Then when we came to view our present home, I noticed the odd ladybug lying dead in the window in one of the upstairs bedrooms. That was enough evidence for me and I put my foot down and said no, I would not live there. Not sure if it's old houses or what, but we never had any bug issues in the 18 year old country house we lived in before we moved here. So we went home and that was that. My daughter was devesated. She loved the barns and pasture. Sad thing was, I too loved the property. I wondered if I was being too neurotic, afterall many many people live in old houses. There had to be a way to exterminate them! So I relented and here we are and, of course, here they are.
Several years ago, we rented an old farmhouse in the country that in one room in particular, had a swarm of ladybugs and flies. Though the odd one still lived, the majority were all dead. I'd vacuum them up and within hours, there'd be another 100 in the exact same spot. We had no idea where they were coming from or how they got into the room. The owner of the house had installed new windows but somehow they were still getting in. I hired an exterminator to spray the entire inside and outside of the house, but $300 later, they still came. What made it worse, was the room happened to be the dining room which, because of, never got used. Obviously, we were not heartbroken when we finally left that place. I swore I'd never again live in a house infested so badly with ladybugs or flies. Then when we came to view our present home, I noticed the odd ladybug lying dead in the window in one of the upstairs bedrooms. That was enough evidence for me and I put my foot down and said no, I would not live there. Not sure if it's old houses or what, but we never had any bug issues in the 18 year old country house we lived in before we moved here. So we went home and that was that. My daughter was devesated. She loved the barns and pasture. Sad thing was, I too loved the property. I wondered if I was being too neurotic, afterall many many people live in old houses. There had to be a way to exterminate them! So I relented and here we are and, of course, here they are. And as an added surprise, the family room which is an addition to the old farmhouse (which I would have thought would have been free of bugs) has been invaded by these little creepy crawlers. And it's not just the odd one, I'll kill one and within ten minutes, sometimes sooner, there's another or two or three. They just keep coming out of the woodwork. So if anyone out there in the great blogosphere has any idea how to rid of these pesky bugs, please let me know. Linking up to Farm Friend Friday and Farm Girl Friday. Check out all the other great blogs there. http://www.verdefarm.com/
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This post will be all about the dog. Ryder, that is in particular. While it is true Emma is my favorite, I do love Ryder and appreciate many things about him. He's loyal, curious, sweet and probably the most intelligent of all our dogs. However, he is also the most active. He operates on one speed only. Go. And for an old slow going woman like myself, I like my dogs the same way. And altough Emma is only six months older than Ryder, she acts more like an old granny dog. That's why we get along so well. So until Ryder gets older and starts to slow down some, I'll just sit on the pasture hill and watch him burn off energy. Oh well, at least I know he's happy.
I got to work on the vegetable garden over the past two days. This was how it looked when I began. And this is how it looks now. I still haven't put down any fertilizer and I'm not sure if I want to dig further back and make it bigger, but I have decided that it no longer will be the "vegetable garden". Instead, I think I'm going to make this part of the property the fruit orchard. The previous owners had already planted many fruit trees in the surrounding area. There is a cherry, apricot and apple tree. Lining the right side of the garden are a row of blueberries. And if you are wondering how I knew this since the buds have yet to appear.... The previous owners so kindly left plant tags all over the place. Nice. Of course, there were plenty of non-labelled plants as well. Those will be a guessing game. And then there is the garden's centerpiece. I've no idea what type of tree this is, but I love it. This tree has started to bloom, but ya no, still no clue. Behind the orchard is the laneway into our property. Sitting, very much unwelcoming, was a flowerbed. I forgot to take a previous photo, but I can tell you that it was completely covered in dead brush. This is how it looked after I was done clearing it. That super cool looking timber piece was completely covered in weeds and vines and brush that my hubby didn't even know it was there...though he had driven past it for just over a month. It was a delightful surprise to discover this little flowerbed. Thinking it would be a good spot to place our farm sign there. And guess what else I found in there? Haha, looks as if I rescued September from the vine prison but in fact he was keeping me company lounging in the warm sunshine. As did Emma. Exciting News Update: While I was writing this blog entry, my daughter came into the room very excited. She just found out she was accepted into her first college choice. Congratulations to my baby girl. I'll miss her next year, but know she will have a blast and of course learn lots.
Chase was in a much better mood after spending two days in detention. Ya'd think he was a mare with his mood swings. But he loved it when his girl took him out running in the fields. Guess the long winter had made him feel a bit antsy. Perhaps that was the reason for his tantrum. And the girl had a wonderful ride too, happy to have her old trusted horse back. Guess this means she's forgiven him. As reward for such a great ride, the girl let her horse out of detention and return to the pasture. And guess who was happy about that?
I mentioned in a previous post that our horses get along too well. When we move one from stall to pasture, the other calls out in a panic as if they will never see each other again. Truly, they are inseparable. We don't even need a lead on either Cowboy or Duke if taking Chase by the lead. They follow dutifully behind. But I thought it would do them good to take them out one at a time, forcing the other to learn a bit of patience. Actually, my daughter who takes them out to pasture and then mucks out their stall, had also started waiting until she was done mucking out all the stalls with the exception of the horse left behind, before taking the last horse out to pasture, prolonging the reunion. But the other day when it was beautiful out, she decided she wanted to leap onto her horses back and go for a ride. However, when she separated him from the other two, he got very excited. She scolded him and corrected him several times before she began to loose her patience. It was at that point I came into the barn, removed him from the crossties, through him back in his stall where he would remain alone for the rest of the day while the other two remained outside. If he was going to act like a spoiled child, I would treat him like one and send him to his room. Well, just like a spoiled child, he began to take a hissy fit. Ramming the stall door and walls and crying out in anger. It was shocking really. We knew when we bought him that he had separation anxieties, however, ever since we brought him home and he was living with us full-time, he seemed to be much better. We could easily tack him up and ride off with him while Cowboy called out from the pasture. He would just ignore him, happy to be with his girl out on the trails. But, ever since moving to the new place, he has reverted and apparently, had gotten much worse. That was when we decided to keep him separated from the other horses for a couple days. We only have the one barn and a drive-shed that is not set up appropriately for housing animals, so made the decision since the weather has been so nice, we'd leave Cowboy and Duke outside all night. What makes this so worrisome, is that we live across a huge wildlife sanctuary where coyotes are known to habitat. We've actually heard them but haven't spotted any as of yet. And since coyotes are known to eat small livestock, I worried about Duke's safety. But thankfully the next morning revealed Duke grazing happily next to Cowboy. Not sure if Cowboy would actually try to protect Duke if any coyotes showed up, but I'd like to think so. Those two really do love each other. As for Chase? After being barn-bound for the last two days, he is finally beginning to calm down. We can enter his stall without the fear of having him trample us. He even looks happy to see us. My daughter will try and ride him today and we'll see how he goes. It may be that he might need a couple more days of detention before he's learned his lesson. It's not like the ponies are missing him.
Today was an absolutely gorgeous day. We reached a high of 20 degrees. The morning hadn't started off as well but by the lunch hour the thermometer began to rise quickly. Speaking of thermometers, this was the temperature inside the greenhouse. Today wasn't probably the best day to work inside the greenhouse, but with my workload, I've found that it is easier on me if I spread the work throughout the day rather than concentrate in one section. In the morning I raked and then burned brush. In the afternoon I tackled the greenhouse. Of course, that was when the temperature became unbearable in there. I had to prop the door open or sufficate to death. Anyway, the new growth that I had noticed a couple months back had really gotten big. I'm pretty certain most of that is just weeds, but I did find some discoveries in there. Odette will be thrilled. There are these two vine-like plants that look pretty much dead to me but hubby said to hold off a bit longer before tearing them down in case they come back to life. But I don't think they will. While I toiled away in the greenhouse, my boy played just outside on the deck in his underwear. Yes, his underwear. I love living in the country!! Anyway, he was hot as it was so warm outside and had also gotten wet trying to catch fish in the pond. It made me consider transforming the pond into a swimming pool so that the boy could really enjoy it. As the rest of the family. However, hubby put up a stink as he likes the koi and doesn't want to get rid of the pond. Oh well. I went back to cleaning out the greenhouse and finally cleared the last plant (with the exception of the dead climbers). Looks much better now and maybe tomorrow I can start planting. Here's hoping. I've just heard of this lifestyle called "homesteading" and it has my interest piqued. I love the idea of living a self-sufficient life off the land and animals. Might just give it a try. Of course, I'll have to ease into it slowly. Don't think I can give up my Dr. Pepper or Good and Plenty just yet.
Today's post isn't about our farm or about farming at all. Instead, I wanted to share some photos of Lake Huron I took today. We live ten minutes away from a popular beach town that sits along the coast of the lake. I don't generally frequent the place too often in summer because the overall tourist that swarms the town are the younger crowd. It's not really my scene. So I like to enjoy it now before the onslaught of tourist. And today was a beautiful day to walk down the main street, even though 90% of the shops remain closed. They were however starting to buzz with activity, renovations, etc. in preparation for opening next month. The beach itself was surrounded by storm fences but the beaches otherwise remained empty other than the odd family or couple strolling the sandy beach as we were. My son displayed his true Canadian blood by venturing into the freezing water barefoot. Crazy kid, lol! Those are snow drifts out there in the water, albeit, dirty ones. And, yes, he confirmed that it was very, very, very cold. I was able to squeeze more yardwork in today. Notice the clear yard above and to the left of the wheelbarrow. And it was a beautiful day to hang clothes on the clothesline. I love clean clothes fresh off the clothesline. Especially bed sheets. Nothing beats falling to sleep with the scent of the outdoors beneath your cheek.
I started back on the yardwork and realized quickly, I had more cut out for me than I realized. It crossed my mind that perhaps I had finally taken on something more than I could handle. And that was just surveying the surrounding property and did not include the greenhouse, pastures, and most importantly the interior of our home. I love our farm, it's what I've always dreamed of, but the workload is huge. Far greater than I realized, far greater than I can handle. And call me weak, but it wipes me out. I don't know how others do it. Hire landscapers?? Gardeners? Well I'm afraid that would be out of my budget. My girls were suppose to help but they are tied up in year end projects and exams. So I'm on my own. And there is no way I'm going to be done before spring, perhaps even before fall. Here's one of the sights that has me moaning in dispair. The snowplow that clears our driveway over winter, shot loads of gravel into the yard. Into flower beds. It reached distances that would be Olympic record breaking. The vegetable garden I can barely stand to look at. And I'm pretty certain the previous owners didn't own a rake. Or a pare of garden shears. Heck, a set of kitchen scissors would have done the trick. But the wonderful surprise of colour beneath all that debri, lifted my spirits. After four colourless and drab months, it was greatly needed. If you live anywhere within the northern hemisphere, you can understand how the site of these purples flowers created a thrill within. A sure sign that spring is just around the corner. Question is whether I'll be ready for it or not. It's Friday and I'm going to link up to Farm Friend Friday over at the Verde Farm blog again. I'd add one of those fancy buttons, but have no clue as to how. So here's the boring old link instead. http://www.verdefarm.com/
When I looked in the barn this morning, something wasn't right. It took me a few seconds at staring at that horses head way down there. That stall belongs to Cowboy, our pony, who happens to be way too short to hang his head over the stall door. However, I was momentary impressed that Cowboy must have grown without my noticing. Then I remembered Cowboy is 9 years old. Way beyond the years of growing. The only horse tall enough to stick his head over the stall door was Chase. However, Chase's stall is that first empty stall. That's when it struck me. Chase's stall was empty. The little bugger had opened the stall divider and slipped into Cowboy's stall. I've hated the stall dividers from the beginning and told hubby we need to replace them. He baulked at me and said they were fine. Though Cowboy looked a little confused at Chase's presence, they pretty much just stood there looking at me. It's a good thing our horses get along, or else this could have had a worse outcome. Actually, I've been thinking they all get along too well. It's difficult to separate them and when one leaves the barn, the other gets very excited and upset. We really need another barn to separate them. It would do them all good. In other farm news, June, one of the stray cats is really starting to warm to the family. She now allows us to pet her. We're making progress. My daughter almost broke the trust we had gained with June, by luring her into the house, something absolutely not allowed but that's my child, wants to befriend all the animals.. Anyway, the cat freaked out and flung about the kitchen, literally climbing the walls until finally I caught her in a box and through her outside. We had made such good progress in befriending her that I feared we would have to start all over again. However, she continues to show up on my doorstep eager for food and yes, for a pet now and then. It's a foggy morning here today, but just as long as it doesn't rain, I'm fine with that. And besides, the weather forecast for the weekend is suppose to be around 16 degrees. I'm super excited for that. Maybe I'll get lots of yardwork done.
When we brought Odette home, we didn't have a proper cage for her. She was forced to live in a small dog crate for a couple of days. Luckily we found a large crate with an opening so added it to the crate to give her both room to roam and hideout when she got frightened. Obviously, it wasn't an ideal setup so I began working on a rabbit hutch. I'd never built anything like this before, so it was a challenge for me. The first thing I did was put the frame together. I had initially thought we'd gain access to the hutch by either opening the top or side. Then decided to add a small door instead out front since this part of the hutch wouldn't contain any hay and therefore wouldn't need to be cleaned. Next came the hinges. My boy loved helping out. Here he is adding the hinges to the door. And then the wire. Which came tightly wrapped and secured by these little wires. Curtis enjoyed unwrapping it. While I took care of hammering the staples on to secure it to the wooden frame. And voila, we have a completed hutch. The open side and extended 2x2's will fit onto the enclosed portion of the hutch. I added some legs to lift it off the table and leave room for a poop tray. And finally, Odette in her new home. I made it large enough and tall enough for our big bunny to be able to stretch in all directions. I opened up the enclosed section for easy access and cleaning. She looks pretty happy doesn't she? And the front door is just the right size for visitors. Overall I am pretty happy with the final results. The only thing I would have changed was apply the wire to the inside of the hutch as I have already found her nibbling on the wood.
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