Lambing time

Well its lambing time on the farm, we had triplets born on Sunday and twins born on Tuesday.
We need to watch the triplets as usually one is weaker than the rest and needs to be supplmented with a bottle.
The mom with the twins had mastitis last year so has one inoperable teat this year, I hope she can feed both.
What happens to me as i have to look after these lambs as i've lost lambs in the past.
so i become fixated on keeping them alive and i worry about them, this makes me farm bound which is not good for me.
As hubby is busy with a couple jobs nonfarm related and these take him away from the farm , it is all up to me!

Quiz

who has sold over 500 million records?


elvis

Things I Love

I caught the last part of Oprah today , about attracting good things.
They talked about making a list of what you love.
Here is my list in no particular order: fleamarkets, going out for dinner, my husband's ethical values, my family, creating, Shara's loyalty, Colin's out going nature, a goodfire, fresh baked bread with butter, When Ron cooks for me, the property, textured fabrics, early morning in the fog, movies that inspire, a letter in the mail, Asian food, a good nap, clean crisp sheets, a nice clean house, bath with my husband, Blundstone boots, a sea of red poppies in the spring, snowboarding, the smell of Rons aftershave, bracelets, good friends, a good back scratch, making people laugh, walking through fall leaves, a massage , a great memory inspiring song, vanilla scent, dancing, feeling valued and understood, my husbands love of people and life, Ron's mind, oprah, the office, waking without an alarm, good emails not forwards, wind chimes in the breeze, fresh berries, great coffee, facials, my caesar salad, museums, eccentric women, painting, drawing, Spain, Montreal, other creative women, all things ornate, smell of an ice rink, getting my hands dirty, random acts of kindness, Peace

Making Wooden Buttons

this making wooden buttons is challenging, but it gets me out, foraging for different woods in the bush.
Its exciting to see how they come out after cutting, sanding and finishing them.
I'm quite excited about the spalted maple i used last week.
and I've already gone out looking for more, but not with much success.
I know that wooden buttons were the norm in the old days and I bet there are a lot of historical costumes that require wooden buttons.
I saw a great historical photo on flickr of a whole family, including very young children stringing buttons in the living room for about $7 a month.

Making Wooden Buttons

Farming Vs the The Rat Race

I've been very focused on making my blog site the best it can be.

I want it to be entertaining , informative, and inspiring for all those creative or restless minds.

As a new farmer who left the rat race 5 years ago , I am overwhelmed with ideas and lessons to be learnt, but embrace it all.

I will never, never look back, it was the best thing that I did . Selling the house in the suburbs and quitting a good government job, opting out of daily commuting 2.5 hours and taking control of my own life.

We bought 7.5 acres 5 years ago on Fulford Harbour that had basically nothing on it but a sheep shed, 90 apple trees and a couple of old travel trailers. I lived in one of the trailers for 1 year while the house was being built and ron and I prepared the land for farming. Preparing for a small farm was hard and exhausing work, but extremely rewarding. We sometimes didn't leave the property for weeks on end. We developed muscles we didn't know we had, and we were driven to make it all it could be and more.

I encourage all who are fed up with the city rat race to consider going into small farming, trading a house on a lot for a place with pastoral and water views, where you can grow your own food, grow a few cash crops, build a guest cottage or family and friends (cause they will be coming, believe me!) and have all kinds of animals, meet and enjoy your neighbors and start having the Best time of your life!! (what are you waiting for , your not getting younger)

And farming will make you younger and healthier.

Living the Good and Rural Life

Pottery Classes and handmade Wooden Buttons

Its been a busy week , I've been busy in the studio and Ron has been working on jobs in Vancouver and Salt Spring.

I've been taking a pottery class on Tuesday evenings and I'm having fun.

I'm learning how to throw on the wheel this session.

My first night I did great making a mug and 2 bowls.

Boy do you need strength in hands and forearms to prepare the clay.

I also learnt that you lean your whole body into the throwing.

Well so much for any kind of finger nails, between guitar playing and pottery making they need to be short.

I'm also making wooden buttons for my shop, its been fun trying out the different woods to see what kind of patterning i get.

Ron went out and bought me a drill press as I was drilling the holes by hand, and they were not even.

So now I better get producing making all kinds of wood buttons.