13 Years?!!!!

Today the Farmer and I celebrate our 13th wedding anniversary.  Wow, it’s so hard to believe it’s been 13 years already.  I also don’t know how we managed to get married in August.  Every year since the wedding has found us in the middle of the wheat harvest.  Not sure how Colin was able to take off for a week for our honeymoon – must have been an early wheat year.  And now of course, Colin is also getting busy with his seed cleaner doing winter wheat.

Me and my Godfather.  We surprised Colin by being right on time.

The wedding party.  My sister Belinda (with her blonde hair -hurray!).  Colin’s best friend (and fellow (former) pig farmer) Keith and our adorable flower girl, Colin’s niece Brittany.  I made all the dresses.

Our first dance,

Found this on Facebook the other day and shared it with Bev and Keith (it was their 10th anniversary last week).   Bev and I agree that this article is so true and could be written by farm wives everywhere.

How to Spend 10 Years Married to a Farmer

1) Be patient – When he tells you to pick him up at the Lone Tree Quarter and you go to the quarter of land that has the only tree on it and he tells you that he meant the quarter of land that had one tree on it when his grandfather was farming…well, that’s just how farmers think.

2) Be flexible – When he says that he’ll be in the house in 20 minutes for supper and you get everything ready and then two hours later he walks in the door saying that some salesman had stopped and that he didn’t buy anything, but time just got away from him…well, maybe he should be the flexible one. That way he can duck when you throw the plate at him.

3) Be willing to laugh – When he comes in the house, mad that he can’t find the nuts/bolts/tools/whatever he had taken apart and had set “right there” in the shop and he needs an extra set of eyes and then when you go to help you realize that your 3-year-old had “helped” Dad by putting all the parts in the handle of the floor jack…well, that’s just plain funny. Even if he doesn’t think so. At least not right away.

4) Be willing to change your view of norm – Walking into church 10 minutes early, enjoying the prelude music and visiting with a few people is no longer a normal part of life. Walking into church 10 minutes late, realizing your 4-year-old is still wearing his “rubby” boots and wondering if anyone else notices the smell of cow in the air, is.

5) Remember that he relates to new situations by connecting them to ones he knows – For instance, when you’re having a child and the doctor says he may need to assist in the delivery and he says something like, “But where do you hook the chains?” Well, he’s just trying to relate. Or if your children are born weighing in at 9 pounds 6 ounces, 10 pounds 9 ounces, 9 pounds 2 ounces and 9 pounds 13 ounces, and he calls the Select Sires rep to try to figure out what his Calving Ease score would be, but isn’t feeling too bad because he’s not breeding heifers any more anyway…well, he’s just trying to relate.

6) Throw out the calendar – Yes, it may be your anniversary, your birthday, Thanksgiving, what have you may…but since the weather is perfect for ______ (fill in blank) you may need to celebrate tomorrow or next week…or maybe three shindigs in one. Happy Anni-birth-giving!

7) Keep your temper – When he calls at noon, as you’re feeding four children, giving one a bath after eating, preparing a Sunday school lesson, trying to get some laundry done, washing dishes, breaking up a food fight and trying to find the wild cat that someone let in the house and he asks you if you’re “doing anything” – well, just count to ten…slowly…then backwards. Breathe. It’s OK.

8) Remember that cows and children are different…sometimes  – When he comes in the house covered in manure from head to toe, yet the smell of baby poop makes him gag…well, isn’t that just sweet?

9) Be willing to love – Love whatever life throws at you…and with a farmer it will be a lot. Take each new challenge and turn it into something fun and memorable. You can’t change the weather, the conditions, the fields, so you may as well look at it with a light heart.

10) Thank God for each day – I know I do. It’s not always easy, and it’s not always light-hearted, but even the tough times can be good learning experiences

Source: Wag’n Tales

 

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Holidays

We had so much fun on our Canada Day holiday.

I’ll won’t bore you with all the pictures, I’ll just give you the highlights.

Large mouth bass number 1 for Ella.  She’ll put on worms but won’t touch the fish??

Fish one for Daddy.

Fish one for Momma too.  But I also caught the little perch needed as bait to catch most of the bass.

Bass number 5 for Ella.  Daddy spent most of this day teaching the other kids how to fish.

Bass number two for Momma.  Daddy’s caught a couple more too.

Bass number 10 for Ella.

And finally large mouth bass number 12 for Miss Ella.  She also caught a really nice 2 foot pike.  We were out in the row-boat so I didn’t have the camera with me.  But you can believe me.

Only did bits and pieces of knitting last week.  I did start a pair of knee socks for me.  If I keep enough notes, I’ll post the pattern.

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Farm Girl Friday -26 June 2015

Farm Girl Friday this week shows what can happen when the Farmer isn’t chained to the farm with livestock (my apologies to those with dial-up, there are lots of pictures).

The Farmer gets to take advantage of a generous invite to Niagara Falls (instead of just seeing the pictures).  Please ignore the dates on the pictures, apparently I have to re-set the date on the camera when I charge the battery.  This is Ella at the Niagara Butterfly Conservatory, well technically we are in the gardens.  This is a redwood tree and Ella was certain it was the Fairy Palace.

This is the inside of the above butterfly:

They really liked landing in Auntie Belinda’s hands.

A newly hatched one hitching a ride on Ella.

Lunch time.

And then the main attraction…

Ella had so much fun.  Being tall she was allowed on all the rides.  And since we had Daddy along, she had someone to go with her on the more crazy ones Momma won’t do.  Funny note, the picture on Daddy’s shirt was from the last time Auntie B and Uncle Stefan took us girls to GWL.

We have discovered that when the Farm Girl is in a lot of pain (labour, etc) or terrified she doesn’t make any noise!

Using her wand to solve the magic quests.  Much better this time because she could read the clues herself and solve most of the riddles.

Story time in the main lobby before heading to bed.  We left before the dance party started.

It’s a long drive from Niagara Falls to home, so we booked a night at the Holiday Inn in Bowmanville.  They had a pool so we could do a bit more swimming and just relaxing.  They even had a hot tub.  The Farmer and the Farm Girl really liked that!

And since we were in Bowmanville, we dropped in for a surprise visit with Great Grandma.

Thanks again for a fabulous ‘weekend’ Auntie Belinda and Uncle Stefan!!!

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Happy Easter 2015

Wishing everyone a Blessed Easter!

He is Risen Indeed!!

And of course, something knitted.

 

 

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Yarn Along -18 February 2015

 

Yarn Along this week and a few pictures from the weekend.

Since we were away for the weekend I needed to bring lots of knitting.  Nothing better than sitting and knitting with the wood stove while the wind howls outside the window at -30C  (-22F).  I brought my scarf to work on during the day and some new Ella socks for night-time when it’s darkish and snuggled up watching movies.

Oh and look, a book!!  I found an old Indigo gift card (don’t know how that happened!) and decided to treat myself.  I really enjoyed The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society: A Novel.  It wasn’t the most scholarly book ever but it was a good holiday-type read.

As promised here’s our weekend.

Saturday we went for a walk.  It was -30 but in the bush it wasn’t too bad.

The horses weren’t minding the weather either.

Colin takes the best pictures of me.  There was a bit of snow falling.  It was beautiful.

Our cabin (and our friend’s house in the background).  Nice and cozy for Colin and I.  It has 2 bedrooms (with 2 beds each) but it’s a little small with Ella if it’s rainy  🙂

And of course, nothing sexier than a man doing dishes.  Colin always takes care of the dishes when we are on holidays.  I still do the cooking, but it’s nice not to have to wash too.  It’s really nice not to have to wash eggs.

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Candlemas 2015

Today is also Candlemas.  We didn’t get to church yesterday so we didn’t get to celebrate and bring home our blessed candles.

“If Candlemas be fair and bright

Winter will take another flight.

If Candlemas be cloud and rain

Winter is gone and will not come again”

Considering most of Ontario is getting snow, I guess we’re getting an early spring.

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Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real -20 November 2014

 

Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real this week comes to us from our visit to Toronto.  We were in the city for the 110th Santa Claus Parade.  It was a bit chilly but not bad -at least not until half way through when the wind shifted and it got cold.

We got our favourite spot -Bloor and Spadina, just down from the ROM.

Down Spadina Ave is the CN tower.  A few flakes were falling.  Nothing much but add to the atmosphere.

Hurray!  Uncle Stefan was able to come too this year.

I need to save this one for her wedding.

Toronto mounted police unit.  I was surprised, they were the only horses in the parade.  Grandma loves the dappled one.

Dinosaurs from the ROM.

Treehouse and Dora, a favourite with Ella especially now that they have made Dora older.

The big surprise was the Corner Gas folks.  That was such a great tv show.  One we could all watch and I didn’t have to worry with what they would come out with.  Also, even though it was set out west it was SO Cobden!!

Disney princesses!!

University of Western Ontario’s band.

A ‘float’ for Daddy.

The best seats for the parade.

Road Kill!!

Grandma’s just a ‘little’ bit cold.  Even Auntie Belinda had to borrow one of our extra scarves.

Ella’s very excited about the upcoming Penguins movie, so this float was quite popular.

And of course the LEGO float!

And of course, the star of the parade!!

And a view of Casa Loma on the way home.

Even though it was snowing we stopped for a short visit with Great Grandma.

A very Happy, Fun visit to southern Ontario.

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Remembrance Day 2014

 

I think last year’s post said it best.

See you at the cenotaph!

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Our Trip to London -Finally

I was beginning to think I was never going to get a chance to share our trip to London.

I will admit I was very concerned about the drive.  It’s a long 8 hours from our house to Bev and Keith’s house in London when Colin and I drive by ourselves.  Ella is usually done with driving by the time we get to Auntie B’s in Scarborough and that’s only 4 hours.  Here she is at 7 am, ready to hit the road.  But wow, did Ella and Daddy surprise me.  She was so good on the 9 1/2 hour drive and Daddy was so patient and good about making stops and offering praise.

The cool looking fog blocking out most of the hills ahead of us, just around Whitney.  We ran into a bit of fog, but nothing as bad as we get around here.

The East Gate of Algonquin Park.  This was Ella’s first time through the Park.  We’ll have to come back another time and tour the visitor’s centre.  We were hoping to see some moose (standing on the SIDE of the road) but we didn’t.  We only got a quick glance of a couple young ones dashing across the road on the way home.

They have the cutest Tim Horton’s in Bracebridge, very ‘Muskoka’.  We stopped for ‘second breakfast’ because it’s hard for Ella and I to get up and eat first thing in the morning.

It really helped the squishy legs that Daddy wanted to stop at 3 different tractor dealers on the way.  Ella had great fun trying out the little ‘estate-sized’ tractors while Daddy was looking at the real ones.

Ella even found the full size of her little tractor.

This ride on tractor was the best gift she’s every received.  She still loves to drive it every where.  Especially when Daddy is out doing the grass and they have ‘races’.

Coming through Shelbourne we saw field and field of giant wind turbines.

They were really cool and just awe-inspiring in their size.  We often see the blades going by on the highway but hadn’t seen one this close.  For scale, keep in mind that is a field of grain corn, so they are a minimum of 10 feet tall.  They must be really efficient because it wasn’t very windy but they were turning at a pretty good clip.

The Super Moon was amazing while we were away.

Our B&B was great, it was its own little apartment.  It only had one bedroom, but that was big enough to have a cot for Ella.  Even better it was only 15 minutes from Colin’s friends Bev and Keith.

The next day, Colin and Keith head to Woodstock for the Outdoor Farm Show.  Ella and I headed into London.

We found the best McDonald’s for coffee break.  Most of the McDonald’s around here took out their play places.  I think this is the biggest one we’ve ever found.

We were able to meet up with my university friend Karen!!  It was so great seeing Karen again.  Ella was 3 the last time we got together.  We had such a lovely visit.

Karen had to work after lunch so Ella and I headed to the Fanshawe Pioneer Village just outside of town.

We had a great time at the Village (and the rain held off), but unfortunately most of the buildings were closed since we were after Labour Day.

We had a great visit with the blacksmith.  He even gave Ella a little horseshoe that he made.

Couldn’t resist this picture.  Even at the Village the church has bats.  The churches around here are always battling the bat invasion.  When Grandma and I did the altar at St. Stephen’s we were always cleaning up after the buggers.

The butter making ‘demonstration’ turned out to be a butter making discussion, but Ella enjoyed it and was able to answer a lot of the questions.  This was in the childhood home of Paul Peel, the artist who painted a lot of famous paintings, like this one:

Grandma has had this one hanging in her bathroom since I was young.  So I found it very cool to find out he was from London.

Inside the pretty Anglican church.

Very happy girl with her new knitted dolly.

Coming home Colin wanted to stop at another tractor dealer, just outside of Stratford.  Since we were that close, I convinced him to take a bit of a side trip…

Yep, he took me to Floradale!

I didn’t have too much cash on me but I bought a bit of fabric.

Colin is very happy he’s not farming around here.  This isn’t the only narrow bridge we crossed.  Even with our equipment being older and smaller than average, we’ve got stuff that wouldn’t make it across this bridge.

And of course, it wouldn’t be a car trip post without one of these pictures…

Coming home Daddy made a really great decision to stop in Huntsville and do the drive home in 2 days.  By the time we got to Huntsville we were ALL ready to stop for the day.

We stayed at the Hidden Valley Resort.  It was really nice.  Nothing too fancy and getting a little dated, but better than a lot of hotels.  The reason we chose this one:

Ella didn’t know about the pool and was very excited!  She had a grand time swimming and playing arcade games with Daddy.

A yummy supper and a good night’s sleep.  Funny thing thought, the next morning what did Ella want for breakfast?  She wanted to go to McDonald’s.  So that’s what we did.

Fairly uneventful drive the rest of the way home.  Though that is when we saw the two young moose.  We made record time coming through the Park.  No traffic and no construction.  It was good to be home.

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Holidays!!

Off to our usual cottage escape in the hills around Killaloe.   We always take the bigger cottage when we bring Ella.  It has a TV (for rainy days) and has more play space for days we can’t get to the beach.  This cottage is bigger than my house!!  And shows how much calmer our house would be if I could get my addition and we weren’t on top of each other all the time.

Once we had the food unpacked it was straight to the beach!  Every year Ella and Daddy build a bigger and better sand castle.

This year they even built Daddy a castle.  It was a great competition to see who’s castle would be stronger.

Ella’s favourite spot on the way to the beach.  This is the Fairies’ Pool where all the Fairies play and cool off.  We didn’t see any of the Fairies, but we did see lots of their dragonfly friends.

We took Ella’s kite along, but it was actually too windy.  The kite had to come down after this picture (actually it crashed).

It wasn’t long before worms started swimming.  This is Ella’s first fish.

Fish number 2.  There was a third one, but I seem to have lost that picture.  To be honest most of Ella’s fish were caught on Daddy’s line with his spinner lure.  The fish just weren’t biting with a hook and floater.  Ella was getting so discouraged.  So Daddy let her land some and since she landed them she gets to count them.  Ella did hook a fabulous fish with her pole.  It was a really nice 5+lb large mouth bass.  We all saw it coming in, but for some reason Ella’s pole didn’t have a steel leader.  Just as it got to the dock and Daddy was reaching for it, guess what, the darn fish broke the line.  We were able to save the float but the fish was long gone.

Ella got to go for her first real horse back ride.  Before this she was only walked around.  Her horse is on a long lead attached to Joe’s horse, but she has full control over her horse.

I was so annoyed with myself.  I forgot to bring my leggings and running shoes, so Daddy had to go on the ride with her.

Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you that Daddy caught 4 fish himself, including this giant one:

Most of the others were nice size bass and a pike.

Luckily the wind died down one evening so that Ella and Daddy could roast marshmallows.

See I was there too  🙂

Ella and Daddy took a tour around the lake.  She did much better in the boats this year.  Last year she lasted about 5 minutes and then was bored with sitting still.

The morning of Canada day we had one heck of a storm go through.  We were at the beach and I was watching the clouds rolling in.  At the first crack of thunder I packed everyone up and we went back to the cottage.  We were barely in the cottage when the skies opened!  According to Ella’s sand castle bucket, we got about 2 inches of rain in 20 minutes.  We also lost power.

Beautiful clear skies so we headed back to the beach.

Luckily we stopped on the way to the cottage and warned the fairies about the coming storm.  This is the Fairy Pool!

Unfortunately the castles weren’t weatherproof.

Even though Daddy built between the ‘rivers’, his castle didn’t survive the deluge any better than Ella’s.

The good thing about the storm is that it cooled down the air and calmed down the wind.  We were trying to prepare Ella for the fact that the fireworks were going to be cancelled.  But after the storm the weather was perfect.

After supper (on the BBQ since we still had no power) we headed into Killaloe to stake out a good seat for the fireworks.  It’s at the Catholic school in town.  Ella and Daddy played for a while on the play structures.  Then the music started.  Her name is Olivia Charette, I hadn’t heard of her but she was really good.  The high school kids in Killaloe are so different from any others, we’ve noticed this other years too.  They get along so well and dance and have wholesome fun.  This year Ella joined them in their dancing in front of the stage.  They took Ella right in and made her one of them.  They encouraged her to jump into the centre of their circle and dance.  One time she jumped in and did some highland -you should have heard the cheer they gave her.  One time the broke out into square dancing.  You should have seen the 6 ft high school guys bending down to link arms with Ella!

And then the fireworks started!!  So much better than last year.  Ella stayed awake almost all the way home.  When we got back to the cottage the power was back on.  The sky was so clear so Colin got out his telescope.  Wow!  There are so many stars visible because it’s so much darker than at home.  Then when you look through the telescope there are almost too many stars!  It’s kind of hard to orient yourself.  Colin really needs to get his telescope out more often.

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