When life hands you lemons...

My apologies for being absent of late. Things got busy around here with my mom arriving from BC on the 23rd and then my husband leaving for another shift in China on the 26th. I have had all sorts of potential blog posts accumulating in my head but just haven't managed to get them out of there!

So anyway, you may think by the title of this post that something bad has happened. That's not the case. I called it this because my mom had said that while she was out visiting she wanted to have a picnic. Well Mother Nature was having no part of that. We still have several feet of snow and only just this week have gotten above zero. So instead of a picnic, my mom went sledding with the kids making the best of a 'sour' situation.

I'd say they had fun!


My mom's dog Ida. She got a little bit stuck.

A post for Grampa

Because we all need a good laugh now and again...



Happy First Day of Spring!
(It is, in fact, snowing in these pictures even though it's hard to tell.)

I think she needs a horse...

...or a bigger dog!

Then there were seven...

Two of Zama's puppies went on their way to their new home today.

This is 'Max'

And his sister 'Ruby'
and they are off to a 1500 acre farm where they will be on coyote guard.

Funny how sad I felt when I watched two of the puppies I have cared for since birth being taken away to their new homes. Glad I'm not Zama... although I'm sure her memory is shorter than mine.

Spring is breathing down Winter's neck

The breath of Spring is finally warming our neck of the woods! We had 6 degrees yesterday and 9 today and it was wonderful! This has been an unbearably long Winter and although it is not nearly over yet, a little warmth is more than welcome!

Our neighbor delivered a bale of hay yesterday, which Zama quickly unraveled for me- not helpful!

While he was here, we asked if he wouldn't mind doing a couple passes with his tractor to remove some of the snow build up from behind the house. This is where we have problems in the spring with snow melting on top of still frozen ground and trickling down our foundation into our basement. Well, there was a lot more snow than we thought. He was here for nearly two hours!

We had initially borrowed a quad with a plow from another neighbor thinking we could use that to clear the area but it wasn't big enough to handle the load. I did use it a bit after the tractor was gone though.
This is what it looked like this afternoon.

The chickies enjoying the warm temperatures
S traded in his snow boots for rubber boots today and went schlucking through the thick mud- the kind that swallows nice boots like these!
My mom will be here next week and she's hoping to be able to have a picnic while she's visiting so here's hoping for more warm weather!

Igloo in the back yard

First it was a Kidloo...

Then it was a Dogloo

Oh the fun you can have in the snow!

Welcome to the herd

On Tuesday night our long awaited additions to the herd arrived by trailer. The kids and I went to look at them way back in January but one thing or another has come up since then delaying their arrival. So. They are here, F and I named them and they are settling in nicely!

This pretty girl is Licorice.
This is Beauty(she was already named but we liked it enough to keep it. She is also an experienced mother pregnant with her third calf. As an added bonus, her previous owner had used her as a milking cow so I hope to keep up with that!)
This is Cinnamon.
And finally we have Sugar.
How am I going to remember who is who? I have no idea! But I hope that as we get to know them better we'll be able to find the little differences that will set them apart from the others. All four of the girls are pregnant and due to drop calves in June so we look forward to that! We've seen the birth of kittens and puppies so we're due to see something more exciting! I doubt it will be something I manage to actually see happen as Dexters seem to be elusive calvers but I hope we get the opportunity!

FYI

Just wanted to let everyone know that my friends Lissy and Kim over at Polluted Pixie are having a super awesome Giveaway to celebrate their blog's one year anniversary and the Grand opening of their etsy shop! Go have a look-see and join as a follower to be entered into their giveaway!

xoxo

The Countrified City Slicker

My cousin S came to visit the 'Farm' for the weekend. It was her first time out to see us and we couldn't wait for her to get here. She had told her friends about her plans to come visit us so they were making all sorts of cracks about her turning into a hick.

S got here on Friday night and treated us to a delicious dinner at my and K's favorite Sushi restaurant in Edmonton- Kobe. Yum! The kids were exhausted when we got home but couldn't wait to jump all over their cousin and find out what Gramma had sent along in her suit case. We've been having a lot of 'Christmases' lately and this was no exception!

Movie Night! There's no family resemblance is there? *wink wink*

On Sunday I 'countrified' my city slicker cousin... can you see the hay in her mouth? He He!

Looking for a bit of love from Chocolate!

Well I don't think we succeeded in turning S into a country hick but we sure had a wonderful visit! We all look forward to her next visit when there's a little less snow on the ground!

xoxo