Drac-o-lantern

Posted on October 31, 2012 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

As the winds were picking up, and the rain was blowing in, and most people were stocking up on bottled water and batteries to prepare for super storm Sandy, I was shopping for a pumpkin.

Love the honour system approach at the rural pumpkin patch. Pick your pumpkin and put your cash in the cookie tin nailed to the wagon.

Perhaps my disaster preparedness skills could use some work. On the other hand, I think Matt’s and my pumpkin carving skills are highly developed.

Do you know who this is? Pattern via Masterpiece Pumpkins.

Matt recognized him right away, but then Matt’s a huge fan of classic horror movies, and this is one of his favourites.

ETA: The most popular guess has been Nicolas Cage. I can see the resemblance, but that’s not who’s on our pumpkin. Think classic movies, people!

It’s our first Hallowe’en at the farm, so we’re not familiar yet with the local customs. We’ll leave the gate open and the lights on tonight in case any trick-or-treaters decide to make the trek up the driveway, but we’re not optimistic. I think Drac might stay in the house on the hearth where we can enjoy him.

What’s your pumpkin carving technique? Intricate pattern or classic geometry? Animals, scenes or faces? Anyone out there going door-to-door tonight? What candy are you on the hunt for? If you want to toss some peanut butter cups or Crispy Crunch my way, I wouldn’t object.

Happy Hallowe’en everyone.

At the junkyard

Posted on October 25, 2012 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Check another item off our fall to-do list. The scrap metal pile in front of the driveshed is gone.

Last weekend, I borrowed my Dad’s truck, so Saturday morning Matt and I loaded it up with the TV aerial, assorted poles and pipes, an umbrella clothesline, a single tire rim, an old motor, an even older fan, buckets of rusty screws and nails and our aluminum step ladder (in the rock-paper-scissors-eque battle that is ladder-tree branch-gravity, tree branch wins with an assist from gravity, hence no more step ladder. Matt’s Dad who was on the ladder with the chainsaw is just fine… as is the chainsaw).

The trailer was busy with a load of firewood (see “chainsaw” above), so we had to put all of the metal inside the truck.

It was basically a load of crap rather than scrap, but we trundled off to a local junkyard anyway in the hopes that we could make a few bucks.

In hindsight, we should perhaps have been willing to drive a little bit further to a slightly more professional dealer.

The first clue was the sign on the front of the building.

Do you see it?

The sign on the left of the building actually looks like that–no editing. I have adjusted the sign on the top of the building to protect the guilty.

Let me get a little closer for you.

Do you see it now?

Yup. They misspelled “metal.”

There was no scale, no paperwork. We pulled into the yard, one of the workers pulled the metal–or metel–out of the truck and dumped it amongst all of the wrecked cars and basically waved us on our way.

Bye bye ladder et al.

Matt and I obliged him by pulling out of the yard, but then I stopped, parked, went into the office and said, “Ummmm, when I called you said that you guys buy metal?”

They agreed that they did buy metal. Then they wandered outside for awhile, had a couple of conversations in a language I didn’t understand and dealt with another customer. Eventually they came back and one of the men took a wad of cash out of his back pocket and peeled off a couple of bills. I reached out my hand and snagged the twenty and the ten that he reluctantly extended to me.

At this point, Matt and I decided that retreat was the best option, and we scampered out to the truck where Matt said, “Go! Drive! Just get us out of here!”

So all in all, a slightly sketchy, as well as a slightly profitable, experience. The upside: the $30 paid for the pizza we ordered for dinner that night and there’s no more unsightly metal pile in front of the driveshed. Double win!

Fall colours on the farm

Posted on October 8, 2012 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

I hope everyone had a great weekend. Matt and I took full advantage of all three days of the Thanksgiving holiday to catch up with family, food and, of course, work around the farm.

In between all of the visiting, eating and working, I went for a wander. The autumn leaves were at their peak everywhere I looked, so this means I have lots of pictures from all around the property.

The reds, golds, browns and greens of autumn foliage under a moody fall sky, with my favourite tree on the whole farm in the centre.

Looking up into the underside of my favourite tree

Up in the canopy in the back forest

Fallen leaves down on the forest floor

A bright orange maple on the shore of the pond

Coloured leaves on the border of the marshland at the back field

Matt hikes along the trail on the east side of the back forest

My favourite tree all dressed up for fall

What’s fall looking like where you are? Have you gone for a hike in a fall forest yet? How did you spend your long weekend?

Fall fair fun

Posted on October 2, 2012 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

My family always attended fall fairs when I was growing up. This year, as new rural residents, it was a lot of fun to be part of this annual celebration of rural culture.

Farmers big and small exhibit their harvests, everything from fruits and vegetables to hay and grains. People show off their preserves and baking. There are crafts including knitting, sewing, quilting, painting, photography and wood carving. The school fair showcases special projects by local elementary students.

There are historical exhibits, such as this threshing demonstration we watched.

I believe the machine is from the 1930s. With all of the belts and wheels and pipes, it looked like something out of a Tim Burton movie.

Modern equipment was there too, including ATVs, UTVs and tractors.

My dad, Matt and I check out the massive Case 350, just in case we decide to upgrade (Love you, Wiley!)

The fair is also a time to celebrate and let loose after all of the hard work of the summer. Look beyond all of the equipment, and you’ll see the main attraction of the fair: the midway.

The zipper was my Dad’s favourite ride growing up, and now it’s mine. This one was the best zipper I’ve ever been on. The centrifugal force was amazing–I felt like we were going to fly off the track.

An integral part of the midway is the concession stands. My favourite fair food is the fresh cut french fries.

Piping hot, nice and crispy, doused with gallons of vinegar and buckets of salt

And then there are the animals.

Obviously, dreadlock here was the camera-hog (or sheep), but take a look a ringlet’s lovely locks on the right

And there are the kids exhibiting their animals.

Every single one of these cows had their own kid. Impressive.

And the birds.

This iridescent beauty is a (napping) Cayuga duck.

Including some I’ve never seen before.

This was a type of peacock

In addition to being a lot of fun, the fair did help me to solidify the animals I’d like to add to the farm. Tune in Friday to see who made my list. Hint: one of the species, but not the exact breed, is above.

What animals do you think I chose? What animals would make your list? Any other fall fair fans out there? What’s your favourite ride? And most important: how do you like your fries?

Like a squirrel gathering nuts

Posted on September 30, 2012 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

With the specter of winter looming, my brain has kicked into high gear thinking about all of the things I need to do before freezing temperatures descend.

Here are some of the things scampering around in my head:

Winterize exterior waterlines, including the old pump in the barn. While we don’t use the pump anymore thanks to our new water system, we never actually shut down the old system. Matt’s input on this project is, “How about we turn the light bulb back on?”
Take off the window screens for cleaning and patching

The hole, the insect carcasses and the cobwebs are great for Hallowe’en. Not so great for the rest of my life. And pretty much every single screen has at least one hole in it–although they aren’t all this dirty. (Please don’t judge).

Fix up some winter beds for the cats. They’re pretty independent–remember Ralph made it through last winter all by herself when the farm was vacant–so this may consist of just ensuring they have access to lots of clean straw.
Fix leak in basement foundation. Oh, I haven’t mentioned this lovely little development yet? It’s a real treat.
Get rid of scrap metal.

The farm seems to be a breeding ground for scrap metal. This pile includes random pipes and posts, an umbrella clothesline, a tire rim, buckets of rusty screws and nails, and our chopped up TV antenna.

Organize driveshed so that we can find the snow shovels and park at least one car inside (this task includes running a magnet over the whole floor of the shed to pick up the many screws and nails that have been dumped/fallen in the gravel).
Get rid of the woodstove and old chimney, which are currently sitting in the middle of Matt’s future parking space in the driveshed. Hopefully we can sell this and make some money to help fix the fireplace in the living room.

Soon to be for sale: One woodstove + everything you need to make your basement/living room/workshop/cottage nice and cozy this winter.

Fit out the mudroom and front hall closet–you know, ’cause we just might be needing coats and boots at some point.
Remove stakes from established trees and stake the new trees that we planted this spring.

Note how the poor tree has started to grow into the rope. I think it’s passed time someone started to pay attention to this property.

Install the flag pole. This was my Canada Day (July 1) project. Obviously, this project is not as vital as, say, making sure the pipes don’t freeze, but if we don’t get the flag pole planted soon, the hole that we drilled when we had the auger may not be useable.
Pull the fallen tree out of the pond. Hopefully our farmer and his powerful tractor can help us with this one. I have a feeling someone is going to end up in the water, and her name will likely be Julia.

The trunk is at the edge of the far shore. In addition to the branches sticking out of the water, there are numerous other limbs under the surface. It’s probably a nice habitat for some fishes and wildlife, but could be a little hazardous for the skating parties I have planned for this winter.

Buy snow tires for my car. My fingers are crossed that one of the many sets of rims we have found around the property will fit my car.

This formation is Tire Towers. We also have Tire Mountain and Tire Pile.

Put away the lawn furniture–this one should be a simple matter of dragging the chairs and tables up to the barn.

Hmmm… 14 tasks. I guess that means we should be done in two weeks, eh? Yeah right.

Just in case I find some spare time lying around, let me add a couple of “nice-to-dos” to my “need-to-dos:”

Install a bird feeder on the driveway turnaround, so I can watch the birds while I have my breakfast. My parents have a feeder in their backyard, and, surprisingly, at our old house where we didn’t have one, I really missed watching the birds eat their breakfast while I ate mine.
Trim up some trees around the property and maybe even take down a sickly blue spruce. Goodness knows we don’t need more firewood, but I’m sick of seeing broken branches on the trees lining the driveway and down at the pond.

Anyone else out there feeling the approaching onset of winter? For my rural readers, any tips on winter care for barn cats? What’s on your fall to-do list? And please, someone tell me that you too have dirty screens… anyone?

The heat is on

Posted on September 23, 2012 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Fall is officially here, and I finally broke down and turned on the heat pump.

The temperature has been down as low as 17.5 over the last couple of days. Brrr.

I enjoy sleeping in the cool fall nights. With an extra blanket, I’m nice and cozy under the covers. However, once I’m out from under those covers, the cool fall mornings are uncomfortably nippy.

And now that the temperature is staying fairly cool through the days and evenings too, I was feeling the chill, even with slippers and sweaters.

Matt’s slippers of choice, the ducks.

I had hoped to make it to Thanksgiving or at least the first of October before we turned on the heat, but we wimped out.

Go, go geothermal!

What about you? Have you turned on the furnace yet? Anyone else out there like their animal slippers?

Taste is more than skin deep

Posted on September 20, 2012 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Our beautiful spring blossoms have become slightly gnarly apples.

Nothing personal, but they’re just not that pretty

The tree appears to be pretty ancient and wild, so I didn’t have high hopes for its fruit. Especially when they turned out all lumpy and dimpled.

However, being the selfless individual that I am, I did pick one for a taste test to satisfy your curiosity.

First bite of my gnarly apple fresh off the tree

Surprisingly, it was really good. Nice and crisp and sweet. The dimples were just dimples and despite the apple’s appearance the taste did not suffer.

The expression on my face is not reflective of the taste of the apple. I think I was still giving photography instructions to Matt at this point. I’m starting to realize why there aren’t more photos of me on this blog. And yes, I did cut my hair, and yes, I am looking exhausted. I think this drywall blitz is starting to wear me out.

Has anyone else gone apple picking yet this fall? What’s your favourite kind?

Morning at the pond

Posted on September 19, 2012 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Over just the last 24 hours, there’s been a change in the air. It feels like the cool fall weather has arrived.

Before I officially move on from summer, though, I want to share some photos from a warm sunny morning a few weeks ago.

Down by the pond

I’ve said before that the pond is one of my favourite spots on the property.

Early morning as the sun is coming up is one of my favourite times on the property.

On this particular Saturday, I had both the pond and the early morning as I began my Saturday outside with the camera. I couldn’t resist these pretty pink flowers on the shore.

Anyone know what these flowers might be?

As we head into fall, I’m already noticing that the foliage is fading and the leaves are becoming sparser around the farm. I now have a better view of the pond from the house, although I can’t see any pink flowers from here.

Is anyone else out there feeling the change in the air? What signs of fall are you seeing? Are you looking forward to fall?

Aliens have landed in the back field

Posted on September 16, 2012 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

As you can likely appreciate, it’s pretty dark at the farm once the sun goes down. There’s no glow of city lights. The closest street light is about a kilometre away. The stars and the moon are our only light.

So imagine Matt and me arriving home very late one night last week. It’s a moonless night, so it’s pitch black outside. We can see the glow of the cats’ eyes in the headlights… and some very bright lights circling the back field. We’re a wee bit startled.

It turned out that it wasn’t aliens who had flown over the fence and it wasn’t hooligans who had somehow broken in past our newly installed gate. It was our farmer finishing our second hay harvest of the year.

The finished bales are loaded onto the trailer.

For those wondering how he got past the gate, our fields are gated separately and can be accessed from the road.

Owning a farm but not actually farming the land ourselves creates an interesting dynamic. It’s our land, but we don’t manage it ourselves, so sometimes we’re surprised by what happens when we’re not there.

We weren’t sure whether we were going to have a second cut this year because the summer was so dry and the hay was looking very scraggly to my untrained eye. However, apparently there was enough for a harvest because when I came home from work one evening last week I found all of the fields had been mowed.

A couple of days later all of the hay was baled, and by nightfall it was loaded up and trucked away.

So no alien sightings on the farm. At least not yet. We are however keeping our eyes open for crop circles in our freshly mowed fields.

I’m missing my front-end loader gene

Posted on September 11, 2012 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

You know when you see those large machines working away, effortlessly moving large piles of dirt, easily scooping massive rocks, bopping along over the roughest terrain? I’ve discovered there’s a lot of skill that goes into this mechanical ballet.

Skills I apparently don’t have.

Wiley’s been getting a workout over the last little while, cutting, hauling, scooping and carrying. He’s a great partner when it comes to managing the property. Me, however? I’m not such a good teammate.

My specific issue is with the front-end loader.

I just do not find the front-end loader intuitive.

I raise when I want to scoop, I dump when I want to raise. It’s all kinds of awkward.

Please ignore the long grass and the basketball net. Landscaping is next year’s project.

The front end loader is controlled by a joystick. Move it up to raise the bucket, down to lower the bucket. Move it to the left and the bucket curls up. Move it right and the bucket tips to dump.

Maybe it’s because I never played video games growing up, but I just can’t master the joystick. I’m forever moving it the wrong way and end up digging the blade into the ground or prematurely dumping my bucket.

We finally got the new waterline trenched into the driveshed last week, and I decided to backfill the trench. While the job did go quicker with Wiley than it would have with a shovel, I was not efficient by any means. Poor Wiley must have been so confused. “Why is she dumping the dirt here when the hole is over there?”

Yeah. It wasn’t pretty.

Every so often I’d hop off the tractor and grab the shovel or the rake to deal with a random pile by hand.

Matt, Mr. I-love-video-games, has no such issues with the loader. Allow him to demonstrate.

This is how you position the bucket to carry a load. This one happens to be one of the many piles of rocks that exist around the property.

This is how you dump a load out of the bucket.

So is my lack of front-end loader ability an actual genetic deficiency? Or do you think front-end loader manipulation can be learned? Should I hook up Matt’s old Jump Man game for some joystick practice?