My babies have been sick...

It happens every spring and fall....

Twice a year everyone gets sick...

AT THE SAME TIME!

This time i moved a mattress into the living room, got everyone a pillow and small blankets and kept the powerade and freezies on ice...

It was rough..

The worst part is getting up to serve others when you have a mild case of it your self... you look at them sleeping and your envious. you don't cook dinner because they aren't going to eat and you cant remember how to cook for one or two people ....

You do your best, you try to remember that they wont be sick forever...

I think one thing that i especially like about being a mom of many is you rarely get sick.. It is amazing how well your body can hold it together when you are to busy to wallow in yourself.

First was Jacob, then Catherine (still Jacob), then James and Grace (still Jacob) and then to finish it off Nathan and Robin took the torch last night...

I wonder how Jacobs feeling this morning..

Well this week will be a busy one but I am looking forward to having Mr. Rigger home.

We are fencing this week (we have the post pounder rented for two days), we will be cross fencing our place and putting in the posts for moms fence as well.

Mr. Rigger is taking the boys to pick up a Quad. That should be fun, i just pray it runs. We have the worst luck with things like that.

The Community Market is this weekend and it falls on the same day as the Community garage sale so it should be a very busy one. (Here's hoping)

Big Dog has a dentist appointment,the children are still recovering, Mr. Rigger has plans for the garden he says... There is weeding to be done, mowing, feeding, housework... as always a busy one...

Hoping you and yours are well...

Maybe once i get a bit of sleep i will be back to my half nuts sarcastic self again, sorry for the boring posts lately...

Photo Contest

There is a photo contest in the paper... For a 50.00 gift certificate or something but i was thinking of entering... You can enter three times.. once in the three catagories... They are people, places, and things...


I was thinking this for things...

What do you think?

KNOCK KNOCK biological clock!!!!

So to make a long story short... My last menstrual period was in January 2008...

JANUARY 2008!!!!

I got pregnant the month after that and in October 2008 had J-Bear....

I breastfed until I went into hospital in March 2009 had mass doses of Prednizone (which dried up my milk) and then the next month I got pregnant with Birdie (Born January 2010) ...

and since then...

NOTHING...

I am still breastfeeding... maybe three times a day... sometimes once a day...

But not cycle... so a few months ago i went to the doctor and he told me to go ON BIRTH CONTROL... as a means of regulating my cycle... he said try it for a month and see if it kick starts your system..

So i did... a few months have passed and nothing..

I returned to the doctor this week...

He gave me THREE MONTHS of birth control... he said if i take it and it doesn't come back after that he will send my to a specialist.

So.. at least i KNOW i will NOT have a baby until AT LEAST July 2012.

I will be almost 32 then...

But I would rather put in the three months now then have this go on another three months and have to start here then... So for 90 days I am not going to worry about it, Not going to hope, not going to run for a pregnancy test every time i vomit, or feel like vomiting. I am going to wait, sort through things and decide... Do i want this stuff to sit in my basement for at least another year and a bit or should it be put to use elsewhere... I could do a lot of space clearing if i got rid of some baby stuff.

Did i mention how much i hate the adoption laws in Saskatchewan...

I will be almost 32 then!

So some space clearing is in the future. Hoping for a very merciful God and a healthy future..

I was thinking i should take this opportunity to get my body in tip top shape...

BUT

its raining and the kids broke all my earphones so i cant listen to my ipod....

So that's out....

Aww... this was two weeks before Birdie Gail was born... With my cute little J-Bear opening Xmas presents... I didn't look to bad!

Hmmm....

Wheres the Rum....

I can hear the rain outside my window... and inside!!!

Awww yes...

When we moved this lovely home on to its foundation we realized OOOPPPSSS...

it doesn't fit...so we had the movers put 75% of the house on its foundation and we made walls where it didn't fit... Obviously our math sucks....

So, that's okay but unfortunately some places the foundation was to large so it leaves a landing for water to collect on and leak into the basement...

The first year... it leaked on all sides, i ended up clearing our and closing off one bedroom, the basement was damp and it rained onto my kitchen table one day through a ceiling fan....

We got a new roof... a beautiful double nailed (using 6 nails per shingle instead of three) awesome roof..

It is nice and dry upstairs...

I love that...

But as the months have passed i have of course forgotten about all the basement leaks and OF COURSE i have piled all my crap right under the leaks so that one morning in the spring when i am stiff as a board i can awake at 5:30 am to have to move all of it out of the way...

Because that constitutes a super fun day to me...

My other drama for today was bringing Birdie down this morning and thinking... can you hear that??? it sounds like there is a bird in the house.... tweet tweet... WTH? a sparrow on my ceiling fan.... and as i put my boots on to go out for chores... two more fly past my head and straight onto the couch that Birdies lying on...SHRIEKING begins... mud all over the floor from my boots trucking through the house... to save the baby... so she helped with chores...

The garden is all planted... my delusions of grandeur have ceased, Mr. Rigger can plant more when he gets home if he wants but I'm done... All 20 tomatoes have frosted, the cauliflower, romaine, lettuces, and kohl Rabi i planted last week has yet to sprout(indoors it only takes a day or two)so i don't know whats wrong there... I lost half my pickles...

POSITIVITY...

Onions are good.... Radishes are sparse but some are growing... Strawberries look good (not sure if they will produce the first year) Berry bushes are alive (full of weeds but alive)... Got a make shift fire pit built yesterday with the bricks that lined my walkway last year.

So today...

There are buckets catching rainwater in the basement

The chicken count is down to about 25..

I am not planning on doing anything today... that could make for a really rough one..

Hoping your spring is more delightful than mine.

blah..........

Checking in...

Ohh my body hates me...

Some of my babes have been sick the past few days... High temperatures and lifeless bodies strewn about... and then I GOT SICK! MOMS NEVER GET SICK!

But i did, unfortunately the weeds wait for no one, nor do the Lambs, Calves, Chickens, Goats, etc...

I love my mom... I'm so glad she is hear to help...

i couldn't do it without her...

So hopefully tomorrow is a better day. Hopefully no one spikes a temp.. I can weed without feeling like vomiting, and we can get something done...

There is supposed to be one more nice day and then rain...

Its a race to get the garden in!!!

Off to feed the lambs....

My mussscles are upset with me..

Awaking at 530 this morning was rather difficult...

Even my eyelids don't want to work today, my goodness i'm tired..

We got more bottle fed babies.....

this time six lambs... five to be butchered in the fall....

Lambs are so cute and cuddly and fun and Birdie isn't afraid of them(the shrieking has ceased, thankfully)

The downside to lambs it they bottle feed every six hours...

So the best i can do is as follows.

530- bottle feed Calves,lambs, feed/water chickens, give a bail/grain/water to sheep/goats

1200 Bottle feed lambs, check chickens.

600 Bottle feed Calves and lambs, check chickens, grain/water for goats/sheep.

1000 Bottle feed lambs and tuck everyone in for the night.

Its a lot of work, i'm thankful i have help from gramma this week. It is rather difficult to maneuver six bottles at once, or keep straight which ones you have fed.

This week is going to be a busy one... hopefully planting out all my plants from inside, build a creep feeder, muck out the chicken stall, mow, weed, work out side for every moment we can!

As much as its a lot of work and my body is not really co operating, I love to be outside with the kids... That is so not me! This is the second year i have actually gone outside willingly without Mr.Rigger or the kids dragging me. But the winter was long enough this year that it makes me want to be outside all that i can. Its a good time.

without further ado...

Look how little they are..... only up to birdies waist...

 

Ranty, rant .. rant .. rant...

Where does one begin....

I'm pissed...

At a lot of things...

and a lot of people...

and i wanna hit somebody....

really hard...

but I'm nice and respectable so i just let it fester...

1) The Cupar town office offers tables for rental for $5 for an 8ft table... So we wrote a letter to the town to ask for a discount because we needed 80ft of tables 13 times.. I asked for them at a comparable rate to Southey town office $2. a table...

In response they said they would no longer rent to us because they were afraid the frequent movement of the tables would damage them. But they offered the legions table at $3 per 2.5ft...

So now an 8ft of table cost over $9 ..... the reason i wrote the letter is because i wanted a deal! We already have opposition from our vendors because thee price of booths are a bit steep.

 Now my options are to ....

Drive to Southey to rent them (which we did this time.. This throws an extra 40km on the odometer and gas is like 1.30 a litre it costs me 140.00 to fill the tank!

Rent from the legion ... instead of 35.00 for the hall tables it will now be 32tables (that's a lot to carry) at 96.00 PER MARKET!!

We receive dues of $20 a table. With that rental price and our advertising costs we would have to sell at least 7 tables to break even.

Now don't get me wrong i am not doing this to get rich but i would like to advertise more, put up a nice sign on the highway. But i am not taking that out of my pocket.

So what do we do...

Call it a no go .... of kiss the mans ars....

I'm waiting for a moment of clarity... i worked hard on this.. i smiled and told everyone about it, and if it closes its another thing that Cat COULDN'T KEEP TOGETHER! That's sooooo embarrassing! I wanted to put out ads in the spring to see if people WOULD be interested but went ahead and just put myself out there on a limb again and AGAIN i feel like its ANOTHER thing i mess up.

I'm mad at me, and a little ticked at my mom for pushing me to put my name all over this... but right now all i can do is take that anger out on the bastards at the town office and Cupar in general... (it sucks when you know you are being immature and irrational, know the root of your anger but you really don't want to face the truth so you act immaturely)

ERRRRGGGG...

Issue 2 My calves are sick..... I had to give them antibiotics to clear up runny noses and to keep them from spreading there germs any farther.....

"So long" organic beef on our table this fall...

It sounds stupid but it MATTERS TO ME....

It pisses me off...

Issue 3 ... There are 30 chickens left....

170 minus the 30 left means 140 DEAD BODIES

I killed 140 chickens

Yeah..

Issue 4... my husband (and I) decided to lift all the restrictions on computer/DS/Playstation/Wii time in our home.... The kids always have this "Grass is always greener" outlook, they want to play but i only let them if they earn time in chores... more chores... more time on computer... So it ended up causing a whole lot of whining... So in theory if we have no restrictions (they are not allowed on the Internet) they will eventually tire of the technology and actually want to go outside...

Day 5 and all we have accomplished is loss of bladder control, arrogance, inability to dress themselves and serious attitude problems...

I have stayed outside a lot, stayed away from them....

I feel bad ... they want to show me things they are proud of on the computer.. "mommy look what i got" but i have absolutely no interest... I read a few blogs.. check my email, use the net for research, and write this. I don't play games...

I don't understand why you would play a gave where you run through a forest and pick berries when you could go outside and run through a forest( Bushes) and pick berries....

I dont understand and it makes me edgy...

Issue 4 Has been solved for the moment....

The goats were sleeping in my FRONT yard because they didn't want to hang with the calves....

They were also eating my garden...

So i killed them...

.....

....

....

Actually NO, i re fenced the buggers pasture so they HOPEFULLY wont be able to jump it now...

I bet you thought i killed them....

Issue 5

I have 13 flats of plugs to go in my garden this weekend, a bag of potatoes, and about 30 seed packs.... and it being May long weekend.. its going to rain... it never fails..

Bugger...

I have so many issues i need a magazine rack to put em all it!

Soooo...

Today is the Farmers Market ... I am going to do some yard work at moms and hopefully the day will pass quickly.. I'm just not in a good mood..

Hopefully the day get better as it progresses... I can hear myself speak and think and write and i am really bored with being miserable.... It sucks when you think you are annoying because of all your whining.

Life gets crazy...

Life is stressful right now..

Nothing new right....

Why do we constantly pile more on when we are drowning in our To Do lists already?

Why do we always say yes when we are thinking in the back of our minds "I have NO IDEA how i am going to help you or where that extra time is going to come from"

Why is hind sight always 20-20.. Why cant we know what we are getting ourselves into BEFORE we do things....

And then the thoughts come...

Would you have moved to your current home had you known what it would take to fix it .... or in our case what we would do to ruin it?

Would you have stayed in the city where it was manageable, albeit expensive, but manageable. Where your limitations were set by others (ei. no animals, huge gardens, clotheslines), where a nice man in a pretty truck comes to take away your garbage every week?

Would you have had all your kids? (What an awful question)

What would you have changed?

I have been thinking about these things a lot lately, probably a bit to much... I hate to linger in the past.. It makes me feel minuscule and UN intelligent to go over my decisions and second guess myself. It makes me almost suicidal to wonder where the fork in the road was, what decision it was that put me on the path to where we are now.

My blessings are many and my life is good, yada yada yada... but you live my life for a day and tell me you don't wonder why your doing this...

That is why hindsight is 20-20 and every step you take forward if blind faith!

Honestly if you told me that you would be so angry with your children that it would take every ounce of mercy you had not to burn all there clothes, to prove to them that they are right "they don't have to put there laundry away".. I would for one.. think... what kind of a woman would hurt her kids like that? What an awful mother, and how traumatic that would be for those children, what kind of a crazy lady.... she shouldn't have kids...

some days... that makes me sad...

other days... i think little scenarios up like that in my head and it gives me that ``OH THAT...... THAT WILL TEACH THEM!`

No it wont...

It will just make laundry more imperative...

I have faith.... A LOT of faith... in fact i am without a doubt sure that the reason i am having so much trouble with my children is because they are going to be great... Humanitarian, apostle of Christ, superwoman great.

My trials and tribulations are simply preludes to there biographies and made for TV movies.

I need to believe that..

I need to think that i am not going to get cancer and die the second that my children move out. I need to know that like all things this to shall pass... I need hope that there is purpose in all this... Every argument, every praise is molding these little people, what a great responsibility.

Unfortunately, I am nowhere near perfect and the moulding of the people is not going so well...

 I asked God on a daily basis for more babies... I have been very frustrated as of late because Birdie it almost 18 months and i haven't even had a period yet. So i changed my prayer, and asked God to guide me. If its not babies that you want me to have then what... guide me, change my heart, help me to move on if that's your purpose for me...

So is that whats happening, let me tell you this week i could have packed my bags and left without feeling bad at all.. So has my heart changed...

I need some surety, and i guess when you are always pregnant you kind of have that... yup... the babies gonna come out... yup you are going to be to embarrassed with your body to want to go out for at least 6 months after and yup ohhh your pregnant again ... okay well yup babies gonna come out .....

I was thinking the other day that if i went and got a tubal again... then that's my surety... yup you are not going to get pregnant again so move on....

I can barely put one foot in front of the other at this point. The doubt i feel is about knee deep...

Alcohol is probably not a good answer but it seems to be a frequent one....

And the day begins.....

What did you do yesterday?

Has someone ever asked you "What did you do yesterday?" and you get that so "Put on the spot" feeling that you cant actually even remember what day it was yesterday? What day it is today? Where your children are? If you left the stove on?

That happens a lot to me.. i usually say... "not much" but yesterday was a huge day for me. We awoke at 5am and i fell into bed around 11 pm... I never sat down all day... but i did lean up against the co ops counter and while waiting for the guy to finish pumping my gas..... i think i had a nap... SERIOUSLY.... I heard the door open lifted my head and there was drool all over his counter.... Note to self.... next time bring a drip cloth....

Anyways... what we did yesterday...  NOT in chronological order!

The bread was baked by 1.

(Big Dogs Dragon)

We Crafted... well actually they crafted... i just made the dough and worked the oven...Salt Dough... Great idea Ms.Prim! Kept children entertained just long enough to teach a calf to drink from a bottle.

Ms. Prims "Pancakes" and Mrs. Proper "Snake"

Monkeys "Snail" and J-Bears "Glob"

Salt dough is super fun and super fast! Today they kids are going to paint them... I don't like when the kids paint... its a bit messy with 6 of them but maybe i can convince them to do it outside... here's hoping!

I had some petunias on my racks in the windows that looked pretty sad so i decided to fill up four of the barrel planters we have... Hopefully with a little of natures love they will perk up....

At 6am i drove mum to work and headed to a farm outside of Fort Qu'Appelle to pick up some more cows.... four more..... and this time Holsteins.....

I did it all by my self... with three kids in tow....

This is Silva... So named for his silver smoky eyes... yep.. i think hes blind... His is three or four days old... this morning was our first super successful feeding... He was lapping from a bucket when i picked him up but until this morning it didn't dawn on my that he needed the bottle instead to get a really good feeding. But he is skittish (could be the blindness) he does come when he hears my voice though... i hope he will be okay, he seems stronger today than yesterday... I live Silva....

 This is Urinest...... great name huh! Yes Urinest is always urinating.... he is two weeks old, laps from a bucket and peed on your boots (Your 300.00 Dr. Marten cowboy boots!!!) if you stand to close.... Urinest is quiet and timid... he is not so easily spooked, hes the guy urinating, what seems like all the time... maybe he suffers from weak bladder muscles... seriously its like a continuous flow... weird

 This is Posey, He strikes a pose... he looks adoringly into the camera, he is a poser!

He is also two weeks old, laps from a bucket but is a little skittish... he will like me one day..



This is Boone... Boone is about 48hours old, when i picked him up the man at the dairy said he needed more colostrum so he gave me some to bring home and i warmed it up to feed him... but he doesn't suck... who knew they had to learn that, after about an hour of trying the milk was cold, i was covered in ewwwwww... and the cow was un co operative. I went inside to make salt dough, Big Dog came in and suggested we try feeding him again... I was at a loss.. knowing nothing about these things, i have never taught anything to suck before... with a pep talk from Mr. Rigger about lying by him, prying his mouth open with my fingers, and massaging his neck and jaws to encourage his muscles and so forth i went out... with everything i needed to bottle or tube feed him if necessary... but with Mr. Riggers voice in my head i massaged jaws and necks and voile! He drank all his colostrum... Last night was a challenging feed again, more massaging and encouraging, but this morning he was a willing participant, he latched on and drank right away... So as homage to Mr. Rigger we named him Boone (Mr. Riggers middle name) I thought Dan would be a silly name for a cow...

 We mowed lawns... the lawn that isn't under water anyway.... We did in between all the trees and around all the corers, cleaned the yard in preparation to mow...

There is nothing better than a rider mower and an MGD  people... ohhh its one of my favorite things about the warm season... Maybe there will be more to mow today!

Why do the dishes never end?

I did get my dishes done.... floors swept and washed, deck cleaned off, all the yard tools put away.... Tidy tidy tidy....

The other animals were tended to and all daily chores were completed, the children ate three meals and snacks and all boo boos were kissed and cleaned, they all had bathes and laughed a lot today...

Planted....

40 Strawberry plants.

The seasons Kohl Rabi, Romaine, Cauliflower, Spinach, broccoli...

about a 10x20 gardens worth....

And this is me mid day... before the MGD... i think if you loo closely you can actually see that my eyes are pointing two different directions.... Last night i was tired....

Just another day on the farm.... Now its time to stop blogging and get back at er' wonder what i should do today...

Kitchen Shears?

Sunday.... a day of rest.....

OR...

a day to recap the last few blurry days...

They have been busy..

We sheared sheep....

and when i say "sheared" I mean that rather loosely....

I bought some "Vintage" sheep shears on eBay about a month ago (9.99)thinking "that will work and so much less expensive than electric shears...

Yeah...

so when they arrived i thought "ohhh they just need a sharpening"

so i sharpened them, after searching the malls of Regina to no avail (no knife sharpener in town would sharpen shears) i settled on a dremmel kit from walmart(7.99)

and then...

they didn't work..

surprise surprise...

so we used "Kitchen shears"

Not scissors..... they shall now be known in our home as KITCHEN SHEARS

They cut open freezies, onion bags, can be used as a can opener..(if you are really angry) and NOW they can even shear sheep!!

I LOVE KITCHEN SHEARS!!!

 Handy dandy Kitchen Shears at work...

We clocked in at a mere 90 minutes per Sheep...

No time at all and we will be at 3 minutes like those folks on YouTube......

Just you wait!

 And like everything in our home... it was a family affair.. everyone critiqued our methods and gave us pointers....

but despite our tedious methods and lack of preparedness.... we got her done...

Now all three of our sheep look like silly monkeys and I have three garbage bags full of nasty wool to clean and process...

ANOTHER THING I HAVE NEVER DONE....

LORD PLEASE.....

make it a smooth transition from urine and feces filled fleece to yummy delectable yarn on my needles this winter....

PLEASE..

please....

PRETTY PLEASE!!!!





Thats something...

 You know....

Sometimes I look at her and I think.. holy crud... i think we may have perfected the art of making babies....

But other times........

Not so much!

(She apparently loves peanut butter just as much as mama.... and thankfully no allergy but

COME ON!!)



Meet Angus...

 Look at the smile on that girl!!!.....

That is why I LOVE the farm....

Despite all the Winters reasons I don't love it... that smile is what makes me hate to leave it...

 Angus...

He drools, foams at the mouth, follows you around, moos a shy little moo....

He was born May 6th, and arrived on our farm yesterday... 8 days old....

AWWWWW....

he will not be so cute once he is 1500 lbs but for now we will enjoy the fact that he slobbers all over your jeans in the most adorable way!

Even mama got a chance to feed him this morning!!

Mrs. Proper was up and dressed with shoes on at 7am to go out and do chores!

We should get something new everyday!!

On a negative note... one of our heaters fell over last night and we lost another half of the chicks...

Chickens are not our thing it would seem...

I will have to rethink it next year... maybe less and later in the year....

I hate to clean up bodies...

and lose money..

Every time one dies it hits me that we will not have it in the freezer this winter...

My intention was to fill the freezer and not have to buy ANY meat come September, but it seems we will either be taking up vegetarianism or buying meat.. Maybe next year will fair better.

So far in the garden...

Radishes...

White and Yellow Onions...

Saskatoon's, buffalo berry, seabuckthorn, Siberian Crab.

Nasturtiums, zinnias, woods rose

Found some Rhubarb sprouted underneath a hay pile!

My Snow on the mountain came back.. I'm so proud!

Before Mr. Rigger departs on Monday...

Potatoes

Garlic

Lilacs

Early spring peas..

and whatever else we can find that's ready to go in...

my memory card is full on my camera! will have to develop things....

My vein venture..

Yah... Vein..... NOT VAIN!

Yesterday morning i dropped off the kids at a friends and headed to the Hospital for my sclerotherapy. It was a little anti-climatic. The last time I saw this doctor Birdie was 4 months old, and I have been on a waiting list since.

History:

I was blessed with moderately bad circulation so when i am pregnant my leg veins get constricted and blood pools in them... It becomes increasingly painful as the pressure increases and time goes on. These are not simply spider veins that are unsightly. You can actually see these mammoth things through my pants on a rough day. During my last two pregnancies i was induced because of my discomfort and inability to walk without looking like i just got off a horse. During my last pregnancy when i was induced the doctors were worried that i would have difficulty delivering because there was not enough room to push the baby passed all these fabulous veins...

So I have waited...

After Birdie was born i prayed and prayed that i wouldn't get pregnant again until i was a more reasonable weight (check 145lbs) until the baby was a few months old (check going on 17 months) and until my veins were fixed...

here's the anti climatic part...

I thought i waited a year to go in and get them fixed... i went in they did a few injections to 3(three!) of the veins and said "Ok well.. we will leave it at that ... and see you back here in a month"

huh?!

So this was the first installment of the series of injections..... in a month we will "tackle " a few more, he wants to make sure he has the potency right and so on...

So how long is this going to take? and last time he said he would see me in a month i waited 13 months.... I could be forty by the time this is fixed!

I am upset... and sore.. i have to wear my support stockings (oh so comfortable... ) Day and night for three days then 12hrs on 12 hours off for 6 weeks!  To go back in HOPEFULLY a month for another session of six more weeks and so on...

Hello sexy summer apparel.... me sporting my spanx, tummy tucking undies and thigh high stockings (in nude) ... That my friends is super hot... and just in time for the 40 degree heatwaves of 2011..its a good thing there are expecting record highs in temperature this summer... I wouldn't want to miss that!

GRRRRRRRRR>........

On a lighter note...

While i was lazing around yesterday and i was thinking... my the children are quiet.....

Icing sugar....... Sooooo not as easy to clean up as it is to make a mess with....

mama needs to suck it up and get back to work!!!

Market 1 down... 11 to go

The market was a success. We ended up with only five vendors (We had planned for eight) but all the vendors want to return, and we have at least one more table rented for next time.

Issues:

the greenhouse is going to be way to hot unless we find a way to put tarps on the exterior.

we need to advertise to bring in the younger crowd.

we need to advertise more. This time we put up signs in surrounding towns, put an ad in the Leader Post, kijiji, usedregina... but this time we have to think of something else.

I need to make a roadsign to put on the highway that wont fall over!

it went well... no complaints

IT'S MARKET DAY!!!

Today is the Cupar Community Market. Our very first! I am anxious to see how it works out.
Lord help us to have remembered all we needed too, help vendors to show up, help the weather to cooperate, help patrons to arrive safely and with loads of cash burning holes in their pockets. Let this day be fun and Happy. Help our children's fevers to break and no more to get sick.

Saturday- Market
Sunday- Market Clean up, taking rentals back, etc...
Monday- Sclerotherapy
Tuesday- Mr. Rigger comes home!!

Still a busy week to come...  Ohhhh my feet hurt!!

Progression....

I am super bored lately...

But we have been busy. Don't get me wrong, I love busy... Busy means getting things done and going places and Serving others and stuff... I like busy...

But i'm really bored...

I feel like i have nothing to look forward too.

Things will come... Our garden, our preserves from our harvest, the blooms the beauty, the summer, and the the fall...

But i'm just bored.. its all sort of monotonous.

Insert seed, water, watch grow, pick, pun in a jar and eat...

Chickens: feed, water, watch grow, eat.

Goats and sheep... dogs.... feed, water, watch destroy things, clean up there messes...

Kids: Feed, water, clean, watch grow, watch them grow... watch them grow...

There seems to be a lot of growing lately, but just not a whole lot of creativity.

I wanna do something pretty!!

Maybe it will pass...

So today we planted 200 trees (so graciously given to us through the "Our tree house to yours" program from SASKPOWER) We received 530 trees but only got 200 in the ground today.

there are

200 Saskatoon Berrie bushes

100 Buffalo Berry bushes

100 Seabuckthorn Bushes

30 Siberian Crab apples

50 Lilacs

50 Woods Roses

In twenty or so years this place will look amazing!

We did go over to the ice cream shop and prep the back for the Market that is happening on Saturday. This will be our first market so lets PRAY it goes well...

Hope to see some of you there!

A Saskatoon seedling in its new home.

Lots and lots of Garden...

Lots more garden...

My newest addition to the garden is this bird bath. Last year i had all purposeful gardens but this year i decided to have a "nothin but beautiful garden" up close to the house.

All the rocks were courtesy of the driveway, the chickens, frogs and birdbath from the concrete artist in Cupar. It is going to be very pretty. I planted 30 Woods Rose along the back sides so hopefully we can get the siding up before the thorns get too large.

A date... and i wasnt invited!

Tonight two of my munchkins are accompanying their Great Aunt and Grandma to RIVER DANCE. For Christmas this year we gave Gramma and Aunt tickets and finally after waiting and waiting.....

Today was the day..

It was fun for them to dress up and i am sure they will have a great time.

This is Ms.Proper with her BODYGUARD Big Dog.... Keepin it real!

 He makes green hair look good!!!

He put this outfit together himself... just like mama... black pants, black shirt, black jacket, black tie, black shoes... black, black, black....

Prep was super fun... I love the girly stuff... but we are both tomboys at heart.

Lookin' good... hard to believe SHES 8!!!!!!!

More on Guns...

In reading this blog you may have heard that Big Dog (11) and myself have taken our hunters education course. I wanted to know more about guns and more about how to use them. I am one step closer to owning a firearm. Saskatchewan law requires you to take this course in order to obtain a firearm license.

NOW....

During our class they talked about the different reasons for owning a firearm....

Basically: Hunting, job related, or for personal protection...

I would like to share my reasoning for owning a gun...

As we are home alone a lot on the farm and the police have no idea how to get here, having a firearm in the house makes me feel more equipped to protect my family......

As we have animals on our farm that are easily made prey, i thought it would be smart to have a firearm on the property to scare off potential threats.....

As we have few hobbies and are looking for cheap thrills i thought it would be fun to have a gun... to shoot stuff... hehehehe...

But in all reality my reasoning for wanting  needing a gun can be summed up in one word....

GIRLS

Death becomes me....

And I'm not insinuating I look perdy today!!!

 Dead..... By mama

"Blurry kitty" by Big Dog

Death is........ everywhere today...

The smell of something dead in the boys room...

More dead chickens in the barn. (although i will say that the heritage chickens I received from Hidden River Ranch in Maple Creek are amazing! Not one has died... the hatchery ones.... not quite as hardy)

Dead plants... lots of dead plants...

(mostly killed by the "I'll get to that in a minute bug")

Death... it makes me feel bad...

I feel like i cant do anything when i fail... The money appears to be washing down the drain as we speak.....

So many plans this winter were made to produce... self sustain.... get it done... get up off my butt... I'm not going to be pregnant this season so i will be able to get so much done i thought...

Its off to a rough start!

I'm tired...

I want to drink Rum and sleep (I rarely do.... but i sure want to!)

I look at our close to empty bank account and think.... Crap I did that will all my stupid ideas!

Mr. Rigger says... "we are in this together you aren't to blame"

Yeah right!

I blame me... I wanted this. I said I could handle it. I got the super feminist "don't you worry little hubby mama will get it done" attitude and it back fired...

IT ALWAYS DOES!

But this time it cost us money, all at once...

This isn't like the crafting... I accumulated fabric and notions over time... a few dollars here and a few there...

and i produce things... napkins, dresses, doll clothes, stuff...

This was almost $1000.00 for lights, bulbs, wire, hay, feed, birds, etc...

Blown!

Of our 150 chickens and 20 turkeys the stats are currently

approx 70 chickens

maybe 1 turkey

I lost 95% of the turkeys!

they were 4.45 each!!!

pardon my language but WTF!!!!

I am feeling very discouraged...

Think of all the Avon i could have purchased for that amount of money! I could be painting my toenails and moisturizing but instead i am shovelling bodies into a box to be burned... yummy!

RANT RANT RANT RANT RANT RANT RANT!!!!!

Today is a crap day! On a positive note our Kitty had her babies so at least the dogs will have chew toys this summer.... wow.... that was a touch morbid....

Birdie Gail finally produced a bowel movement that she has been working on for four days... it smells like something died too.

I did the dishes this morning...

I don't remember if i brushed my teeth though....

Hmmmmm... what to do!

So since the Community Market is this weekend I am helping a friend bake today. I will be finishing up a few things while i am there and pricing things. It should be fun.... i hope.

Maybe today will be a Rum day....

Biting off a little more than you can chew...

Yesterday disaster struck.... We awoke at 5 am to notice the door of the chicken coop unattached....

BUGGER....

Got the door fixed and then the storm continued to blow the extension cords around and intermittently turning on and off the heat lamps.....

this wasn't working....

So we went with Mr. Riggers original idea of putting them in the barn... but i hadn't prepared for that....

So i took the wire i DE fenced my garden with last week and spent a couple hours (thank the Lord i have gramma here to sit with babes while i fix farming disasters) fencing a stall in the barn to keep the chicks in and predators out...

It was really cold out...... of course.....

so as i am weeping snot from my nose and freezing my arse off i am hammering between my legs upside down with my glasses falling off.... half whimpering.... half laughing.... and my DARLING six year OLD SAYS.....

"Mommy... mommy...."

"Yes Jake"

"Can I tell you something?"

"Yes Jake, what?"

" I've seen daddy do this you know.... I think it helps if you hit the end of the nails with the hammer.... not just the wood around it...."

......................

...........

"Thanks Jake"

"No problem mommy"

I fell to my knees laughing...... I was not cut out for this farming in the cold stuff....

But it got done...

I whined a lot but I learned a little something.

Mr. Rigger had pleaded a pretty convincing case about putting them in the barn, and i cant even recollect my argument except that I chose to argue.... So this lesson is to not doubt him.... (something i have to continually remind myself)

THIS MORNING.....

DISASTER STRIKES!!!!

Are you all as tired as I am?? There was a pile of crushed bodies under the lamps this morning.... We lost most of the turkeys and about a third of the chicks....

I don't know what to say... or do... I cant spend another $100. on more lamps and light bulbs and hope for the best...

I cant let them die either...

In terms of cost... We have already lost money, the freezer will be not so full and the shock will probably make me not undertake this again...

So now what...

They have a heat dish ... an electric fireplace and two lamps... the stall is barricaded so they only take up half of it and adorned with every flat sheet I own...

Pray for the best outcome I guess...

Its been a learning experience.

And on a positive but self doubting note...

I could write a book on how NOT TO FARM on a small scale.

that's something...

Today, is gonna be a Rum day........