Spring is being its usual fickle self around here- one day we are playing and knitting in the sunshine, the next hiding inside from the wind and hail and snow. This last dump has melted again, but there is more in the forecast  and I am trying to remember that this is what spring looks like here, and to not take it personally! 

We have a flock of about 20 red wing black birds that are eating from our feeder, and  lots of other birds too. I've been keeping the kitchen window open a crack, even in the wind and snow, just to hear them.

I am needing lots of naps and rest the past few days, finding it hard to fight this cold- most of my usual herbs and remedies are not to be taken while pregnant so I am sipping chicken broth and hot lemon tea and hoping to feel halfway human again soon. The rest of the family is bouncing back quickly and are busy around me. Perry took the boys to their first spring swim lesson today- Dorian's first time ever and he was very proud of how big he is to be going to swim lessons too. It will be fun to be at the lake with them this summer- nursing a baby on the beach and watching my little fishies swim! For now we will welcome spring as it comes, and rest up for all that is ahead.

Woah- I feel like I've been gone from here for months and months, there has been so much going on. I took a last minute trip to the coast (on my own! with no kids!) to attend our friend's memorial and to meet my sister's beautiful new baby girl. 

 I came back and I swear the weeds had doubled in size in those 4 days I was gone. They just love all this rain we've had. But then, the sun came out and we've had some beautiful warm summery weather, which is good because we were getting scared there for a bit that it was going to be another summer like last year and that all us northern folks would have to make a mass exodus for somewhere tropical. But now it is sunny and we remember why we like living where we do. 

So I've been spending these last few days excavating the garden plants from the chickweed, excavating the house from the piles of laundry and toys and enjoying the sunshine.

Oh- and attending a festival,

 playing with friends,

 cheering on the kiddos at the annual Canada Day fun run,

 And generally just loving up these adorable, cuddly little love bugs.

I hope you are all well, friends.

Hi there. Sorry to disappear there for a bit. I realized that I was really needing some time away from the computer- feeling a need of some quiet reflection time after a friend passed away unexpectedly. He was such an inspiring, beautiful human, his passing is such a mix of sadness and gratitude at having known such an amazing person. I wrote this post just before we got the news, and didn't post it then, but I thought I would post it now, and hope to be back here again soon. We have been busy on the farm, I hope to record some of the gardening adventures here when I can. 

Yesterday was a sunny warm day after many days of rain. It was cool in the morning, but warmed up and we made the most of it before the storm rolled in in the afternoon. 

:: tree climbing,

:: chick snuggling,

:: nettle picking

:: cowparsnip sword practice,

::stories under the trees- this one Dorian told was about when he was a water nymph and took care of the ocean animals and had a special mask to wear so he could breathe underwater. Love this boy's stories.

:: sat still long enough to enjoy the sunshine and knit in the grass for the first time this year. It felt divine.

:: drinking fresh nettle-mint iced tea. Yum.

:: test driving the scuba gear,

Today the rain is back and we are having a quiet day, inside mostly. There is more rain in the forecast, so we'll have to start dreaming up some activities to do inside too. 

I hope you are getting some sunshine where you are, friends!

We've been having some glorious weather. This is such a wonderfully busy time of year, with so many things going on and so many projects on the go, and so much we are loving doing outside. The kids have been having so much fun out and about with their grandparents, sand I've hardly had the camera out, but there are a few photos to show for our sunny beautiful busy days.

::giddy with the sunshine,

::working in the garden

::blowing bubbles for the chickens

:: terrific entertainment

:: things are greening up,

::nettles are needing to be picked right now- lots of nettle preserving planned.

::playing outside with friends,

::planning for next years homeschool year

The garden is nearly all planted now, with just some starts still to put in when I feel less nervous about the frost,) We've been planting seeds and digging a berry bed for the front of our garden, and planting out the plants I brought home from the perennial plant sale and putting up the hoop houses for the squash and beans and tending to all the little plant and animal lives we are responsible for this time of year. I am really enjoying these days and falling into bed exhausted from sun and activity. It has been great to spend some time this past week with the Enki grade one materials, getting a lay of the land for next year and starting to plan out the first couple blocks. This is very exciting for me, I can hardly wait to begin this journey with my children this autumn.

It feels like there is much more to ramble about and record here, but for now, my book is calling me from the bedroom and I am remembering some seedlings I didn't get to watering today. 

Happy Sunday, friends.

We had such a lovely weekend here on the homestead- we had some glorious weather and we spent most of our time outside working around the farm together, which are my very favorite kinds of days. The boys were so contented playing in the sandbox, helping us with whatever we were working on, or creating their own projects- like  hammering rocks to "get the limestone out of them" and driving this boat to "Northen Bay." 

The snow is all gone except a few patches in the shady spots. As soon as I step outside I start going over the list of things I want to get done out here. The list is never ending, but I haven't been feeling overwhelmed, just excited to be outside doing all these things I'd just been dreaming about by the wood stove all winter.

We started building a bigger composter (inspired by Jules again! Thanks for this terrific pallet composter idea Jules!) Even with the new composter Perry built last year we were running out of space and realizing we really needed a bigger 3 bin system, especially with the pig and chicken manure we are dealing with. So Perry set to work building a big one out of pallets at the bottom of the garden and we are loading it up and hoping to get a good hot compost working.

I finished the huglekultur bed (yes, I realize it looks a little like a burial mound, I'm hoping it will look less halloweenish once the plants start growing and it settles a bit!)  and stuck a bunch of perennials in that my mom had given me- she didn't know what most of them were, so this is an experiment in many ways. I  found some amazing stashes of old wood on the property and had a grand time hauling the large boards back to the yard- they were so dry and light I could impress my boys by carrying them over my shoulder looking super tough- always a bonus.

The seedling are growing like crazy and many need to be transplanted soon. My soil blocker is waiting to be picked up, so I will give it a go this week sometime and give these little seedlings more room to grow.

We had our first cookout of the year and is was so lovely to eat outside together. Ah, spring.We love you so.

And now, I must make myself a cup of herbal tea and hope I can sleep a bit before the JRP oral statement tomorrow. I am trying not to think about it too much, I'm just going to go there and do it. But if anyone wanted to send me some good vibes tomorrow, I would gather them up gladly!
Goodnight friends.

We've been outside as much as we can be this week. Bare toes in the grass and little boys petting pigs in their PJ's- what could be better?

 These pigs are so much fun- and look how well they dig- it is amazing really. They are still so small, yet have nearly dug up the pen we have them in (the coop we used for turkeys in past years.) We will move them soon to the old gardens and take advantage of their amazing rototilling abilities, but we have to build some kind of easy portable house for them, and are still trying to settle on a design. One pig got out today- he didn't mean to get out, he just got really excited to see the boys with the treats and ran right through the electric fence, poor fellow. He was desperate to get back in and we were able to get him in pretty quickly, thankfully. The kids proved to be good pig herders, a skill we will need as we get them moving about on pasture.

There has been lots of farm and pig inspired play lately. I love it.

I am working on another hugelkultur bed, this one in the front yard around one of the fruit trees. I have been wanting to get rid of the grass around our house and have a bunch of raised beds instead, so this is a (very small) start. It is good to have helpers.

Even if they are quickly distracted by the wonderful kite flying wind we've been having- it is entertaining to watch as I haul sod and shovel rocky soil.

We still have a fair bit of food in the freezers and pantry to move through. We found a box of frozen fruit in the bottom of the freezer much to our delight and have been eating strawberries with just about everything. Next year I aspire to using my brilliant friend Jules' wonderful food organizing system- sharing out each item we preserve into boxes divided by month and bringing out a box at the beginning of each month- I love this idea!

There were some rainy days this week and some silliness ensued inside. The above game is called "duck bomb," for no reason I can tell other than it is exciting to yell "1,2,3 duck bomb!" while leaping simultaneously onto your beds over and over and over.  

Dorian really wins the silliness awards around here though. He just loves to be goofy and make faces and tell jokes and make us laugh. 

 Though he also is quite happy sitting in a patch of sun cutting paper.
And now we are getting ready for an evening out- the boys are having a PJ party at my parent's house while Perry and I go on a date to see the students at his school perform "Flashdance"- should bring back some good 80's memories!
Happy Friday everyone!