Two Girls And a Dream Farm- Our Third Visit

We (Shannon’s parents) are visiting for the third time, exactly at the same time of year as our first visit.
Since we only come every six months we can really appreciate the changes. Outside things have opened up as Shannon has continued to remove the underbrush. Much of it is a real challenge as it is wild roses with twisted grasping tentacles, some of them as thick as your arm.

We also have new family members- 30 chickens, many with distinct personalities. Four nights ago two chickens, Big Bird and Rosie, did not come into the coop at bedtime so they spent the night outside but showed up in the morning for food. “Typical teenagers” Shannon called these young chickens. The next night Big Bird showed up with the others at bedtime but no Rosie and the pattern has continued. I guess Rosie does not like the coop but we cannot find out where she is hiding. And we have looked and looked.

Dixie has grown. She is still young and mischievous and full of energy but loving and playful too. We had a lovely afternoon taking her to the beach for a game of retrieve the ball. The tide was too far out for her to swim so she had more of a mud bath than a swim.

Zoe is focused on getting her drivers license. She is doing in-class training and road training. She often drives us into town and is doing very well. Did I mention she bought her own car - “The Blueberry”? She really directed her summer earnings to this project.
Shannon is happy but is unbelievably busy. At the Y she works on front desk and as membership sales lead. She continues to reclaim her property, works on the vegetable garden, mows a nearby churchyard, lovingly cares for her chickens as well as all the other jobs a mom and house owner has.

Our jobs while we are here- 
Prep a room for the drywaller, which we did and he starts Monday. 
Harvest and preserve veggies -we harvested a tub full and froze cauliflower and broccoli, cured onions and garlic for wintering over, made cauliflower soup, roasted veggies and had many salads. We are going to experiment with green tomato recipes tomorrow.
Major undergrowth clean up and burning, some tree removal.
Added electricity to the barn and chicken coop, failed in another electrical challenge, repaired the dehumidifier, repaired a hole in a floor. Bought a generator in case there is another power failure.

We have had fun too- dinners out in seafood restaurants, a trip to Yarmouth, a drive to Bridgetown and  a day in Annapolis Royal, especially enjoying the Saturday morning market.
Our time is more than half over. I start missing my girls before we even leave. This year we will be back in December so that we can celebrate Christmas with Zoe and Shannon. Can’t wait.

Sandy





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