Frustrations of a farmer……well this farmer anyway.

Let me name a few:
red text = the cRaZy story that has ensued since I first began writing this blog on July 4.....

• A barn finally completed 9 months after it was meant to be ~ through no fault of his own….. now to get the gates in... wood sides up..... hay stacked.... ya, OK it's not actually completed I guess.... getting there though..... the barn floor is finally down and finished... now to pick up the gates and cut hay this weekend in between farmers markets...... DAMN did I just say that?....ugh...reality just slapped me in the face #seeyouonmondayortuesdaydad

last year.......winter....then spring....then summer....patience is a WHAT?

• Animals that need to get out to pasture but a bit of fencing still needs to get accomplished….. not too big of a job right?.... if you like digging holes and pulling rocks out of the earth.... for 8 hours a day.... in the heat and mosquitoes.........ya, not so much for me either.....

solar electric fencing is slowly but surely getting finished....this is KIWI style fencing

• A full on attack on the turkeys ... then the laying hens..... then the meat birds............................ 'OMG' is a friggin' understatement..... due to cold nights, damp weather, and some crazy little rodent thing .....it seems the cold nights and damp weather have subsided leaving behind only the 'crazy little rodent' thing....... this thing only wants the birds for their legs….. still only legs!.... poor little guys are just left there…. legless….. this kills the farmer in so many ways… and well lets be honest.... it causes him to plough full steam ahead to WAR…. farmer vs. the wild…. .....the artillery now includes 30 traps, foot snares and one crazy MAD farmer...... you don't want to know the numbers that have perished in battle thus far.... unfortunately we just can’t figure out what is doing it!! We’ve attempted two sizes of live-traps but it seems the mystery animal only needs a couple of legs then it’s done for a few days (THEY ARE THAT GOOD I guess…..)….so it’s catching it on the right night with the right live-trap…which has alluded us thus far UGH!!! ......um,  it still alludes us....honestly...... our world sits on the edge every morning as Farmer Luke drives off to move the chickens....... it has been 6 days since I BEGAN THIS BLOG..... that's a long time on the edge of your seat for anyone! In that time we've narrowed it down to a probable RAT... but nothing has been caught...the 'probable' still lingers... The farmer is totally bummed because he doesn’t want to let anyone down….. and being a farmer is also about knowing his environment and what’s living around it…. so you can imagine the frustration and consternation ...understatement... this has created….. the life of a farmer eh! ….sigh. I have to say it has been amazing to see the support the farming AND trapping community has given Farmer Luke ~ it's really cool to see the community come together to help a farmer out.... and more particularly FARMER LUKE ~ SUPER COOL! 

poor little turkeys

• RAIN STORMS = MUD + WEEDS = MUDDY + WEEDING = TIME STEALERS!!!! Not enough time in the day…. with manageable weather and manageable mosquitoes…. to sit in the garden and weed... um, don't forget about the barn and fencing..... as Farmer Luke said… we need to farm in Yellowknife! 

Farmer Luke throwing in the towel....for the moment

• Having a young family, a wife who is still struggling to scale back her work hours, AND summer vacation with a 7-year-old at home and a 3-year-old in part-time Montessori….. this is uTtErLy CrAzY in all honesty….. I wouldn't recommend it...... but we are managing…. Luckily I’m extremely creative at entertaining from a computer screen in my office…. here’s an example of such an occasion:

Finn: Mom, I’m bored….

Granola Girl: Really….huh…how do you spell that again?

Finn: B.O.R.D.

Granola Girl: Almost…

Finn: E.D.?

Granola Girl: Yup… ok... HEY (in an excited voice), why don’t you go outside (adding this is like adding veggies to cake)… with this pen & paper and here’s some scissors, oh and a couple of paperclips would work too… and you’ll need some tape of course… a stapler….. and how about a couple of highlighters? K…. now go outside and build something CrAzY……..BORED.

Finn: MOM… MY NAME IS NOT BORED I'M FINN! Argh I hate that joke! 

          

And off he runs happily entertained and I’ve bought myself between 30 min to 2 hours ~ BOOYAH! … and I didn’t even leave my office chair!!!.... of course as the summer progresses the ideas wane but we won't go there until we have to...

Mr. Finn making a video game old school style ~ oh ya, I've got more where that came from!

So ya, that’s our world right now with the kids ~ Forrest is more manageable as she’s excited to follow Farmer Luke around whenever he lets her but she’s also a mama’s girl and loves to just sit with…. um… more like ON me in my office…. which is not so ‘computer work’ conducive… not sure if you’ve ever tried to write a memo with a squirmy 3-year-old on your lap or between your arms…. who also has a penchant to randomly push any button she sees #allworkgoneinaninstant…. gulp….. and if you do know what it is like… I suggest we get t-shirts and start a club.  

So needless to say there is a lot on Farmer Luke’s mind right now…. TOTAL UNDERSTATEMENT........! he’s wearing it well…...as best a totally stressing out anxiety ridden new farmer can.... I would be (and lets be honest I kinda am....) a total mess..... it's killing me not knowing what is eating our stock.... I'm also offended by the wastefulness of the attacks.... I mean killing a bird for one of it's little legs then leaving the carcass for naught is crazy frustrating...it’s obvious Farmer Luke is weighed down.....he's a little further down now..... we know that it is only going to get better once the barn is functioning, the hay is cut and stacked..hello weekend...er, I mean good-bye weekend....Oh, neat farmer fact: you need 4 clear days in order to cut, bale and stack hay...., the fencing is up and the animals are rotationally grazing…. oh… and the mystery rodent is revealed... I think you get the picture on that one.... I will say in the 6 days we have gone through 2 sizes of live traps, $50 on 8 proper rat traps which we used without success while offering this rodent a buffet of peanut butter,  almonds and grass-fed organic chicken legs, 4 rat boxes which the storm last night prevented us from testing their potential..... clearly the extent of the current artillery is reflective of Farmer Luke's frustration (for lack of a better word).... and although supportive in the madness and calm...... I can't help but think of CADDYSHACK... wow there's my 80's sentimentality again... hehehehe...... I think I'll share this with the farmer after this has all past for fear the humour would be lost ....  
 

Caddyshack, circa 1980....another iconic Chevy Chase film

Anyhoo... that moment when all is well will come and it will be SPECTACULAR and we know it’s really just around the corner…. I guess it’s just one last great big bumpy ski hill to climb over and then we’ll be there!!!! um.... did I mention neither of us ski?...... coming down should be fun!!!!


STAY-TUNED FOR MY NEXT POST entitled:
.....just when you thought you were getting out of the RAT RACE 

NOTE: Title subject to change....