Merry Christmas Letter!!
Sitting to write our second annual Christmas letter gets me to thinking about the year gone by; the milestones along the way, and the trials and tribulations of country living. It has been most assuredly a wonderful year full of adventure and excitement with friends’ family and neighbors.
The year began with fireworks!… Literally, we celebrated the New Year with friends and family, lighting fireworks and ringing in 2013 all together! The winter months were cold and snowy but when the spring was in full swing we began planning our gardening and animal strategy for the summer months!
We planted another garden this year and had much better luck with our harvest than in the past, in fact early in the spring as the snow started to melt I headed out to see how the carrots faired through the cold months. Last fall it was not initially my intention to leave the carrots in over the winter, however with the early and abundant snowfall I had no choice I couldn’t get to them for harvest and they had to stay put. I could see the tops of the carrots when the snow melted and dug in to find full crisp tasty garden carrots ready for eating!
Through the summer we spent a few wonderful weekends at the lake this year with family camping, fishing, boating, and swimming! We also made it to the local Rodeos in Grande Prairie, Tee Pee Creek and Dawson Creek. All were great shows and weather too despite the rain on the weekend of the Dawson Creek Rodeo! Steve also acquired a Back Hoe this summer and has spent time playing and working with it! We did some riding near our home and a couple overnight trips with the horses where we camped out (this time not under the stars!) We also did some cow chasing something I just love to do – and so does Willow!!
As fall arrived planning for snow removal did too! Although lucky for us this year’s snowfall was not as early as the past! We hosted our second annual Pizza Pumpkin Party and enjoyed our time competing and carving all together!
Winter hit and so did the snow, I learned how to run the backhoe and began my task of removing snow from the driveway. Not quite quick enough because this winter already I have been stuck a few times in the deep snow!
Work continues for both of us, Steve at a new company now, he is enjoying the new job and that is great! I am working for the same company at the college and still loving what I do!
We had many new additions to our little farm this year, including pigs, new chickens, a donkey, goats, and a new horse. While living in the barn in the pen next to the chicken coop the pigs sometimes thought they might like to be chickens… rooting under the wall in an attempt to reach the other side they succeeded on three occasions! We were thrilled when the weather warmed enough and the outside pen was ready for them! We acquired an incubator this year and began the process of hatching out our own chicks. Olive cat was quite intrigued by these little moving noisy fluff balls as he sat on the chair above the brooder watching them move about. Heading out to the Exotic Animal Sale in the spring was an adventure unto it self. While at the sale we purchased 6 chicks (likely only a week younger than the babies already at home), a pair of Guinea fowl who did not survive Dia dog for more then a couple days, and a mini Donkey Penelope (a gift for a friend!) We also purchased 2 goats while at the sale, L.B. and Vera and while away for a weekend Vera had her kids Nena and Sera. Unfortunately Nena did not make it but Sera is doing well and growing like crazy! Later in the year Steve picked up 5 more goats to join our little herd. All the goats we have now are happy and full of energy free ranging around our barnyard! Sadie Horse was the final addition to our farm this year before winter arrived! She is a beautiful horse and I was even able to ride her once before the snow flew! J
So now we plan for a joyous Christmas all together and look forward to another year! And we wish all of our Friends and Family a Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year!
Livin' the Country Life 