Ella's Old Fashioned Momma

Sleepless on the Farm -27 January 2012

2012-01-27T17:16:00.000-05:00

Ever since this:

We have never been guaranteed a full night's sleep. Ella got off to such a rough start. Exhausted from 27 hours of labour, under the lights for jaundice, and then 3 months of starving while the breast feeding 'experts' told me she was getting enough. Ella has never been a good sleeper. When she was a baby I would spend about 30 minutes patting her back to get her to sleep (every time). And she was one of those babies that you couldn't 'just let cry' because she would cry till she was sick (and it killed me to listen).

Then she hit the toddler years and had night terrors. If' you've never experienced those you have no idea. Ella would sound like she is being murdered or sobbing for me not to leave. It was like a knife through my heart and I couldn't get up to her bedroom fast enough. Through the toddler years Ella would wake at least once every night!

Since Ella hit 5, we seem to be finished with the night terrors and have moved on to just regular nightmares. I have to be very careful what Ella watches or plays just before bed. She is very sensitive to that. Even the Muppets can scare her and cause us nighttime problems. Ella is always begging me to sleep with her. I have to say 'no' because if I do it once it becomes a habit with her. These days we can go days with no nighttime waking -sigh, wonderful times. Even her nightmares are usually not too much trouble. Most nights Ella just needs a hug and tucked in and she'll go back to sleep.

And then we have nights like last night. I get my 'Momma' page and head into her room. Not a nightmare, but one of those nights where she wakes up completely awake and can't get back to sleep on her own. These nights I lay down and keep her company until she falls asleep. Unfortunately, these nights usually take an hour (and boy is she chatty). Last night it was 2 hours! Since having Ella I have come to realize that I can function on short sleep, but I really need my sleep in once chunk. I don't do well with 2 hours here, 3 hours there.

I really don't know what to do. We've tried varying her bed time routine. Lately I've been giving her a back rub after prayers before I go for the night. It was working for the first few nights, but then we went back to waking up. We don't do baths before bed, they just get her wound up. I tell myself she's only little for a while and will eventually sleep.

So that's my post from this tired Farm Girl.

Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real -26 January 2012

2012-01-26T10:47:00.001-05:00

This week's Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real will be a short one because I'm not feeling good today. I think I'm just going to say 'to heck' with housework and such and curl up on the chesterfield with my knitting and try to keep my germs to myself.

Any one who knows my childhood will realize why these pictures make me so Happy! Look how long my girl looks in her leotard.

Yarn Along -25 January 2012

2012-01-25T10:13:00.000-05:00

11 months till Christmas!!! Ok, stop throwing things at your computer :) Have you started planning your Christmas projects? I have some ideas. I have one project ready to pack. I like to work on Christmas projects all year long, then there is no panicked December knitting. I'm not sure what Ella's presents will be yet.

I have the Shalom sweater finished. Even the buttons are sewn on. It is light as a cloud and I still have half the ball of yarn left. Not sure what to do with that. I'm now working on the 5 Hour Baby sweater to go along with the February Baby sweater I finished the other day. The pattern is easy and I like the way it looks. I don't like the tension. I'm not sure why but it's making my wrist hurt. I couldn't even knit yesterday :(

I'm reading a new book. It's The Highly Sensitive Child and it was written about Ella. It has a quiz and 'Ella' answered yes to all but one question. I've always known Ella needed her schedule and got overwhelmed by things (like cleaning up too many toys). Now hopefully I can find some strategies for helping her learn to deal with all the information/feelings she takes in. A prime example is how upset Ella gets at the grocery store when she hears a child crying. When she was little she would actually start to cry until we found the crying child and saw that their momma was there. Now she doesn't get that upset, but you can see it bothers her and she is happiest if we can see the child later. Lori over at Beneath the Rowan Tree has been talking about her daughter and her recent diagnosis of extreme sensitivity. Luckily Ella isn't such an extreme, but I see a lot of Ella (and myself) in Lori's description. I'm very excited to get more into this book, even if it just helps me to understand and explain to others.

Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real -Snow Edition -19 January 2012

2012-01-19T10:40:00.000-05:00

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas............ oh wait, that was supposed to be last month!

We got another dump of snow (or 'snow event' as the weather guy insists on calling it). It was so bad on Tuesday that dance was cancelled, much to Ella's disappointment. The snow makes everything so Pretty and it makes Ella and I very Happy. Daddy not so much, but that's because he has to work in it.

Here's a Funny that makes me so Happy too. Ella and Daddy playing hair dresser. She looks so intense trying to get out the 'grey bugs' that are turning Daddy's hair silver.

Our first Real picture makes me Happy too:

We finally got Ella's toys sorted through and donated a lot of the toys she just doesn't play with any more. With her birthday coming up we had to do something. Now we have to find some way to organize these toys in this corner. Suggestions?

This picture represents the other Real. It's not Pretty and certainly doesn't make me Happy. Tuesday night (around 8pm) in the middle of the storm, Colin had to climb up on top of the tarp building (machine shed behind the trees) and shovel off the waist deep snow. In case you've never seen a tarp building it's horseshoe-shaped! It usually happens once or twice a year that Colin has to get up there and shovel. Did I mention that he's not crazy on heights either? Newer tarp buildings are designed better and don't need shoveled. But ours is an old style and the roof starts to flatten if it gets too much snow.

Yarn Along -18 January 2012

2012-01-18T14:26:00.000-05:00

I’ve got some new progress to show this week. My sister’s Shalom sweater is coming along nicely. If you want an instant gratification kind of sweater, this is the one. And the yarn I am using makes it feel like a cloud. I sure hope my sister likes the sweater.

A certain little princess is having her first ‘non family’ birthday party. So I’m reading The Birthday Book. It has some neat ideas/traditions I’m going to try. One idea is a pair of birthday socks for ‘stepping into the new year’. I whipped up a pair of these for Ella. The easy pattern is here.

Now to see what the others are doing for Yarn Along.

Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real -12 January 2012

2012-01-12T13:50:00.000-05:00

Just a short post for Pretty, Happy, Funny Real this week. First I want to ask, how did it become the 12th of January already?? The days are running together and nothing seems to be getting done. I have some sorting/reorganizing I want to do, but it all has to wait for the new windows. And making space for the new windows is creating it’s own mess -aaaaaahhhhh!

We made it to St. Barnabas for church on Sunday. Boy, I wish Ottawa was closer or gas was cheaper. Did you know that Father apologized to Ella for not remembering her name -even though there are lots of kids and we only go a few times a year?!!! Our last minister never remembered her name, even though we went regularly and she’s the only child in the congregation. I hope our new minister at least attempts to learn names.

But I digress. Sunday was Epiphany so we sang lots of familiar hymns (happy). Also, the creche/crib was still up.

The picture didn’t capture the cool blueish light surrounding the creche. It was beautiful. This is in the side chapel where the priests say the Angelus at the end of the service. Ella starts getting antsy by this time, but I’m trying to get her to join in with the Holy Mary part.

Aside from the real mess my house is in (and must stay in for the foreseeable future) I’m searching for a knitting pattern. I have to make myself a scarf/stole. I have some beautiful wool (80 wool, 20 cashmere) that’s a DK. But I can’t find a pattern that grabs me. I’d love to do something like an Orenburg warm shawl/scarf. I was hoping to find a pattern so I know I have enough wool.

Yarn Along -11 January 2012

2012-01-11T10:01:00.000-05:00

You may have noticed I don't read too much. I just don't seem to find the time to get lost in a book any more. I get so involved in my reading that I have a hard time listening to what is going on (which is probably why I loved reading so much when I was young, but I digress). So I don't usually read while Ella's up. I'm still reading All Wound Up, it's such a funny book. I just finished the chapter about the water balloon fight -you've got to read this book!

I've got the mittens all finished and they are ready to felt. Ella's leggings are coming along nicely. Just finishing off the bum. They are actually a little long, but I can fold up the ankles and they will last the season and maybe next year too (if I'm really lucky). Even with her long legs, these take no time to knit. I'm actually almost out of knitting projects. I might have to give in to the startitis I feel coming on and get some new projects ready to go.

Birthday Music Challenge

2012-01-06T10:37:00.001-05:00

I don't have a Farm Girl Friday post for you all today, but I saw this on Facebook and thought it might be fun.
What you need to do is find a song from the week you were born, find a video on YouTube and post it (or you can just mention it in the comments).

Looking over the list for my birthday explains a lot about my musical tastes :)

Here's number one:

Joy to the World -Three Dog Night

and

because I just can't turn down Tom Jones (and he's a fellow Welshman)

She's a Lady

Now it's your turn!

Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real -5 January 2012

2012-01-05T10:39:00.000-05:00

First Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real post of the year! Just a couple pictures as we've been taking it easy as the Christmas season winds to a close.

Why is it so hard to take a picture of it snowing? That's what makes this picture a happy one too. I love the snow. It's actually snowing a fair bit in this picture. We ended up with 2 more inches of fluffy white stuff.

Funny is Ella playing her new Kinect Penguins of Madagascar game. She really gets hopping and jumping around. She has a grand time playing that game. This one is partially Real too. My house is still a disaster after all the Christmas opening.

Today's Real -Ella watching tv this morning. For some reason the house was only 16C (60F) this morning. Boy it was chilly!

Yarn Along -4 January 2012

2012-01-04T10:52:00.001-05:00

Hurray! Ginny is doing Yarn Along again this year. It really helps keep me knitting a project until it's done. I like show and tell :)

I'm working on my sister's birthday present. This pattern is great. I have the yoke nearly finished with just 3 hours of pre-new year's knitting. I'll be doing the version of the Shalom sweater that has 3/4 length sleeves. I can't believe one ball of wool is enough!

I'm also whipping up 2 more pairs of felted mittens. The ones for Gregory were a bit too big, so I told his Mom she could have those ones and I'd make a new pair for Gregory. I'm also making a pair for a girl that works with Colin's sister Elizabeth.

This week I'm reading my new autographed book by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (aka Yarn Harlot) -All Wound Up. She's so funny, but it's hard to explain to non-knitters -they just don't get it :) Did I mention I have a fabulous sister? Even though she doesn't knit, she went to Stephanie's reading just to get me a signed copy!

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T00:01:00.002-05:00

Happy New Year!

Do you make resolutions? I don't usually, no point -does anyone ever keep them? This year I'm going to stop drinking caffeinated pop. Hopefully I can stop drinking pop altogether. I also want to start getting out and walking more.

Here's to a happy, blessed New Year!

This Year in Knitting

2011-12-31T09:25:00.002-05:00

I thought it might be fun to keep track of my knitting projects this year. I think I might have missed an item or two, but here's the list (in no certain order).

felted mice -one for Ella and one for Millie the cat
felted fairy house and peg people -for Ella -pattern comes from a northern Ontario Momma
Bitty Baby Baby Surprise Jacket bunting -for Lucy the doll -my adaptation
knee socks for Ella -my pattern
cable socks for Colin -another of my patterns, plus 2 plain pairs
Socktopus for Ella -so much fun to knit
Bitty Baby February Baby Sweater -for Lucy and Polly -my adaptation
knee socks for Momma -my pattern
February Little Lady Sweater -for Ella -my adaptation/pattern
cable gansey for Daddy
leaf purse for Brittany
Petal Shawlette for Grandma -who just loved it!!
felted fair isle bag for Belinda -also much loved at Christmas
Sweet Peasy for our cute little neighbour Dayvah
February Baby sweater for my friend's newest addition
Baby Surprise Jacket -maybe to list on Etsy
Phoebe's Sweater -made for Ella but eventually ripped out because it's too small
felted Ice Harbor Compass mittens -for Ella and Gregory
fingerless gloves for my stepmother Linda
felted Ice Harbor Compass mittens -for me
10-stitch Blanket -for Grandma
watch cap toque -for Uncle Glenn
felted oven mitts -for Grandma Isobel and Auntie Lizzy
Danish Inspired Tie Shawl -the one listed on my Etsy store
Baby Surprise Jacket -ended up donating because I didn't like the yarn
Boot Socks -for Daddy, these were nearly misplaced but found them just in time to wrap for Christmas
Egg to Bluebird -for Ella plus 7 others
2 basic socks -for Ella
Jemima-Jane -for Ella's 5th birthday and now known as Maggie -a lot of work but very well loved
winter hats -for Auntie Belinda and Momma
hobby horse -for Ella
dollies -made 3
blue stockings -for Momma
2 cable toques -for both Grandpas
fair isle ear flap hat -cousin Jared
man-sized regular wool socks -for market customer
2 winter hats -for Ella
Tardis Socks -for Uncle Stefan
Ella slippers
lime, orange and fruit bag -for Ella
Thanksgiving bowl of veggies and fruit and turkey (2 turkeys)
mitt garland
toy dish cloths and tea towels -for Ella

Wow, it sure looks like a lot when you write it down in a list!

Guess we know how I keep out of trouble :)

I forgot to mention a couple knitting related gifts I received this year. My sweetie got me lace blocking wires. Those will make finishing my lace shawls much easier.

Did I tell you that the day before we went to Toronto in November that Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (the Yarn Harlot) was reading from her new book at the Chapters downtown Toronto? I was bummed. Turns out my fabulous sister (who doesn't knit) went to the reading and got a signed copy of the new book for Mom to give to me!!! She even wore one of her fancy aran sweaters to show off for me. Belinda also got me a gift certificate for Tina's yarn shop.

On the Sixth Day of Christmas...

2011-12-30T19:34:00.001-05:00

I thought I'd share the highlights of our Christmas so far:

Christmas eve day found Colin and me heading for Toronto. Ella had gone down with Grandma because she didn't think it fair that Grandma drive down alone. We drove through a winter wonderland. Unfortunately the closer we got to Toronto the greener things got. The grass in Toronto actually looked like it needed mowed again.

It was so wonderful to go to midnight Mass at our home church of St. Mary Magdalene. St. Mary's has a nice new priest, but I miss Father Harold. It's also getting sad because the people that remember my family are slowly leaving this world. My Grandpa Rees was a member of the ritual choir. His sister, Auntie Ella, was a member of the gallery choir under Healey Willan. My Grandma was basically raised by the Sisters at the church school (after her family moved to Manitoba). My Dad was a 'boat boy' (I have a picture somewhere) and even my Mom was Confirmed there before her wedding. We left Ella at home with Daddy and Uncle Stefan, she decided 'midnight mouse' wasn't something for someone only 5, maybe she would try next year when she's 'almost 7'.

As per usual, Auntie Belinda and Uncle Stefan spoiled us all terribly. Ella's favourite gift was the new Pet Pal 2 game for her Explorer. Her next favourite gift and the one she can't wait to get into is a Magic Kit.

Millie the cat loved the felted mouse I knitted for her. I've never seem Millie play so much. And before you ask, Millie has been on diet cat food for years, it seems she's just big :)

All our presents were well received. Uncle Stefan really seemed to like his Tardis socks. I got a fabulous gift from Belinda and Stefan - a yarn swift!! It's been on my list for a while. It's great.

Which is great when you see what I got from Colin and Grandma:

Grandma got me enough Berroco Vintage to make this sweater. That's right, a sweater for me!! It's hard to tell in the picture, but it's a beautiful blue/teal. The marble is also a hat for me (new Piecework pattern). I'm trying to decide if the Knit Picks wools (middle row) got together. I have a shawl pattern I want to make and can't decide if these would work or if I should buy more wool.

Off to Great Grandma's. Uncle Dennis (great uncle to Ella) gave her a great Melissa and Doug building block set. Now she's got 100 multi-shaped blocks to build her castles. Cozy jammies and slippers from Great Grandma were welcome too.

A nice quiet evening at Petra's, our favourite Bowmanville area B&B. Petra even left a present for Ella. Ella loves Martin's fish.

After a nice visit with my dad and step-mom we had an uneventful trip home. Christmas presents opened at home and some more Melissa and Doug. Grandma got Ella a really cool cupcake set. Ella can even use marker 'icing' tubes to decorate the tops.

Ella loved the fairy house I made for her. She really liked the peg people too, but will be happier when I get the faces painted. Next time I'm in Ottawa I have to pick up some plastic canvas though because the base didn't felt enough to stand on it's own.

Grandma caught Ella mid thank you hug, but she looks so happy I had to share this one.

We are having a wonderful Christmas. Lots of time with family and just enjoying the Season. Not looking forward to getting back to work when it's over.

On the Fourth Day of Christmas -Yarn Along -28 December 2011

2011-12-28T11:21:00.000-05:00

On the fourth day of Christmas I'm joining Ginny and the other ladies for this week's Yarn Along. I have a new project to share.

It's for a new baby expected in March. Unfortunately the Momma isn't finding out what she's having, so I have to make a pink and a blue :) The pattern is from Paton's Tiny Knits and it made with a Bernat DK.
I finished Colin's sweater and it was a hit!

Not really reading anything right now. I'm searching through my pattern books to find something for all my new yarn.

I hope everyone is enjoying the Christmas season and spending quiet time with family and friends. I'll share some Christmas pictures later.

I've decided to skip today's observance. Ella's just to sensitive this year to hear about the Massacre, she's not ready to hear about historical tragedies right now. Maybe next year.

Merry Christmas!!

2011-12-25T06:00:00.002-05:00

Hope everyone is enjoying a blessed Christmas day with loved ones.

Farm Girl Friday -23 December 2011

2011-12-23T06:00:00.002-05:00

I know there is no official Farm Girl Friday this week, but I wanted to share our last week of Advent fun.

We continue to enjoy the mischief Merry gets into overnight. It's amazing how fast Ella finds Merry.

Saturday we made edible gifts for the birds. Very easy, just coat large pine cones with peanut butter then roll the cones in bird seed. We also found some extra goodies for the cats to keep them occupied while the birds enjoyed their treat. We read Jingle Bells and Poky Little Puppy's First Christmas. More Little Golden Books from my childhood.

Sunday, our fourth Sunday of Advent. The Sunday of the Angels. After church we made a mouse angel from Christmas With the Mousekins. We read Listen said the Donkey.

Monday we finished up our Christmas baking. We need to get the tins filled and ready for delivery. We read The Nutcraker and The Hat.

Tuesday we wrapped our presents and put them under the tree. We read Santa's Workshop and Leave it to Rudolph.

Wednesday, the Winter Solstice. Ella will be happy to hear that the days are getting longer from now on :) We made Winter Solstice chicken pie. We read Bruno in the Snow and the winter book from our new Year at Brambly Hedge.

Thursday we delivered our cookie tins. They were well received as always. Now we can nibble on the leftovers. We read Berenstain Bears Joy of Giving.

Friday we made paper snowflakes. I tried some fancy patterns off the internet, but our paper is too thick. I fear it's the only snow we're seeing this Christmas. We read Christmas Trolls.

This will likely be my last post until sometime later in the Christmas Season. This is what we hope to do and read for the next couple days.

Saturday, Ella hopes to come to midnight mass ('midnight mouse' -not sure where that came from) with Momma and Grandma for the first time. Service starts at 11 pm, so I'm not sure. We'll real The Night Before Christmas and Madeline's Christmas. We'll also finish off The Advent Story Book and The Jesse Tree.

Christmas Day!! We'll read The Christmas Story.

I must say a giant Thank You to my Mom who saved most of these great books from when I was a kid and salvaged a few from Dad's old house too. Without her our Christmas book list would have been much smaller!

Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real -22 December 2011

2011-12-22T06:00:00.004-05:00

Another week of Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real. We're having so much fun this week preparing for Christmas. Ella is getting so excited.

Ella decided her baby clothes needed washing. See what she's using for water? She loves her play silks. She ended up with two clothes lines full of clean laundry :)

Yarn Along -21 December 2011

2011-12-21T09:54:00.001-05:00

Yarn Along this week is still Grandma's 10-stitch blanket. I thought I was finished but found 3 more balls of yarn. I now have one ball left. Looks like an 'in-progress' gift this year. Oh well, I'll have it done by new year's :)

Grandma had to go to Ottawa yesterday to get a final Christmas present. She stopped by Chapters and picked up a great Hanukkah book for Ella. It's just right for a child Ella's age. It gives that facts without going into too much details. She's getting so sensitive lately, I never know how much to tell her. Like on the 28th, the Massacre of the Innocents. I think we may just forget that day this year, I don't want to spend a week of Ella not sleeping.

Handmade Holiday -20 December 2011

2011-12-20T14:14:00.002-05:00

Our last week for sharing our Handmade Holiday items. I'm not quite done, but Grandma doesn't mind nearly finished presents. I thought I was finished Grandma's blanket but then I found 3 more balls. Even with knit night on Friday, I don't think I'm getting it done in time. I've also got 2 embroidered tea towels to finish for Ella, those will be done in time.

I finally got the mittens felted for Gregory. The Ice Harbor Compass mittens are a great pattern. They knit up quickly and I think would be a good first project for someone wanted to attempt fair isle.

With leftovers from the mittens I made 2 felted mice. One is for my sister's cat Millie, the other (the one that looks like a Belted Galloway) is for Ella. They are felted but still need to be stuffed. I didn't know how expensive catnip was!

At the back are the peg people I made for Ella's knitted fairy house. I got the pattern here. They are finished according to the pattern and in the Waldorf tradition, but Ella's going to want faces. She doesn't like toys and things without faces. I'll let her help me pick colours after Christmas.

Ella and Daddy

2011-12-18T06:51:00.002-05:00

I love to catch photos like this. Ella is showing Daddy how to play Penguins on her Explorer.

Our Tree

2011-12-17T09:51:00.000-05:00

I forgot to share a picture of this year's Christmas tree. It's an 8 foot beauty and so far it's not dropping needles (knock on wood).

Ella surprised me with an early Christmas present, two new ornaments. And considering the great help she's being with the baking, they are very appropriate.

And now Figaro has her favourite sleeping spot back.

Farm Girl Friday -16 December 2011

2011-12-16T09:27:00.000-05:00

Joining the other farm girls to share another fun week of Advent preparation. Even with taking our time enjoying things, it's amazing how quickly the weeks are passing.

Saturday we were going to head outside before bed and look at the stars and the full moon. Unfortunately we had thick clouds. We did have lots of fun starting our Christmas baking.

I have a great helper this year. Other years Ella has 'helped', but this year she did about a quarter of the chopping for the fruitcake and we were done in no time. I also got the doughs made up for 4 other cookies and they are waiting in the freezer. We read Polly's Christmas Present and Let it Snow. And yes, the Let it Snow is by THE Holly Hobbie! Do you remember Holly Hobbie, I loved everything! I wish I could find some vintage Holly Hobbie. They have modernized her and she just isn't the same.

Sunday we headed into Ottawa for Church. Can't beat the holidays at a 'high' Anglican church :) This third Sunday of Advent is full of joy.

Ella loves to go to Sunday School here and came home with a bunch of crafts. She loves to tell me about the 'Jesus stories' that they read in class too. We always feel so welcome there.

Since we were in Ottawa I thought we'd check out Wabi Sabi, a yarn shop I've heard a lot about. To get there we drove through Ottawa's China Town. I did not expect what we found:

How's that for a surprise driving down the road! Very cool. Wish I could say the same for the yarn shop. People here in the Ottawa Valley like to put down Toronto for some reason, they say how rude everyone is and such. Well, lets just say I've never had such a visit to the yarn shop, not even the potentially snooty ones downtown Toronto. No one could even be bothered to say 'hello' let alone see if we needed any help. I stood at the counter a good 10 minutes without any service, even though the one shop girl was just tidying up. If I didn't want to buy some yarn there that I've never seen before, we would have just left.
We read The Mitten and The Christmas Baby.

Monday we had a lot of fun decorating gingerbread houses. I made them the easy way with my pan from Lee Valley Tools. We made one for us

and one for Ella's friends in Renfrew.

We read The Snowman and Merry Christmas Emily.

Tuesday was great excitement. We headed out to Killaloe to get our Christmas tree. We found a great place with nice trees and reasonable prices, unfortunately the owner is really old and plans to retire next year. This part of the Ottawa Valley needs a nice tree farm. We read Wild Christmas Reindeer and Trouble with Trolls.

Wednesday Ella and I had a grand time decorating the tree. I think Ella actually put up most of the decorations. I did the unwrapping and Daddy did the over 6 foot parts :) I was a really good Momma and didn't rearrange any of Ella's decorations over night, even the ones that are clustered together.

We read the Little Christmas Tree and the Littlest Snowman (price on this Golden Book $0.35, must have been one of my Dad's).

Thursday we finally got a start at our Christmas baking. I can't believe what a help Ella is this year. I think she must have filled at least a third of the cookie sheets. I tried really hard not to mention the misshapen cookies. I don't want to discourage her. We decided not to paint the cookies this year, just the coloured sugar. Maybe next year we'll try the fancy painting.

We'll likely do a bit of baking every day, we've still got quite the list to get finished in less than 9 days. We read the 12 Days of Christmas .

Today we are taking it easy. After a morning of baking we're going to pop some popcorn and make some hot cocoa and watch a great Christmas movie. If I have my way we'll watch Little Women. We're reading Rudolph and Frosty

Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real -15 December 2011

2011-12-15T14:04:00.001-05:00

Joining the girls at Like Mother, Like Daughter for another edition of Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real.

The house is starting to look Pretty. We got our tree on Tuesday and Daddy hung up our garlands. I like the way the mitt garland turned out. I was afraid there wasn't going to be enough mittens, but it was perfect.

My Happy, Funny girl. Here she's set up a bakery under the kitchen table. She had a wide range of croissants, doughnuts and challah bread. Everything was delicious :)

Real -Ella's gone to Grandma's for a sleep over so Momma gets to watch The Homecoming in peace and quiet. Now it's Christmas!

Yarn Along and Handmade Holiday -14 December 2011

2011-12-14T15:05:00.000-05:00

Yarn Along with Ginny is something for my little weed :)

I've started Ella's new pair of longies/leggings. They come from Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitter's Almanac. EZ gives instructions for baby size to adult size. All you need to know is your gauge and the size of the legs you want to cover. I'm using a new yarn from Sirdar called Crofter. I like the way it's knitting up.

I love Trisha Romance pictures. She has a Christmas book too called A Star for Christmas. It's a really nice story and I just want to climb into the pictures.

Today's Handmade Holiday item is for Ella. I got the pattern from Beneath the Rowan Tree. I made it a bit bigger than the pattern. I needle-felted the finishing touches. I love needle-felting! There will be some gnome/fairy type person to go with it.

Front

Back

Time Flies

2011-12-10T13:13:00.000-05:00

Here's my little pumpkin skating for the very first time. This was taken 30 December 2008, just before Ella turned 3.

And here's my little speed demon on Friday! Ella's not happy unless she's going fast! She can't wait for me to teach her 'tricks'.

Farm Girl Friday -9 December 2011

2011-12-09T14:32:00.000-05:00

Another lovely week of Advent almost over. Again, we've lost a couple of days to Ella being sick. This time it was a bad ear infection. The medicine seems to be working and Ella's feeling much better now.

Sunday was the Sunday of Peace.

Since this was also Santa's list day, Merry arrived for her Advent stay. Ella tries extra hard to be good now that someone is watching :) We read The Story of Christmas and the Littlest Angel (and yes, that was one of mine).

Monday we delivered the treats for December. It's one of the easiest Christmas presents ever (especially for mother and sister-in-laws). I try to deliver close to the first of the month, but it's usually whichever grocery day is closest (since his sister doesn't live in Cobden). I did groceries for the MONTH! I am avoiding the stores as much as possible. I'll have to run in for milk and veggies, but that's it. We are really enjoying our daily stories from the Advent Storybook and the Jesse Tree.

Tuesday Ella was at Grandma's again. The doctor is over in Beachburg so Grandma took Ella home with her so they could get her ear looked at. And yes, an ear infection. Got to get my girl healthy for Christmas. Ended up not doing anything for St. Nicholas day since Ella felt so miserable. We read Santa Mouse and Santa's Surprise and the Berenstain Bears Meet Santa Bear.

Wednesday we put our Christmas candle in the front window. It's a nod to our Irish roots (which I've discovered both sides of the family have lots of, need to look into more traditions). We're not having much luck with the Christmas lights, but Daddy's working on fixing those. We read The Night Before Christmas and Reindeer's First Christmas.

Thursday was National Brownie day so baked some yummy brownies. Daddy was very happy when he came in for coffee break. We also wrote a letter to Santa. Well, Ella dictated and Momma wrote -too many words (ha ha). Ella's creche came out of storage today. I was going to bring out the people as they appeared in the story, but soon gave in:

It was either let her have all the people and play or else she wanted to ask for another one from Santa. We read the Berenstain Bears Get Ready for Christmas and A Star for Christmas. I love Trisha Romance prints and this book is gorgeous.

Today we went skating in Pembroke. They have children's ice time Monday, Wednesday and Fridays from 11-12. Since today is Christmas card day, we headed to the post office to get all our Christmas cards into the mail, especially a certain special one that needs to go all the way to the north pole. Tonight we are reading Little Women, a very short, little girl version.
Go and check out the other fun going on with the other Farm Girls.

Pretty Happy Funny Real -8 December 2011

2011-12-08T09:45:00.002-05:00

Joining the Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real fun this week.

My pretty, funny girl is happy that Merry the elf arrived on Sunday for the Advent season. She keeps an eye on Ella and reports back to Santa. She's a very mischievous elf, we never know what she's going to get into overnight

Yarn Along -7 December 2011

2011-12-07T10:52:00.000-05:00

I just can't seem to get moving today. It's nearly 10:30 and I'm just getting this post together. I have so much I want/need to do and can't seem to get any of it started.

Yarning Along with Ginny again this week.

I've started a new shawl. It's to replace the alpaca one. It's made from Cascade's Heritage Paints. It's a lovely merino/nylon blend that is so soft and comes in gorgeous colourways. It's an everyday kind of shawl and this is working up beautifully. I'm keeping track of my numbers this time so I can eventually share the pattern.

Our book this week is a new one. Christmas with the Mousekins by Maggie Smith. It's a very cute story with crafts and recipes. I love stories about old-fashioned mouse families, though after the problem we had this fall I have to wonder why :) This book had perfect timing with its arrival. Ella and I went to church with Grandpa and Grandma Fletcher since there was no service at our church (long story). Ella went to Sunday school and they made angels. But the children weren't allowed to take the angels home. The teacher put them up on the bulletin board. Needless to say, Ella was rather disappointed. Turns out that in this book they give a pattern for a cute little mouse angel -the same style angel as Ella made at church. So you know what we'll be doing later this week.

My KAL is done. Not done as in finished, but done as in I'm not knitting it any more. I decided it's not going to fit Ella and I need to cut my losses. Now I need to find a new sweater pattern for 3 big balls of chunky yarn. Any suggestions?

Handmade Holiday -5 December 2011

2011-12-05T18:13:00.001-05:00

A few more things to share for Handmade Holiday this week. I am pleased to announce that this item is just about done. Again, Colin, do NOT follow the link. I need to de-fur it because one of the bleep, bleep cats decided it made a good bed one night. Luckily no irreparable damage.

This isn't a gift, but I've been busy making mini mittens. I saw this great idea for a mitten garland in one of my friend's craft magazines. Of course, it showed plain mittens, but we all know I couldn't do that :P

Still have a few more things to finish, so hopefully they will be done for next week's Handmade Holiday.

Farm Girl Friday -2 December 2011

2011-12-02T10:32:00.001-05:00

For December our Farm Girl post will be a wrap-up of the week's Advent celebrations. This week is a little off since Ella was sick (and at Grandma's). We try to do something every day.

So far this week, we've got our nature table set up for Advent. Our Advent tree got it's first ornament yesterday. Ella set up our peg people nativity too. Last night we ate supper by light of the Advent wreath. Ella had me take a picture but it was too dark :)

We had our visit with Santa yesterday. I even got Ella's special dress finished, though Santa is covering the snowflake. We arrived at the perfect time. First in line! That never happens. This Santa is so good with the kids, it's the same fellow every year. For some reason this year Ella was really shy with him. Usually she hops up on his knee and chats his ear off. This year we had a hard time getting her to smile.

But then the photographer was able to catch this picture.

Today we are waiting for Grandma to arrive and we're going to put up the outside Christmas lights. I'm not sure Grandma can hold ladders any more, but at least I know she can get help.

For Christmas/Advent/Winter books we've been reading:

Fancy Nancy Splendiferous Christmas

A Magical Christmas

Shall I Knit You a Hat? A Christmas Yarn

we started the first stories of:

Advent Storybook

The Jesse Tree

We try to have a very laid back Advent. It's nice to avoid all the hustle and bustle at the malls.

Yarn Along -30 November 2011

2011-11-30T13:43:00.000-05:00

Well, this week's Yarn Along post isn't going to be what I thought it was. We were going to head to Ottawa to see Santa today. Luckily (for me) Ella begged to go to Grandma's overnight (since she was driving today) because about midnight Ella started throwing up. Grandma says she's never seen Ella so sick. I have a very weak stomach so it's best for everyone that she's at Grandma's. I was talking with them at lunch and Ella was sounding much perkier than she was this morning and was going to try some toast and applesauce. I sure hope she's feeling better soon.

But, it's like Ella knew what she was doing because the weather has decided to do this:

Yeah, I know this is minimal snow when you live in northish Ontario. The potential problem is it's arrived on top of 24 hours of near record rainfall. Seeing Santa today isn't worth the risk of ice/black ice and the fact that everyone seems to forget how to drive in the first snow :) Oh well, this is the beauty of homeschooling. We can go on another weekday and avoid the crowds.

So for today's Yarn Along I have my nearly finished mittens. Just a bit of thumb left. This is my favourite felted pattern. I've made at least 4 pairs of these mittens so far. I just hope this yarn felts well. I like the colour together, though maybe the variegated could have been a little brighter. Too much to do right now for fun reading. My 'reading' this week is our list of 'Christmas' stories that I need to put into reading order for our Advent fun. I know I haven't made any Advent posts, but I will get to that soon.

No news on the Knit Along. I'm really thinking I may rip the sweater out and find something on Ravelry to make with the yarn. It cost too much to make a sweater that will only fit Ella for a month or so. I really like the pattern and it's super easy, there just seems to be measurement issues (and yes I've checked the gauge again).

I forgot to mention that I've got a new item up in the Etsy shop. It's a cute little red shrug. Ella has one just like it and loves it. When I can't get her to put on a sweater she'll wear the shrug.

Handmade Holiday -28 November 2011

2011-11-28T13:58:00.001-05:00

I finished up some fingerless mitts for my Stepmother. I have a canvas bag with an Ella picture, but it just didn’t seem enough. I whipped these up in no time. I used Marble, an acrylic so they are easy care too.

Here’s another present. I love the yarn I used, it’s so soft Ella can wear it with ease. Colin do NOT follow this link.

I’m trying to get a few new dresses made. I also have a few more Christmas things to make/finish. So what did I do last night? I started my new mittens

I wonder what the others are doing for Handmade Holiday?

Help Needed!

2011-11-26T07:00:00.002-05:00

We really need to get the cold situation under control. This is Ella's third cold this fall. It's going to be a loooong winter. Any suggestions out there? Keep in mind Ella doesn't like vegetables (except apples and grapes) and won't eat anything that tastes weird or gross.

I also need some sewing help. I am loving the side zipper idea I got from my bloggy friend. But I need to figure out how to put in side seam pockets. I feel lopsided with a pocket only on one side. I know it's possible but I can't seem to figure it out.

Farm Girl Friday -25 November 2011

2011-11-25T14:53:00.000-05:00

Last Friday the Farm Girls (and the small town Grandma) hopped in the car and headed for Scarborough.
It was bright and sunny when we left Cobden, didn't even have a coat on. In Bancroft (2 hours south west of home) we found this:

Yep snow and a fair bit of it. It was even trying to snow as we drove through town. Certainly not the early fall conditions we left at home.

We had a great drive down and actually made good time. Our usual stop at Pizza Hut for lunch and then off to Great Grandma's and shopping at Tina's.

Saturday we had some errands to run. First stop was The Purple Purl, a really nice little yarn shop in Toronto. I was lucky and the store was across the road from a great play park. We left Ella and Uncle Stefan at the park and went shopping.

It's located in a cool neighbourhood of Toronto called Leslieville. It's one of those 'up and coming'-type neighbourhoods that are fun to visit for a short period of time but I wouldn't want to live there. We also found the new location of Gold and Shamrock. Turns out they are just down the street from the Purple Purl. At this stage in Ella's dancing career, it's ok to buy her Irish soft shoes which are a bit cheaper.

Unfortunately, Ella woke up Saturday with a wicked sore throat and a nose that wouldn't stop running. We kept our fingers crossed but she woke up even more miserable on Sunday. Ella decided for herself that we should stay home from the parade. Too bad because it was the most beautiful day for the parade. So she had a pajama day and played some video games with Auntie Belinda.

CTV had the parade on at 4:30, so Ella got herself all set up on the chesterfield and enjoyed the parade nice and warm, with munchies and a handy bathroom :)

And it wouldn't be a trip post without my usual Ella passed out in the back seat picture:

Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real -24 Thursday 2011

2011-11-24T11:00:00.000-05:00

Joining the girls over at Like Mother, Like Daughter for another Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real.

Since I'm trying to think better of myself, here's Pretty. My new dress turned out well. I whipped it up last week before heading to Scarborough. It's my favourite pattern, but I made a few changes. I lowered the 'waistline' about an inch so it comes below my bust. I also made the sleeves longer since it's winter. I made the front a little fuller because I'm considering making a smocked version. I'm quite pleased with how it turned out and even got a compliment doing groceries on Tuesday!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends!

Hope you have a great day with friends and family.

And finally for the Real

One Month to Christmas!!! How is your Christmas countdown cleaning coming along? I'm falling rather behind but I'll get there now that I'm feeling better.

Yarn Along, Knit Along and Stash Augmentation

2011-11-23T19:44:00.000-05:00

Busy Yarn Along post this week.

Yep, that's right, I'm working on my Dad's toque again! I finished the last one and Colin said it felt big. Since my Dad doesn't have any hair I didn't think it would fit. So I started again.

My KAL sweater is coming along nicely. I actually ran out of knitting to do on it this weekend because I forgot to bring my double pointed needles. I'm not sure what I'm thinking about this sweater though. I like the pattern but it's not knitting up to the size it's supposed to. And yes, I did a gauge swatch (always do). It fits Ella perfectly right now, depending on what she's wearing and so long as she doesn't grow. I'm not sure what to do. I also don't like how the stocking stitch part rolls.

And now for the stash augmentation part of this post. Over the weekend I was able to hit 3 really nice yarn shops. All of them child-free!!!

First stop of course was Tina's in Bowmanville. The purple James Brett Marble is for the 5 Hour baby sweater. (I'm not actually starting it now, but that way I can share the pattern) Baby's coming in March but Momma's not finding out so I have to knit pink and blue.

Next stop was The Purple Purl in the old Toronto neighbourhood Leslieville. It's a cute little store and just around the corner from a big park. We left Ella and Uncle Stefan at the park and went shopping. This wool is for my felted mittens. I usually try to buy the same brand when felting, but the girl at the store thinks they will play well together :) This is also where I picked up the Coastal Knits book. What beautiful sweaters. My sister and I want to make nearly every one (well me make, her wear).

Last stop was at Creative Yarns, basically around the corner from Auntie Belinda's house. I was able to get the yarn I need for the Knitivity book (which I am not starting before Christmas). The top 3 sock yarns are for the wise men, the off white is for sheep and the grey is for my donkey. I picked up the other colours from House of Crafts in Pembroke (Kroy sock). There should be enough wise man yarn leftover to make Grandma some more socks.

Ok, I know this isn't yarn but it's adding to my fabric stash :) The blue is more periwinkle in person and will be an everyday dress for Ella. The wine and the Christmas material is for a Christmas dress for Ella. It is also a prime example of why I'm not creative, I just follow instructions well. It took me 15 minutes to come up with this fabric combination, even though the pattern shows wild and crazy! I love the Fabricland in Scarborough. It's actually across the road from Creative Yarns and unlike the Fabricland in Pembroke they actually sell dress weight wool/suiting. They had a gorgeous flannel wool, just what I have been looking for, unfortunately it was a terrible yellow/green.

Farm Girl Friday -18 November 2011

2011-11-18T16:48:00.002-05:00

This week for Farm Girl Friday we're talking about the little Farm Girl. Ella has her own camera and I never know what I'm going to find. She loves the timer function.

Yesterday was Ella's first eye doctor appointment. I wasn't suspected a problem, it's just that all of her school going friends had eye exams when they started kindergarten. Since most of my family wear glasses, I figured it was a good idea. Luckily here in Ontario, eye exams are free for children under 18. Good thing too, since a basic eye exam is $98!!!!!

Ella sailed through the exam and rhymed off all the letters (except 'v' but she often gets stuck on that one). Good news Ella's baby blues are perfect and he foresees no problems!

Now if only we could get the teeth to slow down falling out :)

KAL Update and other Things

2011-11-17T08:05:00.002-05:00

Hurray, the Phoebe's Sweater KAL (knit along) is officially under way! Boy I envy the ladies doing the little size sweaters. I have loooong rows of stocking stitch! I like the slip stitch pattern along the bottom. It gives a fairly basic sweater some 'weight'.

I've almost got the first 12 inches done. Then I think we start the waist shaping. I really like the colours of this yarn. But I do not like their big sloppy balls. I've already had to rewind this one.

When we were first married I used to try and make all kinds of meals to leave in the fridge/freezer for Colin when I went back home. He never ate them! So now I leave the house full of food but Colin has to put them together himself. In other words, he lives on peanut butter and honey sandwiches :)

I do try to make sure he has munchies to eat. So yesterday I made 10 dozen chocolate chip cookies. Hopefully that will last him through the weekend. I also made a smoked ham for supper, he'll nibble on that over the weekend too.

I hope I've packed enough knitting. It's terrible to run out half way through a visit.

Yarn Along -16 November 2011

2011-11-16T09:16:00.000-05:00

Wow, I can't believe there are already 58 Yarn Along posts and it's only 8:11 am (in Ontario when I started this post)!

I'm working on another Christmas present this week. It's a man's toque with cables on the turned up 'brim'. I've made this pattern a couple of times. It knits up quickly and looks good. I'm using Red Heart soft touch. It's a really nice yarn for an acrylic.

This week's reading is Momma reading :) My new Martha Stewart came in, though I'm often disappointed with them these days. I don't like the format change in the magazine or her show since her 'unfortunate incarceration'. The new Mary Maxim catalogue also came in yesterday. Lots of lovely things in there. I wish they would sell just the patterns and not mostly 'kits'. I may order a few things for Christmas.

And finally, my Jane Austin Knits finally arrived. I was beginning to wonder. It's full of lovely things to knit. Including a number of little cardigans that would look great with empire waist dresses. Lots of things I want to make!

Homemade Holiday 2011 -Week Two

2011-11-14T13:39:00.002-05:00

Another Christmas present to share this week.

I finally got Grandma's shawl blocked. It's much finer looking than the one in the pattern, but I like it a lot. I did change the edging, I just didn't like the way the original one was working. But that's the beauty of knitting, you don't have to follow ALL the directions for it to turn out. I used a ball of the Misti Alpaca hand paint sock wool. I know what you are thinking "but it has alpaca", it'll be ok because Grandma lives in a turtle neck and sweatshirt from September to July. This shawl will never actually touch skin :)

Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real -10 November 2011

2011-11-10T11:32:00.001-05:00

Joining the ladies at Like Mother Like Daughter for another week of Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real.

Pretty and Happy, now we have two bottom teeth and a top tooth missing.

Funny, happy and real. Ella playing hair dresser with Daddy. She's been doing his hair nearly every evening this week. Daddy has no idea how happy it makes me to see him playing with Ella. That's something my dad would never do, especially if it meant 'messing up' his hair. The real is Ella's 'devil' eyes. Our eyes are so blue that red eyes are a usual occasion and sometimes they are so red I can't get it corrected.

Yarn Along -9 November 2011

2011-11-09T10:06:00.001-05:00

Working on some more Christmas presents this week for Yarn Along. These are my favourite felted mittens. I made some for Colin last year. The lavender mittens are Ella's, she picked out the colour. The black and white ones are for my girlfriend's son. Felt mittens are a great present for kids that love the outdoors. They are so warm, windproof, and water resistant. I'm thinking of making myself a pair too. I want to use black and a bright, funky wool like these. I think it would look very cool when felted.

This week we are ready one of Ella's favourite books. It's a Little Golden book, called "Little Mommy".

Handmade Holiday 2011

2011-11-07T15:56:00.000-05:00

A word of warning, if you are one of my immediate family members STOP reading this post right now. Come back tomorrow :)

I've been busy for a while now planning and knitting this year's Christmas presents. I love making hand made presents.

Hats for the guys. Fair Isle one for Colin's nephew Jared. Cable one for Grandpa Jack and the watch cap one for Uncle Glenn.

Felted oven mitts for Grandma Isobel and Auntie Lizzy. I love making felted things. It's so much fun to put this giant 'thing' into the washing machine and have it come out something else.

For the amazing Uncle Stefan I made Tardis Socks! He is a huge Dr. Who fan and will love these.

Another felted project. This bag is for Auntie Belinda. I used Briggs & Little instead of the usual Paton's Classic Wool. It felted beautifully, but be warned. A lot of colour came out in the water. Luckily it was the only thing in the machine at the time.

I can't seem to find the picture of niece Brittany's purse, so here's the Ravelry link. Don't worry about having an account, I've discovered how to share stuff there without you guys needing an account. I still have to line the purse, but that will take no time.

Pretty, Happy, Funny , Real -3 November 2011

2011-11-03T08:33:00.002-04:00

A couple of pictures to share for Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real this week.

My girl sick again. Unfortunately it seems she's like her Momma and catches colds/flues easily. This was the scene Sunday night when she finally fell asleep.

Luckily Ella fights the colds off quickly like Daddy. She's still got a cough but is feeling much better. Here's she's sitting on her throne watching tv.

A Soulin'

2011-11-02T16:15:00.002-04:00

A soul, a soul, a soul cake

Please good Missus a soul cake.

An apple, a pear, a plum, a cherry, Any good thing to make us all merry.

One for Peter, One for Paul, One for Him who made us all.

Today is All Soul's day, the day we remember the dearly departed. Traditionally this is where Trick or Treating comes from. This year I thought I would try making Soul cakes. This is an adaptation of an old recipe from the 1800's. It's very simple ingredients lead me to think it's a much older recipe. It's almost like a spiced shortbread/sugar cookie. Traditionally they should be round with a cross cut into them, but I made them heart shaped since we are remembering our loved ones.

Soul Cakes -makes about 3 doz. 2 inch cookies

1 2/3 c flour 1/2 t cinnamon

1/2 t allspice pinch of nutmeg

2/3 c white sugar 3/4 c butter

1 egg 1 1/2 t vinegar

Mix together dry ingredients. Cut in butter. Beat egg together with vinegar and combine with dry ingredients. Dump out onto table and knead into a soft dough. Roll out 1/3 inch thick. Cut out cookies and place on lined cookie sheet.

Bake 350F for 15 minutes.

Yarn Along -2 November 2011

2011-11-02T10:08:00.001-04:00

I thought this week's Yarn Along would have been the start of a KAL (my first). But things happen and now the KAL isn't starting till next week. So I'd better put this project away or I'll be done by next week :) Gotta love chunky knitting. I'm using Marble Chunky by James Brett. It's purples and blues and will be beautiful.

The book that goes along with this sweater is called Phoebe's Sweater. The story is a little light, but kind of cute. Almost a little too simple for Ella now. But it comes with knitting instructions for a girl sweater (2-6), a pattern for Phoebe mouse and the sweater pattern sized for and American Girl doll

Halloween 2011

2011-11-01T11:05:00.001-04:00

Ella and Daddy got to work on her pumpkin Sunday. Daddy had been saving a great pumpkin out in the pumpkin patch. Ella drew up her plans.

This is the only action shot. Ella decided the insides were too gross so good Daddy cleaned the guts out for her. Ella then marked out her face and Daddy did all the cutting. It's a good thing Daddy was home because the pumpkin was so thick, I'm not sure I could have done the cutting.

Sticking in the scary pumpkin teeth!

Very pleased with her creation.

As I mentioned yesterday, Ella is coming down with another cold. She was so miserable Sunday night. We actually spent the night downstairs. Luckily she perked up by Monday afternoon.

Ella as Rapunzel (from Tangled).

I have the best Mommy. I have been so exhausted with this pneumonia, it's been hard to do anything. I didn't have a clue how I was ever going to make Ella's costume this year. So my Mommy offered to do the sewing if I cut the pieces out. She did a great job. Thanks Mom!!

Farm Girl Friday -28 October 2011

2011-10-28T19:51:00.000-04:00

The Farmer and the Farm Girl headed out this morning . We had to cross the power dam down at Chenneaux.

And we crossed the Ottawa River and headed into Quebec. Gotta watch your driving over there. The QPP aren't known for their leniency :)

And why were we in Quebec?

To pick up our brand spanking new Ford F150! Isn't it beautiful?! Ella loves the colour. I'm just glad it's not black. It will be much easier to find in the parking lots.

This is an example of why farmers are always broke :) We have to spend money to make money. Our old truck is still running and didn't need replacing -if we just worked in an office. BUT, since Colin needs a truck he can count on, we had to get a new one. A non-working truck isn't just an inconvenience for us. Without a working truck Colin loses money. Especially since seed cleaning season is starting again.

We got the truck from Shawville Ford, just over the border in Quebec. We've heard good things about this dealership and a number of neighbours have bought their trucks there. It's a family owned dealership and they seem like good people.

I sure hope this truck is better than the old Dodge.

Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real

2011-10-27T14:45:00.002-04:00

Just a short post today, but I wanted to join the Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real fun.

The message on Ella's chalk board when I came home from the doctors.

Sick Again

2011-10-23T16:33:00.002-04:00

A little background information. My Mom's family don't have good lungs. Many of my cousins spent countless hours in the oxygen tents as children for croup and such. We call it 'the Johnson' lungs. Add to that my dad smoking all through our childhood. So it's no surprise I have asthma. And every time I get a cold it inflames the asthma and I can cough for literally months.

Fast forward to this week:

I got Ella's cold just before TOV but it didn't seem like much. Then I started coughing. By Wednesday it was awful. It was painful just listening to me cough (let alone how I felt). My voice was totally shot by Thursday. So I decided to go to the Whitewater health clinic. My RNP wasn't in so I saw one of the doctors. She listened to my chest and said it was nothing. It was just because I have the grain stove on -this is her excuse for everything, either the grain stove or my cats. Never mind the fact that I got this cough in Bowmanville when I had NO cats and baseboard heaters! I was rather concerned because this is just how my pneumonia started when I was in London at school. It got misdiagnosed as laryngitis.

Now I will be the first to admit that our healthcare system isn't as good as it should be. And anyone who thinks it's not two-tier and those with money get better service are kidding themselves and should see my medical expense file!

All that being said, I thank God that we live in Canada/Ontario. I wasn't any better by Saturday so Mom packed me off to Renfrew hospital. Boy I love the staff at Renfrew hospital. I saw the doctor at emerg. and surprise surprise, HE sent me for a chest x-ray. And guess what, I have the start of pneumonia.
I love that I can go to the doctor/doctors as many times as necessary to get the help I need. I don't have to worry about the extra expense. And if I need sent for tests I don't have to wait to find the money. Yes, I have one heck of a drug bill from these two visits. But at least we know what's wrong and have it in hand.
Gotta love socialized medicine!!

Mmmmmm, comfort in a bowl. Home made French Onion soup. I wonder what's the chance of Colin making supper :)

Farm Girl Friday -21 October 2011

2011-10-21T10:45:00.000-04:00

Farm girl Friday again. I don't know where the week has gone. Being sick seems to make the days run together. I sure wish Ella wouldn't share her colds. Now I'm coughing and have lost my voice :(
Saturday was our last Market day for the year and we went out with a bang! Last Saturday was the Taste of the Valley in Cobden.

For some reason we were cut down to only 8 feet (others had more), which made it really tight and difficult to talk with customers.

Taste of the Valley wouldn't be possible without all the great help of Colin's sister Elizabeth (and niece Brittany). Elizabeth is our official bacon sample cook. She's responsible for filling the Ag Hall with the yummy, irresistible aroma of cooking bacon.

This was the 5th Cobden Taste of the Valley and we are one of the original producers. They did a short presentation with nice certificates for everyone.

And of course, there was cake!

My friend Lynn and her display. She's Countryside Lane Candles. Oh my these are yummy. She makes them all at home.

This was our view for most of the day. At times people couldn't even get to our table! We had such a fabulous day. We were out of bacon by 10:30 (8 o'clock start). We had 11 packed coolers and brought home 9 lbs of ground pork! Rough count was 6500 people.

It's such a good day talking/meeting our customers. It's also a good educational opportunity because there is so much false information out there on the internet/movies. Also, so much of the information is American, which is NOT the same as Canadian standards. But that's the subject of another post :)

New Etsy Shop

2011-10-19T20:07:00.002-04:00

I've taken the leap into the Etsy world and opened a shop. That's where you'll find the listing for the Danish shawl and any other hand work I'm selling. Check it out and let me know what you think.

Yarn Along -19 October 2011

2011-10-19T10:21:00.004-04:00

I've got a finished object for this week's Yarn Along. It's beautiful, one moment of panic when Kitty Cat decided the pinned out shawl would make a good bed. Luckily all she did was leave hair behind :)

I am so pleased with this shawl. The camera doesn't do the colour justice. The wool is beautiful and blocked nicely. The bad news is that I've also inherited the anti-alpaca gene :( Although the shawl is so soft and cozy, I can't wear it.

Farm Girl Friday -14 October 2011

2011-10-14T16:17:00.000-04:00

Joining the Farm Girls for another week. We’ve had some beautiful weather the last week or so but now I think autumn is really here. It’s only 15C outside today. It’s dull and windy too.

I don’t know where our beautiful bright fall colours have gone this year. It seems all yellow and brown. Colin says it’s because of the dryness. The leaves are going from green to dried up brown. I hope we get lots of snow this winter to replenish the ground water.

Soy bean season is upon us. Colin and Dad are hard at it to get them combined before the wet weather arrives. Here is Colin cleaning the beans that we are keeping for next year’s seed.

Yarn Along -12 October 2011

2011-10-12T09:25:00.001-04:00

I almost had a finished project to share in this week's Yarn Along. My shawl is done but not 'done done' so I'll wait to show you.

Can you guess what I have started?? Yep, it's a baby surprise jacket. I found this pretty Bernat Mosaic at Walmart yesterday. Since the Momma isn't going to find out which she's having I was hoping this would be unisex. It's turning out rather girlie :) It's so hard to believe Andrea is having a baby. It doesn't seem so long ago she looked like this:

Andrea's the little blonde on the floor, second from the right. Her sister is beside her and little Thomas on my lap. Grandma looked after them ever since they were born and were more like little siblings to Belinda and me.

I've just started The Hour that Matters Most. I can't discuss it much right now, I have to do a full review later. But so far it's an interesting read.

Happy Thanksgiving 2011

2011-10-10T16:06:00.003-04:00

I don't think I ever remember a thanksgiving weekend this warm. Last year was nice but this year was nearly humid. It was certainly toasty with the oven on yesterday. I'm not sure why people make such a big deal about roasting turkey. After it is stuffed, just put in the oven till the meat thermometer says it's done. If you put enough butter on the skin, you really don't even have to baste it.

This has to be a first in my life, Thanksgiving supper on the verandah! The temperature was beautiful and the sun stayed up long enough. There were a few bugs, but at least the bees stayed away until after dessert.

So here's the centrepiece. I think it turned out quite well. Colin got my big bushel gourd cut and stained and it makes a great display bowl.

During supper we had unexpected guests. A flock of snow geese flew by and landed in the neighbour's field. It was amazing how close Colin was able to get in the truck. Right up to the fence line. I've never seen snow geese before.

What's Ella thankful for? Her second tooth fell out and the tooth fairy is coming again. Momma's thankful she doesn't have to see it pointing sideways anymore :)

Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real -6 October 2011

2011-10-06T09:59:00.000-04:00

Just a short post for Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real this week. I will be so glad when this election is over and I can get back to real life.

On Friday, my Pretty, Happy girl lost her first tooth. She has since discovered the one beside it is very loose too. I barely got her tooth fairy pillow finished in time.

Helps the tooth fairy find the tooth without waking Ella :)

Funny -Ella wanted to draw a picture of a turkey. Then the turkey caught the chicken pox :P

Yarn Along -5 October 2011

2011-10-05T10:36:00.002-04:00

Boy, working has certainly made September fly by. Lets hope October slows down. I’ll have to make more effort to make the time to enjoy. I have a list of things to do before winter, but having fun has to move further up the list.

Joining Ginny this week for Yarn Along, I have some shawl progress to share.

I’m on the final third of my shawl, starting the lace pattern. I’ll have to change the name of this shawl when I do the pattern. It’s going to be Danish in shape but with a traditional Shetland lace border. I love the soft scallop of the old shale pattern (a good example is here) I think I’m going to have to take it outside to get a good picture, we just don’t have enough light.

After the election, I’m going to start to read (and review) The Hour That Matters Most. It’s about the importance of having supper with the family. Should be a good read.

Yarn Along -28 September 2011

2011-09-28T07:41:00.003-04:00

Not much reading or knitting going on around here. I'm mired deep in election work. It's nearly 12 hours a day by the time I get home. But I wanted to join in the Yarn Along fun, so here are all the veggies I finished since last week:

This knitting fruit and vegetables seems to be addictive. It's so much fun to start knitting something and have it done just a short while later.

Farm Girl Friday -23 September 2011

2011-09-23T09:08:00.000-04:00

I love autumn, I think it's my favourite time of year. It sure makes our farm gate stand look great.

A few tomatoes remain, but we are mostly into fall vegetables now. Lots of different kinds.

These are new this year. Trombocino squash. Picked early it can be eaten as a summer squash. This time of year they are treated like a butternut. Seeds are only in the bulb part, the rest of the plant is solid flesh. Colin's going to try drying some, but I'm not sure how that will work.

And here's the welcoming committee. This is the in-laws dog, Rex. He's not much of a guard dog, he'll just love you to death. Though if you are stopping by, please leave your pets in the car. Rex doesn't mind people visiting, but he's very territorial when it comes to his home and other dogs.

Stop by Deborah Jean's and see what the other Farm Girls are up to.

Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real -22 September 2011

2011-09-22T09:49:00.000-04:00

Joining in the Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real fun again this week.

Pretty -my little milkmaid

Happy -yesterday's fruit and vegetable harvest

Funny -big hair and big glasses, how can we tell this is Grandma and Auntie Belinda in 1987.

No picture for real, but Ella has her first loose tooth and is not happy. She discovered it last night and cried. After going to bed she woke again sobbing about her loose tooth and how she doesn't want to be big, she wants to be young again! My little drama queen -how long till the tooth falls out?

Yarn Along -21 September 2011

2011-09-21T10:22:00.001-04:00

Joining Ginny's Yarn Along this week but with only knitting to show you all. Haven't read anything not Elections related because I suddenly got the urge to start a new project for Thanksgiving:

Yep, I've knit 2 turkeys and am starting a pumpkin. I have a whole basket of fruit and vegetables that I want to get done before Thanksgiving. Yeah, I've got nothing better to be working on :)

Silent Saturday

2011-09-18T06:30:00.000-04:00

Farm Girl Friday -16 September 2011

2011-09-16T13:43:00.001-04:00

When life isn't busy enough what does a Farm Girl do to make a weekend interesting? She goes to a special farmers' market in Deep River, the local fair and then to Ottawa for elections training, of course :)

Saturday was the second annual Farmers' Market up in Deep River. It's about an hours drive up to Deep River, but oh so worth the trip. The people of Deep River are so happy to see us and so very friendly. We had a great day and nearly emptied the freezers here at home. They are talking about starting a monthly farmers' market next year, hopefully they go ahead with that. They also have a beautiful location, though it's right on the road which makes it hard to have Ella along.

Sunday we decided to head out to the Renfrew Fair. This is the Fair that Ella waits all year to attend. We usually go Saturday nights so Colin can watch the livestock sale. There are usually a few of our pigs in the show (bought by kids to 'raise' and show). This year Colin's niece was showing for the first time. She got third -which didn't sit well with Grandpa (biased) and Uncle Colin (not biased).

We decided to try going to the Fair Sunday morning -best day to go to the Fair ever! It seems to be the unofficial 'family day'. Everyone was either a family or older folks. No teenagers ripping and tearing around, not watching for Ella.

And now from the girl who's nervous about being 'high' up in the tractor:

Not sure how someone 'afraid' of heights loves to slide and ride the Ferris wheel, but they are Ella's favourites.

Inside the Armories, we found Momma's dream home!!

Ella was fascinated with the doll house. It even had a secret library up in the attic. If we had room for it, I would have bought a ticket for the raffle.

Holstein horse :)

My two funny loves.

We left Daddy in the parking lot and hopped into Grandma's car for the trip to Ottawa. I had an Elections Ontario meeting at 8am Monday and they provided a room at the hotel (2 queen beds, just perfect). Ella didn't eat much at the Fair and we never thought to stop at McDonald's and grab her a burger, so by the time we got to Ottawa I had one wired child that needed food fast. Right next to the hotel was a restaurant called Lone Star. It was built onto an old house so we thought we'd go in and try (even though it was only 4:30). It was quite nice. Grandma and I shared some steak fajitas-yum!

Our room with a nice big window, small fridge and television.

Harvest moon from our window.

Of course, we need the 'I'm not sleepy' picture.

Monday morning was spent learning how to run all the new accessible voting equipment. It was a long, slow morning (some computer skills should be required) but good news is I got some knitting done on the socks I brought for just such an occasion :)

Since we were in Ottawa we slipped into Yarn Forward. I picked up some Berroco Vintage (in Tidal Pool) for a really nice sweater for myself. I also picked up the yarn to start working on Ella's Spud and Chloe set

Yarn Along -14 September 2011

2011-09-14T14:02:00.000-04:00

Joining Ginny this week for the Yarn Along. Not too much progress on my tie shawl. Things have been busy and just haven't had much knitting time. Especially since Knit Night is for present knitting right now.

I treated us to a couple new books. Ella's favourite Fancy Nancy has a new Thanksgiving book. And Momma got Knitivity. I've been looking at this one for a while. And no, I likely won't even try to make it for this Christmas. Well... maybe just a couple of characters this year :) Now I have to find some suitable sheep-type wool in DK.

Farm Girl Friday -9 September 2011

2011-09-09T07:59:00.000-04:00

Any Farm Girl worth her salt should be able to make pie. Apple pie is one of our favourites. Here's my easy recipe:
Pastry   this recipe makes about 4 shells, depending on the size of your pie plate

4 c flour                                  1 t sugar
1 t salt                                      1 t bk powder
1 1/2 c lard                            1 t vinegar
1 egg                                         1/2 c cold water
Mix together the dry ingredients.   Then cut in the lard, fairly finely. Add water, egg and vinegar. Mix to make a dough. You can let the dough rest in the fridge but I find that unnecessary. I roll it out as soon as it's ready.
Half a recipe makes a two crust pie in my 10x2 inch pie plate.

Filling
enough sliced apples to fill the pie plate
1 c wt sugar, depending on sweetness of apples
1 T cornstarch                 1/2 t cinnamon
I always mix the apples with the cinnamon sugar, but you can just pour over the apples if that's how you like it.
Bake 375F for 40-45 minutes

This pastry is very forgiving. It's not half as difficult to make good pie as the 'professional' chefs like to make it seem. In fact, Ella helped make this pie.

Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real -8 September 2011

2011-09-08T09:39:00.000-04:00

Here's this week's Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real -my girl is always pretty :) This was the other day in all that heat and humidity. She's built a house for her Littlest Pet Shop critters and is setting up a forest around the house.

Happy -my sweeties chillin'. Ella's doing 'computer work' on the old keyboard from Auntie Belinda.

Funny -Ella and her camp out

And since we can't get enough funny. Here's my sister (Auntie Belinda) and me. I was 6 when I started highland so that would make Auntie B 3.

Yarn Along -7 September 2011

2011-09-07T09:55:00.003-04:00

Joining Ginny again this week. I started a fun new project for me. We live in a drafty old Edwardian (1907). In fact our house doesn't have insulation in the walls. It's one layer of brick, studs, then another layer of brick, then lath and plaster walls. Somehow the air pocket is supposed to act as insulation. Needless to say, it gets so drafty some days the curtains actually sway in the breeze. I think I mentioned earlier that I wanted to make a sontag for myself, that way I could keep warm but still have my arms free for work. Well, the beautiful wool I bought from Tina turned out to be too fine for every pattern I found. I started roaming around the 'net looking for ideas and found these; Danish tie-shawls. Perfect! Still had a bit of a problem because all those patterns want thicker wool too (worsted size). Our house is chilly but not that cold :) So I decided to take the shaping theory from these old shawls and make my own pattern. I'm using 3mm needles which are a little bigger than the ball band calls for. The main body of the shawl is just garter, but I will put a simple lace pattern towards the bottom. If this pattern turns out well, I'll make one for Ella too.

I'm back reading the Catholic Home: Celebrations and Traditions for Holidays, Feast Days, and Every Day. I started this book a while ago and am just getting back at it. I would like to introduce more traditions into our lives. Many Catholic traditions are the same as the Anglican ones my Grandma would have had. This book has lots of great suggestions.

Farm Girl Friday -2 September 2011

2011-09-02T09:40:00.000-04:00

Ok, I have Internet at the moment, so I thought I would post a quick Farm Girl Friday picture.

Here's our farm girl out in Daddy's watermelon patch. I'm not sure how kneel beside Daddy's watermelon turned into sit on the watermelon. But it gives you the idea.

Ella had a girlfriend over the other day and they had a great time crafting. To be honest these leaves and things are from last year, but the leaves are starting to turn colour and fall around here too. We lost a bunch of leaves in the crazy wind on Sunday (leftover Irene). Ella and Kristin had so much fun. Too bad Kristin has to go back to school next week. We'll have to schedule some more play dates.

Yarn Along -31 August 2011

2011-08-31T13:53:00.002-04:00

I'm not liking our Explornet right now. It went out last night (just as Colin was trying to do stuff) and is just back now. No reason, just no internet :(

Here's my project from last week to join Ginny, I just cast it off last night. I was tired of doing 'have-to' knitting and large projects. I just wanted something fun and easy. So I pulled out some Bernat Chunky from my stash and started a baby surprise jacket. It looks about a 24 month size. Hopefully it will sell at market, I have a hard time selling my knitting around here.

We're reading a new book for Ella. It's by Beverly Lewis called Just Like Mama. I love reading Mennonite/Amish books with Ella. We may be Anglican, but our farm life looks more like theirs than most other children's books out there. I also like that it shows Ella she can do anything she wants in a dress -contrary to modern society.

For those of you with Ravelry accounts, check out this pattern. I can't decide whether it's 'me' or not.

Holy Watermelon

2011-08-27T17:40:00.002-04:00

The first of Colin's watermelon harvest. This bad boy weighs in at 50lbs. I'm not sure why he grew this kind, he's the only one to eat watermelon. He's got 8 more, nearly as big! Watermelon anyone??

Farm Girl Friday -26 August 2011

2011-08-26T19:11:00.000-04:00

Joining the ladies at Farm Girl Friday!

Today's post is about the end of an era. One that had a big impact on farming. The rail road! Neither Canada nor the United States would be the countries they are today without the cross country rail lines. It's hard to imagine what this country would have looked like if those hard working men hadn't risked life and limb to lay down the 14,000 or so miles of Canadian Pacific Railway track. In fact, the rail line in the Ottawa Valley pre-dates CP rail as it was laid down by the lumber barons in the early years.

Well, this piece of history is nor more. For about a month they have been busy ripping up the rails and ties.
They are very efficient at taking up the rails. The machine starts pulling and whole long sections of rail just basically load themselves onto the rail cars. They are pulling up the track behind them as they go along.
They have another vehicle that came along and picked up the ties and made them into neat piles. They are still waiting to be picked up.

Our crossing has been removed. And I certainly hope they plan on coming back and cleaning up the mess. All the ties from the crossing were dumped down beside the rail bed -and right in front of the culvert that runs under the road! Not terribly bright of them. I'm sure it will get blocked and flood the road. I emailed our Whitewater Region about it (since it's their road), but as of yet, the mess is still there. How much you want to bet Colin will have to do something about it??

While the historian part of me hates to see the trains go, the mother in me is glad. You see how close the tracks are to the house? This picture was taken from the front steps. We have enough vehicles in and out of our yard and now I have one less thing to worry about running Ella over. Also, I used to worry about the state of the tracks and having a train de-rail. You really don't want to know some of the things that go by on the trains. And finally, I won't miss the whistle. The trains need to whistle because it's an official crossing over a road -I get that. What drove me nuts is when they start whistling at the bridge and keep going till they are past our neighbour's driveway!! When Ella was a baby we always had to make a mad-dash for the door every evening just before 10. If we forgot the train whistle would echo around the house and wake Ella. Equally disturbing were the trains that didn't whistle at all. You would be surprised how a train can sneak up on a crossing.

My mother-in-law is upset to see the trains go, but really, I'm enjoying a little more quiet in our corner of the country.

Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real -25 August 2011

2011-08-25T14:00:00.000-04:00

Joining the ladies at Like Mother, Like Daughter for another week of Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real.

Pretty and Happy

The wild asters are starting to bloom. Not only are the pretty with their delicate purple. But they make me happy too. Asters are one of my favourite flowers and a sure sign that the good weather (i.e., autumn) is coming and I can see the beginning of the end of the hot, humid, can't breathe or move weather :)

Funny

Leopard got himself stuck up in the cedar tree. For TWO days, he sat up there and cried. I know, he's poorly named :) I tried to help him down, but I could only find the 6 ft step ladder and couldn't reach him. Colin eventually found a long 2x4 that could reach the branch and Leopard finally climbed down. Meanwhile, the little kittens are climbing up the tree to see what's going on and coming down again.

Real

My house is being over-run by Smurfs!! Ella and Grandma have been collecting all the creatures from Mc Donald's. Ella thinks they make good 'decoration' so I find them all over the place. We really wanted to get Farmer Smurf, but can't seem to find him any where.

One more real to share:

Only 4 more months till Christmas :)

Yarn Along -24 August 2011

2011-08-24T12:24:00.001-04:00

Wow, there are so many links over at Ginny's Yarn Along this week and it's only 11 am! It's so much fun to see what the other knitters are working on. Here's my contribution:

We've had some lovely cool weather for a few days. I've picked up Grandma's blanket again. It's only supposed to be a lap blanket, but I'm not sure how big to make it. Any suggestions? I really like the Bernat Mosaic. I may have to get some more and try a Baby Surprise Jacket I bet it would be beautiful.

I'm reading Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff. I got it from the library for our holiday but didn't get around to reading it. It's off to a slow start and needs to pick up soon. I don't have time for reading books I don't enjoy.

Here's an easy meal to toss in the oven so you can have more knitting/reading time. It uses a butterflied chicken, our grocery store has been carrying them lately at the same price as a whole chicken.

This chicken comes already seasoned. They call it wild garlic and herb. Cut up some root vegetables, I used potatoes, onions and carrots. Cut them into largish pieces. I left the carrots whole, just cut in the middle. I love carrots fresh from the garden. Sprinkle the vegetables with some oil and toss to coat. Pile the veggies in the middle of the roasting pan and top with the chicken. Now you have a choice here. You can roast the chicken at 450F for 30-40 minutes or 350 for 45 minutes. I like the lower temperature because it makes less mess of my oven and less chance to burn the vegetables.

Ella loves dressing, so I made my usual recipe and cooked it in a foil baggie. To make the baggie, cut off a piece of tin foil twice the size you think you need. Fold in half lengthwise. Then fold in half again. Fold over the sides 2-3 times to make an envelope-type shape. Spray with a bit of oil and fill carefully. Fold the top closed and bake with roast for about 30 minutes.

For minimal prep time and just 45 minutes unattended in the oven, you end up with a yummy roast chicken supper. By the way, the carrots were delicious this way. They had an almost sweet taste to to them. Will definitely be doing this again.

Eight Years!!

2011-08-23T10:10:00.002-04:00

Wow, the years just keep going by faster and faster. Colin and I have been married 8 years. Here's the story of how we met. It's hard to believe that Brittany was Ella's age at the wedding.

This is our favourite engagement picture. We took them up at Colin's aunt and uncle's (formerly his grandparent's) home. They have this lovely large window and living room that is perfect for pictures. Our photographer was Colin's cousin Vicki. She actually a photographer for show cows. She does most of the pictures at the Royal. But she did such a great job with our wedding.

We don't have anything much planned for today. Colin is busy with more seed cleaning (cleaning hemp out of rye). He'll come home exhausted and his eyes full of dust. So he's given me a rain-cheque for a nice supper out, probably later this week.

Happy Anniversary My Love!!

One Million Pounds

2011-08-20T17:00:00.002-04:00

Colin and I used to be on the Board of Directors for the Ottawa Valley Food Co-op. You would not believe the hours wasted at each and every board meeting while discussing 'organics'. Now don't get me wrong, I believe in true organics and am all for educating people (most Board members weren't farmers). But these conversations never had anything to do with the agenda and only made the meetings drag on for 5+ hours -you can tell the others weren't farmers, farmers don't have that kind of time to waste 'talking'. But I digress...

At these board meetings there was a 'farmer' that the others considered the be all and end all when it came to 'organics'. He was always fear mongering and telling them that it was nearly impossible to find crop seeds that weren't Genetically Modified. This drove me crazy. There are plenty of seed options out there if you bother to look. Which is what brings me to the point of this post.

You will likely recall that Colin started another business last year in attempts to actually make a living farming. He built a mobile seed cleaner and has been going around cleaning seeds for farmers. This way they can keep their own seeds. We've been doing this personally for years. You can only do this with non-GMO seeds!
Well, here is Colin cleaning his 1 millionth pound of seeds!! That means there are a lot of farmers out there growing non-GMO crops. There are even more out there that do it without cleaning their seeds first. Not bad when you consider the relatively small number of farmers there are in Renfrew County!

Farm Girl Friday -19 August 2011

2011-08-19T10:18:00.001-04:00

Sometimes even a Farm Girl needs to get away from the farm. This week we headed off to our favourite get away place, Twin Wheels Farm in Brudenell. This time we stayed in the big cottage.

We needed the big cottage because we had company!! Colin's best friend from college came for a visit. They live in London so we don't get to see them very often (8 hour drive before having Ella). They have 2 little people now. Rachel is 3 1/2 and Brandon turns 2 at the end of the month.

The view from the front door. Big living room with tv and dvd player for rainy days. Joe did all the building himself. What a beautiful place!

The view from the back corner. Boy would I love this for a house. See the nice big kitchen?? Carol keeps the cottages stocked with everything you would need. There are even cookie sheets and cake pans in the cupboards! Nice big table for meals and a wood stove to keep things cozy.

Ella's room. Upstairs there are four bedrooms and a full bathroom. Each room has a double or queen size bed and 2 windows.

Our chef, cook and bottle washer :) I got the meals ready and Colin did the cooking and the washing up. That way Momma got some holiday too.

Joe and Carol have about 1000 acres of bush and it includes a beautiful private lake. It's so nice to just sit and chill and not have to listen to boat motors or anything.

Brandon and his tractors. He wanted no part of the water but was so happy in the sand.

We spent Tuesday afternoon at the beach. Ella and Daddy built the 'universe's best sandcastle' which was inhabited by dinosaurs, with alligators guarding the castle.

It was hard to come home on Wednesday. It's so restful to get away even for a few days. Ella said 'Dada didn't complain about the pigs all weekend' and that says it all!

Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real -18 August 2011

2011-08-18T14:45:00.001-04:00

Back from a short mini-vacation. I'll post more about the fun later. Here's our Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real for this week.

Pretty

Our pretty little welcoming committee, Sophia.

Happy

Playing with Rachel at the cottage

Funny

Real

This is what my new counter really looks like. Right down to the pile of recycling waiting to head out to the blue boxes.

Yarn Along -17 August 2011

2011-08-17T19:11:00.001-04:00

Just home from a mini-vacation and a few things to share with Ginny's Yarn Along this week. Admittedly, these aren't things I'm working on. But they are things I've finally finished :)

My girlfriend is having a baby girl, so I am able to make my favourite baby sweater. And thanks to Ravelry, I was able to find a bonnet to go with the February Baby Sweater. The yarn is Baby Kashmere from Mary Maxim. The yarn is so soft. One word of warning, be sure to check your yardage. I had to order extra (and was SO lucky to get the same dye lot).

Ella's February Little Lady sweater is finally finished. Well, ok, I still need buttons and to sew in ends, but the knitting is finished. It is a much prettier blue in person.

Farm Girl Friday -12 August 2011

2011-08-13T14:40:00.000-04:00

This week's Farm Girl Friday has been a while in coming. It seems I've been running behind in posts since we got home from Scarborough. Doesn't help that the days are flying by and running together.

I think I've mentioned before how much I dislike my kitchen counters. I can't seem to find a picture of the 'before'. But it was blue (which was ok) and really cheap formica-wanna-be. It's likely original to when they put in water and the cupboards. It had the metal edging held on with screws (waiting to catch anything knit that walks by). I know, it doesn't sound too bad. What I didn't mention was the 2 inch 'patch' the whole width of the counter and is right beside the stove, i.e., right where you spill stuff cooking. It had gunge in the cracks that was there when I moved in! I just couldn't get it clean.

So to make this Farm Girl very happy, here's what my Farm Boy did while we were in Scarborough.

Ripped out the old counter tops and the sink that has seen better days. No matter how hard I scrubbed I couldn't get the porcelain clean.

He may have forgotten the real 'before' picture, but here's a during. I think these counters must be the best built parts of this house :) Those are 19 inch wide boards on the counters.

Also, always make sure you paint your kitchen with scrub-able paint. I need to do something about the paint in the kitchen, it's impossible to get the cupboards clean. I've actually got spots where the paint is chipping off.

Here's my shiny new sink. Stainless steel, so it will be easier to clean. It's a little bigger than the old sink and just about as deep. The nozzle of the faucet pulls out to spray around when needed.

This is my main counter. It's where all my appliances and big bowl live. Not much space for someone who likes to bake and cook.

I don't use most of these little drawers. We just can't seem to keep the mice out and it disgusts me to have to clean poop off before using something. The three "large" doors are my pots and pans. There is one shelf in there and I have to crawl on my hands and knees to get at most of the pots. I would love to have some pot drawers. I think that's what I love about new kitchens most.

I was one happy Farm Girl when we came home and found my new counters!!

Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real -11 August 2011

2011-08-11T14:33:00.002-04:00

Joining the ladies at Like Mother, Like Daughter for another week's Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real.

Pretty and Happy -The Renfrew Farmers' Market celebrated its 40th anniversary last weekend. They had a band and Miss Ella enjoyed dancing to the music. Such a happy sight.

Not sure what to call this picture, but just wanted to share. I'm not sure what kind of crane it is. I missed getting a picture of the sandhill cranes. They are something to see. They jump straight up and down and put on quite a show. They are quite large too. This is just one of our regular type cranes.

This little cutie is one of the last litter of kittens. Ella has named her Little Sophia after her pen pal. Little Sophia is still a little wild but will sometimes let Momma pick her up for a quick snuggle :)

Don't have a picture for real, just struggling with day 3 of a migraine! I'm not sure whether it's weather related/allergy related/or something new. I just know I'm tired of the pain. Tylenol 3's aren't even working, they make a dent in the pain, but it won't leave. Company is coming and I need to clean the house so I really need it to leave.

Yarn Along -10 August 2011

2011-08-10T18:06:00.000-04:00

You can tell I've still got my migraine, I nearly forgot to post for today's Yarn Along.

Another Christmas present on the needles and nearly done. It's a cable toque for Colin's dad. Not too fancy, but nice enough to wear 'out'. I'm reading over "A First Book of Knitting" because I'm just waiting for the humidity to break to formally teach Ella to knit.

Here's the sweater I was making for our neighbour. It's Sweet Peasy from Ravelry. It's a cute little sweater and fairly easy. It's a little awkwardly written, but just takes careful reading. I would definitely make it again. The Momma loved the sweater!

Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real -belated

2011-08-05T17:13:00.000-04:00

I'm still in time to join the other ladies over at Like Mother, Like Daughter for another week's Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real.

Our first Pretty pictures comes courtesy of Ella and her garden. When we planted her potato bed this year, we left a few sunflower volunteers from last year. As you can see they are doing great. Colin figures they are over 10 ft.

Happy -for the kittens anyway. The little ones have discovered the fun of climbing the cedar trees. I don't think it's fun because I'm afraid they will get stuck and they are still too wild to climb up and rescue :)

Funny -Ella's always good for a funny picture :) Here's my girl taking her babies for a drive in the car.

Real -as in real good mother. Under this pile of kittens (I count 7) is Zebra our mother cat extraordinaire. She's only the mother of 2-3 of these kittens, but she feeds whoever comes along.

Real - a beautiful picture taken by my girl. Ella always seems to be able to take nice pictures of me (ones I don't mind sharing)

We're Back!

2011-08-05T16:33:00.000-04:00

This is why you deal with a local company:

I called Explornet (our satellite Internet provider) on Wednesday to explain our situation. After jumping through a few hoops, it was decided that our computer wasn't the problem and we needed a service call. They said they would send out the work order in 24-48 hours. Yesterday I called Noron in Renfrew (our satellite installer) to see if they had received the order yet or if they could hurry Explornet along.

Good new, Noron had the work order, bad news her repair guy was going the opposite direction (Renfrew County is about 3 hours driving from one end to the other-it's huge). We weren't going to get any help until Monday or Tuesday. That was until I told the lovely lady that we needed the internet for our business too. She said that if her guy got finished early on Friday she'd send him up here.

12:30 today we got a knock on the door. Guess what?? It was the tech. guy. It seems that the new pole Colin installed for the dish (per instructions) has twisted a little. The tech. guy just had to adjust the dish so that it was lined up with the satellite again.

Now that's country service!!!

Where's Paula!!!

2011-08-04T18:18:00.001-04:00

No I haven’t fallen off the face of the planet. Our Internet has been down since Tuesday night. The satellite people are supposed to be coming and fixing it, but maybe not till the beginning of next week!!! Needless to say, I’m going through Internet withdrawals Not really, but it is inconvenient. So if any one really needs to get me because they are ‘jonesing’ for pork or anything, you’ll have to do it the old-fashioned way and give us a call.
Talk to you all soon – I hope!

Yummiest Potato Salad

2011-07-31T22:03:00.001-04:00

Today Colin's sister and brother-in-law had a pig roast. We had a great time. I made potato salad and thought you guys might like the recipe. Sure beats the 'Miracle Whip' kind.

This is the pig bbq that Colin and Glenn built quite a few years ago. As you can see it's made from an old oil tank. The pigs turn out best when they use charcoal, but Colin has been know to try to use wood too.

Colin and I helped Glenn carve up the piggy. Boy was it hot!!

Lots of fixin's to go with the pork. This is Colin's dad in the hat and Glenn's mom and dad in the background.

One of the guests had a really amazing car. Colin can't remember the year, but it is completely original/never restored. Boy, it sure ran nice, sounded much better than the truck :)

And finally, here's the end of the party. The kitties quite enjoyed the 'doggie bags' we brought home for them.

To be honest, I won't eat potato salad. But that's because I like my potatoes hot :) My sister on the other hand, will only eat my potato salad.

Start by making the Salad Dressing:

3/4 c oil                         1 egg
1 1/2 prepared mustard          2 t salt
2/3 c sugar, divided                 1/2 c and 2 1/2 T flour
1/3 c vinegar                                1 c water

Mix the oil, egg, mustard, salt and 1/3 c sugar and set aside.
Combine the rest of the ingredients (including the remaining 1/3 c sugar) in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and stir until smooth and thick. Add in first mixture and stir till smooth.

Potato Salad

12 medium potatoes, boiled, peeled and diced
1 sm onion, chopped fine - I often use green onions (scallions)
1 c celery, finely diced
1 t celery seed
4 hard-boiled eggs, diced
Toss gently in a bowl.
Dressing:

2 eggs, beaten                                  3/4 c sugar
1 t cornstarch                                  1/4-1/2 c vinegar
1/2 c milk                                            1 t prepared mustard
3 T butter                                            1 c salad dressing

Combine eggs, sugar, and cornstarch, add vinegar, milk and mustard. Cook and stir until thickened.   Remove from heat and add butter and salad dressing. Stir until smooth. Pour over potato mixture and stir gently.

This makes a good size bowl, perfect for parties.

Who's looking closely at my pictures? Do you notice something on our market table that 'shouldn't' be ready yet?

Maybe I Should Teach the Child to Knit??

2011-07-29T19:55:00.000-04:00

This was taken last year on a trip to Bowmanville (for Daddy to recoup from the appendix nonsense). What amazes me is how Ella's holding her crayons almost perfectly! I've been waiting to teach her to knit, the Waldorf folks say after she's 7, but I think she's ready. I'm hoping it will help with her attention span and also make the drives to Scarborough/Bowmanville. The 'are we there yet' questions start before we even get to Bancroft.

Farm Girl Friday -29 July 2011

2011-07-29T11:44:00.001-04:00

This year and this summer really needs to slow down. Time is going by so quickly. And I swear I can see Ella growing these days. That makes times like this even more special.

Ella and I enjoyed a lovely tea party yesterday for 'coffee break'. We had apple cake and drinks. I was nursing a headache so I was having a 'medicinal' coke. Ella was being a princess, so ate her cake with a knife and fork and took tiny, tiny bites.

I am so frustrated with Wal-Mart. I am making some chokecherry jelly and needed some cheesecloth. Silly me, I expected to find some at Wal-Mart in the canning department. But guess what, they don't have any because 'canning season is over'. Funny, I thought it was just starting. For my Canadian readers, if you need canning supplies go to Canadian Tire. They are just starting to get the canning supplies out.

Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real -28 July 2011

2011-07-28T09:18:00.002-04:00

I just had to share this picture for Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real this week. We've had such an explosion of kittens around here. We must have 10 of various sizes. Ella and little Ella had been running with the kittens and sat down on the barn step to take a break.

Yarn Along -27 July 2011

2011-07-27T13:33:00.001-04:00

Busy trying to tidy-up the kitchen, we're having the in-laws over for supper. I almost forgot it was Yarn Along day!

I've slowed down a bit with my knitting. It's just been so hot. I've put away the blanket and the other project just for now. Luckily, I have a girlfriend who's having a baby in the fall. So now I've got the perfect excuse to make my favourite baby pattern. I love to knit Elizabeth Zimmerman's February Baby Sweater. It's so quick, easy and pretty. This is about an hour's worth of knitting. It's from EZ's Knitter's Almanac, a book I can't recommend enough! We're not reading much, just bedtime books really. We're just taking it easy and enjoying the summer and trying not to melt (though the last two days have been just gorgeous).

We Interrupt Our Regularly Scheduled Progamming...

2011-07-22T19:52:00.000-04:00

We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming, there won't be a Farm Girl Friday post this week. The farm girl has melted and is trying to find somewhere cool. What kind of crazy province goes from -45C to +48C (118F) with humidity??? These are about the only times I miss working, our office was so nice and cold in the summer -sigh!

We had a fabulous visit down to Scarborough. Auntie Belinda is really making the house look like a home. She has a perennial border down either side of the front walkway. In a couple years it will will fill in and be gorgeous.

Sunday we dunked Ella in the sunscreen and headed to Centreville on Toronto Island. Even though we lived in Bowmanville all my life, we never went to Centreville. Ella is the perfect age/size for Centreville this year. There was only 1 ride she could not ride. A few required an adult to go along, but that wasn't a problem.

A favourite ride was the antique carousel. This turn around Ella tried out the ostrich. Ella had so much fun on the roller coaster. I finally have someone to go on the wild and crazy rides with me and now I don't like them so much any more. I was is a bit of a car accident in university and since then my balance isn't what it used to be. So getting spun and tossed around isn't the fun it used to be :(

Waiting for the ferry. The crowd on the island was fairly large, there was an India Festival going on. But the crowd at Centreville was perfect. Ella got straight on every ride or only had to wait one turn. Unlike Canada's Wonderland, we didn't have to wait for hours.

I would definitely recommend Centreville for anyone in the Toronto area with little people. You'll have a blast.

The main reason for going to the city this time of year is because it's Great Grandma's birthday at the end of the month. We usually come early because we can't leave Daddy alone during sweet corn season -just too much work for one person. We got Great Grandma a pretty stain glass hummingbird wind chime. She loves hummingbirds (Great Grandpa did).

Not only did I pick up my supply of yarn but we also went to St. Jacob's Market and the fabric store. I got a nice pile of material for Ella and I and we picked up some gorgeous fresh peaches and yellow plums. It's still early for peaches so I was only able to get a small basket, not the big bushel one that I was hoping to get. Though with this heat I'm glad I don't have to be canning a bushel of peaches.

Yarn Along -20 July 2011

2011-07-21T09:48:00.002-04:00

Playing a bit of catch-up today. I wasn’t home in time to post my Yarn Along yesterday so here we go:
Everyone other than COLIN can follow this link to see what I’ve been working on at the farmers’ markets. I am very pleased with how it’s turning out. I can’t say enough good things about Berroco Vintage yarn.

This week’s Yarn Along are the happy additions to my yarn stash. I’m in a bit of a yarn vacuum up here (at least reasonable prices), so whenever I’m back ‘home’ I always try to stop by Tina’s yarn shop. I was in luck and every yarn I bought was on sale. The Snuggly and the Regia were only $3 a ball! I splurged and got myself a new lace book. I need to make a new summer shawl and none of the patterns I could find were tickling my fancy. The book is Victorian Lace Today and it’s gorgeous. I want to knit nearly every project. I’m going to make the Alpine Knit Scarf/stole. The yarn is an alpaca/silk blend and should be beautiful. Tina had a shawl made up in store with this yarn and it was lovely.