Fall has come to the farm. The colours on the trees are spectacular, and it’s been lovely to hike around the farm and spend time outside.
The fall fair is an important tradition in rural communities. Ellie planned for the past year to enter a cake in the baking competition. We baked. We decorated. We competed… We won! (Ours was the only cake entered.) Our girl was so, so excited to see the first-prize ribbon on her cake, and she now has the ribbon proudly displayed in her room.
Here are some other highlights from the past month.
“There comes a time in every chicken coop’s life when you’ve got to be finished.” Good wisdom from Beau Miles. (I also have plans to use some scrap metal we have hanging around.)
This ranch home is so full of personality. I love the powder room vanity and living room fabrics
“Every day we get to make a choice between trying to do something for what might be the last time or not trying at all. That’s what it is to age. I might never be able to do again what I did yesterday, but I’m going to keep trying… Time matters most when time is running out.”
Outsider by Brett Popplewell
We are finishing off the month with, of course, Halloween. Ellie is going to be a witch and she is very, very excited.
Home on 129 Acres 
Congratulations, and to Ellie too! How fun. And my word, spectucular is the word for those trees!! How absolutely stunning.
Halloween has kind of come and gone in my house – at least the part in it that I actively play. I held three performance parties here on the weekend and my students played their spooky pieces. We decorated the house, and I bought some cups with skeleton hands wrapped around them. I put a couple drops of food colour in the bottoms, then when I poured the soda over top, it swirled up in different colours. The little kids thought it was magic! The big ones were more jaded, but definitely curious.
What a wonderful celebration to do for your students. It’s nice to have these little moments and do something different and special together.
Good morning Julia,
Congratulations to Ellie in winning first place in the cake making competition ! Being the only entry doesn’t matter. She did it ! Good for her (and you).
I love reading your blogs. You include such interesting videos, links and information.
The zero dollars chicken coop was wonderful to watch. Makes me wish we were allowed to have a chicken coop here but alas the condo board would not approve it unfortunately. It was very interesting to watch how it was made and also the fact that the family’s young girls will be able to look after the chickens themselves giving them pride and purpose contributing to their family. Absolutely wonderful ! Just like I know you are planning to provide the same experience for Ellie.
The beautiful Hacienda ranch house is gorgeous ! We have just returned from a 15 day trip in the Azores. We saw a stair case with the Portuguese tile fronts where it looked stunning. Also the colourful tiles accent the kitchen beautifully too.
We had a fabulous tour guide on this trip. As well, we all meshed so well with our fellow travellers. It was a fantastic experience for Jaro and myself seeing 4 out of the 9 volcanic islands off the coast of the Portuguese mainland.
Here is a picture our tour guide printed off for everyone. A lovely takeaway memory.
The 29 year old girl, Britt, on the far right came on this trip with her 88 year old grandmother MaryJo (front and centre in the photo with the white vest). Britt told me “my grandmother is my best friend”. She wore a locket with her picture in it often. Really brought a tear to my eyes when I witnessed the immense love these two share. Jaro is at the back on the right and I’m a little to the left of him just above John’s head in the blue. Our tour guide Martine is standing beside Britt. She is a lovely bubbly, knowledge and well organized woman who made this tour incredible special.
[image2.jpeg]
Thanks for your kind comment, as always, Pam. I’m glad that some of the links I share are interesting for you.
It sounds like you and Jaro had a lovely getaway. I’ve heard of a few people going to the Azores and it sounds like such a special place. What a lovely experience for you to see it and share it with such nice people.