Monday 28 July 2014

This update is brought to you by the letter “R”


Rats... 
Yup, we’re still there. FUN. not. For a bit there a false sense of security fell over the house like a warm comfy blanket…… we were convinced the cutting of the hay was the magic cure-all and for a week Farmer Luke didn’t put out the traps. They sat dormant housed on top of the chicken tractors. Then it happened.... out of the blue...... three chickens..... GONE. WHAT THE? SERIOUSLY? We’re not back here again are we?!! I had been happily basking in the calm of consistent, uneventful ‘everyday routine’ when BAM! In an instant I am sent back to….. well…. to WAR… involuntarily of course because I inherently want everyone to live PEACEFULLY together ~ total cheesy Granola Girl mindset which is completely impossible in light of the recent events but… it’s true. call it the Disney in me. I hate all things involving intentional death.... I became a vegetarian at 11. Don’t worry..... the irony that we 'harvest' chicken and turkey on a number of set dates throughout the summer is not lost on me… and that soon we will be harvesting larger animals that have lived with us longer...... gulp! NOTE: I will ALWAYS call it 'harvesting'…. I’m in total denial…. BUT I’m ok with it cuz somebody has to do it and we farm from the perspective of the best interest of the animal…. OK... WOW, that was quite the tangent.... anyhoo, RATS. Ya, they're back.... WAR is on... yippee!
RATS 7 – FARMER 0

....on the positive, the amount of traps and snares being set off while they are attempting entry to the chicken tractor sufficiently deters them from succeeding in their chicken leg mission… doesn’t necessarily succeed in calming Farmer Luke though… stay-tuned.....       




Relatives...
We are in the middle of two and half weeks without WWOOFers. Don’t get us wrong we honestly love everything about hosting wwoofers….. don’t forget Farmer Luke and I met while traveling and living abroad….. it’s who we are and instilling a sense of the ‘World’ to our kids is priceless…. but two weeks without ‘hosting’ is like a mini vacation in a summer of commitments. Interestingly, the commitments don’t change so we are required to stay home….. so we…. er…. host…. our friends and family in our time off…. funny how it doesn’t entirely feel like hosting but in reality we are still hosting..... Huh. Anyhoo, my folks were here for 3 nights over Mr. Fab Finn’s 8th (I’m still in shock.) birthday and it was fantastic! My folks are foodies so you can imagine the fun we got up to in the kitchen with all the bounty from the farm!!! ~ they also LOVE to putter ~ so they helped us with 4 jobs on a list we started months ago….. YAY!!!!! The theme was ‘doors’…..

the FIRST DOOR: our sliding screen door had been instantly changed into a ‘doggy door’ after Greywacke opened it (and didn’t close it of course!) and Bella chased him into the house ~ after pausing in a moment of “where am I? OH this is what is in here!” Bella promptly ran back out the screen door.... but not the cat sized portion that was open..... of course. AWESOME. So Farmer Luke and Poppi fixed it…. after about two weeks of ignoring it. 

the SECOND DOOR: the apparatus on the front glass door had broken (for the umpteenth time) three weeks ago and to the best of our knowledge there were no more quick fixes…. so it sat broken….. until Poppi came and put a bolt in it and now it’s fixed forever! LOVE! YAY! 

the THIRD DOOR: the door that hides our washer and dryer has haunted me since we moved into the house. It was a bi-fold door that would constantly come off the track every time you opened it….. every time! Now contemplate how often you do laundry…. that is a lot of annoyances.... Yup. Drove me nuts. It would either remain open (Farmer Luke’s solution) or it would be closed despite being off the tracks and left to hang and flap throughout the day…. or I would struggle, curse, and close the damaged door dreaming of the day the annoyance would be resolved…. this frustration escalated to Farmer Luke finally just taking the door completely off about 6 months ago……. but my dream came true this week….. after 4 years of angst….. my dad turned the bi-fold into French doors!!!! BOOYAH!!! small pleasures my friends... small pleasures =)


one door two door three door ~ NO MORE!!
THREE CHEERS FOR HANDY RELATIVES!!!!! GrannyP created a ball game for Finn’s birthday party, weeded my garden and helped cook, clean and look after the little people. SO GRATEFUL!!! These WWOOFers are welcome back any day!     



Routine...
This is the part of the summer when the farmer’s market routine sets in. Monday is my mental day off. I don’t think about the farm or the impending farmer’s markets. I still have to 'lawyer' but I don’t have to prioritize my thoughts which is like a day off. Then by Tuesday my mind is beginning to be infiltrated with farmer’s market thoughts….. what am I going to prepare this week? What’s in the garden and needs to be harvested? What should I make with it? I’ve been smoking chicken and making pesto for four weeks now and I honestly LOVE IT but it’s also extremely hard to BALANCE. I’ve got to plan, pick and produce these things which mentally begins Tuesday… the rest of the week is a blur. But it’s also a routine now so it's more of a well choreographed blur…. that said, Friday’s are crazy….. *complete understatement*….. one Friday I had two 9-tray dehydrators going with two kinds of chicken jerky and another 5-tray with two flavours of kale chips… er… that’s 23 trays of dehydrated delights…. the smoker was smoking to fill pre-orders…. and I was making three flavours of pesto….. oh ya, and I still had to make all the signs for the Saturday Brockville market and pack everything up for the farmer to take…. Farmer Luke has to be packed up and on the road by no later than 7:15 on Saturday morning…. so ya, Friday and Saturday early morning are a blur…. but they are now a clearly anticipated and well-executed blur…. for the most part...... ahhhhhhh routine....

this is August last year ~ down to a science baby!!!

So there you go, the latest update….. brought to you by the letter “R”…… stay-tuned for the next installment which will likely be brought to you by the letter “L” in light of the LLAMA delivery on Friday…. the new LIVE TRAP loaned to us….. and the ripening of the ever popular and superbly delicious LEMON CUCUMBER…….  

....um...and yes, I did post this on Monday ~ so much for my day off!! .....

 




2 comments:

  1. You're getting a llama? We are soooo there... :)

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  2. WE HAVE THREE!!!! Two girls ~ BABA-CAKE (named by Ms. Forrest), AMIKWA (named by me) and Mr. MASHED POTATOES (named by Finn) ~ you are welcome anytime!!! Safe travels friends =)

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