Yesterday we went to collect an old pan for boiling sap down into maple syrup. The man who decided to give it to us took us out to the sugar shack on his property. He said he hadn't used the shack in 30 years. Sod had grown up around… Read full post »

 There's an expression around here: 'north of 7'. It's the local equivalent of being from the Ozarks. North of Highway 7, where the limestone gives way to towering granite and the farm fields succumb to evergreen forests, live odd folk in unconventional dwellings, surviving by we… Read full post »

 It's easy to let the Christmas expectations ballon to enormous proportions. Usually, the real event is marred by a flaw or two; fighting over whose family to eat dinner with, disappointment that the gift you were hoping for didn't appear, or worry about how to pay for… Read full post »

  People are starting to worry about us. Our house isn't done yet. It is mid-December and we are still living in our trailer. In November we finally bought a kerosene heater so that we could warm the place up during breakfast and supper.

So far,/… Read full post »

  Sometimes it is necessary to cut loose all your safety nets before you can push yourself to do something new. This was the case for me when it came to learning to drive DH's beloved '87 Toyota pick-up. It's a standard and I have long been a proponent/… Read full post »

Caution: This post describes the slaughtering of turkeys in graphic detail.

I can't say I was sorry to see our turkeys go. They had taken to breaking free in the dead of night. Rounding up wandering turkeys in my pyjamas was getting old. Last Friday we put the homemade wooden/… Read full post »

 A dear, longtime friend of mine moved apartments recently and when I went over for a visit, she showed me a postcard sent to her from DH and I back in '05, when we went on our big cross-country trip. The card wasn't very interesting, aside from a cryptic remark/… Read full post »

 Ever since we purchased this land, part of our dream has been to build a small house to live in. This task has been on DH's to-do list, haunting him. He has been chipping away at the project with help here and there. Finally we got to a phase… Read full post »

I knew people were talking about us when I went to the corner store and the woman that works there said to her dad (sitting at the counter), “They're the work-in-progress,” by way of an introduction. I know less kind words have been applied. My/… Read full post »

  We keep our older pigs inside a portable electrical fence. Smart animals that they are, they quickly established that the orange netting was their boundary. Whenever we bring food or water the pigs come stampeding over to the fence but are sure to stay about one micromete… Read full post »

These are two baby watermelons. They are so cute I just want to pick them right now! Lots of things are coming along in the garden- beans, peas, radishes, cucumbers, tomatoes. Honestly, I'm not sure what we're going to do with all of it. With no electricity, we… Read full post »

The egg on the left side of the picture is a double- it has two yolks. Imagine that one comin' down the ole egg duct. Before we had eggs of our own, DH found a source where he could buy doubles by the dozen. They were even bigger… Read full post »

  Meela is an amazing dog and I could tell you many things about her- for instance, she has two coats of hair, one long for winter and one so short and thin I imagine it must feel as cool as wearing linen- but I will try… Read full post »

Life does not take pity on you or give you any rewards just because you live in a trailer and are harassed by mosquitoes, heat and malfunctioning equipment. Daily hassles and larger problems assail me. A big one is haunting me right now.

… Read full post »

On Sunday DH brought home three female Tamworth piglets, purchased from the self-proclaimed largest Tamworth operation in North America (at 500 adult hogs). Tamworth is a heritage breed of pig that is hardy to winter weather. We plan on breeding them when they develop into adul… Read full post »

  Sometimes, for various reasons, you have to kill things.

Yesterday we came home to find more of our meat chickens dead inside their moveable cage. We have been hit hard by Coccidiosis, a deadly disease exacerbated by damp conditions. The birds contract Coccidiosis and th… Read full post »

This is the old stove we are going to restore. DH got it for $100. New they are worth $4000, however we'll probably spend at least a solid week's worth of time de-rusting it.  I am skeptical as to whether it will provide enough heat for the cabin we are… Read full post »

  I cannot poo on the farm. Everywhere I look there are animals pooing; the yard is full of dog poop, chicken poop, pig poop- the smell of pig manure fertilizer wafts through the air. Poop from wild birds falls from the sky. Yet, I cannot go in… Read full post »