Hiking Out the Sass

It was a beautiful day at Mill Pond Conservation Area in Portland, Ontario.  It was our first hike this spring with no ice, snow or mud!  There were lots of hilly ups and downs to tire out the boys and a really impressive beaver dam too!  

I rolled in to the cottage in the late afternoon with three boys who were full to the brim with fresh air and completely empty of sass.  Mama for the win!

Easter Sunday Hops & Pedals

There was no sleeping in at our house today.  The boys were ready to hop to it and collect some Easter treats bright and early this morning.  Alistair totally understood what was going on this year and was a force to be reckoned with in the egg collection department.

To stave off the crazy that inevitably follows when three kids eat way too much chocolate before 8 am, we packed everyone up and headed out on a long bike ride.  The boys ride their bikes all the time but this was Alistair's first ride ever and my first time on a bike since my second year of undergraduate (that's a long, long time ago).

We borrowed a trolley for Ali from friends and a helmet for me from a neighbour.  Ian wrestled my super heavy and very ancient pink bicycle off the ceiling of the garage, pumped up the tires and warned me that I would be unable to change gears and that my one working break left something to be desired.

Even so, off we went!  My 25 year old bike despite being in rough shape, sputtered through the journey with a little elbow (actually knee) grease.  Best of all, I did not forget how to ride; the boys told me that I am actually a pretty good bike rider - ha ha!

Ali, of course, perfected the bike nap on his first try.

Upon arriving home, I went to return my borrowed helmet, only to be oh so generously gifted with not only the helmet for keeps but also a truly amazing "granny bike" to replace my ailing ride from high school.  This beauty needs a small tune up and clean up but we have christened her Sprocket the Rocket!  I am beyond thrilled and cannot wait to make lots of new memories with my new ride.  Thank you so much Bill and Laurie!

It seems that Easter surprises were in the works for all of us today.  We are so grateful!

Happy Easter everyone from all of us here on Gael Glen Farm.

Pecky Becky, Emma, Abby, Gus & Fitz wishing all of you a wonderful Easter Day!

Free Flowing

With the maple sap finally free flowing, our daily collections are becoming major hauls.  Yesterday Liam and I collected about 130 L of sap.

Today, we collected a whooping 230 L of sap!  I was pretty happy that Ian come to help collect today because those buckets are heavy.

The sap is flowing so well that we have some buckets that consistently overflow.  I was interested to see how much sap we were "missing" and so set up a white collection bucket to catch the extra of a frequent overflow-er.

We were astounded to find not only the metal bucket full but also the collection bucket close to half full.  That is close to 20 L of sap from ONE tap in 24 hr! That is simply astonishing.

Another amazing thing is to stop and listen to the forest during a heavy flow day.  The drops of sap hitting the bottom of so many metal buckets at different drip rates makes the most ethereal music.  This video does not do it justice but it is quite incredible.

Chop, Burn & Smile

It was finally time to day "goodbye" to our ash tree that has sadly has been on its way out for a few years now thanks to the emerald ash borer.  Today, Ian got the chain saw out and put this poor tree out of its misery.

The boys made quick work of chopping up the branches and then begged for an evening camp fire.

And so, out came the hot dogs and marshmallows and we roasted to our hearts' content until the evening chill chased us inside for hot baths, warm jammies and a late night viewing of the Karate Kid 2 (for the big boys).  It was a perfect Saturday of family fun (with the added bonus of some spring time yard clean up).

I live for so sticky but super satisfied smiles like this.

A Dog's Breakfast

Today was a ridiculous day.  It was certainly a dog's breakfast in the figurative sense.  Moreover, it was almost one in the literal sense too when Ava took a few bites out of Pecky Becky.  Good gracious.

We started the day with barn mucking.  The animals were not being accommodating.  We had to remove Gillian from inside the wheelbarrow at least a dozen times.

Then Ava stole the shovel and did not want to give it back.  Oh so helpful.

Next our huge stand up freezer (the one that we bought to store the pork from Ham Solo and Gloria Swinem) died.  And so we found ourselves with (among other things) two humongous, completely defrosted pork butts that needed to go into the smoker overnight.

Next, one of my hens presented herself dripping gore all over the place from her rear end.  Into the house she went for a warm wash off and a generous slather of Polysporin.  We then set her up in the chicken isolation unit so the other hens could not continue to peck at her sore, bloody bum.

Then it was off to the maple grove to collect the sap that has finally decided to flow like gangbusters.  It was cold out and we found lots of ice hunks in the half full buckets but thanks to Liam's assistance we made quick work of the collection.

Next on the list was to spread out straw in the goats' clean barn before putting them to bed.  I was on my hands and knees scraping out the last of the clean loose straw from the floor of the hay loft when for some reason I had the strong urge to glance outside to see what Ava was up to.  To my shock and dismay I saw her halfway down the field chomping down on a huge white floof ball that was writhing in distress.  Oh my God - Ava was trying to eat Pecky Becky!  I ran full tilt down the paddock hollering at Ava to "leave it!".  Thank goodness she let Pecky Becky up when I got close enough so I was able to grab the traumatized turkey and drop her back over the fence into the chicken run.  Thanks to all the screaming and running, I also managed to pee my pants during the fiasco.  I really should remember to fit more kegels into my day.

Upon inspection, Pecky Becky is physically fine, less a few feathers.  She does not look very happy about the predicament she got herself into.  I guess tomorrow morning will be spent clipping poultry wings and spreading out the manure pile that I gather she used as a step to jump up over the fence.  It is so very lucky I was there when I was so that I could rescue her.

And if all this was not enough, upon locking up the birds for the night, I noticed that Murtagh Fitzgibbons was missing.  Sigh.  And so, a rooster search and rescue mission commenced, thankfully resulting in Fitz's safe recovery in the far back of the chicken run.  I bet that Fitz followed some of the older hens out of the coop on a foraging expedition and then did not think to follow them back at dusk.  I found him wandering alone and forlorn in the run with absolutely no idea how to get back to the clean, warm coop.

Sheep: "Why are you still out here, tiny buddy?"
Fitz: "I have no idea."

After all this, I noticed on my way back to the house that on today of all days, my directly sowed arugula, lettuce and radish seeds had finally decided to sprout.  And so, this is how I found myself hastily erecting a hoop greenhouse in the dark over top of my box garden.

My word.  I am exhausted.  What a dog's breakfast of a day!

Trail Tracker

Seamus might be content to trail along after me on hikes but Liam is a whole different animal.  Navigation is Liam's jam.  He loves planning the route, holding the map and being "in charge".

Today I lent Liam my phone with a trail map complete with a moving GPS spot indicating our position, a goal of 8 km and free rein over our journey through the Monk Environmental Park.  This is what we ended up with:

Ali having his hike nap, of course.

There were periods of sunshine, a chilly wind and some of the trails were a bit muddy but it was still a success. All in all, it was way better than the 2 cm of snow that we were supposed to have today!