Summer holidays have officially begun for our family. I celebrated convocation with my students last week. Ellie finished school, and we headed north to Matt’s Aunt’s cottage. We made it back in time for the major summer festival in my hometown.
As always, our objective is to do summer. Fill it with as much fun, relaxing, play and memories as we can.
We’re already off to a good start.
Here are some of the things we’re looking forward to and some of the things I’ve enjoyed recently.
I live my day as if it was the last Live my day as if there was no past… Doin’ it all night, all summer Gonna spend it like no other
Sometimes my phone starts playing music. Rather than explaining it as just a technical glitch, I like to believe it’s Matt, my Dad or his Mom with a message for me. The other day the above song came on, and no matter what buttons I pushed it wouldn’t stop playing. I had never heard it before, but it felt like a good description of how I’m thinking about this summer.
Finding creative places to read this summer has been a fun exercise. (Ellie is taking “exercise” literally. See photo above.)
This scavenger hunt from our local conservation authority has good ideas no matter where you live.
The ducklings have moved to the coop. I’m looking for a bathtub to add to their run and a chest freezer (doesn’t have to work) to store food. If you hear of someone getting rid of one, please let me know.
Another Canada Day story, this year marks 35 years of the Heritage Minutes. “It’s amazing how a simple moment, a minute, can encourage you to learn more and to talk about more and to be involved with the discussion around our past, our present and our future.”
This quote has been on my mind since Father’s Day.
“We’re just here to be memories for our kids… Once you’re a parent, you’re the ghost of your children’s future.”
Matt and my Dad are now memories and ghosts for Ellie and me. Someday I’ll be the same for her. This summer will be part of how Ellie remembers me in her future.
Those memories don’t have to be big.
I hope they will be our tradition of camping out on the summer solstice, the day the turtle showed up in the chicken run, the playground I made her, hiking in the woods, and all the love and joy we share.
The ducklings have made the move to the coop. This week, they will turn 5 weeks old. They still don’t have their full feathers, but they have grown so much.
We brooded in the house for just over 3 weeks. The challenge with ducklings–which I knew–is water. Even the littlest ducklings want to be in water, need to be in water, love to be in water. I set things up as best as I could in the brooder to limit the splashing, but everything was still very wet.
When I felt like the temperatures were warm enough and the birds were big enough, they moved out.
The ducklings have their own section of the coop separate from the chickens. They have an indoor pen with an attached outdoor run.
When I first put them in the run, they were pretty unsure. I sat with them, and they stayed close. Very close.
Ellie and I had found a section of an old plastic barrel, so we put that in the run so that they had a small tub for swimming. They quickly discovered the tub and happily hopped in, so that made them more comfortable. They loved nibbling on all the weeds and grasses in the run, so that helped too.
The drama came at night when it was time to go in the coop. They had no idea what to do. I lifted them one by one and passed them through the small door to Ellie who was inside. Then I locked them in. When I came out in the morning and opened the door, I was able to talk them into coming out on their own, though they had no idea how navigate the ramp and tumbled off the side (it’s a very short fall, and ducklings bounce pretty well).
The second day, we repeated the ritual. The third evening they were able to walk up the ramp into the coop by themselves with us herding them from behind, and they were confident enough to come out by themselves in the morning. They have now figured out that the coop is a good place and they go in and out on their own. I still lock them in at night, though the run is very secure and I don’t really think they’re at risk.
We’ve also started letting them free range a bit during the day. If we’re outside, we tend to let the chickens out. So we’ve included the ducklings. Again, it took them awhile to build their confidence. Walking through the gate was hard. But they feel safest with us, so they will come to where we are (usually at top speed). They also know their baby pool is across the yard, so that’s additional motivation.
The other day the chickens were between the ducks and us, and the ducklings blasted right through the flock. They did not care that anyone was in their path. Our big barred rock, Boss-Boss, didn’t know what to do when all four ducklings were coming straight at her.
And that’s why I got ducklings. They are hilarious and fun and we love having them.
In my Home Goals post at the start of this year, I wrote, “Our girl is so creative and I really want to give her a special space for whatever she wants to do.” This room is exactly that.
It started with removing the pocket door that led into my bedroom and closing up the opening. There was demolition, framing, electrical, drywall. It took a while. Then we painted the walls pink, purple and blue tie dye. I questioned the paint a bit. It felt like a lot. But as I added furniture and accessories, it became much more livable. And it definitely fits with Ellie.
Next up was the cozy corner, her elevated loft reading nook. Curtains provide privacy. Cushions, pillows and blankets provide coziness. I often find Ellie here, either above or below.
I brought in shelves to store craft supplies, toys and even display some of her creations. Open storage is important for our girl, who needs to see her things to use them. More shelves and bins are in the closet for lesser used items, like craft kits, additional supplies and her dolls.
Matt’s desk sits against the wall. Ellie has always chosen to work on the floor, but she’s now using the desk. I like that this desk–and the whole space–will grow with her as her interests and needs change. The chair came with the farm and I keep recovering the cushion. This time Ellie and I did it together in a dark purple fabric. A lighter version of the same fabric covers the large bulletin board that hangs above her desk.
Tucked behind the door is a dress-up zone with the Eames hang-it-all hooks I made for her nursery. The small narrow dresser I made for the little nook on the other side of the door holds play-do. Above the dresser, we hung the duckling picture from her nursery. Ellie really wanted to keep this picture, and it fits perfectly here.
This room is completely Ellie. It holds all of the things she likes and gives her space to do the things she likes. It was an interesting process to design the space with her. Her nursery and bedroom were really designed by me, using my perspective of who she is, what she likes and what would look nice. The playroom is her, and it was really fun to think about who she is, what she wanted and how to put it all together.
Now, she is using the room all the time. Whether she’s making year-end cards for her teachers, sculpting with her 3-D pen, reading in the cozy corner, braiding yarn, playing restaurant, dressing up in a fancy outfit, or any of the many other things she likes to do, she can do it all here.
I’m really grateful I am able to give her this space.
Did you have a playroom growing up? What’s your favourite memory of your play space? Do you have a grown-up playroom now? What’s your favourite part of the playroom? What would your ideal playroom have?
We had our first hay harvest of the year last week. I think it was our fastest ever. The weather was hot, sunny and dry, and our farmers did all six fields in just a few days.
After so many years living at the farm, seeing the giant machines rolling into the fields is still a special moment. Even more special is Ellie’s enthusiasm to climb up on the bales every single time.
The day after they finished, the rain came to start growing the next cut.
Are you seeing any harvests around you? What summer traditions never get old for you?
This past weekend was garden weekend. The date Ellie and I had decided to plant the vegetable garden. And we did. After a month of work, one quarter of the vegetable garden was ready for planting.
We have 25 tomato plants in the ground. There are 12 more that we have to find spots for. Ellie had great success with her seeds and plans to make lots of tomato soup this fall. We put in two rows of onions, which will also come in handy for the soup.
We have many more seeds to go and much more of the garden to clear, but major progress has been made.
At the start of May, I shared my to-do list for getting the garden back to a manageable state. Here’s how I did.
Edge the garden – I made it all the way around the outside, raking leaves, cutting back grass, weeds and trees. I have been carefully mowing around the edge to try and keep it clear. I would like to break out my weedeater to clean up even more.
Remove trees – I cut an embarrassing number of trees over the last month. Embarrassing because it shows just how much I have neglected the garden. Some were very tangled in the fence. Some had firewood size trunks. Some roots were particularly stubborn. The trees will come back to the garden as woodchips. My brush pile has grown a lot over the last month and has farther to go. Half of the garden is completely untouched, and there are more trees to tackle.
Prune raspberries – All of the old canes are gone. The live canes are tucked into the wires. The rows are weeded. The path between them is mulched. Everything is much cleaner.
Prune grapes (?) – I did not end up pruning the grapes. For now, I decided to just wrangle them. This meant gathering all of the wild vines that were growing in all directions and wiring them to the fence. The vines stretch almost halfway around the ring. One vine was dead, but the other seven are alive and seem to be doing well. We have so, so, so many bunches of baby grapes. We also have quite a few grape flea beetles, which I’ve been picking off and squishing. If the grapes grow and ripen, we will have quite a crop this year. Cleaning up the grapes has also made it much easier to mow around the outside of the garden.
Repair trellises – I added some wires to the berry trellises. I could definitely tighten the original wires but am hoping I might not have to. I pulled out the tomato trellises on the weekend when Ellie was planting her seedlings. They are in really rough shape and are currently held together with hope and as many screws as I could drill into the old brittle wood. They will definitely need some reinforcement to make it through the season and then a complete rebuild. The squash A-frame still needs some repairs, but it’s in the untouched half of the garden, so a lot of things need to happen before the trellis makes it to the top of the list.
Establish planting beds and pathways – Very little trace of the beds and paths I’ve built in past years remained. I’m trying a no dig approach, so to start over I mowed the weeds extremely short and then laid down cardboard to suppress them from growing back. Over top of the cardboard I layered woodchips (if it’s a path) or compost (if it’s a planting area). I made three very wide beds, and that is where Ellie and I started planting.
The year of the garden will be continuing. Now I have to maintain what I’ve established. I also want to work my way around the rest of the garden and clear more sections. Here’s what’s next on my list.
Keep planting – We have quite a few seeds still to go.
Make space for watermelons – Ellie’s seedlings include some watermelons, so we want to get them in the ground as soon as possible to maximize the growing season. Our seed provider recommends using landscape fabric to help warm up the soil. It would also help manage weeds, so I think we’re going to try that.
The squash A-frame – The squash trellis is adjacent to the future watermelon plot, so clearing space for the watermelons leads very easily into this section. I need to clear the space under the trellis, screw the trellis back together and then finally we can plant. I’d like to try using one side of the trellis for peas and cucumbers, so there’s more motivation to make this structure useable again.
I am very proud of where the garden is at now. We’ve even had a harvest with our asparagus. Picking asparagus and immediately cooking it for dinner is a special way to enjoy our food and it motivates me to keep working on the garden.
I hope I can keep the momentum and motivation going as the year of the garden continues.
Are you gardening this year? What’s the biggest success you’ve had so far? What’s the biggest challenge you’re facing?
Our family is expanding again. Last week, we brought home four ducklings.
Ducklings have been in our plans since I built the coop. You may remember Ellie made a sign for one of the pens saying “where the waddles live.”
Well, the waddles now live with us!
Like with our chickens, we chose day old birds. When we went to the Feathered Acres hatchery to pick them up, they were probably less than a day old. They were so small.
We chose two Cayuga and two White Crested. Ellie picked the White Crested for their hair dos and the Cayugas for their colour. I picked the Cayugas for (hopefully) their eggs–grey or black shells!
Regardless of their looks, we love them all. They are currently brooding under a heat lamp in the living room. They spend their days making a mess with their water–typical duckling behaviour–and peeping. They get lots of cuddles too.
They are pets, so we’re working to make sure they’re comfortable with us and used to being handled. They are energetic and silly little babies.
We’re already starting to see their personalities. Ellie chose the name Wonder for our most curious duck. Poufy is the other White Crested, so named for her hair do. Our working names for the Cayugas are Midnight (all black) and Starlight (a little splash of yellow on her breast). We don’t know yet whether they’re males or females. We’re hoping for mostly females.
Ducks are such fun birds. I’m so happy to add their little flock to our family.
Welcome to cozy corner. As I shared in my last post about the playroom makeover, we decided to build a loft reading area. Ellie loves snuggling down in a nest of pillows and blankets. She loves a fort. And she loves to read. The loft ticks all of those boxes.
The loft is 4 feet by 4 feet and 42 inches high. It is tucked into the corner between the window and the toy shelves. I built it by screwing two 2x4s into the wall and putting a plywood shelf on top. Two legs support the outer curve.
Once we had the structure complete, it was time to dress it up. Ellie picked all of the fabrics and I love how they coordinate with each other and the walls.
On top, there is a large cushion with the softest furry pink cover. The cushion is secured to the platform with large velcro patches, so it won’t slide. Then we added the requisite pillows and blankets. Ellie sewed the sparkly ones. The purple furry ones were from her previous play space in the basement.
We tucked a small shelf along one side to hold a book, drink, notepad, pens.
Under the platform, I had planned to have an open play area or fort. From the start, Ellie wanted to have curtains and make it another cozy spot. The curtains are very simple. I gathered two panels and sewed velcro along the top. The hook side of the velcro I stapled to the edge of the plywood. To hang the curtains I simply attached the two sides of velcro.
Inside, there are more cushions and pillows. Ellie decorated the walls and ceiling with glow in the dark stars and butterflies. Another shelf (that my Dad and I built for my childhood room) holds a fun lamp that Matt’s Dad bought for her. It changes colours–perfectly coordinated with the playroom–and is controlled by remote. She loves it.
The final touch is the canopy. I bought sheer ready made curtains at Ikea and hung them from a rod of pex tubing. The pipe is lightweight and flexible, so it’s perfect for making the smooth curve that I wanted. The rod hangs from three hooks screwed into the ceiling.
Ellie spends lot of time in cozy corner. I enjoy climbing up with her too. It’s such a comfortable nook.
Were you a snuggly, cozy kid? Anyone else know kids who love forts? What would your ideal cozy corner include?
Ten years ago, I was digging deep (literally) in a garden blitz. We were still at the “establishing the garden” phase and I had a long list of things I wanted to do.
I feel like I’m in a similar situation a decade later.
The garden is established in terms of the infrastructure. We have fencing, a gate, perimeter beds, trellises, a waterline, perennial crops like raspberries, blackberries, grapes, asparagus and rhubarb.
However, after years of neglect, it’s hard to find the beds, never mind the plants. Oh there are plants. They’re just the weedy kind of plants, not the eatey kind of plants.
My mission this year is to reclaim the garden.
Ten years ago, I challenged Sarah in Illinois (remember when Sarah used to write for the blog?) to a garden DIY duel. Sarah, who is still an avid gardener, also had a long to-do list, and we kept each other motivated through our six week challenge.
This year, I have another partner, Ellie. Ellie is very keen to have a nice garden and grow some of her own plants. Her motivation and work ethic may not be up to Sarah’s level, but she is enthused, which makes this a fun project to do together.
Work is underway. I’ve been popping over to the garden whenever I can find a few minutes, and I’ve found the rhubarb (spindly, but much happier since I cleared the weeds around it) and asparagus (also weed choked, but lots of sturdy stalks are shooting up).
I’m planning to give it some more dedicated attention over the rest of the month. Here’s what I’m hoping to do.
Edge the garden – I’ve been slowly working my way around the outside, raking leaves, cutting back grass and weeds. I’m more than halfway around.
Remove trees – We’ve gone beyond weeds to have actual trees sprouted in the garden. Some I can dig out. Others are tangled in the fence and grapes and will require some special extraction.
Prune raspberries – I’m not sure whether I missed one year or two of pruning. Removing old canes will give more room for new canes–and berries–to grow. I’ve made it down one side of one row, so a quarter of our berry patch is done.
Prune grapes (?) – I’ve never been sure what to do to take care of our grapes. I’m not even sure how many canes we have right now or how healthy they are. This task will take some untangling–physically and mentally.
Repair trellises – The berry canes have flopped over their wires, and I suspect some wire will need to be tightened. The squash trellis is still standing, but needs some repairs. The tomato trellises are in the garden, but I’m not sure whether they’ll be usable after so many years of neglect.
Establish planting beds and pathways – I’ve built some beds and some paths over the years. Everything is overgrown with weeds, so it’s hard to tell what can be reclaimed and what need to be completely rebuilt.
Plant – Ellie was gifted many seeds for her birthday. She carefully scheduled what need to be planted when and has a thriving collection of seedlings. We also have numerous crops that will be seeded directly into the garden.
According to Ellie’s calendar, the last weekend of May is garden weekend. So we have this month to get things in shape.
The nature of gardening is that it’s a process. Each day, week, season, year builds on the one before. So this year is about progress. The garden won’t be perfect, but I’m hoping we can actually have more of a garden this year.
Even with so much neglect, we’re not starting at zero. Everything we’re doing this year builds on what we did ten years ago, and all the years since. I’m glad to be back to this part of the farm.
Are you doing any gardening at your house? Are you a vegetable or flower gardener? Who else has a part of their property or house that has been neglected?
The month began with Easter and an epic egg hunt and outdoor games with my whole family here at the farm. We all had so much fun. I spent an evening at a dinner theatre with my friends–a different activity for us and a nice night out together. Yesterday, we went to a community breakfast with Matt’s whole family. It is so special when everyone makes it to a gathering and we can all spend time with each other.
We also spent a day with my brother helping him prepare for a big renovation at his house. It’s been a while since my brother and I have worked together, but we fell into our old rhythm easily. It’s a family rhythm all my siblings share. It comes from years of working with my Dad and my Mom. From being one of six. From sharing what has to be done and balancing everyone’s needs.
I love feeling that rhythm. I enjoy construction and hard work. I love contributing. My brother’s renovation is a big and important thing for his family. It’s exciting and a bit nerve-wracking. Supporting him, his wife and their kids and doing a little bit to make things easier is meaningful.
Showing up, whether it’s for celebrations or for work, is important to me. Earlier this year, I came up with a “life razor” inspired by The 5 Types of Wealth. The idea is to develop a “single, identity-defining statement” that describes how you approach your life. Mine is “I am a person who takes care of the people, places and things that matter most to me.”
I use this statement to make decisions about what I’m going to do, whether it’s hosting a get-together, spending a Saturday swinging a sledgehammer, mowing the grass so the farm looks nice (soon), texting a friend or having a quiet “home day” with Ellie.
Here are some other things I am caring about this month
Cleaning up litter from the roadside is one of the ways I take care of the farm each spring. One of my favourite storytellers shared his unique perspective on littering.
We’re ending April with some tree cutting with Matt’s Dad, a great example of us caring for each other and the farm. I’m going on a field trip with Ellie. And we’re preparing to host Matt’s aunts and other family this weekend. Lots of care.
Who did you spend time with in April? Any crafty inspiration to share? Does anyone else have a life razor or personal vision statement?
One year ago we brought 10 fluffy little chicks home. Adding chickens to the farm was my dream long before we moved here, and I’m so happy it came true.
To celebrate one year with the chickens, I’m looking back at some of the highlights.
The benefits of day-old birds
We chose to get day-old birds, rather than ready-to-lay, hatching our own, or adopting someone else’s flock. Because we’ve been with them since they hatched, holding them, feeding them, caring for them, our chickens are extremely used to us and super easy to manage. They are calm (as chickens go), comfortable being handled and want to be with us.
Hair-Do (a favourite hen) will ride on Ellie’s lap on her saucer sing. Clucker (extremely opinionated and food motivated) comes running anytime we’re out. All of the birds come to the fence when they see us drive in the driveway or heading for the coop.
Chickens are fun on their own, but the real reason we got them was eggs. Our first egg arrived mid-August when the hens were about 16 1/2 weeks old. We’ve not had a day without eggs since. Laying decreased a bit in the winter and when the birds molted (more on this below), but now we have many days where everyone lays.
An extra bit of fun with our chickens is their different coloured eggs. We have 3 barred rocks (brown eggs), 3 azure blues (blue eggs) and 4 olives (green eggs). I’ve not noticed a difference in production between the breeds.
On the topic of eggs, all of our ladies lay on the floor. All in the same corner. Meaning there are frequently line-ups and pile-ups. For a human to access the corner and collect the eggs requires ducking and contortions. The eggs get stepped on and sat on and are usually quite dirty. It’s awkward for everyone. I installed 3 nesting boxes when I built the coop, but the hens don’t care.
We’ve tried plastic eggs in the boxes to demonstrate what they’re for. We occasionally stuff a hen in the box. They usually hop out.
But we have recently had some success. One day I showed up during a contentious competition for the favoured corner. I scooped up Hair-Do, one of the combatants, and popped her into a nesting box. She stayed in and laid an egg. Since then, she’s been laying in the box every day. Another hen has recently followed Hair-Do’s example.
I’m thinking I might try adding some herb cuttings to the straw in the nesting boxes to see if this encourages any other hens to check them out.
The magic of the poop board
A part of the coop that’s been working exactly as intended is the poop board. This is a wide shelf or floor that I installed under the roosts. The idea is to catch the poop that the chickens make when they’re roosting–and they make a lot. Once a week I scrape the poop into a large bucket and dump it on the manure pile. The poop board keeps a ton of manure out of the straw and helps me keep the coop much cleaner.
The unending thirst for water
I’ve been surprised by how much the chickens drink. In the warmer weather, they have a large waterer in the run along with a bucket in the coop. In the winter, they had just their indoor bucket, and I had to refill it at least once a day. I bring a large bucket of water out every morning and top up their drinking water as needed. We don’t have a tap at the coop (yet), but it hasn’t been onerous to carry buckets from the house.
The worst timing to molt
Molting is the process where chickens renew their feathers. Usually it happens about once a year around the end of summer. Our chickens started molting after Christmas. Terrible timing as temperatures were very cold. Along with losing a lot of feathers, one hen’s comb and wattle shrunk dramatically and turned a very pale pink. We started calling her the pale hen. We added a daily ration of meal worms to increase their protein and waited. Pretty much everyone bounced back really well, and our pale hen is back to normal.
The problem with picking
One side effect of the molt seems to be some picking, where hens pick on certain birds and pull out feathers. Anything that’s different will cause chickens to peck. We watch out for wounds or spots that might inspire curiosity. Picking happens for several reasons, including lack of space, protein and boredom. We have a couple of hens who have lost some feathers around their rear ends. The worst case is a hen (Cinnamon) who is missing a lot of feathers on her back. I think she may have been mounted by another hen and bullied.
We’ve been letting the chickens free range when we’re outside to keep an eye on them. This helps to relieve boredom and give them something else to pay attention to. Unfortunately, our bare naked ladies are not likely to grow new feathers until they go through another molt.
I’m planning to make a cape (official chicken term is saddle or apron) to cover Cinnamon’s back to protect her until then.
Space constraints
Overall, the coop and run are working well and I’m really proud of what I built. During the winter, the hens spent a lot of time in the coop. While technically the coop has enough space for 10 birds, it feels small when they’re all inside for multiple days. This could be another reason for the picking. We’ve given the chickens a double run, but even it feels tight sometimes. In addition to free ranging occasionally, we’ve talked about using poultry netting to expand the run.
I also want to add some features to their existing run to make it more interesting. Right now the run is flat, bare dirt (or mud thanks to all the rain we’ve had). We built a swing when we moved the chickens outside, but no one has been interested in it. I’m going to try some other perches or structures to give them some other things to do.
I also have some changes in mind before next winter, so they can be outside more easily.
We have hung vegetables and even a small container of scratch mix from the roof of the run as a kind of chicken pinata. These have provided some entertainment for all of us.
(There are holes cut in the bottle, so the scratch falls out when they peck it.)
The past year with our chickens has been fun. I love seeing Ellie’s confidence, care and responsibility with the birds. It’s not been too much work to add them to our family, and the joy we get from them is worth it.
Caring for anything is an ongoing process of learning and adjusting. We are continuing to do that with our chickens.
Home on 129 Acres 