I love fall!!!

It's been a busy week again. I clipped the goat's hooves. Or as I say, I gave them a manicure. It's not their favourite thing to have done to them. But it has to be done.

At church I led worship and told them a little joke. They all cracked up. I've learned my lesson, I try my jokes on my co workers before I try them in front of 100 people. The first time I told a joke in front of the congregation it bombed. Not good. It didn't help I was super nervous either. A friend of mine and a member of the congregation told me to stick to my true life stories, they were funnier. Ack! What does that say about my life!lol. But now my jokes are a lot better.

I made a few jars of salsa last night. It's a far cry from 150 bottles we used to do every fall.

We went apple picking last night also. It's our annual foray to the apple orchard down the road. We're not big apple eaters, but I just love the ambiance. Hmmm is there an ambiance in an apple orchard? I think so.

Fall is my favourite time of the year.

Spring is full of new renewal and promise and blackflies.

Summer is beach time!! And barefeet season, but also the humidity is a killer.

Winter is snow, and our Saviour's birthday! Sledding, skating!! But slush, wind, carrying water to the animals because the automatic waterers are frozen.

But fall....ah yes.. fall. Fall is beautiful colours, no bugs, harvest is over, time to start hibernating, nice, cool temps. Fall is pretty much perfect!!

I thought I'd enclose a few photos of the lake on our property. This is the view the goats have everyday.

Well, it's time to go to bed. It's been a long, long day.

Have a Blessed evening.

This little piggie went to market part 2

It's been a loooong weekend. We had our annual yardsale at work. We started at 5 am and we were done at 6pm!!No breaks. My legs were numb from the knees down. My heal spur is beyond repair now. Ouch!!!

I got home and had to chop up veggies for my epicure party today. I'm going to start selling Epicure to make a little extra spending money.

This morning I was leading worship at church, but the minute I was done I had to slip out to meet the lady that was going to do my party. I don't like skipping out on church. Maybe that's why I didn't get too many people at the party, God is punishing me for skipping out on church early. Hmmmm...

While I was having my party, Dave was saying see ya to this piglets. Six went to their new homes today. Charlotte is confused and sad I think.

Our pastor gave us some of his old laying hens. They are a bit rough looking, but they won't look it in the stew pot. Stewing hens make the best chicken fricot. Roosters are even better.

The leaves are turning everywhere you look. I said this morning in church that it's like God is going nuts with his paint brush. There were a few trees on the way to church that looked like decorated Christmas trees. They were half brilliant green and half vibrant red. It was beautiful.

I love fall.

Have a Blessed Evening

Lisa

Not happy campers!

Well the mink has departed from this world. Dave got 'im!! Yeeehaaa! No, I'm just kidding I don't like to see any animal die even if it's a vile mink. But ya gotta protect your own. I just talked to my friend Noelle and she just lost a whole bunch of roosters to a mink this weekend. It must be the time of the year. She lives a ways away from me so it's not the same mink. She actually lives in mink country. Where we go to church there is alot of mink ranches. It keeps the economy going down here, but it's a stinky multi million dollar economy. Yuck.

My neighbour warned me this morning that we have a coyote prowling the area. That's the problem about living in the woods you get all kinds of wild critters. Hopefully they'll leave the piglets alone. But I believe that momma pig will protect them.

Speaking of momma pig, we had all the piglets sold and someone backed out today. They had 2. They want their deposit back, even though we told them at the time they gave the deposit, that it was non refundable. They said that the house they are living in is being sold and they can't keep it, but we also heard through the pig grapevine that they've been looking for a cheaper one. So we don't know if this is true or not. We're not sure what to do. If they are telling the truth we feel kinda bad keeping the deposit, but we did tell them no refunds. Maybe we should tell them that if we find another buyer for the piglets then we'll give them their money back, if we find no buyer....tough noogies. I mean when were they going to tell us?

Well Eve has found a happy home at a friends house. I'm glad all is going well.

I noticed that I haven't posted a photo of Roxie our dog. So Voila!! Isn't she sweet?

I was supposed to call in the order of service for church tonight, but I forgot my hymn book at church. Not smart. I'm leading worship Sunday.

Lisa

The Woodpile

Hmmm.. for some strange reason I got a double photo of the woodpile and I can't delete it.

Dave has been working hard the last two days. He split 8 cords of wood in 8 hours total. My hero! It's like they say firewood keeps you warm twice, first when you split and bring it in, and again when you burn it.

We've had to start the wood furnace this week. Brrr... it's been cold in the mornings and evenings. The afternoons are nice and warm. So that means that I've begun knitting again in the evenings. I only know how to knit dish clothes, but it keeps me busy.

I've sold Eve. Sniff, sniff. I'm going to miss her, but I was going to sell her next year anyway, so this way I'm not completely attached to her. Well yes, I am, but it would be worse if I waited a whole year. At least though it's a friend that bought her. So this way we can go visit her.

I'm hoping you guys like the picture of Whisper. It seems like she's saying,"hey mom! give me a manicure!" I gave Eve her last manicure today.

I think that Whisper is going to miss Eve alot. I don't think Febe will. She might...we'll have to wait and see.

The following picture is for Aunt Krissy (transplanted Alaskan) This is what my new spider plant looks like after my 2 cats have a chew at it. I bought it because I had never seen such a beautiful spider plant. The colours were vibrant, the leaves perfect. Yeah... right.

Last night the municipality decided to honour the volunteer firefighters of the area. Dave is a volunteer firefighter. So they gave a banquet for them. We went and had a nice turkey meal. That was nice of them.

We had a mink by the chicken coop tonight. Dave tried to "get" it but it was gone by the time he had the gun ready. That's why I don't let me chickens loose. I'd love to, but I'd have no hens left. We used to have ducks in our lake, but it would attract the mink so bad, we stopped getting them. They would just kill them, suck their blood and leave the body behind. Nasty creatures. In one year we killed over 6 mink. If we would have known we would have sold the pelts for $50+ .

Well that's about it for this time.

Have a Blessed Evening

Lisa

Around the farm part deux!

Yesterday we had computer problems. Our computer dude came over tonight to fix it. Spyware of course. Those things are worse than viruses. We have all the these programs to protect the computer and sometimes its just not enough. I told him I hope not to see him for a very, very long time. ;) I'm just happy to be back online. Phew. He said the best place to pick these things up is Facebook. Grrr Facebook!

Dave tilled the garden under yesterday. He loves his tiller. He's like a kid with a favourite toy. We still have the corn to harvest and the pumpkins. The pumpkins are in another garden.

I started going through my herb garden. A few years ago a friend gave me a few iris bulbs. I had no place to plant them so I stuck them in the herb garden. Well fast forward a few years and they have taken over my herb garden and I WANT IT BACK!!!! So I started digging them up. I'm giving some to a friend of mine and the rest I'm moving to a new location. I cannot believe how much they've multiplied! I've only done a third of the garden and I've got 3 times the amount that I started with 3 years ago.

Well Part deux of the tour. Charlotte is mom to all the piglets. She's a registered Berkshire pig. They're a heritage breed and there's only about 120 purebred sows in Canada.

The piglets are growing fast. They now eat the fruit and veggies that Dave puts for Charlotte. They are so cute running all over their yard.

We get alot of our veggies from the grocery stores. It's alot of work but it's better for them, since that's what pigs ate back in the day and not that processed stuff. It also cuts on the feed bill and makes them tastier. So Dave has built shelves in the barn to store all this extra food. It lasts for a while in the winter, but the summer you have to get rid of it quick because it goes bad fast.

The pigs will eat most anything, but some things we need to chop up in our fancy shmacy turnip chopper. Our friend sold it to us for 50$. It was in bad shape but another friend of ours fixed it for nothing. Nice friends!!! These are usually sold for around 250$ as antiques in worse condition than ours was. We usually have to chop up any hard root vegetable. Potatoes HAVE to be cooked. We couldn't figure out why they wouldn't eat the taters. The vet said it's because they cannot digest the starch. So we have to cook those. Usually if Dave has to cook the taters he also cooks the turnips also since they like it cooked better. Fussy pigs!

Well I hope that you liked this little tour.

Have a Blessed Day.

Lisa

Ranting and Raving...

I thought that I'd post this nice and peaceful picture of a magnolia blossom from my tree this spring before I start to rant. I'm not quite sure how to start this post. I'm just so ticked off at just about everything in general. First of all I hope I don't insult anyone because this is not my intention. I just want to give my opinion somewheres. And since it's MY blog this is as good a place as any.

It all started at the end of August. This year I had to go sign a contract with the daycare. They have decided to change alot of things. We used to be allotted 2 sick days a month.. that if I was sick or the child was sick, doctor appointments etc... we didn't have to pay. Well that's gone.

J. is only there 2 days a week, they said it was fine for this year, but next year if it gets busier I'll either have to pay for the whole week or he can't go! I told them, when this is the case, he won't go because I can't afford to send him there all week. I don't make much at work and between gas and daycare it wouldn't be worth it to send him there. Next summer even if we give them plenty of notice (like a few months) I still have to pay for our vacation weeks even if he's not there. They say this is to "save" his spot. Well when he's not there they can take other kids and make more money. But the best one is if he's scheduled for a certain day and that day falls on a statutory holiday (in our province we have 5 paid statutory holidays) even though they are closed I have to pay for the entire day!!!!!!The kicker is that "they" have 8 "statutory holidays". So 3 of these days my work is closed, I don't get paid and I have to still dish out daycare for them even though they're closed!!!! Am I the only one that sees anything wrong with this picture?

When I confronted the director about this she said,"My employees work hard and they deserve all this." Yeah well I work hard too and I'm going deeper and deeper in the red!! I'm paying for a service I cannot get. I said to her "It's kinda like if you didn't have power in your house for a whole day and the power company still charged you for it. How would you feel?" I was so mad when I left her office I was on the verge of tears.

The problem with all this is that all daycares in this province have the same rules so I can't change. Well I can't change daycares because that's the only one around here.

I feel like I'm banging my head against the wall. We are trying to make ends meet, yet they seem to be getting farther and farther apart. Our wages stay the same yet everything else is going up.

Then yesterday J. had a cold and he needed cough drops. So I send him off to school and told him I'd go get some and drop them off to him since it was my day off. So I get there at around 10am. I give the cough drops to the secretary and ask her to give them to J. I also ask her to give him his cold medication and tell him to take it at noon. She said, I'm sorry but that's not possible. We aren't allowed to give any kind of medicine to the students and they aren't allowed to take it.

I said" I did it last year all the time.I'd send a note to the teacher saying he had permission to do so and I never had a problem."

She said " He's not allowed any medication in his backpack at all. Some other student might go in his back pack , steal it and take it."

I sooo wanted to say something to this, like someone else shouldn't be IN HIS BACKPACK... but this is a very nice secretary, so I didn't want to get snotty with her.

So I ask" What happens if he needs a certain kind of medicine everyday? (eg.. antibiotics etc...)

She told me that "I'd have to leave work to come administer this medication to him."

ARGHHHHH!!!!! So I'd have to leave work drive 20 minutes ONE WAY, give him his medecine and drive back, with only 30 minutes for lunch. What is wrong with this picture?

I sooooo want to be a stay at home mom. I need something that will bring in an income so I can stay at home with my family so I can stay away from all this beauracracy. (i know that's misspelled)

This is just driving me nuts!!

I need another vacation.

Ok I am now going to get down from my soapbox now.

Lisa

Mondays....

Today was clean the goat pen day. It took a while since I didn't clean it last week like I usually do. It wasn't really dirty since they spend most of their time outside. It was just full of wasted hay. Hay burners! That's what goats are.

There comes a time in every farmers "career" when he/she has to decide what livestock to keep and which ones to get rid of. I've decided to sell Eve the escape artist. Not because she escaped but because I only have room for 2 - 3 goats. I have to keep Febe because she's my milker. I have to keep Whisper because J. won't let me sell her. So Eve has to go. She must go to a good home. I'm really saddened by this.

J. had his first drum lesson tonight. I'm going to need earplugs next time.

Airshow and tour part 1

Today was a fun day. We went to the airshow. We went for a ride in an army tank!!That was fun even for a claustrophobic person like me (they had the top open, so I felt alot better). We saw the Snowbirds. I love watching them. I'm posting a pic of one of their stunts. I only have 3 in the photo. They're really 10. J. was excited for all of it. We also really like the F18 hornet display. That thing can move!

J. got a 4 wheeler for the first time. I'm not impressed with this. A relative loaned him the money since we couldn't really afford it. It's a second hand one. Dave has been giving him lessons on it tonight. He really is excited, but the poor little thing is also sick with a cold. :(

I thought that I'd start with the farm tour tonight. I'll start with the goat's pasture. In the photo you really can't see how far it goes, but it's pretty big, considering there's only 3 goats. Looking in this photo, you're looking towards the road.

Right by the goat pasture are my old blueberry bushes that are dying. I used to have about a dozen large bushes that would produce so many berries that it would literally fill my freezer! But old age has hit them, every year it seems like there are less bees to pollinate and the heavy snows we have been getting in the last few years (we usually don't get lots of snow here) have played havoc on them. So I've planted 10 new trees, but they are only tiny now. I've also planted raspberry canes beside the old blueberries. This is not the best place for either one, since on the way to the pasture, the goats just love to grab a mouthful of which ever one suits their fancy. Not good. You can also see J.'s "tree fort" and my greenhouse in the back ground. It was a mother's day gift from Dave several years ago.

Right by the greenhouse is the pumpkin patch. I love growing pumpkins, just for the heck of it. Now the goats and the pigs get them after Halloween.

Waaayyy in the back corner of our property is J. and I's buoy tree. Yes its tacky but we love it! I think all properties should have one tacky area. We love scouring the beaches for them and beach glass which is put on display in large jars in our bathroom. The buoy tree really is a point of interest and breaks the ice when people come to visit our back yard for the first time. Well really...most of our property works as an icebreaker now a days, with all the animals.

I hope you liked the first installment of our property tour. Stay tuned next week for more excited photos of Spring Peeper Farm! Oh man, I need to go to bed. I'm a bit tired.

Have a Blessed Evening.

Lisa

"How much better to get wisdom than gold! And to get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver." Proverbs 16:16

Escapee!!!

I was just about to go milk when I noticed a black and white streak fly by the barn. Eve had escaped!!! I'm not sure where. But we caught her in no time. She is going to be sick tonight and tomorrow tho. Not good. She has bloat. She got into something she shouldn't have. She was the sick one last week that got into the dulse. (she's the one on the right in the photo.)

An update on Tootsie. He's doing alot better. He actually walked up the basement stairs all by himself and wants to go outside. Not going to happen!

The repair man came and fixed my washing machine. It was the pump that was ready to let go. It should only cost about 100$. Not bad. Better than a new washing machine I guess.

At the eye doctor none of us needed glasses. Well I mean Dave and J. have perfect vision and my prescription is still good. She did say next time I will probably need BIFOCALS!!Ack! I'm getting old. Whoa is me! Oh well I guess it's better than the other alternative. Being dead. I'll take old age for now. lol. I also got my tooth fixed today. It wasn't bad.

Be careful what you wish for....

This morning I went to check on the laying hens. As I walked in someone crowed!!! I was so excited! The only problem was that I was staring the rooster in the face and his lips weren't moving! (yes, lips) I blinked in disbelief and he crowed again. This time the crowing was coming from outside. Either my rooster can throw his "crow" or I had another rooster that I never figured on. I went outside and there in the midst of half a dozen hens was a tiny pullet that was crowing away. It's a bantie and I was positive was a pullet, not a rooster. I guess I was wrong. But in the meantime back in the chicken coop Mr. Henpecked decided he wanted some attention, so HE started crowing! Now I've got 2 roosters that are crowing. Like I said, be careful what you wish for...

Tootsie, J.'s kitten has been missing for a few days. This morning when Dave went outside to go to work, Tootsie was at the bottom of the steps. He could barely move. So pitiful. We figure he got run over by a car. We brought him inside and put him in the basement in his little bed with food, water and litter box close by. It seems like his back legs are dislocated. I gave him tylenol and prayed a long bit. J. doesn't take death of animals too lightly, any animals. He worried all day long. I called the vet and they said that cats are super tough and I should just do what I'm doing for a few days and see how he's doing. I know you're probably asking why don't I bring him to the vet. Well the answer is horrible, but the realistic truth. We can't really afford to dish out 500$ to the vet. From past experience I know this is what it's going to be. Or darn close.

Tonight I got home from work and it's amazing the transformation Tootsie has gone through. He's still walking with a limp but he's walking, which this morning he could hardly move. He's eating well, using the litter box and wanting to be cuddled. I'm praying that he will make a good recovery. I don't think he'll make a full one, but you never know.

Speaking of being broke, tomorrow I have to get my tooth fixed and we all have appointments to get our eyes checked. Ugh. Plus my washer is going on the fritz. The repair man is coming tomorrow morning.

Yesterday I tried making yogurt again. This time it totally flopped. I'm not sure why. I also lost my thermometer in the yogurt. It died. It got full of yogurt. Digital thermometers and yogurt don't mix.

Have Blessed evening

Lisa

Hen-pecked rooster

I never thought I'd see the day. I have a henpecked rooster. First we had Philias, he was a bantie ameraucana rooster. Him and Philomene were a pair. I was sure he was gay. He never crowed. He would cluck. He did do his thing though. Because we now have Bibi his daughter. Anyway, I digress. Philias had to be put down a few months ago. Something happened to his leg and it couldn't be repaired. So off I go on a tangent to find a new rooster. One that would CROW!

Well wouldn't you know it?! This guy doesn't crow either. He tries, but his "girls" peck him. So he is literally henpecked! Take a look at the back of his neck, no feathers! What next.

It's been a long week. I broke a tooth at work. No worker's compensation won't pay, I broke it on break eating a piece of popcorn. Not even on an old maid. Just a piece of popcorn. I have to wait till Thursday before I can get it fixed. At least it doesn't hurt, cause it's on a tooth that had a root canal done.

I had to work Saturday. Ugh. That just kills me. It tires me out for the week. I'm just getting old. That's all there is to it.

Friday night we went to my cousin's camper lot. Dave and J. fished most of the time we were there. There was a nice moonrise, I guess you could call it.

I didn't go to church today. I think there was a reason that God said we should rest on the Sabbath day. Instead of going to church , I painted the barn. It gave me a headache. I should have gone to church and been spiritually uplifted, instead I got a migraine.Nice. Dave and J. went fishing. I just had too much to do, I had to do deviled eggs, clean the house, put clothes away and paint the barn. That's one reason I don't like working on Saturdays. It puts me behind on everything at the house. We had a potluck to go to at the church tonight. Dave was making his famous BBQ chicken. That's why I made the eggs.

This was not the weekend to be in this area. It's called Wharf Rat Rally weekend in Digby. It's one of the biggest motorcycle rallies in North America. It's just a tiny town of 9000 people and about 50,000 people swarmed in!! All on Harley's. I really don't want to offend anyone, but I really don't like Harley's. I mean why pay 25,000$ for a motorcycle that's going to shake your innards? I can do it much cheaper. Oh well no accounting for other people's tastes.

Well that's about all for today. Have a Blessed evening.

Lisa

"And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done." Genesis 2:2

First Day of school

Well today was the actual first day of school. Not yesterday like I orginally thought. Duh! J. was all excited when he saw the new school bus! He didn't want to go to school tho. There's a bully in his class that has been harassing him since primary. I just love it when schools say they have no tolerance for bullies. I'm thinking," yeaah right. What's the scoop with this kid." But J. was the bigger "man" today. The bully started right away. So J. asked him "why can't they just be friends?" The bully actually said that might be a good idea and he'd try. Wow. This might be too easy.

I'm posting a photo of J. walking to his "doom". Too bad he doesn't like school. He is a very bright kid, but it's just not for him.

Well the goats' poop is all back to normal. I let them out in their pasture today for the first time in a couple of days. When they get scours (a nice word for the runs) they have to be put on just a hay diet. So this morning their poopies were normal. They were happy to get outside. It is cold in the mornings now. Brrr. I actually need a jacket to go milking.

My friend, Brad, got a few more goats that were really a rescue mission. So he's trying to get the goats healthy. So he's constantly checking their poops also. Needless to say when we talk or email, the topic always comes to poop. I told him, " We have sad, sad little lives, all we talk about is goat poop." He said in his usual dry wisdom "Well at least it's better than gossiping about other people's crap!" Oh Brad, you're so funny.

I made some cream cheese a few days ago. Plain and I tried lemon-dill. J. likes the lemon-dill.

Here's a recent picture of the piglets just for you Tammy.

Have a Blessed evening

Lisa

"When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice;But when a wicked man rules, the people groan." Proverbs 29:2

Oops!

We went to Halifax yesterday to pick up some school clothes and accessories and got home late. I was all in a panic because I'm thinking J. has got to get to bed early so he can be up bright and early for his first day of school today. So I rush him through teeth brushing, no bed time snack quick quick quick, go, go go! Get him in bed by 9:30 pm. Not good. He's usually in bed by 7:30. So then I sit down to relax when a goat friend calls. I tell her hubby that I just got back from the city and that J. is not impressed to start school tomorrow. He said, "Well I should hope that he's not impressed, the first day of school is Wednesday, not Tuesday!" ARGH!!!! I have too much on the go. Dave tiptoes in J.'s room and tells him that school wasn't starting Tuesday only Wednesday. J. says, "Oh, I praying to God that school didn't start Tuesday. He answered my prayers!" Too cute.

Dave tattooed and tagged the piggies today. He had to get help from Ron, his brother in law. What a job. Some people came to visit their little piggie today.

It's giving a frost for tonight. Not good. Well really I have nothing left in the garden anyway. I do have the grapes and pumpkins to worry about. We usually don't have a frost till October. This is kinda early.

I stuck my head in the meat king's pen today and I just cannot believe how much they have grown in just a few weeks.

We went to the ostheopath yesterday, all three of us. I use to have a lot of faith in her, but this time, it all just seemed strange to me. I'm not sure why.

Well I have to go and do a few chores so I'll be

ready to watch one of my favourite shows, 18 kids and counting.

Oh and Roxie is still farting!

Have a Blessed evening.

Lisa

"Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do so." Proverbs 3:27