Week #52 - End with Gratitude

This week ends a full year of weekly blogs of my random thoughts, pictures and musings from the farm. The year has flown by once again and I find it hard to believe that we are once again heading into a new year.  

Last year I shared a picture a day from the farm, a challenging yet rewarding practice that I enjoyed immensely except on the days I didn't. I enjoy sharing our successes and stories of folly and fun from the farm. I love hearing from the few of you who follow along and hope that every once in a while you get a chuckle or learn something new! 

Today is Christmas Day and as we get set to eat a meal fully grown here on the farm, I feel immense gratitude that we have carved out a life that allows us to enjoy good food, fresh air and simple pleasures.

I hope that all of you are safe and warm with someone you love, awaiting the impending blizzard that is reportedly going to arrive shortly. Regardless of what traditions you celebrate this time of year, I hope they bring you peace, joy and grace as you move forward to a new year.

Cheers!

Week #41 - Giving thanks

So much to give thanks for this holiday weekend! After a very full week, the girls (Leanne, Taryn, Ariane & Grandma) took off for a girls weekend down to South Dakota, where Philip's sister and brother-in-law live.

We were able to give Ariane a full ranching experience... complete with driving cattle, grooming, trailering and riding horses, bottle feeding calves and various other silliness.

The males on the farm stayed home and worked hard pulling all the plants from the field and getting the barn ready for winter.... (involves a lot of shoveling...).

We came home to a beautiful turkey meal with all the fixings, completely grown here on the farm.

I give thanks for family, both near and far... for good food grown the way nature intended.... for laughter and hard work. My life is blessed to include all of these!

Spent a lot of time staring at the back of cattle,
driving them from one pasture to another....

Rode through beautiful fall forests

Did a lot of grooming... it's burr season! 

Played some serious card games! 

Shared some laughs and giggles...

Did I mention giggles...

and more giggles...

Waiting for us when we got home... 

Week #35 - Summer reflection

Summer in Manitoba is short... And this week, it always seems to feel especially so. The Sept long weekend marks the start of school, the end of vacations and what seems like an almost instant shift to fall weather. 

We have spent time this week getting ready for the coming winter including canning, harvesting, organizing and purging. We look back at the goals or intentions that we set at the beginning of the summer and feel pride and chagrin in  equal measure...That siding is not likely going to get painted. And that new fence in the corral is going to be re-scheduled for spring. But we relish in the new cattle, pigs and horse that have joined our farm family this year and are tired but satisfied that we fed our CSA shareholders well despite the somewhat miserable growing season and both of us working full time. 

 
 

Our family was blessed with much this summer from a trip to Costa Rica for our oldest, a realization of a lifelong dream for our youngest as she brought home her horse and our middle son hit the road as he passed his drivers test and is free to roam. (much to his mama's worry).

September is often a busy month, full of change, stress and the compression that comes from new things starting before the old ones have fully finished...Take time this month to breathe, to enjoy what is typically a time of lovely weather and great food. 

Week #28 - Random blessings...

I was feeling a bit scattered and random this week, so decided to scroll through my camera roll for some inspiration and found it....

Our apple trees are loaded down this year with fruit and I see lots of pies in our future! 

Our plan is to add a couple of new fruit trees to our property every year until we have a larger orchard but for right now we have three older trees near the front road which are doing their best to feed the municipality! 

Avery wrangled with a skunk this week and came out smelling less than pretty... Good thing she is so darn cute! 

This week we had our good friends kids over for a "farmcation". There is nothing like small children to help you see your world with new perspective! 

They teach you pretty quickly that the small things are really the big things... pay attention.

The other night after the rain I found Oliver (the goat) perched atop Graceson (the bull)... it was like he was trying to keep his feet dry! 

I went to put the chickens to bed and came back about 20 minutes later... They were still in the same position. 

This weekend we moved our young turkeys and chickens out of the barn and into corral #1.  

This space has not been grazed this year and is lush with volunteer tomatillos, cucumber and various other veggies and weeds. 

You can hardly see the young turkeys in the tall plants! 

Our lives are full, we are very blessed. We live in a beautiful place, eat food that nourishes are body and spirit and are surrounded by beings (two legged and four) that make us laugh and fill our arms with love. May you see and enjoy your blessings this week!

Week 21 - Dirty hands, happy heart...

The last week has been exhausting yet satisfying. We put a huge dent in #plant16 and if the weather cooperates next week the greenhouse will be empty. 

While there are some plants that we plant every few weeks, to
keep a fresh supply (lettuce, spinach, peas, beans), the first round of seeding is done and plant are popping up after this weeks' rain. Transplanting of broccoli, cauliflower, onions, squash, zucchini, artichoke, and cucumbers is done. 

We tackled the strawberry bed this week and moved over 400 plants.... pretty good as the bed started with 12 free plants we got from a neighbour a couple of years ago! Their original generosity was paid forward this week as we invited anyone who wanted to come and dig the remaining strawberries up to come and get them. Six or seven households will enjoy a taste of strawberries this year.... never under-estimate how much one simple kindness can multiply and touch many others! 

Mid-week we discovered that a skunk had killed almost a dozen of our young hens we hatched in early spring. The skunk dug under and into the chicken tractor that they were in. Put the temporary electric fence and set up the trap and caught him the following night.. but where there is one, there will be others.  

All the rest of the critters are doing well, our broiler chickens are almost ready to go out onto pasture and we are expecting another batch of broiler chicks and our turkeys to arrive this Friday! The geese are huge and act like godzilla among the smaller chicks. Oliver (the baby goat) continues to thrive and is now down to two bottles a day as he is eating more and more vegetation as he grows. Finally the piggies are doing very well. They are a riot to watch especially when they wrestle with each other. 

We end the week with dirty hands and happy hearts... we are truly blessed to live in a place so beautiful and nourishing. 

Blessings for everyone...

FFF Photo a Day - Day 360

Feeling blessed and grateful for all things big and small today. Even Avery discovered a little something for herself this morning.

Hope this message finds you surrounded by love and gratitude. Count your blessings folks! 

Sunset drive

FFF Photo a Day - Day 315

Feeling blessed to live in a beautiful country full of beautiful people... and that I end most days driving towards this gorgeous view! #sunsetdrive

Grace's long weekend message!

FFF Photo a Day - Day 283

Grace wants to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving! 

May your tables be full of fresh local food grown in a sustainable way, surrounded by friends and family in a spirit of gratitude and generosity. 

Fireside post

FFF Photo a Day - Day 274

As the wind and rain thrash about outside, I'm happy to curled up inside beside the fire. There are few things more comforting than a crackling fire at the end of a long day. 

Wonder...

FFF Photo a Day - Day 205

In the quiet evening hours, I sit and look and wonder at the beauty that passes so many of us by... 

May you stop, look and drink it all in each day. Food for our souls.

Strawberry Fields!

FFF Photo a Day - Day 182

Last year a nearby strawberry grower dropped off a dozen extra plants he had left over.

His generosity gave us dessert tonight! 

Beautiful skies

FFF Photo a Day - Day 96

Tonight's sunset was another beauty. 

Snow is almost gone too! Full of gratitude for the nature that surrounds us! 

Look around....

FFF Photo a Day - Day 34

Beautiful shot to end the day, reminds us all to stop and look up, look around and drink in the beauty that all of us are privileged to be surrounded by. 

Regardless of your beliefs about how it came to be created, I'm certainly we can all agree that we live in a world of great beauty and complexity and we can honour that by pausing once in a while to notice what it has to offer. 

Rhythms and routines

FFF Photo a Day - Day 25

Raising animals and growing your own food keeps you in touch with the rhythms of the day, seasons and year. 

You eat seasonally, sleep and wake according to the sun and your day is punctuated with soothing routines such as gathering eggs, milking and feeding and watering animals.  

It is this strong connection or grounded-ness that I love deeply about how and where we are blessed to live.