A WALK WITH THE LAMBS!

Friday evening Gary and I were invited out to our friend's sheep farm for a relaxing evening.

It was a beautiful evening, a little on the cool side, but we didn't really feel the cool until the sun went down.

Because I really wanted to have a photo shoot with the lambs, I was a little concerned that the lighting might not be the best at that time of day.  How wrong I was!  Turned out the lighting was spectacular.  The sun was golden and low and it complimented the fluffy white lambs, and even the multi-coloured ones just perfect.

They have a lot of sheep and lambs, and one black cow that lives and eats with the flock.  To watch the cow in action, it is pretty obvious he or she ( I forgot to look) thinks it's one of the flock.  It is quite hilarious.  When the sheep call - so does the cow.  When the sheep go to feed - so does the cow! 

Along with the sheep, lambs and one cow are three dogs.  Melody, Levi and Khazix ( I might have spelled that wrong - sorry Kaz).  The dogs are the sheep and lamb's guardians from predators such as  wolves, coyotes, or anything that might harm the sheep.  Levi stays in the woods just outside of the pen area, and the other two are right in with the sheep.  Levi, is not people friendly, but the other two love humans who love sheep.  But -  they are not pets by any means.

I shot close to 200 photos, and it will take me awhile to get through them all, but here is a few of what I have processed so far.

A relaxing evening it was - and so much fun as well.

Thank You Terry, Diana, Katie and Adam for sharing your flock with us.

My sheep listen to my voice, I know them, and they follow me.  (John 10:27)

We started with this little lamb.  He is quite sick, has a bone infection and is being treated with antibiotics and anti-inflammatories.  He couldn't move his back legs, but still managed to run a bit by  hopping like a rabbit.  He is so sweet - I really hope he survives his illness...

Speaking of rabbits!  Here are a set of twins that they have named the rabbit lambs...  will you look at those ears!

This Regal fellow is one of the Rams (Dad's)for the flock.

And then there are just so many adorable little ones:

And the very youngest - just a day or so old...

I could have watched them running and playing all night long, they were so cute and entertaining!  

But watching them is Melody's job, and she does it so very well...

More later...

AN ANNIVERSARY OF SORTS!

This week has been a bit of an Anniversary for me.  It was eight years ago that I wrote my first ever blog post.

I have put a label on it, so if you want to read it you can find it under,  My First Blog Post Ever.

I can't really remember why I decided to start my own blog, but it all started with a planned trip to Chicago.

Eight years ago, Gary was pretty much blind.  His Mother was in a nursing home, failing quite quickly, so it was decided that we should go and see her.  I took vacation, we packed the van, and headed off down to Chicago from Winnipeg, with me as the only driver and Gary pretty much unable to help me with any aspect of navigation at all.

We had gorgeous weather all the way there and back, except for one little rain shower in Wisconsin on the way down.  We stayed several days in Chicago visiting Mom and the rest of our family, and then stopped in Janesville Wisconsin and stayed a few days more with Aunt Margaret.

It was a trip I will never forget for many reasons.  It was the last time we would ever see Mom again, and as it turned out, it was to be the last time I ever saw Aunt Margaret as well.

When we got home, I penned this poem as my way of de-stressing a very long drive -  and writing this last sentence makes me realize why I started my blog in the first place. 

Writing has always been my outlet for so many things.  I write to de-stress, I write when I'm happy, I write when I'm sad.
I have always been comfortable writing my thoughts, more so than speaking them.

Writing is like music to me - it takes me on a journey where I get to choose the outcome. 

And so I write...

Thank You all for reading my journey!

I hope you enjoy!

Ode to a Freeway

I’m heading down the road today,

On my way to parts unknown.

A couple of days of driving south,

Perhaps I should have flown?

Wide open Dakota prairie,

Sure gives me false bravo.

Can I handle big city freeways?

Well; only God can know!

Before I know it’s on me.

Two lanes; now turned to five.

Oh cripes, the traffic’s horrid;

It’s scaring me alive!

Oh peace the hills of cheese land,

For green is all I see.

Bovine, and grass and silo’s tall,

A quick stop for some Brie.

The tension builds as signs appear,

Announcing Chi town’s state.

The speed is on, while traffic swells,

Our safety now is fate.

Tolls to the right, merge to the left;

I cut how many off?

Construction, semi’s, fools and such,

This drivers’ had enough!

Anger soon transpires to tears,

Add on a cuss or two.

I firmly vow to park my rig,

Yes, that’s just what I’ll do!

“Calm yourself,” Dear hubby states;

“You know we’re almost there!”

I rant and rave some more, poor guy,

Then fix him with a glare.

A few sharp turns, a stop or two;

Arrival now is near.

Relief, euphoria, joy unknown,

And finally we are there.

Don’t think about this drive again,

Says I, to only me.

Relax, enjoy and rest a bit,

Yes lady, that’s the key.

Well now I know just what I’ll do,

Next trip I plan to take.

A simple booking on a plane,

For everybody’s sake!

2010

Dale Graumann

ANOTHER GREAT RECIPE!

It's Thursday, that means its recipe day here on my blog.

This week's recipe is probably not one that some of you might like - I can think of a few people on that list - but I would challenge those people to try this anytime - you might be very surprised at how much you DO like it.

My inspiration for this post came earlier in the week when I was building my toad pond.

I was walking around a small area of the garden and had to be so careful not to step on these little plants that were just starting to pop through the ground.

Just a couple of days have passed and look how much they have grown!  The weeds as well!

Rhubarb!

Good for you Rhubarb - loaded with essential vitamins and also iron.  

Rhubarb season is just around the corner.   I already have several rhubarb recipes on my blog - my Aunt Hilda's Rhubarb Custard Pie; Rhubarb Crisp and Rhubarb Muffins - you can find them all under the "LABEL" section.

Here's one that you can eat all year long - and believe me - you will want to, once you taste this.  I only have one jar left from last year - I'm making much more this year!

RHUBARB MARMALADE.

5 cups diced rhubarb

6 cups sugar

1 cup drained crushed pineapple

3 oz strawberry jello

Place rhubarb and sugar in a large pot, bring to a boil and cook 10 minutes.  Add pineapple and jello, bring to a rolling boil, remove from stove - skim off foam.  Pour into sterilized jars and seal immediately.

Notes:

There is nothing at all wrong with this marmalade the way it is - Gary loved it, and so did I.  But I think for myself, I would like it a bit less sweet, so this year I am going to cut back on the sugar somewhat.  But that's just a personal preference...

Try it - you will love it!

THE NEW DOLL ROOM!

It occurred to me that I have not yet done a post on my new doll room.  It has been finished for over a month already, and I did do one short video with my iPhone, but I have this crazy habit of turning cameras while shooting video - I guess because I do it all the time when I am shooting stills - it's just a habit.  Anyway the video was going pretty great and then I started flipping the camera around - and well... to put it mildly - it was a real mess.

So I decided to try again.  My new phone takes great video - only I need to keep my mouth shut, as I yammer on and on - and before I know it the video is too large.

So I will try one more time.  Excuse this video for being not too chatty...

https://youtu.be/wY_KsmPzt4A


I hope you can view this,  but in case you can't here are a few stills to go with the video...



The old pine TV cabinet I painted .  Dolls in the cabinet, and doll clothes in the drawers.

The dolls inside the cabinet.  On the top self, are most of my 1940's/50's rubber /vinyl dolls.  Bottom shelf is most of my Chatty collection.

My other cabinet, has mostly vintage and a few antique dolls as well.

Some of my collection of children's books and vintage childhood books.

and

The Three Bears and Goldilocks - made and given to me as an infant by Aunt Margaret Vick.

And the canopy over the bed that I created with some sheer curtains and a couple of straight curtain rods attached to the ceiling is at the top of this post.  I have one side tied back, but it can be lowered to make a nice cozy little tent as well.

Missing is my Marx Tin doll house - but you can see that on the video.

I am so happy with the way this room turned out.  It is a doll room, but it also is a room where children can sleep and play.  The valuable dolls are in the locked cabinet, but all the other things in the room are just waiting for a child to love them.

What is the sense in having child's toys, if not to play with them?  All I ask is that the room is tidied before the children leave it...

It's what was always expected of me as a child, and it's what I expect as well.

Hope you enjoyed the tour!

A TOAD TALE

We had a gorgeous warm weekend here this past weekend.  I spent as much of it outside as I could.

Saturday I decided to take a break from the tea garden plot and move to the very back of our back yard to an area that has been really ignored by me, pretty much since we moved into this house.

It is another of those areas that was left to run wild, and though I have managed to tame it a bit every spring, I have not worked it enough through the summer months to really make it a productive area.
Last year I moved 5 rhubarb cuttings from the front yard to this space, but the plants were quickly dwarfed by weeds, and I never did anything about it.

That's gonna change this year.  I want a good rhubarb harvest for one thing, and for another there is still an area there that could be planted with some other vegetable I have yet to try.  I'm thinking garlic.

I will have to check and see if rhubarb and garlic are companions... it they can stand growing close to one another, or not!  If they are, then I am going to attempt garlic.

Everyone tells me that garlic should be planted in fall, but I was reading the back of a package of garlic sets in the store on Friday and it said it could be planted early spring as soon as the soil is able to be worked - so that means this week!

Strange as it seems though - I was not working in this remote back area of my yard for either the rhubarb or the garlic.  It was toads that I was interested in harvesting.

This back area is where I have found a lot of toads - mostly buried in the soil in spring.  They seem to like the area right at the back where I compost my grass cuttings.  It is sunny but also offers some shade at different times of the day.  My idea was that I should build a toad pond to encourage them to help me control insects in my garden and yard.

I didn't want to spend a bunch of money on this endeavour - but having said that - if they come to this small pond - I will build them a better one in the future.

So first I edged the whole area (the grass had grown into the garden part at least a foot since we moved here).  I cut down some old Hollyhocks, weeded the rest,  cleaned the area around where the rhubarb is growing and decided on a place to dig a hole for my toad pond.

I got my spade out and made a nice deep cut in the soil - and decapitated an adult toad on my first spadeful of dirt.

I was so upset.  I knew that area was their favourite winter resting spot, but I guess I thought perhaps they might have been awake already - apparently not - poor guy didn't know what hit him.  So I buried him where he lay...

I already had a big hole dug, so I kept going, and thankfully I was able to make the hole I needed to put the round plastic kitchen wash basin in the ground without any further causalities.

Phew - such stress!

Here is my very small toad pond.  I still need to gather some more rocks for around the perimeter of the pond, but I did plant some day lilies close to the pond to provide shade and shelter for my little friends.

The large piece of tree bark can be used for shelter, but I am also going to put a toad house nearby for more shelter from the sun and from natural predators.

Did you know that toads consume close to 30,000 insects during one summer season?  They love slugs and snails, and of course mosquitoes.  It is advised to put a garden light close to their area to attract mosquitoes at night when the toads are out searching for food.

I am hoping once they wake up from their winter nap, that they find this little pond, and maybe lay some eggs here - if not, then at least they have a place for some water during the hot summer months.

At the back where the white is, is where I compost my grass clippings ( the white is newspapers I have put down between the layers of scrap sod I have trimmed).  The pond is that other bit towards the front, and the area between the two sticks is where my rhubarb is planted.

Hopefully it will all look much better when things are actually up and growing...

We really need a good soaking rain... and soon!

SHAWNEE USA 75!

 A week or so ago I decided to spring clean my kitchen.  I don't think I had washed my kitchen cupboards inside since we moved into the house almost 3 yrs ago.

So I grabbed the ladder climbed up to the top of it and started emptying everything out of my cupboards.

I found all kinds of treasures, especially way up in the highest cupboards - I had stashed things I seldom use way up there when we moved in, and because I need a ladder to open those - had never bothered with them since.

One of the things I hauled down from a top cupboard was this corn teapot.

My Mother had a cornice over her kitchen window, and this teapot sat up on that cornice, for as long as I can remember.  When my Mother passed away and Dad was selling his home, he asked me if I wanted it, and I said yes.

The teapot had belonged to his Grandmother - my Great Grandmother Effie Owens. 

Effie lived in a second story apartment in downtown Cedar Rapids Iowa, when I knew her as a very young child.  I remember going to visit her with my family when I was about 5 or 6 years old.  I can see her in my mind... a real elderly grey-haired lady, who wore black leather shoes - you know the old-fashioned ones that look like army boots that old ladies used to wear.  She wore heavy cotton stockings, a house dress and an apron. 

She was quite the character - very comical and very kind.

  She wasn't the "real" Great-grandmother, but the second wife (former housekeeper) of my Great-grandfather after his first wife passed away.  Back in a time, when those things mattered - it made no difference to our family at all.  Everyone loved "Grandma Owens" and she returned that love in spades.

I still have cards and letters that she sent to me as a child - me a little Canadian Great-grandchild that she might have seen twice in her lifetime, but still she wrote to me several times a year!

When I pulled the teapot out of the cupboard, I took a good look at it, and like I have now learned to do from my friend Lou - I turned it over and looked at the bottom of it.  

And I took a picture and messaged it to Lou!

I am pretty sure that this teapot would have been purchased in the 30's or 40's at the "Five and Dime"... American term I heard my Aunt Margaret say so many times, for department stores like Ben Franklin or other variety department stores, that carried just about anything you could ever hope to own.  It most likely was very inexpensive as well.

It took no time before I got a reply back from Louise telling me that for years she had looked for corn objects like the teapot - unsuccessfully!  She checked out my teapot and determined a value of 75.00 on it based on similar pieces for sale online.

That's not a ton of money, but it's not bad either, for something that was probably purchased for very little money and has sat around on cornices and in cupboards for years and years.

I reckon, it's time to leave it out for all to see and admire.

So here it sits, on my pretty old cabinet in my kitchen.  I can look at it hundreds of times a day - and I can remember Effie Owens, each and every time I do so.

BATH TUB BRILLIANCE!

So you want to know what my bathtub brain wave was, do you?

It has to do with this ugly little spot.

This little garden area has been a burr in my butt since we moved into this house.  When we moved in it was an over run and tangled mess of roses, and all kinds of miserable weeds and things, that we have been cleaning out pretty much since we moved here.   I fought with the mess for the first year, and then last year thanks to the help of Gary and the tractor, we pulled all the rose bushes out -  correction, still one more rose bush to go - but mostly the area has sat empty now for a year.

See the patch on the wall to the left?  That is the east-facing wall of our dining room.  Apparently there used to be a fairly large window in the dining room, and I can certainly understand why it was removed.  Already that room gets so much sun ( and heat) from a south facing picture window and a -west-facing window and front door.

Gary was going to complete the job that was not finished here, and stucco over the patch - until I came up with idea that it would be a great spot to put a garden door, if we could turn this patch of garden/grass into a small patio area just large enough for our little Bistro set... a place we could go for morning coffee, a salad at lunch or a cup of tea in the evening.

We are going to do that someday, but that project is in line behind replacing two large picture windows, which is behind removing the back step and redoing the driveway - which is behind...

So - while in the bathtub it came to me that it would be a really great place to make my herb/ tea garden.

And so I started my work...

I started squaring the area off with my trusty board and edger, and now will dig the whole area up, get rid of the grass, and the last almost dead rose bush.  I am going to make it a complete square all the way to where that old rose still is.  That way when the time comes to make this area a patio, we are half done.

Brilliant!

Day 1

Day 2 

Not quite half done - still lots of back-breaking digging - but I am determined to finish this bed, before doing any other yard work.

BUT.....

I'm taking the day off from this project today, but will back at it over the weekend.

Today we are getting out for a drive in the beautiful spring weather and checking out our surroundings.

Have a great weekend everyone! If you get the chance, get outdoors and enjoy the arrival of Spring!