Free at Last

23rd March 2015

It's Gone! It finally disappeared on April 13th  It went a week or two earlier in town but at the back of our house, between the deck and the flower bed, there was a snow mountain that did not and would not melt. Not surprising when it stayed below freezing but it warmed up a lot the last week in March and it was still there.  For some days the day temperature rose to double (positive) digits and did not go below zero at night. The snow mountain started to subside but didn't go and didn't go. No good trying to use the snow blower as the snow was impacted and crystallised. Digging trenches across it by hand helped a bit. We knew it was melting because the ground was mud where the lawn should have been but it was depressing to see it still there day after day. Only Molly the Dog was sad to see it go. She loved rolling in the snow. Now the snow has gone the Spring Rains (hopefully), muddy paws and  wood ticks will come and Molly the Dog will know Winter is truly over

25th March

1st April 2015

13th April 2015
The very last bit to go!

11th April 2015

Of course we have had more snow flurries since the 13th of April but the temperatures are close to or above zero so it doesn't stick like back in the old days of -25 deg C. On Sunday morning we woke up to the wonderful sound of gentle rain and the grass is beginning to turn green and yes, the veg patch is free at last too......it's just been a tad on the windy side this week with gusts up to 90km per hour so I haven't done anything up there yet but one rhubarb has survived and the gooseberries and blackcurrants are beginning to unfurl tiny green leaves. Such a joy to the heart!

April 22nd 2015

Chicken Mania

We have to have chickens. How can we live in the country and not have chickens? Urban chickens may still be against the law in many Canadian Cities but we are in the country where chickens are supposed to live. We have always wanted chickens but haven't quite got round to it yet but this could be the year. Actually Suzanna wants chickens more than I do but please don't tell her that........

Plans are afoot. We are spending endless hours discussing where to put the hen house (palace). It's not easy.....there is very little flat ground in/on our yard ("Yard" is Canadian for garden and surrounds of the house. "Garden" is Canadian for a veg patch  This can get very confusing for little me, especially as a yard to me is a farm yard, a lumber yard or a builder's yard or three feet)

We finally took last year's recycling to the appropriate place and so freed up the trailer for a trip to the lumber yard and bought the timber for the chicken house, coop or hen house as I prefer to call it. Plans are not only afoot but they are also sort of down on paper as I follow in my Father's and my Grandfather's inspiring footsteps. They drew up plans for ships and houses and never anything as humble as a hen house but I am a late starter.








Suzanna has started construction and at the time of writing we have a upside down floor and legs in the garage and concrete blocks where it will go. Yes one of the concrete blocks is broken.....it bounced off the trailer on the gravel road and broke in bits. It was so heavy I thought it would be fine on the trailer but yes it bounced off! Luckily no-one was behind us.


We have already bought a rooster.
He is black and white with a bright red comb and feet and he is very beautiful and very quiet. That's the way we like our roosters. He is also a bit static..I cannot say wooden as he is metallic.  However he stands as a challenge to us to get the hen house and run done very soon so we can get some chickens.....

The names of the chickens will be Isobel, Harriet and Henrietta with a fourth one whose name eludes me just at the moment. They will be speckeldy and very winter hardy.

Please do say: "How is the Hen house coming on?"
Don't say:"Are you raising chickens for food?"