Girl Time

When we first moved here, Zoe and I were determined to take time to enjoy Nova Scotia and all it has to offer. We have done some exploring: We enjoy the farmers markets, the small businesses, the seafood. We have been to the bigger cities like Yarmouth New Minas and Halifax but usually for necessity not exploration. 

Two weeks ago we put our minds to trying this again. We are choosing one day a week and we have been exploring some beaches and incorporating some local food, whether it be a food truck, a scoop (or two) of ice cream, or a local owned restaurant
. 

It has been so delightful to spend this time with Zoe and to see more of what this beautiful province has to offer. We have stepped on rock beaches, white sand beaches, beaches known for sea glass collecting and loved the feel and mood of them all. 

There are three other reasons for these weekly jaunts. 

One: Zoe and I love crafting and are doing a lot collecting off these beaches which we are hoping to turn into local products for our marketplace. 

Two: I have wanted a better knowledge of local spots to take people to when they visit. 

Three: this spring has been stressful and digging my toes in the sand has a way of grounding me and calming me as I tip my head to the sun and smile. 

I love this part of the world I have chosen as Twogirls Headquarters!

Scout

Five months ago I was so happy to introduce you to my two new puppies who were the future of the farm. Tillie is to be my livestock guardian and protect all my barn animals from predators including the foxes who took so many of my chickens and ducks last year. And Scout was to be my shadow, my companion and help out around the farm, hopefully even learning to pull a cart.

Over the past five months they have grown physically and have learned many commands but I have not been able to get them to stop chewing everything and anything. 

Unbeknownst to me, Scout swallowed a cat toy. Over the course of 6 days it worked to completely block his small intestines until culminating in vomiting 13 times in 2 hours. After a vet visit we decided to do X-rays. These led to the discovery of the cat toy requiring surgery to remove it. The surgery was a success and a very lethargic Scout came home. 

Four hours later, he died, seizing, in front of Zoe and I. It is the vets opinion that he threw a post surgical blood clot and just like that, this amazing puppy that had healed my heart after losing Dixie and gained his own real estate in my heart, was gone. 

We are a sad, lost feeling family right now. And that includes our lovely Tillie who lost her best friend and is so confused and anxious. 

Zoe summed it up beautifully:

“You healed my heart in all ways possible. I have never seen a dog smile so much. Thank you for choosing me to be your best friend. I wish you could’ve been with us longer. You were my project pup for school because you were so well behaved🥺 You were the absolute best puppy I’ve ever had. Tillie misses you like you would never understand. Adjusting without you is going to be hard. Until we meet again my boy❤️ I love you eternally. I hope you’re running free with my Dixie💔”

The slide show is ridiculously long but I am not sorry. I want to share every moment of the too short five months that I had the joy of loving this incredible boy.

Mom

So many things have been happening at the farm which I will come back to in the next few blogs. Today let’s talk mom.

May 9th mom and dad arrived back at the homestead to oversee the set up of their cottage.
We have spend months talking about, and arranging, for them to set up a trailer on my property. They chose a quiet area with beautiful water views, deer trails all around them and the calming sound of a babbling brook off to the left.

When they arrived they were thrilled to see Darryl Jelfs already digging the septic bed. He and his guys were amazing going above and beyond including moving the trailer onto the site for us.

Then Thursday, Jason Levings showed up with his crew to drill the well. Again, an amazing group of people who went above and beyond even helping dad and I move 70 patio stones!

And the next day is Friday the 13th- written by a non-superstitious person.

Mom goes out to give the pigs some tasty dandelion treats and the next thing I know, she is laying on the ground with a broken leg and just for fun toss in a broken wrist acquired catching herself as she fell. Unfortunately this is not the first time. Mom has osteoporosis and has broken bones in Greece, Beamsville, England, and now Nova Scotia. Dad can now offer a great comparative study on medical care around the world.
A very talented surgeon inserted a plate in her wrist and a rod in her femur and she is recouping in the hospital (1.5 hours away) waiting to transfer to a rehab facility in Digby (10 minutes from our house).
Not quite the way we wanted to spend her time here, seeing each other during hospital visiting hours. But we are so happy that she will a least be rehabing closer to the homestead. Now dad can be comfortable here at the house and then enjoy the cottage, instead of hotel hopping, and I can see her daily (if she can put up with me everyday)!

In the meantime, their trailer now is in position, it has a septic bed and septic tank, it has a drilled well, and most recently, dad and I assembled a shed that will hold the wells pressure tank and electrical panel.

My brother has taken on the task of figuring out how to get power to the trailer and will be here in June to set them up in solar.

Some of mom’s first words to me after falling were “I am never coming back to Nova Scotia”. I truly hope those were words uttered in pain and frustration, because, after months of thought and planning and replanning, there is such a beautiful spot here now for her to relax, enjoy and take in some beautiful sights. Not to mention, I value every minute I get to spend with her here, and appreciate all her help and guidance on paint colours, with preserving my harvest and of course sharing the joy I have for all my farm babies.

I can't wait to have you back mom💖

COVID

Covid finally found our household. Zoe brought it home and was down for 7 days. Nasal and head congestion, loss of taste and smell, and exhausted. Then it hit me. Chest congestion, cough, body aches, chills, icky stomach, exhaustion. When I could find the energy to care, I found it fascinating that we could have such different symptoms in the same house at the same time. 

Unable to work for any length of time outside, I have been relegated to rest, read and putter inside. 

My parents gifted me with Mother Earth News magazine and it’s archives dating back to 1970 for my birthday. I have enjoyed reading through the archives, gathering great tips and realizing that although the world is a very different place than it was in 1970, the ideas of farming haven’t changed that much. Or maybe it’s that we are now looking back 50 years and realizing how right the methods were then and implementing them again?

I have almost all my seedlings started under the grow lights. I still have to plant the peppers but ran out of soil. And since no one wants my germ infected person in town, they will have to wait another week to get planted. I was very excited to peek in today and already see tiny brussel sprouts, cabbage and broccoli coming up!! 

I want to put out a huge thank you to the Troup’s❤️ I received an amazing package in the mail from Charissa and Dean containing some of their farms maple syrup which I am saving to enjoy with my father. He is the only person I know who loves maple syrup more than me! This package also contained some seeds Charissa saved from her garden. The seeds, the variety, the handmade paper labels, everything, was so amazing. I believe she just added another “farm goal” to my list! I really am so appreciative-thank you!

Here’s hoping for a healthier week ahead.

Baby Season

Baby season has successfully begun. 

The incubator is up and running with our first hatch completed. We had one duck egg which was fertilized but did not hatch and 13 chicken eggs. Of those, 12 were fertilized and 9 hatched. So what does this mean?? It means my roosters and drakes are doing their jobs, but I have to do mine better. I have the incubator temperature and timing down pat and am getting better success rates, but still struggle with keeping the humidity levels at an ideal percentage. 

We have 5 ducks eggs in right now (all fertilized yay) and 19 chicken eggs but I won’t know their fertility until Wednesday when I do the first candling. 

It’s wonderful to be hatching these tiny adorable babies but I do feel badly for the big girls. Between the fox that I still see regularly in the back yard and the avian flu which is wiping out flocks across North America, they remain locked up in the barn for their safety. That is not the life I want for my animals, so I am moving ahead with the fenced in area and Tillie is spending more and more time in the barn learning her guardian dog skills which will at least help with the predator problems. Unfortunately time is the only thing that will help with the avian flu problem.

The puppies are growing although not as fast as I had feared. They are gaining about 2 pounds a week putting them at 44 pounds right now. We are doing our best to expend their puppy energy by running in the back field a couple times a day. Scouts idea of running is chasing me to get a treat while Tillie runs circles around us🤦‍♀️ We are also ramping up the training and doing a lot of recall training as I learned the hard way with Dixie…for their own safety, the dogs need to be perfect at coming to me when I call them.

The cats have been the concern this week. Phoenix, our primary barn cat (who comes in the house a lot) had a tapeworm. Poor guy must have been so uncomfortable. But one trip to the vets, deworming pills for all our cats, one gross worm in the litter box and we are happy again.

Another slide show for you. Love all my babies💖

Grateful Happy Sad Proud

That’s a lot of feels for one week!

My 51st birthday happened last week. (WHAT??? Say it isn’t so- I don’t feel 51 anyway. Maybe a strong side of 49, but not 51!! Haha)

I am very GRATEFUL for all the thoughts and well wishes that came my way. It was a day I paused and reflected, ate good food and drank cheap wine. I worked all day and talked to many family members in the evening, played with the puppies and snuggled with the ducks. Overall a quiet but lovely day enjoying the gifts from the fam💖

I am HAPPY that I went to the airport and picked Zoe up after her week back in Ontario. It was only one week but it sure is quiet when she’s not around. 

I am SAD that my beautiful, fun, lovable Winnie went to the butchers. Winnie was purchased for meat. This was always the game plan. What I hadn’t counted on was how much I fell in love with him. But I have been concerned over the past few months with his aggression towards the other two pigs. I am also hoping Ellie is pregnant and felt she needed a safe conflict free space. 

I learned a lot through this process.

First: I have provided my pigs a great home. The butcher, Steve, loved the set up, shelter, forested area and size of their space.

Second: Winter is not the time to butcher an animal. Too much of his fat stores had been used to keep warm and foraging was reduced by the amount of snowfall we had this year leaving me with a pig on the small side. 

Third: I am PROUD to say that I am an excellent sausage maker. I made sausage pattie’s since neither Zoe or I like the casings for links and I made:

Greek with sundried tomatoes, black olives and feta cheese (yummiest of yums!)

Salt and pepper(tried and true delicious).

Maple breakfast pattie’s (with our own freshly boiled maple syrup.)

Hot Italian (not my favourite but a classic nonetheless.)

And sweet Italian which I made into meatballs. 

I enjoyed a sample plate for supper! (note the mushrooms on the side - I ate a lot of mushrooms while Zoe was away!)

I loved the experience of raising Winnie as a loved member of our family knowing we were giving him the best life we could, and in return he would give nourishment to us. 

Progress Feels So Good

I had a great week. I went back to basics and wrote a list. The past few weeks have been hard to find my rhythm so with a list in hand I got busy. 

Dad helped me lay the floor joists in the barn but I have not progressed any further. One of the things holding me back was the barn cats. They access the barn from underneath and come out in this dirt floor section. To ensure they still can get in and do their job I had to create a cat door. It could have been so simple, but I did not like the idea of cutting a hole in the wall so…After weeks of thought and contemplation (fancy words for procrastination) I built a “hut” and attached a cat flap. I then enlarged an already weakened part of the floor, screwed the hut on top and…voila. A cat only (no weasels or others allowed) entrance. 

I am closer still to reaching goal #5. I split the wood that I had cut from two apple trees, two spruce trees and one birch tree. I now have one quarter of the wood I’ll need for next winter haha!! A long ways to go but I have never had this much cut by the first week of March so I am really happy and positive I will meet this goal. 

Finally, I took advantage of our above zero temps today to tap the maple trees. If you recall from previous years, this is a “for fun” project that has never been very successful starting with the fact that I have only four maples that are large enough to tap and ending with me properly identifying maple trees. But I love doing it and this is the act that heralds in the season of growth and harvest for me.

Incubator Season Begins

 I love this time of year!! The incubator came out of storage, got a good cleaning and is set up in our spare bedroom.

After all our losses last year we moved into 2022 with 2 ducks. A male (Lucky) and a female (our first hatchling Little Duck). Little Duck started to lay eggs just over a month ago and I collected one last week and popped it in the incubator. On examination today, it looks like it is developing!!! I am so excited and hopeful. Tomorrow we will add a dozen or so chicken eggs. Duck eggs take 28 days to hatch and chicken only take 21. So this staggered start ensures the hatch date is the same and our single duck (I know-don’t count your eggs before they hatch…but I belong to the camp that says-believe it into existence) will have little friends to grow up with.

I finally stopped waiting for good weather and just went ahead and had a much enjoyed bon fire today. It was so lovely and needed. Dad and I had cleaned out the garage and barn and had accumulated a lot of boxes and scraps that needed to be burned not to mention the brush pile that had gotten very large and was encircling the fire pit again. It didn’t reach the heat or size of other bonfires, but it was a good start to the season.

And for good measure: some animal pictures💖

Inspiration and Acceptance

Firewood, firewood and firewood. This has been my week! I have cut down 3 trees and am so happy with the progress towards my goal #5: collect enough firewood for next winter. Zoe and I will be renting a splitter soon and that will give me a better idea of how close I really am.

As I have made abundantly clear, last year was tough for me. Throughout the months I gathered quotes from different sources that rang true or gave me strength or hope or simply, importantly, made me laugh. I will share some of these with you from time to time:

“This year I survived, next year I want to live”-Via (Dark Secrets)

Yes, yes, yes, yes

“Nothing is really lost until your mom can’t find it”-Unknown

My son had moved to a new place which I was unable to see or help with. He called me one day asking where his car insurance slip was. It was a week later that this was written on the white board at the YMCA and I laughed and laughed and laughed. Since, never having seen Brandon’s new place or room, I was still able to help him find his car insurance 😂

Finally...

It has been such a wonderful week! We got a good melt and lots of lovely above zero temperatures. I feel so happy to have gotten a lot of firewood cut in this short reprieve in between storms. As I sit today in front of the fire reading my book watching an expected 20-30 cm of snow fall, I feel so much less anxiety having had the week outside working. 

That feeling is two fold. There is always so much to do around the farm that having a month like January where I could barely get outside is enough to cause anxiety but more importantly is how being outside, breathing fresh air, working hard and getting dirty makes me feel “right”. Recharges my soul. Brings me such peace and calm that I wonder if I ever took a deep breath living in an urban environment.

In September of 2019 we had hurricane Dorian blow through and the
winds knocked an apple tree into a second apple. Last week I finally made great progress in cutting it down and sizing it for next years firewood. 

As far as the animals go:

The chickens and ducks also got some much missed time outside, the dogs are growing before our eyes (literally! According to their latest vet checks they are growing at almost a pound a day😳) and hormones are running rampant in the pig pen!

Just Us Again

Mom and dad are gone. 

I feel like what I have to write is a recap of mom's blog last week...but to wrap up their visit:

They were here for 4 weeks and 3 days, I got them for an extra 3 days due to an ice storm. They were here for 5 weekends and Nova Scotia treated them to 4 storms, 72 total hours of no power, snowed in, buried under a solid inch of ice and temperatures that dipped below “feels like” -27. Mom swears they will never be back in January. She plans to return in May and I am sure she will like the black flies much better than the snow 😉

Although we did not complete our usual list of farm chores which was disappointing as I try to take advantage of any visiting body on the farm, we really did accomplish a lot. 

Top of my “yay” list was replacing the kitchen tap and repairing the cupboard under it. The tap has dripped since the day I moved in and while it took 3.5 years, I could no longer stand the water torture! Dad and I took a day, some blood sacrifice and a bit of language not suitable for my mother's ears and we got it done!!! I cannot express how happy this makes me❤️

We also got an fantastic start on the barn floor. I could not build the base with hangers and joists by myself, so to have that done is not only amazing, but gets me closer to checking that job of my 2022 goals list!!! Yay dad and Shannon!!

Although no ground got broken, we made great progress on getting mom and dad set up in their “cottage”. There is a secluded area on my property where they are going to put a trailer. We got the septic, well, and electric all organized to go in within the next few months so when they come back they should have their own space to relax in. 

We have refinished three rooms since we moved in, but there is always something not quite completed so…the den is done! The bathroom is done! Zoe’s room is so much closer to done! Just a bit of touch up paint left to do. So then we were able to move on to room number 4….the living room. It was a hard decision since I had planned to finish the dining room, living room and hallway in a cohesive flow. But I am so sick and tired of having a plywood floor that I decided this is the year of not being embarrassed to have people over. We got windows ordered and a tile ceiling replaced with drywall. I promised mom that Zoe and I will make more progress before their return in the spring!

It is always great to have my parents here and it seems eerily quiet today. Zoe started work today and the puppies and I are doubling down to find a routine that works for us, and we will find our new normal again within a few days (I hope!).

Nova Scotia In January

We left home 3 and a half weeks ago for some time in Nova Scotia. We were hoping to oversee some developments on “our lot” - a piece of Shannon’s property where she has let us put a trailer. 

Since we arrived the weather has been inhospitable. There have been three serious winter storms, one of which left us without power for 48 hours. All of our outdoor plans went out the window as there was not even a melting break between snows. The final dig out was done by a neighbour the day after storm #3 because we had to get to the airport to pick up Zoe. 

Indoors we had some interesting situations. No power meant cooking on the wood burning stove for a couple of days. Shannon slept in the living room just to make sure the fire did not go out. Luckily she had a bottled water dispenser so drinking water was not a problem but we had to melt snow for watering the animals and flushing the toilets. 

We really felt like pioneers. 

We did feel a sense of accomplishment indoors. When we finally realized outdoor jobs would not get done we turned our attention onto the house. We put some finishing touches on the bathroom, did trim work and painting in Zoe’s bedroom, hired a man to rip down and replace the living room ceiling and ordered new living room windows. Some crack filling and painting may happen before we leave on Friday. So I guess the bad weather did motivate us in other areas.

However, in the future, I think January is off our list as a time for visiting.

Sandy

Scout and Tillie

Meet Scout and Tillie, the newest additions to the farm.

Scout is a Bernese Mountain Dog and I am hoping he will be my shadow working around the farm with me. He had a rough, sick start, but is fun, loving, gentle and everything I had hoped for in a beloved companion.

Tillie is a Maremma Livestock Guardian Dog. After losing so many chickens and ducks to foxes this year, I am training Tillie to protect our animals. So far the rabbits are terrified of her, the chickens tolerate her, the ducks are interested in her and she loves every single one of ….their poop🤢 She is curious, lovable and in her teething stage!

Now,  I present, "Puppies" slideshow ❤️ (this is my first slideshow so I hope it works...otherwise just imagine how adorable my new babies are😂).

Goal Setting

My first, and most important, goal for 2022 will be to have a better work / farm balance. I have made the first strides in that direction and have accepted a part time relief position at a small, local medical office which will help pay the bills and give me time to develop an income from the farm. Besides this job, I have two side gigs that also help provide extra cash for animal feed and bedding but leave me lots of time to be at home.

Creating a goals list this year is exciting for me. I was to overwhelmed last year to focus on completing tasks, so to even have the hope and desire to make a list is exciting!!

Let's begin. I want:

1. To finish the floor in the barn
2. To add goats to the farm and learn how to make cheese
3. To build a fence around the barn for the all the animals to have safe indoor/outdoor space    (monitored by Tillie the Livestock Guardian Dog)
4. To clean the pond of weeds and reeds and make it a clean space for the ducks.
5. To cut enough firewood for next winter and build a storage lean-to for it.
6. To prepare and plant a hay field
7. To transplant the wild blueberry’s to one garden
8. To build cold frames to extend the garden season
9. To research and put into action different ways for the farm to support itself (and ideally me too!)

That’s a pretty ambitious list so...decide what your strengths are, and I will put you to work when you visit😉

Gratitude in 2021

Last week I complained and explained all the crappy, overwhelming things that had me simply surviving instead of thriving last year.

This week, let’s recount the good that happened in 2021 that I am grateful for.

I loved the experience of hatching with the incubator. I hatched chickens 4 times and twice I hatched ducks. Hatch day is so exciting watching these little gaffers break out of their shell. If you have never cuddled a day old chick, it needs to go on your bucket list. The world rights itself in those moments. 

Willow had her second littler of bunnies and baby bunnies are sooo adorable! 

We got pigs❤️ be still my heart. I never thought I could love a pig, but now I have the joy of loving three. 

We hatched our first duck and she is the sweetest, loudest thing. She had no friends for the first few weeks of her life so we are her family. She will still come up into our arms and cuddle and hug and nuzzle our necks. Amazing love and trust.

We welcomed three new cats into our home and barn. Dexter and Nacho (who we since lost to the road) were adopted through the friends of feral society and were brought in as barn cats and Callie is our newest polydactyl kitten. She "loves me to death" as she sleeps every night wrapped so tight around my neck I can’t breathe at times! 

My heart has burst wide open again as two new puppies call our farm home. I am hoping to train them to be working dogs. We got a maremma sheepdog, Tillie, who will be trained to be a livestock guardian dog and protect all my babies from those nasty foxes, raccoons and other predators. And Scout the Bernese who I am hoping will be my shadow and work with me around the property possibly even pulling a cart if I am able to train him. 

I have wonderful friends who take time out of their busy schedules to eat, drink, tour and talk with me. I have explored more restaurants and local events and have gotten to know the community better this year.

And of course COVID restrictions relaxed enough in the fall for visits💕 Cheryl kicked it off by stopping in for tea one evening as she was passing through. Next came Brandon. I had not been able to see my son in person for 22 months when he came for a week. It was so wonderful! We cooked and talked and went to some local sights including Brier Island which I had never done before and loved it! I have since been able to see Brandon in Ontario twice, once briefly in October and once over Christmas. I have been a very happy mommy to be able to spend this time with him. Then came my brother, sister in law, niece and their king shepherd Argo whose visit coincided with my parents September arrival. 

Some people may disagree with this, but also in the joyful column this year I am putting "turning 50". What a milestone to have reached and (much to my 10 year old selfs surprise) realize I still have so much more to live and learn. 

When I look at this list I see, that although I did emotionally struggle in 2021, there were some absolutely wonderful moments and additions as well. 

Next week: the plans…..

Putting 2021 Behind Me

Happy New Year! I am one of the people who is welcoming in 2022 with hope for a better year ahead. But before we go ahead, I left you rather suddenly in June and have some explaining to do.

When I first moved and started the blog, my intention had been to share my joy and love for Nova Scotia and a simpler, happier farming life. I know that sounds crazy, farming is never simple! But I still feel this life is simpler and makes me happier than anything I could be doing in Ontario (with the exception of spending time with my son and family).

That being said, last year was miserable. I felt like I just kept taking hit after hit and rather than feel joy, I was in survival mode. Why?

Death is part of farming but geez…

We lost 5 baby bunnies, one who was stillborn after hours and hours of trying to help mom deliver.

We lost 2 ducks to Dixie, 1 to a natural death, 2 to a fox and 2 to a raccoon.

Using my exciting new incubator, I hatched 26 chicks to add to my flock of 20. Today I have 25 chickens in the coop. Do the math, that means I lost 21 chickens between natural causes, rats and fox attacks. 

With the increase in foxes and rodents, we increased our barn presence with more cats. We adopted two feral barn cats. One decided he liked the church next door better (although he does still come frequent our barn) and one was killed by a car. 

We also lost our beloved Dixie when she too was hit by a car. This destroyed me. I cannot express how devastated we were by her loss. So joyful and energetic one second then lifeless, gone the next second. 

I spend months figuring out how to create a pig enclosure only to have the fence charger not be strong enough and they break out and churn up the back yard. I upgrade the charger which works well until the battery dies. Turns out I was sold the wrong type of battery. Replace the battery but the pigs now know it only hurts for a sec to cross the wire so they break out, churn up more of the back yard and cross the brook at low tide ensuring they could not return again that day as the tide rose. Another month later, and another fence concept. I have spent 9 months (so far) attempting to keep my pigs safe and secure.

I got pasturella multocida from my “vicious” cat and was out of commission for a week. 

Outside the farm, my job was so insecure and ambiguous for months that the low underlying level of stress became unbearable. The YMCA closed due to COVID in April, then we lost our building, we attempted to limp along (short staffed which often required working long days) until we could find new direction. But in the end, on December 10th, I lost my job as the Y closed its fitness doors and reduced to one senior staff trying to build a presence in childcare.

I spent 6 months in the small claims court system having been sued by a previous friend. 

My oil tank was sabotaged, oil stolen and replaced with water. 

Then there are all the day to day small stresses involved when you have children and vehicles and friends and a house.

The list goes on. I was tired. I was not joyous. 

I have complained, and explained, and now it’s time to move forward. See you next week with gratitude and the following week with plans❤️