Roof Shoveling

With the coming rain  I thought it would be a good idea to get as much snow off the porch and wood shed roof as possible. There was almost 2 feet of snow up there! Here's a few pics of me up on the snow drifts. It was a little exciting, freaky when the snow gave out from under me at times, but fun especially sliding down at the end.

Another Blizzard?

I thought it was a joke yesterday. 15 - 20 cm maybe even 40 on the way. No way. Well Saint Paddy's brush certainly painted the landscape. The farm received over 55cm. The blowing snow redistributing it throughout the day. All of our footprints were lost within a half hour. The morning began with me strapping on my snow shoes to get up to the barn. I grabbed some water and the snow shovel and laughed at the ludicracy of it all. It took me over 20 minutes to break into the barn. 

The chickens were happy to see me. Frankly they must be completely bored by now as they haven't come out since it started snowing in November.

After a yummy breakfast we made our way up to the greenhouse. The boys played inside while I got to work shoveling off the outside. 

The heat from the greenhouse has melted about 6 inches of snow away from the sides which I fell into twice. First time Anthony ran over to me concerned. 2nd time Anthony just yelled at me "Mom you ok?" "Yep just trying to figure out an escape route." I had sunk so deep I was stuck for a bit. Thankfully I was able to dig in the shovel to then hoist myself out of the snow. 

After digging out around the greenhouse then came the clearing of the roof, which then made it mandatory to dig the whole thing out again. Ugh.

We spent a few hours preparing the garden beds. The boys had a great time getting their hands dirty with me. They are quite excited to get planting.

Later that night our driveway was plowed. The next morning after the wind had finally died down it was time to reshovel practically everything. Huge drifts had once again formed and the way to the greenhouse was... blocked. Thank goodness for my snowshoes!

Spring Is In The Air

Spring is in the air. Our seeds have arrived and sowing began in earnest yesterday. There are over 600 little seeds ready to sprout and many more to be started. So with that thought I looked out my window this evening and said "Hey those look like pussy willow bushes!"

Maybe it's the time change making me a little loopy or it's just me being me. Those were not in fact pussy willows, it of course, was snow.
I went outside to close up the barn and at first went "Are you kidding me!!!" However that didn't last long as it was just too beautiful to stay moody. The scene before me was breathtaking with the soft snow cradled in the branches, the sky deepening with the sunset and the first stars shining down. If you haven't guessed I'm a bit of a romantic.

Shovelling the driveway was a bit treacherous. With the recent positive temperatures the driveway has turned into an ice rink. Slowly but surely it was done with me shouting "The End Is Near!" when I got to the bottom.
Happy Spring Everyone!

Winter Thoughts

There is always a sort of glamour people place on country living. Peace, tranquillity, homemade treats, beautiful night skies, chickens clucking and cooing at each other. Farm living is an amazing, rewarding life but it's a hard one too. Before moving here from the city I knew there would be challenges. I'm not sure I knew how many things would need my attention. My friends still tell me I'm crazy. A woman with 2 kids making a go of running an organic farm, completely renovating a 175 year old farm house and now taking on a part time job managing a boat repair shop to help pay the bills. Goodness, I'm overwhelmed after reading that. This is how I'm able to make things work on my own. Sure not everything is perfect. I have a mile long list and it's all dealt with by their ever changing priority. I just keep moving and doing my best. 

This winter which seems to have been condensed into a month has hit hard and the farm and me are feeling it's effects. I had a leak over the dining room due to an ice dam that formed on the roof. The snow melted above it and then pooled coming in under the shingles and into the house. It took me two attempts to fix it.

The first time I was able to lean out the window with a hatchet. Then when the drip reappeared a couple days later I had to expand my search area for the water. I ended up on a ladder swinging an axe. Ouch, pulled some muscles that day. Still mission accomplished! Always rejoice in your victories no matter how small. Yesterday found me chopping wood to refill the wood box and shovelling as much snow off the roof as possible before the Blizzard hit last night. 

This morning I was shocked when I went to take care of the chickens with the amount of snow down. Already it was almost up to my knees! I'll nab the kids to come help me shovel the patio this afternoon.

5 minutes after coming down from the barn.

There are always a lot of items on my to do list. Most days my house is a mess. I'm happy just to get the dishes done and have the boys clean up their toys. Still it's all worth it. I'm sitting here by the fire with my cat purring next to me, listening to my boys laughing. The wonderful smell of baked bread is making my mouth water and enjoying the view of my farm which has so many possibilities. I have a smile on my face. We all have hard days, tomorrow is another chance to make things even better. Each of us has the ability to realise our dreams. Enjoy those sunsets!

Sledding In The Blizzard

Mommy, Can we go sledding with you? 

Honeys it's a blizzard out there. 

Mom. PLEASE!!! 

Silence. 

OK.

We had at least 6 inches of snow down so far and the wind had whipped it into huge drifts. It was light powder snow, perfect for Wipe Outs. The boys had both received snow sliders for Christmas from their aunt and uncle. These completely surpass the crazy carpets we have. Oh my goodness they are a blast! They are the shape of a body board with the hard styrofoam and a crazy carpet bottom. In no time I had the boys scooting down the slope on their knees with no hands. So much fun. After a number of runs I felt it was time for a bigger challenge.

Anyone want to go up to the field?

YES!!!!

We had been quite sheltered down at the house so the wind was a lot stronger up on the slopes. My only rule was you must fall down at a designated point so you don't hit the fence line. 

The boys did great and I took the prize of the best crash when I caught an edge and went rolling down the hill, snow flying everywhere. Eek!

When the snow turned to ice pellets we started the trek back to the house using the boards to shelter our faces. The last little bit back to the house we sledded down, Anthony on one board and Navarre climbed on with me on the other. I think we were out there for about 2 hours in the blizzard. Crazy Mommy. We were exhausted from climbing back up the hills countless times and our cheeks were so rosy. We all had huge smiles. 

Just another cool part of our farm, fantastic sledding hills.

Pipe Dreams

I'm not sure I would say I've attained a new skill but the plumbing is fixed! That was an experience. I'm happy to say I never lost my cool, however the sanity and judgement of the people who installed the plumbing in the first place was certainly called into question numerous times. 

It was crazy. One joint I'm sure was held together by will alone as when I gently pulled on it to test for leaks it fell apart! During the "operation" I found another leak in the middle of a tangle of pipes which reminded me of an old computer game called Pipe Dreams. 

In the end I had to rip down part of a wall behind the spiral staircase to reach the pipe to cut at a suitable location. This will enable me to later rerun the pipes and reattach the washing machine which had it's hook ups behind the staircase! Comedy of Errors. 

The bad part from all this was realizing just how badly I need to replace the plumbing. Finding out that none of the secondary cold shut offs work with the main one looking questionable is a little unnerving. The good part is I stepped up and dealt with the issue and Voila! It's fixed! Somewhat temporarily, but it's fixed! 

Happy woman. Time for a glass of relaxation.

Is That... Water Running?

We were rushing out the door yesterday when I heard something. It was the sound of water running. Leaning my forehead on the wall I said to myself "Please, please let that be either the toilet running or the tap upstairs." No luck. Groaning I grabbed the flashlight and started investigating. I discovered the shut off the valve to the future downstairs toilet had blown and had a steady leak. Great. 

The really annoying part came when I tried to find a shut off valve. Appearently there is none for that end of the house. Good grief. I turned off the shut off next to the kitchen but alas cold water still flowed freely from the kitchen sink when I checked. Down in the cellar I found the next shut off. Guess what! That one didn't work either! I find myself back down in the cellar looking at the main shut off observing the huge amount of rust on it. I take a deep breath and turn the valve, then head back up to check the taps. Thank goodness it worked.

Heading home today I'll be stopping in at my local hardware store for supplies and then finding the hacksaw. Time to learn something new.