Firecrackers and Exploding Cow Pies

We expect playful pranks from boys in their early teens because they delight in stretching the boundaries. Firecrackers offer many exciting possibilities to a creative thirteen-year-old. My son, Joseph, along with a neighbour wondered what would happen if they lit a couple of firecrackers and threw them into the family’s country-style mailbox. The result was……

Reflections of a Mother After Spending Hours Locked in a Chicken Coop

I have always heard the mother is the heart of the family, especially a stay-at-home mother with a crew of kids, who also helps with a hobby farm. So why was I not missed when I spent hours locked in the chicken coop? You must first understand that even if this was a subconscious belief, I……

The Joy of Gardening With Kids

The joy of gardening with children can be experienced in pots on a balcony, in a garden the size of a sandbox, in a community patch in the inner city or in a country garden. Often farmers will rent space to city dwellers to garden. No matter how large or small, children will be just……

Worth Revisiting: The True Story of the Sly Fox

Remember those fables you were told as a child about the sly fox and the dumb chicken or goose? Well, they are based on fact, hard, cold facts. No word better described our intelligent, resident fox. Red consistently fooled our dumb guard dog by laying his foxy scent in pointless circles. He knew  Shadow, our dog,……

Might As Well Laugh

Really, when life is this ridiculous, all you can do is laugh.

Gardening with Kids

The garden was my children’s domain as well as mine because I wanted them in the garden, connecting with the earth. As they planted seeds, watered growing plants and picked fruit and vegetables, they became attuned to the rhythms of nature.  My kids marvelled at the power packed in a tiny seed because after planting one bean seed, they soon ate handfuls of green beans……

Canadian Backwood’s Butchers

When I asked this burly, backwood’s family of butchers if they would like a cup of tea, I was greeted with a roar of laughter as they toasted me with their morning coffee laced with whiskey. Our poultry live happy, free-range lives until B Day This tale of the chickens’ demise started out innocently enough.……

A Loveable, Annoying Pet

Shadow was the most quirky, amusing and utterly annoying pet we have ever owned. A drooling, big black lab mix with overgrown feet and an overgrown personality, Shadow was an integral part of my children’s lives for 13 years. This dog grew up with cats.They could cuddle up beside him or lay on top of him and……

A Cat and Mouse Game

What is a farm without cats to catch  mice? Mice eat grain. Mice make nests and shred grain bags. Mice droppings are messy, their urine stinks and no self-respecting farm animal will eat contaminated grain Once we started raising animals, which meant storing grain,  I quickly changed my perception of the  little creatures. I no longer……

Raccoons: Masked Bandits

Raccoons have bullied their way into my summer kitchen ( Well in days gone past it was the summer kitchen. Now it is a combination garden shed, wood shed and thoroughfare WITH NO LESS THAN FOUR DOORS).  They climbed on top of boxes to reach the top of our stand-up freezer and literally demolished all of……

Firecracker Mayhem

  Since, they call this link at Create with Joy,Friendship Friday, – Anything Goes, I decided that this is the perfect forum to remember a hilarious  but messy day on our hobby farm.  Firecrackers in the hands of one father led to sheer mayhem at our house a few years ago. We were barbecuing with……

Not a Fairytale: The Sly Fox

  Remember those fables you were told as a child about the sly fox and the dumb chicken or goose? Well they are based on fact, hard cold facts. No word better describes our intelligent, resident fox. Red consistently fooled our dumb guard dog by laying his foxy scent in pointless circles. He knew that Shadow, our……

Spring Colour Nourishes My Soul

  Time to share beauty with friends. My pictures, taken with a borrowed cell phone, are nothing like images captured by a photographer like Paul Militaru, http://photopaulm.com/ from Bucharest no less but he always likes my pictures anyway. Visit his site to see artistic shots of flowers, among other things Spring is nature’s way of saying, ‘Let’s party!’ Robin Williams……

Horses and Bicycles

Have you ever tried to catch an animal that does not want to be caught? If you raise animals, they always manage to escape by breaking through fences or because someone leaves a gate unlatched. When any animal escapes it must be caught. Imagine the chaos as cars slam on their brakes to avoid a 2,000lb steer, neighbouring…

Operation Chicken

Every spring, once the chicks were old enough to lose their down  and get their feathers it was time to introduce them to life outdoors.  This was not an easy task because chickens are, well chicken! We were forced to literally pick up every single little chicken and throw them out the small door into…

Gardening With Kids and a Dog

 Well, March is bitterly cold, just like it has been since early November. I don’t know if anyone remembers my old joke from the kid’s elementary school days but I can’t resist telling it again because it is so appropriate So in silent mutiny against nature, my thoughts turn to gardening…again and again. I enjoyed……

The Joy Of Gardening With Little People…And A Goat

It is cold outside,-21C with more snow on the way but this story on gardening was due for Catholic Attachment Parenting Corner and I NEEDED to post a feel good gardening story! Ah, Spring time. For me springtime means gardening, gardening with little people. The joy of gardening with children can be experienced in pots…

The Horse Shall Dine in The Kitchen.

Living on a hobby farm with a crew of kids provides a wealth of material for a story teller. Our farm animals were so full of character, their antics alone will be the subject of many upcoming stories. Of course, the kids were always entertained by the farm animals but my husband and I were…

Wordless Wednesday: Fair are the Fowl

Happy Wordless Wednesday, dear friends! It’s time to share your favorite photos– with or without words . Fair are the Fowl  

Daisy,Our High Maintenance Goat

Daisy entertained us with her antics even more than our traditional pets.For over two decades, we lived on a hobby farm surrounded by nine kids, wild animals, farm livestock as well as traditional pets. Kids need to relate to animals to grow up into well-balance, caring adults who can relate and feel connected to the……