Time to pack up and head on over to the Farm but not time to say goodbye to mom yet as she is coming with us :) Tina and Jimmy have a wonderful little farm near Westville. They live off of their land with the help of the horses they grow and harvest enough food to store and last the winter. They also sell some of their crops and wood.
No tractors on this farm to hay, plough the fields, mow the pastures and log the forests...nope! Not when Mike and Kate are near. All Fall, Winter and Spring Jimmy goes out with the horses to log his land and when Summer comes it's time to plough the fields to grow their crops, mow the lawn and pastures, and they do the haying too.
Jimmy mowing the back pasture with the help of Mike and Kate our first night here
Sierra galloping up and down the driveway
Aayla climbing all over Corey
Feeding Kate one blade at a time
Kisses for Kate
A quick sit on Kate
Stanley and Chance
The girls trying to pet Chance
Stanley is ever present to keep his eye on Chance...
and Chance adores him, following his every move
They have a couple little ponds with hopes of putting in a bigger lake this summer.
Look who found another slug to love
Over a couple of days the guys repaired the barn
Visiting the goats at Justin and Corey's.
We also had a treat of visiting Jakki Rogue and she sang and played quitar for us but I forgot to take the camera in :( Jakki was so kind to give us one of her CD's. PLEASE clickHERE to go to her website.
Getting ready for the new post
Aayla loving the inside hammock
Tina pushing Aayla in the hammock
Sierra learning to play the drums
And the pan flute
And the piano
More drums
I think we have a budding little musician in Sierra. Here she is playing a duet with Matt.
Mom playting her flute. She has always wanted
to learn to play the flute properly and so has
started to take lessons and is sounding great!
Love the garlic headband! Sierra started the trend
with a necklace and although it doesn't stop the
blackflies from biting it does help a GREAT deal.
Hoisting up the barn to add in the last new post
lookin good
Spiders in the barn
Sierra helping with the last bit of shoveling
Tina and Aayla on there way inside
One of the many huge barn spiders
Stanley getting ready for a ride
Aayla so happy to be off on a horseback ride
Riding around the hay field...isn't that some of the nicest hay you've ever seen?
OK so none of us except Stanley are ready for this photo...
Sierra and Ash playing in the hayfield
Jimmy getting Mike and Kate ready to go out and finish the mowing
The sun shines briefly...the light is so gorgeous
"The Blacks" on their way out to the field
One of the many gardens they have to grow their food for the year...
this one ahead is different varieties of potatoes
I could watch the horses all day long. We weren't able to see the horses in the woods this time but if you'd like to see them in action doing various jobs on the farm here's a video Tina did and has on youtube.
Tina has a couple other videos on youtube but this one shows the horses on a day off
We have had an amzing few days here. We have enjoyed learning many new things and were glad to help out with the barn. We would have liked to help with more. Thank you both for not only allowing us to stay with you for a bit and hammer you with questions about the daily runnings of the farm, the horses, the bees, the plants and more, for the HUGE welding job Jimmy helped Ian with but also for feeding us some of the best meals we've had in a long time. It has been a great visit.
Being in NS for 10 days flew by quickly but it was very stressful being there at times. Our girls were over the top excited to be near their Grammy Sue and Bluebell and it was hard to contain their energy at times and negative behaviours skyrocketed and with it my stress level of trying to have them behave. Who would have thought that being in NS could have been so stressful.
It was bitter sweet to leave and say our goodbyes but I am glad to be back on the road...(we are currently in New York State and will cross the border to Kingston in a couple hours). Sierra and Aayla were both little devils most of the time we were in Nova Scotia but I am happy to say that even only being back on the road a short time, they have settled into our crazy routine and we are all breathing a little more easily. I think they are happy to be back into our "on the road routine" too.
We spent a rainy saturday at the cottage...enjoying the sound of the rain and the stillness of the cottage. Aayla had a bunch of fun in the rain, Sierra enjoyed playing with Bluebell all day, I enjoyed a good book, Ian relaxed with a computer game and mom had a very wet walk on the beach. Nothing planned, nothing major happened, yet a wonderful day non the less.
Pam and Jo stopped by after supper but my camera stayed hidden most of the day today :(
Sunday morning we woke up and headed out for another day of driving...on our way to see the South Eastern coast we missed the other day. Here are some of the sights we saw near Petite Riviere on our way to Lunenburg.
By the time we got to Lunenburg we were all starving so we stopped for a bite to eat along the waterfront
nice mug shot...I was a bit grumpy today :(
And then we're off in search of icecream which wasn't too hard to find.
We walked along the wharf. The Bluenose was there but covered up for repair work and couldn't get a good picture so I had to search for other things to take pictures of and of course that wasn't too hard :)
I love all the colours of the buildings here
A memorial to those lost at sea
Carriage tours around the town
patchwork pretties
Listening to some street musicians
Aayla enjoying the view at Pam and Jo's home.
We LOVED this lake and hope to find a treasure like this in Ontario or BC to call our own. Wedefinitely hope to take them up on their offer to park at their place on our next visit to NS too!
What an amazing view
A hummingbird
Hugs goodbye
Aayla connected with Jo quickly
Another long day of travel...tomorrow we pack up and head to Tina and Jimmy's.
We have spent our first few days just enjoying the peacefulness of mom's new cottage; a few walks, a few small car drives exploring but generally just hanging out and enjoying being still. We have had a great time traveling and seeing many sights but boy oh boy...once in awhile it is nice to just sit still and be, to have nothing to do but listen to the sounds with your feet up on the couch with no plans for the day. Have no fear though our travels are not over :) We will be moving on to new adventures soon!
Todays journey took us to the Valley with our first stop in Berwick to visit my brother Skye and my grampy.
Two amazing men, who lived two different lives. Both lives were full of happiness and hardship but they always had a smile; and both so generous as to give you anything they had if you needed it, even if they needed it more...including the shirts on their backs... literally.
I am sorry Sierra and Aayla did not get to meet you both, but believe me when I say that my life and many others are enriched for having known you, for having loved you, and for having being loved by you. You are missed...
"Whatever else, be happy; life is beautiful"
After saying goodbye we went to visit a dear friend Ethel. Ethel lived beside us in Torbrook Mines where I spent most of my childhood and she was like a grandmother to me and my brothers growing up...but especially to me. I missed seeing her on my last visit to NS so I was so happy to be able to see her this trip. Ethel celebrated her 89th birthday this past March and still looks as young as ever!
Almost as if time has not passed...it's tea time at Ethels :)
Ethel log home she built after retiring and selling the store
Sierra enjoying Ethels piano
Beautiful wild roses in her garden.
We were hoping to drive back to mom's by cutting across NS to Bridgewater and then head along the other coast to Lunenburg but since it was so late we decided to do that another day and took a quick drive to Scots Bay instead. Not too many pictures here though...I was too busy collecting agates :)
Another Heart Rock my mommy found for me
A long day of travel...and not enough time to visit any other friends or family in the valley on this trip...next time :) Since mom now has a cottage here we will be back more often I am sure but the road is calling us and we will be off soon.
