Shoulda Been a Sheepdog

The problem with mucking the barns without toddler support is that I do not have anyone to man the gate while I push the wheelbarrow through from the backyard into the animal paddock.  Usually Charlie and the sheep are content to watch me work; however, today Violet had other plans.  Escape plans.

Can you tell what is wrong with this picture? 

I opened the gate, turned back to get the wheelbarrow and the deed was done.  Much to Charlie's distress and Emily's amusement, Violet took off like a shot - full speed ahead into the backyard.  Once "free", she headed straight for the orchard where she lazily grazed on the grass under the apple trees.

Charlie responded by wailing mournfully through the fence.  I am not sure whether it was "bon voyage" or "come back" or "you're finally free".  It sounded most like "I may never see you again - I might die of loneliness".

Emily, on the other hand, was bemused.

Emily: "MOM! Do you see her? What do you think she is doing over there? 

Doesn't she know that sheep aren't supposed to be on this side of the fence."

Me: "Hmm....I'm not too worried. I'll get Liam and Seamus to chase her back in."

Emily: "No way! I wanna do it. Let me! Let me! LET ME!"

Emily: "SEE?!  I shoulda been a sheepdog."

Charlotte: "You guys are all crazy.  I am too dignified for these types of shenanigans."

Preparing for the Christmas Market

Ian and I often divide up the farm duties according to our strengths.  In "farm to table", I do the "farm" part.  My strength is production: animal rearing, poop scooping, beekeeping, etc.  Ian gets my farm to the "table".  He is the distribution arm of our family enterprise. 

Taking his role as distributor very seriously, he decided we are going to market our wares (aka honey) in time for the holiday season.  Two great local breweries (Crooked Mile in Almonte and Covered Bridge in Ottawa) will be selling our honey in their tasting rooms.  Covered Bridge will also have it at their upcoming Christmas market.

This week we invested some time in preparing our honey for market. 

My part of the job was this...

Ian's job was this...

He is making Honey Stix, like Pixie Stix but filled with wholesome, delicious honey instead of flavoured sugar.  It is a neat idea for a farmer's market.  He certainly had fun making them and the boys had fun taste testing. 

I will keep you posted on the date and times of Covered Bridge Brewery's Christmas Market in case you want to stop by.

Time Waits for No One

Time waits for no one, not even if you are bedridden with a stomach bug.  Here are some things that happened on the farm while I was out of commission.

We did lots and lots of laundry, during which a puke soaked pillow exploded all over the house
(after it had been cleaned thank goodness).

We "rescued" Extra Fox (our goldfish) who we thought got herself stuck in the wood decoration in the fish tank. 
Turns out, she was hiding there from the other fish who were trying to eat her. 
As soon as we freed her, she swan right back and wedged herself in again.
After that we left her alone.

It went from -9 degree Celcius....

to +9 degrees Celcius in the span of six hours. 
I was not outside to experience this...I was in bed.

Our avocado tree survived the black death and grew four baby leaves.

And last but certainly not least, I submitted my thesis for defence.
This is the second last step before graduation. Phew!  Almost there.....

Anyways,  I am glad to be back in action.  Lots of stuff going on around here.  I do not want to miss out on all the fun!

A Pedicure for a Cantankerous Equus Asinus

It has been quite the day for the matriarch of a family under siege by the stomach flu.  It is 5:30pm and my entire household (except me) is asleep after a puke-filled day (following an equally puke-filled night). Liam is in recovery, Seamus has finally stopped his every 20 minutes throw-up-a-thon, and Ian has just started heaving.  Lovely, I know.

All this to say, that it entirely slipped my mind that our farrier was coming by today for Charlie's spa appointment.  While most ladies would enjoy the pampering, Charlie hates it.  She is usually such a mild-tempered beast but, as I explained to the farrier today (like many times before), I can't understand it - he is such a nice man but he just seems to bring out the worst in Charlie.

Ears back is never a good sign.
 For Charlie, this means "I'm feeling crotchety!"

Usually Charlie just ties to escape the hoof trimming by dragging me around the farm yard by her lead.  Even though she is a miniature, she weighs close to 400 lbs.  When she does not want to stand still, it is a challenge to make her.  For whatever reason; though, today Charlie was particularly ornery.

or·ner·y

ˈôrn(ə)rē/

adjective

NORTH AMERICANinformal

adjective: ornery

1. bad-tempered and combative.

   
   

   "some hogs are just mean and ornery"

   
   

   synonyms:

   grouchy, grumpy, cranky, crotchety, cantankerous, bad-tempered, ill-tempered

Seriously bad-tempered and combative pretty much sums her up during our visit with the farrier.  Charlie tried to run away, kick him, lie down, and stomp on my foot, repeatedly.  I would have taken a picture, but as you can imagine, I was busy trying to hold her down while simultaneously apologizing for her outrageous, disgraceful behaviour (as Mama Bear from the Bernstein Bears would have described it).

Discarded hoof clippings.

All trimmed up.

She (and the farrier) seemed much happier after the whole escapade was over.  What a day!

Ear position indicates, "I'm happy it's over."

She's even giving me a donkey smile.
What a rascal!

A Little Holiday Bedazzle

The boys were chomping at the bit to get our Christmas lights up.  This morning, in an attempt to argue his case, Liam listed off all the people he could think of who already had their lights up, "Grandpa, and Mr. George, and Mr. Cow Man, and Grandpa, and everybody!  Mama, everybody but us already has them up!"  Ian took pity on them and today we put our Christmas lights up.

Before

During

After

To help make our lights look even more festive we got a light dusting on snow this evening.  I did not even realize it was snowing until Charlotte and Emily came in looking like this.

Hilarious. 
They need their fur cut. 
Badly. 
We have an appointment on Dec 5th.

Raspberry Madness

The winter preparations for raspberry canes are now competed.

They are growing up, up, and away!  See how they are reaching south?

I tied the canes into bunches using baler's twine to give them strength once the snow comes.  I certainly do not want them snapping off - no berries that way.

All tied up.

Mulched and ready to go.  See you in the spring!

Sunrise, Sunset on a Very Hectic Day

A spectacular start and finish to an otherwise very hectic day on the farm.

Like this photo from a few weeks ago,
we have been getting very beautiful sunrises on the farm. 
This morning was no exception.

We proceeded from a glorious sunrise to Liam's most epic meltdown yet over having to put on his winter clothes. You would think asking him to put on his snow pants was equivalent to making him walk the plank, handcuffed, over hungry crocodiles, slathered in meat juice.  In the throes of his temper tantrum he sounded like a dying horse. No wonder cowboys put dying horses out of their misery.

It was a brew day for Ian today.  I love brew days because our house smells all malty and hoppy.  Yum!  Liam was able to help out a bit before school (and his tantrum).

I was even able to unchain myself from the computer for an hour this afternoon to go to the grocery store.  Ah, freedom.  Except that I did not realize that it was both Black Friday AND a PD day for the English school system.  The grocery store parking lot was rammed and every turkey in town must have been out and about.  Not my scene.  I got my groceries and skedaddled!

I did manage to pick up some juicy clementines. 
I love when these are in season!

The best part of the day was heading out to put the animals to bed.  After bracing for an onslaught of frigid air, I was pleasantly surprised by an unseasonably balmy eight degrees Celcius!  What a treat.  It is like we live in Cuba.  Cuba Libre anyone?

The chickens were especially lucky today.  Not only is it much warmer out, they also got the brew day leftovers - a huge tub of extra yummy spent grain.  Their favourite.

They seem to feel like they are in a better place lately.  Their strike is over and they laid a whopping three eggs today.

Hey, better than nothing!

We finished off this crazy day with a relaxing afternoon walk and a spectacular sunset.

That put even grumpy pants Liam in a good mood.