It's not every day that bacon just walks down your road to your house.

Too good to be true.

So...sure enough...the pigs were still there when we got back.  Still walking on our road.  We stopped and said hello to them.  They were so sweet and friendly....and they sort of wanted to follow us.  I told Grady to text Terry and ask him what to do.

But Grady was really hungry and he wanted his supper so I took him to the house and hollered at Jack and the girls to come with me and see these pigs.  Of course at first they looked at me like what....pigs?....walking on our road.  Too good to be true.

I took them to see the pigs.

Jack and I were trying to figure out where these pigs could have possible come from.  If they had jumped out of the back of a truck they would just hit the ground and die.  Yes...that's not what happened because these two pigs didn't look like they had been through any trauma.  They were happy and healthy.

Maybe the Mennonites lost them.  But really....the Mennonites don't drive very fast and if they lost them they would probably notice and just stop their horse and get the pigs back.  As we were discussing this we saw a buggy driving up the main road.  Maybe they were looking for pigs.  So we waited and watched....if they turned down our road then they would be looking for pigs.  But they didn't...they just kept on going.  They weren't looking for any pigs.  So that settled that....they didn't belong to the Mennonites.

Then Grady arrived on the 4 wheeler.  He said that Dad had texted and said to GRAB THEM.

He wasn't thinking straight.  He was thinking about the bacon.  You can't just grab other peoples pigs.  No actually.....Terry thought that they were going to get away and we wouldn't be able to catch them and get them back to whoever they belonged too.

We needed to find out who owned these pigs.

Sophie and Lydia had already named them Wilber and Charlotte.  And they were feeding them potatoes.  We always keep potatoes handy in the van in case there are pigs on our road that need to be fed.

Finally Terry drove in.  He said that he would go over to the neighbours and see if they belong to them.  There is a younger couple that lives across the field.  They've been there for about a year.  They keep to themselves...and go to work...and sometimes they have friends over and they have huge bonfires.  But they are young.....would they be into raising pigs?  I wouldn't think so.

Terry came back with the most unfortunate news.  There was a pen over there with a little shelter.  The pigs had a home.

We called them and told them that their pigs were on our road.

And unfortunately they came and got them.

Brenda

Wednesday 6 May 2015

Cropping, Mudroom, Lambs and Youthfulness.

Terry and the boys are putting in the crop.  I haven't taken any photos this year.  It's the same as the other years.  You can see it here....or here.  The only difference is that it's a different field this year.

I cleaned the mudroom today.  It was beyond.  BEYOND.

On the weekend, a friend came to pick up a cake and Terry asked me what she said and I said that she said that it was incredible.  And he said....so she saw the mudroom. 

NO.  She hadn't seen the mudroom.  She was talking about the cake.

But after I cleaned the mudroom today, I ripped out the floor.  So now it's much better...only I need to go to town and get a chunk of flooring. 

And I found a pair of scissors.  That was the best.  You can never have too many scissors....actually you can never find scissors around here.

We are bottle feeding three lambs now.  There was another set of triplets last week and the mum only had enough milk for one.  It's all a big wrestling match when you try to feed them alone....because Shaun is ridiculously big and wants to drink all three bottles.  So I'm fighting him off as I try to feed the two little ones.

I think that Shaun thinks that he's a dog.  Only he doesn't get out of the way when you try to walk...sort of like a cat.  It makes life interesting when you have a huge basket of clothes and you are trying to get to the clothesline.

There is this new website that guesses your age.  You can try it out here. It's completely ridiculous...


Apparently I DID give birth to Grady when I was just four years old!

And then there is this one....

I'm actually younger than Grady (I'm the same age as Jack)....and my wittle bruther is much much older than me!

AND we needed to use the fire extinguisher on the bbq tonight.  I was in a complete panic and Terry arrived from the field just in the nick of time.  As we were saying grace we said a special thank you that Terry McHale wasn't here tonight having supper with us....he's the Douglas Fire Chief.

Brenda

Monday 4 May 2015

Sophie's First Holy Communion

The cake.


The hair.


The dress...it was the same one that Johanna had worn.












Sophie had asked me as we were decorating the cake together if I was going to cry at her First Communion.  I told her that I wouldn't....although I really wasn't sure if I could guarantee that.

But I didn't.  I didn't cry.

It was a beautiful celebration and a beautiful day.

And we are blessed to have a beautiful, thoughtful, loving, generous girl.  May she always be close to Jesus.

Brenda

Friday 1 May 2015

GLORIA

Terry needed his suit pants fixed.  He decided that they are too short.  He actually decided that a long time ago but he just never got around to doing anything about it.  I can't fix suit pants.  So he took them down to Gloria to get her to fix them.

I can't actually say the name Gloria without shouting it in a weird accent.

And I've got to say it a few times this week.

Because I needed to call GLORIA.

and GLORIA called back.

GLORIA called....your pants are ready.

The kids didn't get it.

What is up with her and the way she says GLORIA?

So I got them up-to-date this morning....at 6:30am....as I was making lunches.  I youtubed it and blasted it....because Terry was outside.


And now they understand. 

This song is classic. it's gold.

Lydia said that she looks like Daisy Duke!  And Sophie mentioned that she wished that it was still the 80s.

Yes....they understand.

Of course Jack and Grady just looked at me like I had lost my mind.

Anyways...what is it with names in songs?  It just makes you want to change your name to GLORIA.

My two best friends growing up were Lisa and Julie.  When I'd have them over to play....my Dad would sing this to them...


A little creepy...when you are 7....but seriously....the song had both of their names in the song.

There was a song about 'Linda' and my Dad would change it to 'Brenda'....so that was special.  But for some reason I can't even remember the song.  Maybe something about leaving her in Kingston.  I don't know.

And then to have the name Carlene.....yes please.


Oh and I must get my phone number changed to 867-5309.

Brenda