It's the Most Busiest Time of the Year!!!

Before Christmas was a busy time, ok busier than usual.

Our Christmas tree farmer friend called and said he had trees for us!

Yay!

So off to the woods we went. It was one of the only weekends we had snow this year.

It was so pretty, but alas, it didn't last long.

I had to sit on the trees so Dave could strap them down.

Then I had this brain wave to take Jamie's stuffed toys that were in the attic still in perfect condition and bring them to Tideview Terrace, where Dave's parents are living now.

So Dave dressed in Santa and we brought Emilie as his sidekick.  I had enough toys for the houses where both his parents are living. That's 18 toys.  Next year I want to collect enough for all the houses. There's ten houses with 9 residents in each "house". So I have to collect 90 stuffed toys!!!

I've already begun going to thrift stores to buy gently used ones. I've got around a dozen. The hard part will be finding boxes to wrap them all.

But it'll be worth it! The residents loved it! The houses we didn't have toys for we went to visit anyway just to say Ho Ho HO!  I'm not sure who they loved more, Santa or Emilie.

Santa and his helper. I've found her an elf costume for next year.

Santa and "his dad".

Santa and "his mom".

Have a Blessed Day.

Lisa

The Giant Marshmallow

Well I think Daisy is gonna be a keeper.

We got two giant marshmellows and a round bale of hay. We have to go get the other bale soon.

I've never had a giant marshmellow, but the cows seem to like it. The goats aren't too fussy for it.

Woody is too small for freezer camp and I don't want to keep him all winter, but we found someone that will buy him. He's going to pick him up soon. We're trading him for pork.

Dave went to the dairy where we bought Daisy and Woody and asked if it was okay if Daisy didn't go to freezer camp and if it was okay if we bred her.

They said it wasn't an issue and they'd even come and artificially inseminate her when the time came!

How cool is that!

They also said she wasn't a twin, which is good and that she's either Holstein/ Black Angus or Holstein/Limousine.  I think Angus.

We put a collar on her and she wasn't too happy, but she'll survive. 

I'm on vacation for the next week so I'm going to work on leading her around.

Daisy and her new bling.

Well we are still waiting for winter to show up. It's great in a way since the water outside still hasn't frozen yet so I don't have to drag water and the chickens are laying like there's no tomorrow, but it's very muddy.

I mean here it is Christmas eve and the lawn is full of nightcrawlers.

It's also not very festive. 

I think we've had one sprinkling of snow so far and it didn't last long. 

Tomorrow for Christmas we are expecting a Nor'easter. 70-80mm of rain. Yuck.

Simonne and Emilie want to wish you all a Merry Christmas and hopefully snow soon!!!

Have a Blessed Evening.

Lisa

Where's the pumpkin pie!?

I love my goats. That includes driving around after Halloween to collect pumpkins.

Ok, I'm not that crazy.  My cousin had an over abundance of pumpkins and said I could have them for the goats. So my trunk, my backseat and my front seat was full of pumpkins!

But now that the cows are home, they're enjoying them as much as the goats.

Then someone else enjoyed the pumpkins. They even started carving them.

Darn chickens!

Have a Blessed Evening!
Lisa

When the cows came home..

Remember these guys?

Daisy..

Woody

Well they've been away at the neighbouring farmer's field for the entire summer. Usually they come back in October but it's been an extremely mild fall so they've stayed there till today.

We had a bit of snow two days ago so it was time for the cows to come home.

The farmer told us that Daisy got kinda big...really big. Bigger than Woody. Because all summer she became a big mooch on another cow's teat! She nursed all summer on another cow.

Honestly, I find that kinda funny.

But here's what they look like now.

Daisy turned out to be black not brown. The ole farmer thinks she might

 be crossed with Black Angus. 

Next week Woody is going to the...well you know.

But we're still not sure what to do with Daisy.

Her and Peeper have a thing going.

Peeper is in love.

The minute Daisy walked into the pasture, the other goats went the opposite way.

Peeper on the other hand, walked right up to her and introduced himself. 

They've been inseperable ever since.

Love knows no bounderies.

Have a Blessed Day

Lisa

Peeper

Ohhhh...Peeper!

You are so bad.

For several months this summer he lived in the barn. No fence would contain him.  

So at night he'd sleep with the guys and then during the day he'd move to the girls apartment.

He'd find a hole in the fence, we'd fix it, he'd find another hole, we'd fix it.

Just when we thought we had him contained, he'd MAKE a hole and we'd fix it.

Finally after awhile we made the decision to sell him.  It wasn't a decision I made easily. 

I love my Peeps.

He's my little boy.

But it was no life for him in the barn and it would cost several thousand dollars to make a fence that would contain him.  Something we couldn'd afford.

So I placed ads everywhere.

Then on Open Farm Day a little girl came over and before I could scream,

" DON'T TOUCH THAT ELECTRIC FENCE!!!!"  

She grabbed the fence! (We had warning signs, but she was too young to read and her parents had their backs turned)

Nothing.

Nada.

Oh.

That's why when the turkeys would stick their wattles on the wires it wouldn't zap them.

I just thought they were too stupid to realize it hurt.

That's why Peeper was escaping!

We actually had someone that was coming to buy him that week.

I called and said, sorry but we're keeping my boy!

Our troubles weren't over. We tried everything to fix the fence, check the wires, change the fencer, add another ground, wet the ground. Nothing was working enough to keep him in. 

The big girls were happy inside, so they didn't bother trying to leave and Bear had gotten zapped once and never dared to go to the fence again.

So I ordered another fencer from work....a big one.

I didn't frig around.

Meet Super Energizer 5!!

That's Mr. Super Energizer 5 to you!

Oh and Mr. Energizer works.

It's for 50 miles....we only have 4 miles of fence. Heh, heh, heh.

6 joules.

Er, Er, Er. ( Tim the Toolman's voice)

Peeper is safe and sound in the fence.

Problem solved.

Have a Blessed Day

LIsa

Vintage Find

Look at this gorgeous piece I found at an antique fair!

It's to hold your sweater together. 

Those old enough would remember that.

I love it!

Have a Blessed Day

Lisa

Fall Rant.

Don't get me wrong.

I love gardening.

My fingers itch to get all muddy and dirty when spring shows up.

I satisfy my addiction in the winter by babying my house plants.

But by the time September rolls around I want a break from weeding, watering, planting and harvesting.  Usually my last weeding is late September. Then I can relax and start planning for next season. 

Well this year God has some other idea!

We are October 29, 2014. 8:14pm!!! And it's almost 20 degrees Celcius outside!
What's with that!!!??  No I don't want snow right now, but nice cool temps would be nice.

You know, just above freezing.

It's been a hot, hot fall. I think I've had three frosts here. And that's it.

Last week I had to do ANOTHER weeding for pete's sake!

Enough already. 

I also discovered peas growing. They're about a foot tall.

Heaven's to Mergatroid! 

What the heck?

Two days ago, Dave discovered a wood tick on the cat.

I go outside at night and the nightcrawlers and peepers are out.

This is not normal people!

But on the bright side, it is easy on the heating bill.

That's something we can all be thankful about!

I'm just waiting for the bomb to drop.

Wake up one morning with a foot of snow on the ground.

Yup, I can see it happen.

As a matter of fact it's giving snow for Sunday.

Have a Blessed Evening.

Lisa

In the meantime, enjoy some nice fall scenes from my yard.

And another nice view from my yard.

Halloween!

Getting ready for Halloween! This year the girls are getting into the groove also.

I know, I know...

I've become one of  "those"  people.

I dress my dogs.

Have a Blessed Day

Lisa

Oh and if you want to see what I do on TV check out this link.

Where did it go?!

Where did the summer go?

I'm not sure?

I know the summer usually goes by fast, but this is ridiculous.

I'm still looking for it.

If you find it, can you let me know?

The only vacation we had was a few days in Halifax. It was nice to get away from the farm.

This summer we were lucky to have helpers from HelpX.

All three were from France. So far people from France are super helpers!!! And excellent cooks.

Myriam cooked beef bourguigion. Yum! She did the fast method (it took two days). Then the last few weeks we had Sonia and Agathe. They made us crepes sarazzin aux ble noir and dessert crepes.

Awesome!!

Crepe sarrazin with my own goat cheese

Dessert crepe with caramel and ice cream

Our helpers Agathe and Sonia trying clams

Then we had Open Farm day in September. It was a super busy day.

My soap, apple butter and goat fudge

Yours truly teaching how to make soap

 But the summer has been an adventure and my garden turned out super dooper.

My dill

Onions

An entire meal made with the fruits of our labour

Our carrots kinda freaked me out! I didn't realize how big they were!

So now things are slowing down...well...kinda.

Have a Blessed Day

Lisa

Cranberry Almond Biscotti

I've had many people ask for this recipe, so here it is.

I cannot take credit for it. I found the recipe online a few years ago.

I think I found it on Allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 egg whites

2 eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract (or almond extract for a more almond flavour)

3/4 cups sliced almonds

1 cup sweetened dried cranberries

I also sometimes substitute with dried blueberries

++++++++++++++

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit

Combine dry ingredients in a medium size bowl. Whisk together eggs, egg whites and vanilla (almond extract) in a separate bowl.

Add egg mixture to dry ingredients, mixing until just moist using an electric mixture on medium speed. Add dried cranberries and almonds. Mix thoroughly.

On floured surface, divide batter in half and pat each half into a log approx 14 inches long and 1.5 inches thick. Place on cookie sheet and bake for 30 minutes or until firm. Cool on wire rack.

Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees F. Cut biscotti into 1/2" slices. Place biscottis on a cookie sheet and bake for an additional 20 minutes. Let cool and store in a loosely covered container.

It's delish! Now I have to get off the computer because we're having a thunder and lightening storm and the power is flickering!

Have a Blessed Evening!

Lisa

Trial Run.

Oh my gosh!!!

Shoot me now!

This new computer is going to be the death of me. You'd think that new things would be easier.

Right!?

Right?!

Wrong.

It just took me 30 minutes to transfer 4 pictures from my camera card to the computer.

Good Grief.

Ok, how have things been here at Spring Peeper Farm?

Busy! Busy! Busy!

Nothing Spectacular, just busy.

The turkeys are doing well. They're in the outside pasture now with the dog and the goats.

But did I tell you before that turkeys are stupid?  I didn't think they were, but guess what?! They are.

I always thought that guinea hens were dumb.  Well like I tell people, when God was giving out brains in the animal kingdom, the guinea hens forgot to get in line. NOW, I think the guinea hens and the turkeys were behind the barn having a party when God was giving out the brains.

I'm not going to bore you with the details of their stupidity, but let's just say they're not the brightest bulbs in the bunch. 

The garden is growing wonderfully. I had beautiful romaine lettuce, the dill almost hit the clouds, the peas were delish and the yellow beans grew in abundance. The picture above is about 3 weeks old.

My garlic was awesome!!! I made dill pickles and dill pickles and more dill pickles. I also pickled some beets today.  I'll be making grape jelly in a few days also.

Jamie has his first job! It's raking low bush blueberries. It's hard, hard backbreaking work, but he wanted a job and he applied for it. But after the first day he didn't want to go again.  We made him go back, It's only for a week and a half and when you make a commitment, you stick to it. He only has two days left. As you can see he gets a bit dirty raking. It looks like he's still got his socks on!

Our plum tree actually produced some plums this year and we were able to pick them before the birds did.

I went to the doctor for my checkup on my arm. It still hurts like the dickens. He looked at the Xray and said, " Well it doesn't look like you have any screws loose." 

Dave thought, " Well maybe not in her arm, but...."

Have a Blessed Evening.

Lisa

I'm still alive and haven't fallen off the face of the earth. It's just that things have been super busy here this summer. We also got a new computer cause our old one was on it's last legs, but not everything has been put on the new one. Including all my pictures. And I hate blogging without pictures. So bear with me for another few weeks and hopefully I'll be back.

Have a Blessed Evening.

p.s. With a new computer comes the issues of WHAT ARE MY PASSWORDS TO EVERYTHING! Ack! I gotta write them down.

Creepy....

It's here and it's creepy. It just showed up in my fairy garden a few days ago.

What makes it even creepier is that I touched it and it's a bobblehead.

Shudder....

I hate gnomes.

Have a Blessed Day.

Lisa

Lemonade out of Lemons

Well hurricane Arthur hit us and had no mercy.

Our property was actually one of the lucky ones.

Only one tree fell. (Well two fell, but the other one fell where it didn't do any damage)

Our area of Nova Scotia, (South West) was the hardest hit.

Arthur hit Saturday and there's still some people with no power. 

We only went a day and a half with none, but we also have a generator for such times.

Of course, the tree that fell was in the goat pasture and broke the fence.

Poplar trees aren't strong, so the three trees that were in the area came down. So next time we won't have this incident.

My dad came and helped with the chainsaw cutting.

 The goats were delirious with all the leaves that came their way.

They made lemonade out of lemons.

The day before the hurricane

The day after the hurricane

Clean up time! Trees gone! Goats full.


For the next little while, blogging will be minimal. My wrist is not healing quickly and it's a pain the type...literally.

Have a Blessed Day.
Lisa

I'm back...finally

Wow! That took a lot longer than what I figured. 

The doctor told me 4-5 weeks in a cast. Well it ended up 7 weeks!! Needless to say it was about time it came off!  But it's not done yet. The cast is off, but my arm is not working like it should. So off to physio therapy I go. Plus I can't lift much either.

I thought that you'd like to see a picture of my arm now. Dead Sexy! I am now the bionic women.

Not.

Well my plans for this summer I had are quickly coming to fruition ( large word of the day).

I got my veggie/egg stand built. I'm doing my Vanna beside it. Pink shirt, pink cast and pink Muck boots. I'm stylin'.

Our turkeys have arrived a few days ago, the meat birds are growing nicely and the cattle have gone up the road to the big pasture.

Now check this out 

Nova Scotia

and this!

Spring Peeper Farm

I have been one busy chickie!

We did the nice guys again and rescued this goose. If anyone can tell me if it's a boy or a girl, I'd be much abliged.  We're calling it Alfred. He's a nice goose. Not mean at all, but he's afraid of people. He's fine with the animals, but humans, he leary. He is coming out of his shell though.

I've been making lots of new soaps and I started making cupcake soaps. It's my first try, but I'm kinda proud of myself.

Well that's about it for now. I just thought that I'd show my face to let ya'll know that I'm still alive.

Have a Blessed Evening.

Lisa

Missing in Action!

This blog is going to be short.

I'm typing with one hand.

For several years I've been dealing with what is called Keinbock's disease or by it's common name, dead bone disease. Most Keinbock patients have it because of trauma to the wrist. 

I was actually born with it. My radial bone is too long, thus rubbing my wrist bone and killing it.

I finally got in for surgery a few days ago. I'd been on the waiting list for a year now.

The doctor first thought that taking a few mms of bone would do the trick but after opening me up he ended taking almost an inch. He said that he could have taken more but figured it was nice an even.

So for the next 5 weeks I'm a one armed bandit, making typing and other things a pain in the butt!!!

So if you don't see me for awhile, it's because writing is an issue at the moment. 

But I will be back!!

If you're on Facebook Like our Spring Peeper Farm page.

Or follow me on Twitter @Peeper67

Relaxing with my pals.

Even though it's cold still the garlic is pushing through!

New friends for Philomene our widow....Philias and Françoise.



Have a Blessed Day!
Lisa

White Women Can't Dance!

This year the Nocturne de la Baie was renamed

La Clare-té de la Baie. It was to usher in spring since it was a long 

time coming. The festivities lasted all weekend.

I went to some of them, but I missed many of them. Since there's only so many hours in a day.

 We had a lovely girl from Help X

helping us. Thank goodness she was here that week to help.

But that's a story for another day

One night we decided to take it easy and to go see what was going on at Le Rendez-Vous de la Baie.

François Gaudet had painted the Sable Island ponies.

Then we decided to go and watch the African dance demonstration.

It was beautiful to see.

But of course it didn't stop there.

They asked if anyone wanted to learn.

Well since I consider myself something of a dancer (well when I was younger anyway)

 I thought why not??!!

I should have thought...WHY?

But I semi-dragged Barbara (our helpxer) up on the stage and I thought I was doing pretty good.

Till I seen the pictures Dave took.

I'm on the left with the jeans and red T-shirt.

I seem to be in rhythm.

Still going well I'd say.

But here's where I kinda lose it. What am I doing?

I seem completely perplexed here.

But then I seem to regain my bearings.

But when we were done, Jamie was brutely honest.

"Mom you can't dance."

So I figured that Dave would be nicer.

"Honey, you have no rhythm. Sorry."

In my defense I used to do a form of step dancing, which that being said,  there is no upper body movement. So it shouldn't have come as a surprise to anyone....

White Women Can't Dance!!!

Have a Blessed Day and a Happy Easter!

Lisa