A SNOWY AFTERNOON AND COMFORT FOOD

We had a green Christmas this year and I won't complain. I felt sure-footed as I walked outside but today, it's been snowing and it's warming up after a few really cold days. It's supposed to turn to rain again and someplace, freezing rain.

Yesterday I felt like making Curry Squash soup from a recipe I received from my daughter Christine a few years ago. I used some frozen squash puree I made from our own squash. It was so good and comforting on a cold day.
I like to use my soup tureen often in the winter for soups and chowders. It's made of glazed stoneware so it keeps the content nice and hot for a long time. After it cools, I store the tureen in the fridge.

Sorry about the blurred photo. After I took the photo, I noticed that I had forgotten to change the close-up setting on my camera.

Today I baked some Drop Cheese Biscuits. They were so good with the soup. I had a hard time to stop eating them.

This afternoon, I worked on a challenging puzzle. It's been a Christmas tradition at our house to wind down after the busy Christmas celebrations. I knew it would be a challenge but it turned out to be more challenging than I expected. I started it on Christmas Eves and I worked at it every chance I got and that's all I've got done so far. I picked that one because I love owls. We'll see how long it will take me to complete it.

I must say that Cobble Hill makes quality puzzles and the pieces stay into place otherwise it would be very frustrating. They are made in Victoria BC in Canada... The pieces are random shapes which makes it interesting... The reason I find this one so challenging is that it's from a painting and not from a photograph so the details are not crisp and also the colors all seem to blend in but it's beautiful

This is how much I have managed to put together since Christmas Eve... I sort the pieces by color in plates to facilitate finding the right piece and I stack them to save space.

Today, the waxwings returned to my crabapple tree like they did last year but my window was too dirty with spider webs and grime to take a good picture through it and I didn't want to scare them by opening the door.
I hope that you all had a great day. Thanks for your comments.
Hugs, Julia

MERRY CHRISTMAS WHEREVER YOU ARE

I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and take this opportunity to thank my special blogging friends who care enough to leave comments on my poor neglected blog. I hope that you are all in good health and good spirit and that you have someone to share Jesus' birthday with tomorrow.

I'm looking forward to spending Christmas Day with family, stuffing my face and making merriment.
Have a Joyous and Peaceful Christmas.
Hugs, Julia

MY INTERESTING RETURN TRIP BACK HOME

When I go home I usually drive since it's only three and a half hour car drive but because of bad weather in the forecast, I went with my brother and decided to come back home on the bus 4 days later. I had a good time at the family Christmas party. Usually, I can never attend the Christmas party because of work and we connect on the phone or facetime.

Not a very good picture of me and my sister Therese. I still had a wee bit of yellow tones from the bruising but's it's all gone now.

After a 4 day relaxing visit with my gracious sister in love, Theresa and my brother Gerard, I  boarded a small bus and I thought that I would die of heat... By chance, we were all senior women and one lady declared that we were all running away and everyone burst out laughing.

When we got to the next bus stop, some people got off and others got on. This beautiful petite Romanian woman was trying to contact her family in Toronto but her iPhone was dead and she didn't have a cord to charge it. She was asking everyone if they had a "plug it" for her iPhone. Nobody could help her... As she approached the front I told her that I had a cord that she could use. She came and sat beside me in the front but the plugs didn't work. She tried several plugs on the bus but none worked. I told her to wait till we get to the next city and she could charge her phone at the bus station.

In the meantime, she is not giving up trying the plug outlets, but of course, they didn't work. She asks if I would let her use my cell phone, I said sure, as long as it was not a long conversation. She was so grateful. She had two short calls to make, one to her parent and one to her friend in Montreal.

She explained that she hadn't seen her kids for a month and she was just getting out of jail because of immigration difficulties. She had lost a lot of weight while in prison as she couldn't eat. She cried a lot... She said that she prayed to Jesus for help, that she believed that He would help her and that she told me that she was Catholic.

We talked and she was very pleasant. She told me that she is 20 and lives in Toronto with her parents and she has 4 kids and her youngest was only 2... She got her first one at 14 and they were allc-sections. I asked her why was she going to Montreal since she lives in Toronto.

She showed me the court documents that said that her friend in Montreal had signed and paid her $1000. bail and the judge wanted her to go stay with her friend in Montreal. She had no money so I slipped her a $20 that I could spare and she said that she would buy a cord to charge her phone... She was so grateful that she wanted to give me her sandwiches, her bottle of water and an orange. I said that she would need it but she wanted me to have them. She was very insisting so I took the orange. She had a cheap ring on her finger, and she also wanted to give it to me. She said, You like? I want you to have it. I told her it was nice but I didn't want to take her jewelry. My daughter Nicole left me some of her jewelry and I had enough.

Her jailer had given her two paper lunch bags that contained bologna sandwiches, some fruits and one bottle of water.  On her bus ticket, it said that she would arrive in Montreal at 6:30 am the next morning. She had a 5-hour wait at the bus station before boarding her bus to Montreal. I had a short wait for my bus to get home and would arrive at 1:40pm. My heart just melted when I realized that she has 5 hours stop over before continuing her trip. I gave her my iPhone cord since I could pick one up once home.  You would have thought that I gave her the moon. Her smile was from ear to ear as she talked to her mom and her kids. It made my day and we hugged and said goodbye.   It was just meant to be. I didn't understand a single word she said but she was very happy. All in all, it was a most pleasant bus trip.

My son Vaughan picked me up at the station and when I told him my story, he said, "Mom, I would have done exactly the same.

Lauren from Rugs and Pugs must have been very happy for my retirement because she sent me two cards, not just one but two and also a wonderful silver spoon that says Retired Hooker and it has a little sheep pendant at the top and a keychain with the most beautiful ornate spoon handle. I just love these and I'm so lucky to have such a sweet and generous friend.
Thank you so much Lauren. I'm planning on joining a rug hooking guild in the near future and I will wear the necklace proudly.

That is so thoughtful of you Lauren. I'm so happy to be retired too. I never thought it would happen.

Update on my Julia Chicken rug that is long overdue. I finished hooking it last night and today I serged the edge and now I need to bind and whip it. I ran off of the background color and dyed some more that wasn't exactly the same shade but it worked well enough. I think it was one of the reasons that I stalled on finishing it.
Thanks for reading my bus adventure.

Stay warm and safe, Christmas is only a week away so you better be good.
Hugs, Julia

NOVEMBER HAS BEEN UNUSUAL IN MANY WAYS.

November came fast and brought us winter and has been rather eventful...  It snowed a lot and it's been colder than I can remember in years, for November... I got 6 calves born in November so lots of extra work.

On November 5th, we had a huge power outage because of a  heavy wind storm. 40,000 household and businesses lost power. It took days to restore power to everyone. It affected our farm big time.  We had power surges that damaged equipment in the milking parlor and fried the deep well water pump, leaving our cattle without water. We have a large generator that we hook up to a big tractor to generate electricity to milk the cows and run feeders and other equipment.

 We managed to get water by hooking several garden hoses to my sister in law's well pump. It had less pressure and it took longer to fill the many water throughs and water bowls. Washing equipment, etc, etc... It would take too long to describe all the repairs that needed to be done. Industrial electricians, equipment repairmen from another town and an industrial plumber were needed for some of the repairs, etc...

We had a new calf and the mother needed to be milked in the can so her calf could be fed colostrum milk.  I had to bring all my equipment, bottles, etc. home to wash and I took everything back to the farm in the back of my Nissan Rogue. Since there were two vehicles parked in front of me, and I didn't want to run over the water hose in case it would puncture on a rock or something and causing more problems, so I  backed out to return home. It was already late at night and it was dark and for some unknown reason, my backup camera didn't come on as usual and I backed up against the hitch piece of the big 8-foot snow plow that was parked next to the farm driveway, close to where my car was parked... It damages my bumper and reflector. I had it assessed even though it's just cosmetic damage and it would cost me $1200. to have it fixed. It's not going to happen...

Somehow, our big bull hurt his hind leg badly and the vet told us to sell it for beef. He was put in a pen in my section of the barn so he could be picked up in a few days and I took care of him. He's not used to drinking from a single water bowl. He's used to drinking from a cattle water through. He must have gotten irritated to having to push the spout with his nose to get water and he broke the water connection with his powerful head.

When I came in the barn early on Saturday morning, November 10, the area where I keep the feeding hay was being flooded and I wanted to keep the hay from getting contaminated with dirty water from the pens. I tried to move the remnant of the round bale by pushing it to a higher incline in the alleyway. The bale went down but I lost my balance and fell in the water but I saved the hay, hehe. Yes, I got wet. What I wouldn't do for my calves.

Although I fell ever so gently, my body weight fell on my already damaged right shoulder. I could not lift my arm from the pain and had to call my son for help. His phone was in the kitchen so he didn't hear it ring. I called my husband and he came to feed my older calves and heifers and I fed the little ones since I didn't need to lift my arm to feed them.

Then, a week later, on Saturday morning on November 17th, I found a new baby calf with the dry cows. I went to call my son Vaughan for help, my foot got caught in the hose he had put on the floor to thaw the night before. I went flying face down on the cement floor and broke my nose. I bled like a pig. Luckily I keep a big roll of Bounty paper towels in the old fridge. My cap and my glasses flew. I'm lucky that my glasses didn't break or got scratched. They landed opened on the frame.

This is a picture I took with my Canon camera, of my cell phone selfie.  For a technical reason, Google thinks that someone is hacking into my cell phone when I tried to send it to my computer because I won't have my ID for my computer until December 20th. My computer doesn't recognize my cell phone or something like that. The bruises were more purple in the next few days. My nose was swollen.

Then came the yellow. I apologize for the very poor pictures. My nose still very sore and swollen.

The bruising still visible but fading away.

Five days after my broken nose accident, on Thursday, November 22nd, my daughter Christine came for a 5-day visit with Daniel. I picked them up at the airport and she was horrified when she saw me. I didn't tell her about my injuries before because I knew she would have worried a lot. There is one thing about me that I know. I don't care whatever anyone thinks, it won't stop me from going in public. I went grocery shopping, banking and to church looking like someone had taken a baseball bat at my face. The only ones to ask me, "OMG, WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU? " were those who really know me well, the rest were too polite to ask so I tried to put them at ease.  After all,  it was what it was, an accident and nothing else. I guess the majority of people with such injuries would choose to stay home and hide. To me, the truth is what it is and I have nothing to be ashamed of. Today, my bruising is all gone but my nose is still very tender.

While my daughter Christine and the rest of the family was here, we celebrated my 72nd birthday, and my granddaughter Jordyn's birthday and also my retirement from working at the barn, all in one celebration... On my first day of retirement, I went on a trip home to the annual family Christmas party for 5 days and had a great time visiting, and came home on the bus, but that's another story for another blog post...

My lovely granddaughter and her 72 years old bruised grandmother.
My face is healing but still yellow from the bruises and my chin still a bit bruised.

Jordyn and I cutting the multi celebration cake. Two birthdays and a retirement.

We played the present game while everyone was here. I think we had 52 presents in all for the game.

I'm sorry for the length of this post but November has 30 days and I left a lot out, believe me...

I hope that December is kinder than November.
Stay warm and safe.
Hugs, Julia

JOSIAH SEES ANGELS, HEARS GOD AND HEALS PEOPLE!

NATURE IS GETTIG IMPATIENT WITH US, AND WHO CAN BLAME HER?

Are we ready for winter yet? Not I... I don't mind a nice light snow on Christmas Eve to give a special glow to the celebration of Christmas but this year, it seems to come faster and more furious.
This is our second snow storm this month and we are only in mid-November. It's still snowing...



On a happy note, my Christmas Cactus is blooming.




The first snowstorm was mixed with rain and suddenly it turned bitter cold like in January and the slush froze, leaving patches of ice. Now walking outside can be very treacherous for us old fragile bone women because the new snow covers all those patches of ice. I hurt my shoulder badly last year and I had a fall in the barn recently while moving hay. I fell ever so gently in the hay but my shoulder cannot take any more trauma so I'm in constant pain when I move my arm. We got two new calves on Wednesday but I can manage with my son's help.

We had a huge windstorm on November 4 that cut power to about 90,000 households in our area. There was a power surge at the farm that fried our water pump in the deep well and we had to use a garden hose hooked to my sister in law's well for water to wash the milk tank and equipment, milk bottles etc. and to water the herd. It took so long to get our work done. We could not have any plumber to come to remove the pump from the well for another 2 days. My daughter and son in law were without power for several days. I can't remember how many hours, but it was a long time.

As if this was not enough, on the weekend the bull injured his hind leg and had to be put in a pen in my end of the barn. No one can figure out how he injured his leg. He's a big mean bull but somehow, he has never given me the evil eye like the old one did so I took care of him. The vet came and said that we would have to get rid of him but the guy who picks up our cull cows only comes once a week so we had to wait. So now we have no breeding bull. To make a long bull story short, he broke the connection to his water bowl and when I came in that morning I found a large pool of water where my two round bales of hay were and all the newly cleaned cow beds full of water. It's not the first time it happens. The problem with these water bowls is that they have plastic connectors instead of metal ones.

I just got a call from my son telling me how slippery it is out there and to be careful.
I'm off to the farm to feed my little ones.

I'm looking forward to my retirement at the end of the month but I'm not expecting any gold watch and or gold pens. I'll be just happy to hang up my barn boots.
Thanks for stopping by. Stay safe and warm.
Hugs, Julia

FIRST THING FIRST, RETURNING TO BLOGGING AFTER A LONG ABSENCE.

Hi everyone, not much has changed since I took my sabbatical from Blogger. Every day brings its own challenges and I keep going, for better or worst. I have visited my favorite blogs and have had lots of emails asking me to return back to posting. Thank you for your encouragement. OK, maybe I will return back to blogging.

I have had tons of things to share but every time I sat at the computer, my inner voice would say,  "Nah, not tonight"... Instead, I would play Freecell or watch inspirational youtube videos. I thrive on learning the truth in whatever areas that feed my soul in a  Christian positive way.

What's happening this week.  Well, I'm back from my two-week vacation in Ottawa at my Daughter Christine. A wonderful, relaxing vacation. I rested a lot, THANK YOU CHRISTINE... I attended an elementary school Halloween dance with her and the grandkids. I was dressed as a witch, lol... my daughter was dressed as a big black bird and she was shedding feathers all over the place. We danced to The Monster Mash, Ghost Busters, Gangnam Style, the Chicken Dance and many more.  We had a blast with the kids. This was an annual fundraiser for the school. I enjoyed every minute of it...

On another day, I volunteered with my daughter at an elementary school to be a teacher assistant to help teachers prepare scholastic projects, like making 100 math assignment booklets, that we sorted, cut and stapled, we worked on getting folders labeled, stapled and three other projects.
We were so busy, we didn't take pictures.

 When we were done, we volunteered to deliver $500.00 worth of pizza to classes, to each child who had ordered a piece. I never saw so many pizzas in my whole life. In all, between the two of us, we gave 6 hours of our time to help the teachers. It went rather fast and was pleasurable and I would do it over if I had the opportunity.

Moral of the story, teachers are so busy and never have enough time to prepare all the things that need to be done to help the children learn better. They have so many children that need special help, especially the little ones. If you have a few hours to spare now and then consider volunteering your time to help the teachers prepare their projects. If you don't know what gift to give to the teacher of your child, give them a gift card from Walmart or the Dollar Store or from an art supply store. Did you know that some teachers use their own money to buy supplies for their class? This, I learned from my daughter.

I hope that you all had a wonderful Halloween, I know it's passed but being with the kids on Halloween was so very special to me.

Hugs, Julia

I'M TAKING AN EXTENDED VACATION FROM BLOGGER

I decided to take time off blogger as I've been rather busy all summer. Thanks for your comments and I hope that you are having a great summer.

Take care and stay safe.

Julia

HAVE YOU EVER MET AN ENERGY VAMPIRE ?

Since I haven't had much spare time to post lately, and I'm getting emails, I thought I better post something. I haven't used my camera much lately as it's been so hot and sunny and the photos come out washed out.

I've been weeding and weeding and weeding. Weeding at the farm and weeding at home... The flood sure made a mockery of my mulching last fall,  since it all floated away,  I was treated with an overdose of weeds. Even though the vegetable gardens were late to be planted it's all doing very well. I have small green tomatoes and tiny green peppers starting to grow. The potatoes are blooming but because it's so dry, I have to water the veggies and flowers often.

Now about one of the books I mentioned in my last post, namely, Dodging Energy Vampires by Caroline Northrup.  I know, Vampire is a strong word but it fits the description.  I had never heard about Energy Vampires before but I learned a lot from this book and also from my search on the internet. There is so much information that I can't remember it all at the moment...

 So this post is about a short essay about what Energy Vampires are and not a review of this book or a complete description of what Energy Vampires are and the damage they can cause their victims over time...  They prey on their victims because they are in emotional pain.

They can make you sick and you can even die after a while if you are exposed to their constant energy drain on you. They can cause you to doubt yourself, make you feel depressed, make you feel small and unimportant, and make you feel like you are not good enough and that everything is your fault.  It kind of snowball unless you come to realize that you are OK and the problem is not you.
The book explains the steps you can take to protect yourself.

I'm sure you all have come into contact with Energy Vampires at some time but maybe you did not recognize them as such. I was aware that some people drained my energy, especially one customer of mine I remember, every time she came into my shop, left me drained.  Other people also mentioned that she left them drained after a brief encounter with her.

These people drain your energy because they don't seem to have the capacity to generate their own energy. They always need to be around people. They are born that way so it's really not their faults. It's part of their personality. They have low self-esteem but you'de never know it. They can be very charming and once they have a good hold on you, they feed off your energy by making you dependent on them but in reality, they are dependant on you.

There are different types or traits of Energy Vampires and some come with combined traits... They may be some in your own family. They come in all sizes, age, professions, and they are either males or females. Interestingly, more males than females are Energy Vampires...  Some can be your own young children, parents, siblings, relatives, your coworkers, bosses, clergy, religious, etc...

I'll talk about the Narcissistic Type of  Energy Vampires first.
They think that the world is revolving around them and it's all about them.  They always want to be first. They have an exaggerated sense of self-importance and they feel entitled and craved admiration. They want to be the center of attention and will do anything to draw attention to themselves. They are never wrong, never apologize for their mistakes and never takes the responsibility for their shortcoming but blame others instead.

If you don't do things their way, you'll suffer punishments in some form or other. They will become withholding and cold, and give you the silent treatment. You'll fall out of grace quickly with them.  There is no reasoning with them. They are incapable of unconditional love. Everything depends on them getting their way. They will even try to make you part with your money. Everything is conditional...

Some are Judgemental Energy Vampires and they have severe low self-esteem. They like to make you feel small, pathetic or ashamed. It's the only way they can bolster their own ego.

The Controlling Energy Vampires, are obsessed with controlling how you should be and what you should do even if you are very educated and successful.  It's not enough for them. They want you to produce more. They are very opinionated about everything. They have to dominate the situation and they are always putting people down and telling them and you what you should do. They plot to keep you under their hold. The victims come out feeling put down and dominated and trapped.

Another type of Energy Vampires is the Talker Energy Vampires. They are only concerned about themselves and are not really interested in what you have to say.  It's hard to get your word across with these people.

Energy Vampires are attracted to empaths. I hate to say it but I am an empath.   If you don't know what an empath is, there is a lot of information on the internet. It could be another post altogether...

I hope I have peaked your curiosity and you will take a look on the internet for yourself.  If not, then, it's OK by me.

Keep cool and have a great week.
Hugs, Julia

SPRING HAS COME AND GONE, SUMMER IS HERE, WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE?

Life is moving along. Some progress has been done but nothing earth-shattering. I'm not as enthusiastic as I once was about getting everything done on time and that's OK. As I age, my priorities changes and that's OK too. I've got a lot done in the gardens like repairing some of the damages caused by the flood. I planted a lot of potatoes at the farm and at home. At home, I planted some onions, 2 types of peas, Roma tomatoes, sweet bell peppers, three types of beans, beets, and cucumbers. I've planted some Celosias, marigolds, red salvias, white alyssum, some petunias, and lobelias. I still have more flowers to plant but I'm moving slowly because some beds are still not ready to receive flowers and it's slowing me down...   It's been a weird season for everyone so far.

The grass is starting to grow along with weeds that came in the flood. Yesterday, I weeded the garden on the right

Some bearded irises. I think they are called Stepping Out.

Lady Kin, lilac bush that is almost done flowering but so fragrant.

Some more tall bearded irises that need weeding.

Yellow bearded Irises that are almost finished blooming.

A fragrant white rose bush Blanc De Coubert

Cherub Smile Irises

Early potatoes in the back garden

Onions, 2 types of peas

Cucumbers I transplanted yesterday.

B3 Types of beans and beets that needs weeding



Geeen Bell Peppers and Roma Tomatoe also in need of weeding.

My front and back lawn are still not repaired. I have a pile of topsoil and compost in the middle of my front lawn and now that haying season is upon us, it will be a while before it gets done.  The front lawn is not my husband's priority but it's an eyesore.



 I've been cleaning out the garage and I'm trying to organize my husband tool drawers. He's notorious for not putting tools away after he completes a job and he never can find his tools when he needs them in a hurry... I found at least 6 hammers, 6 measuring tapes and triplicate of assorted screwdrivers, wrenches, pliers and so on.  I'm making some progress on that too but it's slow. Of course, he can never find the tool he's looking for so he buys another one. Some he bought a while back and he doesn't even remember buying it and it sits in its original packaging... I could open a second-hand tool store.

I just got a batch of  Cabernet Malbec Carmenere  Chilean red wine bottled and two more batches of Australien Shiraz on the go for August. I like to relax with a glass or two once my hard work is done.

I've been reading several books. Dodging Energy Vampires by Christiane Northrup, MD.,  an empath guide to evading energy vampires that drain your energy and restoring your health and power. Change your Thoughts Change  Your Life by Dr. Wayne Dyer and Sacred Contracts by Carolyn Myss. Awakening your Devine potential. I love books that deal with the mind or the soul.

 I've been hooking a little bit on my Julia Chicken chair pad. I hook about 30 minutes every couple of nights so it's slow going. I may run out of the gray-green for the background

I've attended a 60th Wedding reception for a couple we know from our church and on Tuesday, we will attend a funeral in a neighboring town for my daughter's mother in law tomorrow

I'm still working at the farm, looking after 34 calves and heifers.  Make that 35, as I got a new one this morning. Still no buyers in sight. Still too much uncertainty in the dairy industry market caused by we all know who...

I've been receiving acupuncture treatment for my sore shoulders and I have another appointment in July. I received 20 needles on various parts of my hands,  wrists, forehead,  neck, and shoulders.  It didn't hurt. I have another appointment in July.

Can you believe we are in the last week of  June? My husband is done with the farm income tax and he brought it to the accountant today. Farmers have a deadline of June 30th to get their income tax in.

Haying season has begun. I'm feeding my grandson at noon meals. Nothing has changed except I have to prepare meals for a gluten intolerant young man.

Thanks for visiting and please leave a comment.
Stay cool and enjoy the summer.
Hugs, Julia

THE CLEANUP CONTINUES BUT I CAN SEE THE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL.

It's been quite a ride but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. For all those of you who emailed me, asking how I was progressing with the flood clean up. I have to say thank you for your concerns and caring... Things have progressed slowly but surely.

I approached the problem by prioritizing and the clean up at the farm was priority one as we needed to get the cattle back to the farm. The other farmer who shared the exhibition barn with our farm, only got their cattle back home today. Can you imagine? A flood that started on April 27th has affected that farmer so much and today we are June the 9th.

 For those who asked about High Water, the heifer calf who was born during the flood, she is doing really well. I may take her picture when I get a chance.  Life is really busy still.

The gazebo was all cleaned up by a volunteer and I  pressure washed it, but the swings will have to be painted later...

My next priority was  the perennial flowerbed and the path to the shed...   I dug up so many wheelbarrows of sand with weeds. I finally got the path to the shed cleared and I started to unearth my peonies that were buried under all that sand.  In places, I had to use the pressure hose to dig the peonies without damaging them.


Digging out the path from all the sand and weeds that came in.

This is what it looked like before I dug out the path from under all that sand and mud. You can get an idea by looking where the shovel is...

Even this flowerbed was under water but is still doing well. I need to clean out the brick border;


 I pressure washed the bricks around the flowerbeds and also the path and seeded the bare areas where the sand was. It's been hot during the day and I've watered the seeded are well but in no time it dries up.

Tjis shoes the path cleared of sand nd mu and weeds.

This is the path to he shed,  after removing the sand and mud off of it and pressure washing it and the bricks around the flowerbeds.

The daylilies flowerbed has had the topsoil replaced and so far they are doing well.

The next priority was cleaning out the garage where I had stored a lot of damaged stuff and the carport. Now my husband can park his truck in there.
My son helped me to bring a whole bunch of rusty shelves and metal scraps that could be salvaged for recycle to the farm metal heap for recycling and brought all my waste to the dump.  Now the garage and carport are all cleaned up.

Last evening, my son Vaughan tilled the back vegetable garden for me and today I planted the potatoes, onions, and peas.   I also repaired the flowerbed by the driveway that the flood removed the topsoil.

We got a frost warning tonight so I didn't plant flowers yet...  It's kind of late for frost in our area but nothing is as it was with this crazy weather but life is good and the spring flowers are still blooming as if nothing has changed. I'm getting a farmer's tan again.




In the meantime, flowers continue to bloom as if nothing happened.

There are still flood clean up to do in the farm office but that can wait until I have the time to deal with it. So far, nobody else has offered to do that cleanup.  There are still a bunch of papers in the drawers that got wet and are probably moldy by now that has got to be taken care of.  So is my life. I have to prioritize and all is as it should be.

Planting the rest of the garden is next and then the lawn that needs to be fixed.
Thanks for stopping in for a visit and leaving a little comment.  I so appreciate it.
Hugs, Julia

2018, OUR WORST FLOOD EVER

It's hard to know where to begin. It's been over a month and I've been cleaning up ever since, starting with priorities to the less important and I'm far from done and it's planting time already.

The water rose quicker than expected and caught everyone by surprise, even the flood forecasters. A combination of factors was to blame. The full Moon brought the high tide, warmer than the normal temperature causing a lot of snow to melt, lots of rain, high winds and the dam upriver. We were prepared for a big flood but this one was just bigger than expected.

The milking cows were moved to a safe barn, 6 at a time to the main road by the tractor and then taken by truck to the show cattle barn at the Exhibition ground in the city. This went on into the night.

The heifers and calves stayed at the farm and my son Vaughan and his son-in-law had to use a big tractor to go to the farm and use hip-waders to go bed and feed them. They used so much hay just to keep them out of the flood water. The bedding was getting so high that they had to strap boards in front of their pens to keep them from jumping over and drown.  This job of feeding and bedding them was almost an imposible task but they kept the calves and heifers all safe during the long duration of the flood.

There was hay floating everywhere in the barn. They really should have been moved but my husband never realized that the water would get so high. I had one calf that was born one day before the flood, one during the flood and she was called High Water, and one right after the flood. They are all doing well. High water was our first brown heifer calf and she was #600 and became a big celebrity across Canada. She was born at the exhibition barn but the vet had to euthanize her mother three days later because of a muscle injury she received during the moving and couldn't get up.

I don't have photos of the barn and the mess there. It was unbelievable anyway.

Moving the cattle by a tractor, on the road in front of my house.



My granddaughter's husband's boat on my front lawn.

Garden debris that was to be mulched last fall was still contained by the gazebo and my two swins on their side. At least, this time they didn't float across the yard.

Daffodils underwater

All my long daylily bed lost all the topsoil and the plants are bare roots.

The current was so strong that it tore up the road in front of my house.

A big tree on the road.  The water came to almost the highest spot on this rock by the lilly garden.

The path to the old shed as the water was receding.

As the water recedes we can see there is a lot of my son's topsoil in my tulip bed. He's not a keen weeder and I  inherited all his weeds and a lot of topsoil and sand as well. That is still not cleaned.



The water was over the top rocks and a lot of sand is still on the steps.



There are driftwood and debris everywhere. I can't show it all because there are too many pictures.



More sandbars on my back lawn.

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Topsoil and sand in my tulip bed and yard.



My clematis is wrapped in debris. You can see the water mark on the shed. There is a mess in there and my lawnmower was under water.  Thankfully our mechanic got it going again.




My tall lilies are in those cages but not out of the ground yet in this photo.



Debris surrounding my peonies cages.




A peek in my basement. My grow lights toppled over. I sprayed a little to show the green floor for contrast.



Stuff floated everywhere all over the basement. This is only one section.




Muck all over the floor



The new stove my husband bought last year for the basement



 My ceramic pouring room. Workbenches on their sides. The Studio Star slip reclaimer was on the shelf and it was heavy but it floated off the shelf. I wasn't using any of these since I stopped doing ceramics.



I pressure washed the floor and lots of the paint came off. We tore off the wall covering in the last flood and we decided not to refinish the basement then, a good thing. We use the basement mostly for storage (of stuff we don't need) and lots of holiday decorations.



A small portion of the stuff that was removed from the basement for disposal.



A volunteer cleaned up the debris from the gazebo. That was a big help. All it needs is a good pressure wash to make it look good again. I hope it doesn't peel the paint off the gazebo.

There are so many more photos but this gives you a bit of an idea what I'm dealing with.
It's a year of purging and I've been forced to start early. So much damage but it will all be beautiful again, one thing at a time.
It's way past my bedtime and I'll stop here.
Thanks for looking. Don't feel bad for me, for us, we had way too much stuff.
Hugs, Julia