eating locally

not only eating locally but lately able to eat pretty much within eyesite of the kitchen :)

gotta love it

snow peas, peas, peppers, cheese, eggs, mushrooms, onions, garlic, any herb want - and tonight steak .. on our housewarming present from mum (a new bbq finally put together)
raspberries, blackberries, blueberries
home made bread ...

just yum

that's all simply yum

not sure I'll be giving up sugar or diet coke but this time of year certainly inspires me to be as local as possible - I'm in search of locla honey at the moment

will try to stay inspired a little later into the autumn this year .

what a lovely day

This big garter snake is enjoying the heat from the compost pile - she is shy and hid her head but you could SEE her absorbing the heat - quite neat - made me glad I don't have baby chicks or rabbits outside though ;)

Summer has been hard to find this year so far - my farmers tan is marked at my elbows at the best as I generally wear long sleeves then push them up for an hour or two in the garden
my legs are still pasty white under my jeans but today there is a hint of summer

I'm sitting outside the library at our local hamlet on my laptop with the wireless connection restoring my sanity (apparently I AM addicted to the net and 5 days induces withdrawal that hurts!) but have had a lovely day - mixed up chores, a quick trip to town to take fresh greens to the guinea pig babies I have up for adoption, eating fresh peas and blackberries, watching bunnies and chickens and dogs enjoy the nice day .. and of course, weeding... but I feel like I'm getting somewhere weeding so even that was fun today - the garden is starting to ripen though I have my doubts about some crops.

Trying to knock off a painting or two as well - supposed to be in an art show this weekend - but can't find the pre-move work .. may not have enough to show up ... we'll see

rabbits rabbits everywhere

between the animal control strike, hoarders in Meaford and a hoarder in Montreal I have TOO many small animals I didn't ask for ;) hopefully temporary, generally pretty sweet and so far no one has actually produced litters... may that continue guinea pigs, hamsters, and rabbits are the current crew ... I'm showing some bad rabbit pictures in the hopes somebody will know breeds ... I hope ...

Saffron is way way cuter than this bad picture .. she's tiny - not two pounds I bet and has dark brown eyes... and she's FRIENDLY .. holey smokes Big T has NEVER said he liked a rabbit before - he likes this one enough to name her and Niobe too :)

Niobe (Ethiopian godness of night) is dark black - tiny earred and maybe 4 -5 pounds tops.. is she a Jersy Wooly??

Lola - the biggest and witchiest rabbit going .. she is cute though .. she's probably 6 pounds or more ... she came named so I hope that means when the strike is over staff will want her back ;)

I'm sitting in front of the closed local library typing to get access to the wireless connection as I'm without Internet at home when Big T takes his work computer to work ... such is a life of leisure I get for the next couple of weeks - weeding, feeding, collecting eggs and just generally having some me time - lucky lucky me :)

happy girls

Admiring the hillbilly ramp on the hill billy coop :) The FREE ramp and coop too. I'm quite impressed with our scavenging skills. Actually getting hardware cloth to line a couple of holes cost $5 so not quite free. We had to invest in a bag of layer mash and the chicken wire for the run (total cost $50) so have spent $55 to date. In 10 days we have gotten 14 + eggs from displaced stressed out hens so we aren't doing too badly at all! Better than the $300 dollar egg somebody was celebrating on one of the boards :)

chook chook chook... hop hop hop

well the chickens (Buffy and Jodi now) are in the coop - made from TOTALLY recycled materials from the barn we have to tear down ... and an old counter top ...it's a bit rustic you might kindly call it but the girls like it
they have been out in the day pen the last 2 days - I'm too nervous to totally free range them quite yet (dogs, cars, hawks, etc) but they are loving the very rustic run .. with the bird netting over the top as I am pretty sure at least one of them can fly...
I had to pick Buffy up to put her into the coop last night - they were determined to party all night long ... was easier than I thought to scoop her up - and she settled right down as soon as I had her too.

Bunnies are settling in too - the tiny dwarf hasn't had her babies yet so maybe she won't now - she sure was nesting though..
the satin angora needs some serious grooming and dematting but is starting to trust me so I'm not going to rush her
I'm thinking Lola and Bebe might bond and be happy (Bebe is Pongo's partner but he is one fiesty bunny finding him a new buddy since Pongo died has proved impossible) I have them in seperate hutches in the dog run for now - will take turns letting them out in the run during the day then eventually let them out together .. fingers crossed they agree to cohabit as I hate having Bebe without a friend as he really is semi feral.

Veggies keep growing, as do weeds.. I got into the garden for half an hour today and made a difference though- bugs are starting to go after potatoes ... figures eh?

We also went for a LONG walk (this is supposed to be holidays after all - and all we've done is work). It was truly lovely - we've not had a chance to appreciate the land at this time of yeqr before. We found masses of wild strawberries - absolutely TINY but so so so so sweet.

Off for dinner with Big T 's folks today - it's his mother's birthday!