Sunday!

Beautiful Sunday!

Weather is perfect.  Just warm enough to work outside

without dying of heat.

Yes, Covid still is here. We are still under lockdown.

But there is no fear of being bored here.  

Always something to do.

Today I cleaned out my two large flower beds in the 

backyard.  There wasn't too many weeds but

there was still some.  My goodness buttercups

have long root systems. Phew.

I think I dug  to China a few times.

My tool of choice for the last 4 years is

the Mark's Choice Backhoe and Mini Backhoe.

I have both but I prefer the mini one. 

As you can see mine is well worn and not even close

to kicking the bucket.

I endorse these products 100%

They can only be found  at Home Hardware.

Large Back Hoe

mini back hoe

There is a medium but I've never used it so I can't honestly say

how it is.  But if it's anything like these two it's worth the money.

I discovered a few plants that I thought were dead were actually  doing well.

That is always a nice surprise. This poppy is one of them.

It was my fault. Last year while it was still in the pot I forgot to

water it.  It was dead,  dead, and more  dead.

Well I guess it was like Lazarus and up from the grave it

arose! Hallelujah! I'm  so happy

because I love poppies, but never had  any.

This was going to be my first. 

The chickens are still having fun roaming outside.

At night I still have to go and chase  a few back in.

But it's worth it because they're eating all those

lovely woodticks and earwigs!

Muffin time!

Sundays now I try and make a large meal for supper

since Jamie is home. So today I made blueberry/raspberry

muffins and I'm going to make a

roasted chicken with all the fixings!

 Plus it makes leftovers

to bring to work for a few days after.

Yes, I'm still working since we are an essential

service.  Where we are it's pretty safe since

there isn't alot of traffic. 

Have a Blessed  Day

Lisa

Spring is here!

It's been such a beautiful weekend.

A bit chilly still, but the sun is out.

It was time to do some more hardcore

gardening!

This is the before and after of my herb garden.

I was overrun by chives. 

I gave a lot away.

I kept a tiny patch and also

put some in my flower beds

in the back yard. The flowers are

great for the bees.

Strange how everything I do

in the garden now is for the bees.

I also leave all the dead stems and flower

heads for  the winter to help the bugs and

birds overwinter.

Jamie helped us  pick up the twigs, weeds and branches and brought

them in the tractor to our compost pile.

There was  alot of branches. Phew!

Some shrubs might have been over trimmed.

Oh well. 

I  also invested in golden raspberry canes and

blackberry canes.

Since we are still waiting for the wood

to get here I planted them in pots for now.

Today was a nice day also.  But I actually sat down and watched

last night's episode of Call the Midwife and the

last 4 episodes of Outlander.

My knees can't handle two days in a row of gardening.

And that's with a foam kneeling pad.

Have a Blessed Day!|
Lisa

Another Chapter

I never thought I'd see the day that I would post this.

I'm not even sure how to begin.

I've been thinking about this for the last year or so.  

But I was avoiding it.

I sold all the goats.

There I said it.

There's been rumours in the community going around as to why I sold all the goats.

Some people are even saying I've got cancer.

Put all your minds at ease. 

I don't have cancer.

What I do have is I'm exhausted.

Mentally, physically and emotionally.

I thought I could do this homesteading thing while working a fulltime job off the farm.

Well I have come to the realization that I can't.

I admit it...

I cannot.

There I said it.

Like I tell people when they ask why?

I'd get up at 5am and go till 10:30-11pm 

and I still didn't even have everything that needed done, done.

A few people told me in the last few days that they have no idea how I ever did it.

I was constantly worried about the health of the goats, paying for the goats, if something happened to one of us, who would milk the goats? 

Like all farmers know, leaving the farm for even just a weekend involves a lot of planning.

The first thing being...who's going to come and take care of the livestock.

It's relatively easy to find someone to come and take care of a dog, cat or even the chickens.

But when it involves dairy animals that need to be milked twice a day, everyday, whether you want to or not. It's almost impossible. Especially if you don't live in a farming community like we do. Whether you're sick or not (like the time I had H1N1 and one of the goats didn't like Dave so I had to drag myself to milk her anyway), whether there's 5 feet of snow, hurricane force winds, etc...

They still need to be milked twice a day.

And then you have to deal with people that are not always honest.  

And that's what broke the proverbial goat's (camel, whatever) back.

Like I said, I had been thinking about selling the goats for a year or so when I sold a goat to someone. To make a long story short, he says she was sick and almost dead when she got there. We say she was fine when she left here. He wanted his money back. (the goat is still alive btw) or he was going to slander our name everywhere. This wouldn't bother me too much because everyone knows we have quality livestock.  Like my vet said, this was cyber bullying. Blackmail whatever you want to call it.

It was the end.

So I talked it over with Dave and we decided to give a fellow farmer a call to see if she wanted to buy all the goats. Every last one.  I gave her a good deal because I knew they were going to an awesome place. She had bought goats from me before, so she knew our goats. This is also the place my goats went to "goat camp" a few summers ago.

I told Dave, if she says yes. Then it's meant to be. If she had declined, then I'm not sure if I would have tried selling them to someone else or kept them. 

But she said "YES!" 

So the goats are gone.

Did I cry when they left...no.

But I cried after they left. I couldn't even talk about it for a few days.

I knew I had made the right decision for the goats and me, but it was still hard.

I'm tearing up as I write this. I still have a hard time looking at goat pictures.

I miss their little faces, their personalities, but I don't miss anything else.

Will I ever go back to goats? Don't know.

Maybe, maybe not.  But for the next 3 years, no.

I'm not selling any of my equipment for now....

I'm still going to make soap. Because that was one of the biggest questions people were asking me.

I have enough milk in the freezer for a long, long time of soap making. And when I run out I have my sources that will supply me with milk. And no, it's not where the goats went. We are still going to be homesteading, just not with goats. More with gardening, preserving our food etc..

So from this day forth this blog will be more of a gardening theme. A travel theme.

Since I'll have time to travel...not exotic places. But just down the road. 

I'm also going to take my Master Gardener's course with Dalhousie University this winter.

I'm also going to take care of my health. Exercise, eat right and try not to stress too much...ya right.

I'm going to take care of my family more, go to church more, camp more, bake more, blog more, be able to visit my friends more...relax more.

We still have the chickens since the way they're set up they can take care of themselves for a few days. And I've got plenty of people that can come and pick up the eggs if need be.

So it's really not the end.  It's just another chapter in my life.

So sorry if I've rambled on too much, but now you know...

the rest of the story.

Have a Blessed Day.

Lisa

Spring has Sprung!

Ok, well one can only hope that it's shown up.

This winter has been super mild compared to last year's.

I can actually see the lawn.  Ok, the brown lawn.

But it will become green in due time.

Green and with two other raised beds...

heh, heh, heh.

Yes, it didn't take much convincing for hubby to agree to put two more.

Not after the horrible veggie prices this winter.
And it's planning on getting worse. 

From what I've heard, it's not only here but everywhere.

Oh well, it's just a bit more work, but the taste and quality is better.

I'll be planting the regular things this spring.

Things like dill, carrots, beets, yellow beans, pumpkins etc...

But this year I'll also be planting...

Cucamelons!!!

Or Mouse Melons  I always try something different in my veggie gardens.

Sometimes it works...sometimes it don't.

I remember planting dill was something weird for me.

Well it does so well here, that it's now a staple in my garden.

Then again I've planted things I'd rather forget...as a matter of fact, I have forgotten it.

I can't remember it.  Oh! Potatoes.

Might seem like a normal thing to plant, but for the life of me, we cannot grow potatoes on our property. Which is a shame really. Since we eat so many of them.

So soon, hopefully my garden will look like this.

Something else I'm putting new in my garden this year...

a bee hive!!!

Woot!! Woot!

I'm taking the plunge.

I've ordered my bees and they should be ready for pick up late May or early June.

I'm excited and nervous.

I wanted to wait another year, but I say that every year.

Finally hubby said, "Just do it!"

So he called and ordered the bees.

No turning back now!

I really want to steer away from using sugar in my cooking as much as I can.

But buying honey for cooking is too expensive. And I have no maple trees to tap.

The answer...Voila!
Bees!

I want them to be as healthy as possible so I won't be taking their honey the first year and probably not even the second year.

I've got a lot to learn and I might even regret my bargain.

but I doubt it.

So stay tuned to see how this spring pans out.

Have a Blessed Day.

Lisa

Ducks, clotheslines and Victoria Day weekend.

The following picture is now off limits for me. I have been told by my hubby to not use it for awhile. Oh I miss it. But it falls off it's track at the other end and when that happens Dave has to climb on top of the barn and then put a ladder on the roof of the barn to reach the wheel and the clothes that have gotten stuck up there. Not the most ideal situation. I don't really want my hubby breaking his neck for a few clothes.

Well Otis went to the big pasture up the road last week. Dave actually walked him there. A friend of ours actually stopped and said, "Aren't you supposed to walk your dog? Not your cow?" Dave said, "I don't have a dog, so the calf will do."

Otis actually found a friend in the pasture. That night we went to visit him and he actually made friends with a larger Holstein in the pasture. It was kinda cute, since all the rest of the cattle were what I call meat cattle and a few Jerseys. But there was only one other Holstein in the bunch and they became friends. I wonder if cattle are prejudice? Ha ha.

Pretty soon people are going to start calling me the crazy cat lady. We have a new addition to our cat family. It's not by choice. She kinda adopted us. This pretty stray has been eating the barn cat's cat food for months now and she's decided to become a bit friendlier. Well really it's amazing what a determined 9 year old and a couple of bags of cat treats can accomplish. So that means we now have 5 cats. Ugh.

Dave went to the cattle sale a few weeks ago and sold the twins. Sniff, sniff...But we cannot keep them all. I didn't get much for them either. Bummer. 66$ for 2 twin goats. Not good.

But while Dave was there he thought that he'd surprise us with a treat. So please meet our 3 new ducks. Or as I call them, "Supper for the wild minks". One has a bum leg, but you can't get with 20 feet of them. They are really petrified of humans. Hmmmm.... I wonder if a few bags of cat treats and a determined 9 year old would work on them?

In Canada this past weekend was Victoria Day weekend. It was a gorgeous weekend. I was off work!!!YIPPEE for me! J. and I did some gardening.

Well I have so much to blog, but it's going to have to wait for another post. I am having so many problems with blogger that it's now an extreme pain to blog.

I cannot move my photos around on my post, so I have to save everything, open a new post, copy and paste the body of the post to the new post, then copy and paste the photos to the exact spot I want them in the new post. So I'm doing all my work twice. NOT FUN!!!! It's almost as bad as trying to make cheese! Which I'm trying to do again tonight. Yes, I am a sucker for punishment.

Have a blessed Evening

Lisa