The Custom Header Bar

For those that have been following my quest to find a photograph for the header bar success is mine. To the winner the spoils!!!

I managed to do the whole thing using my little Canon IXUS 430 and i photo. What is so fantastic about word press is that they do all the cropping for you. You just up load the image and press crop. The crops are set sizes depending on which design of blog you have.

There I was believing I needed extra equipment when once again MAC have not let me down.

The picture is now in the header and shows one of our fields which lay to the back of the property. The trees that run across show the beginning of the EP Wet lands and running alongside the wet lands is a track that you cannot see that takes you into some wooded copse area and more fields.

Harvesting the Field

After not hearing anything from the farmer who had rented the land out from the previous owners, imagine my surprise when on the way to taking Orson to swimming lessons this morning I saw him heading up our driveway in his Combine Harvester!!

Unfortunately my first thoughts were not one of jubilation but of fear and panic. Steven was unaware that a combine was approaching the house and I knew that he had just let the cats out ….

I took a deep breathe and continued to the pool.

When we got back I discovered Callum sitting on the front decking and I feared the worse - one of the cats had been caught up in the blades of the combine. Fate was with us this day though, and Callum proceeded to tell me about the trials of trying to catch 3 farm cats from the corn fields and put them indoors. The story went on, but I did not mind. The cats were safe, Steven and Callum exhausted but at least no fatalities.

This is not an idol thought though, for the farmer next door to us has already told us tales of the unfortunate fawns who have fallen asleep in the fields and the noise the machinery subsequently makes…..

The boys were so excited to see the fields being harvested that it was a must in the picture stakes.

Pictures taken from garage at side of house.

What’s Good For The Cat……….

Ok so after a week of scorching temperatures we had a lovely “Summer Heavy Shower” - well Spring shower.

During the midst of this down pour Orson decided that he would rather be outside - being a mum who lets her children find out most things for themselves I thought oh well. When he realises how wet his gonna get he will come in….

Well I was wrong.

We have all heard of the saying “What’s Good For The Goose Is Good For The Gander” - well Orson has re written this to “What’s Good For The Cat Is Good For The Child!!”

Can you believe that they are both drinking rain water from puddles on the hot tub….

Deciding on chickens

After much research we have settled on the choice of poultry. We have decided to go with the Buff Orpington a good all round bird. Originally from England it was brought to Canada by the early white settlers - chosen due to its hardiness.

I had thought about home slaughtering, however cannot get my head around the first part - slaughtering… the rest the soaking in hot water, plucking and gutting I have no problem with but the slaughter… Its not so much even doing my own killing but the idea that I may cause the bird to suffer through inexperience. To me its not justifiable to practice on a live animal until I get it right first time.

However thankfully it appears that our local country store will happily collect, dispatch and bring back your dressed poultry. When Callum heard about dressing the chickens he was amused to think that mummy would be cooking a chicken for Sunday Lunch which was wearing a smart pair of pants and t - shirt…… Actually that’s an amusing thought!!!!

We found a local supplier of Buff Orpingtons about 10 min drive from where we live which is fantastic because they are so difficult to get around here. We have ordered 7 for now along with all necessary equipment. We have not yet got a delivery date but are really excited. Pictures will follow when they arrive.

Quick snap shot of the farm in its raw state

Well this is how we found the farm when we moved in. All the fields are still down to corn despite it now being late April - the land was rented out and the person who rented it has to get the corn off before 1 June or else we with hold the money that was agreed when we bought the farm. In fairness it has been wet and the ground is water logged in places - he has been by to reassure us that as soon as the ground is dry the combine will be here…..

The land lies to the front

as well as the side

and back of the property - in the picture you can see some green trees in the background, this is our EP and the there is a track that then takes you to the rest of the fields.

We made it our priority to get the dog run up as soon as possible.

The boys playing out back

Steven relaxing on the decking

Renewable Energy

Today we visited some open houses which are run by renewable energy sources. The County is hosting this in conjunction with Earth Day (22 April).

As the boys were with us we only saw those within a 10 minute drive.

Those on our list were along County Rd 15 and boasted off grid, passive and PV solar,wind turbines, solar hot water, masonry heater, straw bales walls, green roofs and peat moss septic. To us this was an exciting chance to see some of our ideas for our house up and running.

Orson could not stop watching the wind turbine (I have to admit it was impressive)

Why Canada and why Ontario

Well in lack of finding the dvd I am afraid you are now stuck with the story of our departure from the UK.

We felt like many that the UK was not the place to be in the near future - I am not going into politics this blog is not about that. Needless to say we had our reasons which is not to say we hate the UK, far from it but we strongly believed that the UK we had grown up in had gone and was no longer the place in which we wanted to raise our children.

Had we been able to afford to live in the rural areas of the South West then we would probably still be there, that was not the case though, and we saw the other side of the UK that those who live protected in the safety of the rural countryside only saw on the news or read in the newspaper.

We sold our livery yard after numerous attacks on the horses by the local kids, our fields being burnt, fencing stolen or destroyed and house being broken into…… the list goes on and so did our complaints to the police.

The decision was made we were leaving the UK. These kids were the future of the UK and the future did not look pretty.

The choice was between New Zealand or Canada. Originally NZ was winning - the dream to open a Vineyard on the South Island. But when we sat and really thought about it we knew that it was just too far from our family. The distance seemed too great and no one is getting any younger. That left Canada. Having a relative of my husband’s already here and listening to his story confirmed that this was the country to be in. Thus like many brit pats we made our mind up. Next step where?????????

We narrowed our initial search to Nova Scotia as we had heard many good things about it, flight time wise it was near the UK and housing is affordable. We settled on a community called Bear River and bought a house on 3 acres of land. After 2 happy years our situation changed and we made the decision to leave and move to Ontario. We required easy access to TO, Ottawa and Montreal and so we chose the area known as the Golden Triangle - finally finding our dream area in Prince Edward County.

Where is the dvd?????

Ok so remember when I told you that we were going to watch the dvd on “how to put up the deer fencing”, ok well here’s the clincher …… where is the dvd?

In the rush to move to the farm we dumped certain items into a random box, I have an idea that the dvd instructions on the deer fencing are in this random box. But of course where is the box. Cos obviously we did not label the box “random box full of junk ” when we packed it.

Lesson number 10009 in life - pack moving boxes properly!

Of course the weather is again wonderful and we are going to be the only people moaning about it.

Weather Wonder

Phew well here we are just back from discovering the organic products that we can buy in our local A & P. The weather is beautiful cannot fault it. Blue sky and puffy white clouds, bright sun shine and the temp gauge reading 22c. Bit of a mixed blessing as we need the warmth to dry the land after all the snow we had here (followed by a rapid melt), however Steven and I have to put the deer fencing up before the ground becomes concrete. Guess tonight is the allotted time to watch the instruction dvd.

Tomorrow we will realise that we have not got half the tools required!!!!!

Aim this week sort out photos to post

The search for a photo

And now begins the elusive search for the perfect picture to go into the header bar. Who would have figured that the first problem in starting a farm would be trying to find a picture that fits the custom header. Now many of you will think that this is not an issue. However I only have iphoto on this computer and now realise why people get photoshop and lightroom ….. It may be that some money will have to be spent.