Oh My ....

I think I might be falling a little bit in love .....

He's rising 3
He's been backed and played with but given lots of time to grow up
He's half warmblood half thoroughbred
He's just what I would have wanted 15 years ago ...

I've been offered a field to let him grow up in for the cost of feeding him ...

Oh dear ....

Profiterole Delight ....

got some pictures I took from a delicious lunch we had over Christmas break .... how could I not share and remember the meal with pleasure...

The soup was bowl emptying tasty

The shrimp quiche was not only unique but so so tasty!

The unbelievable find of the meal was the profiterole dessert though! I'd never had them before and all I can really say is I hope I have them again!

The amazing chef

and her talented hardworking sous chef!

How to Drive the "hill" in Picton...

This simple little tutorial may help you if ever you find yourself on Main Street, Picton.

In a basic sense it's a 2 way stop at a three road junction ...

If you are on the flat - you stop ...

If you are coming UP the hill ... don't stop - turn right or left but don't stop ...

slow down a little to make sure people realize you aren't stopping but don't stop ...

It makes life in my standard truck much much easier

It complicates the lives of those who have never driven through that intersection a little

But everybody figures it out soon enough ...

that planning time of year

walked the garden a few times this weekend trying to make sure the paper will work in the real garden ... started with no snow at all - as illustrated when I checked the garlic Friday (looking well protected still so cross your fingers!)

Potato patches will be corn this year; corn has garlic in it already, flipping tomatoes over the garlic and pea spot from last year ... moving the peas and beans into the peppers and tomato spots ... potatoes can go into two rough beds that haven't been super successful  lately (we'll compost them well). Onions will go somewhere ... and hopefully I'll find room to try carrots again too - no idea why carrots won't grow for me

Now we have snow. No idea how long it will last but glad to see it for a little bit at least! Squash will stay in the squash bed - with plenty of compost I think they'll be OK another year there - and it's just so nice to have them OUT of the main garden. We plan to train them up a frame this year too and see how that works.

the award winning house

some interior shots of the award winning kitchen  ...

such a lovely comfy place to relax and enjoy ..especially with the two new fireplaces ... somehow I missed snapping a picture of the gorgeous French doors...

love the wall paper in the dining room ... and the way two cupboards were  redone to open  up the space 

love the little details too from the built in shelving to the wide plank floors to the art work

This award winning painting is of Picton's main street from a perspective hard to get to - it captures a notorious spot "The Hill".

The newest project .. the upstairs bathroom ..not quite finished but it will be lovely too!

Did I mention I was proud? I am...

knit knit knit purl

I think I may have mentioned I decided I'd better learn how to knit again ... I had knit a bit as a kid but had never cast on myself so I turned to the internet and  found a great little site to help me with my knitting questions.
Knittinghelp.com has other great videos too. And a discussion board. I haven't used anything but the casting on and off videos though.

I started knitting an acrylic work scarf for Big T. It's really long and really wide and was a huge project to start with. It's practical and will keep him toasty warm when he's working at the farm.  Then more or less together I knit a funky scarf for each of my  J's girl cousins and started a scarf for my Mum. Mum's scarf was the most ambitious project to date  as it was a pattern (which I played with throughout) and quite long. The cousin's scarves were in a neat chunky wool which I really like and will play with more.

I've got one more scarf on needles - a more formal dressier scarf for Big T. It's a basket weave pattern and I'm enjoying watching it come together. I need to find something else to knit or somebody else who wants a scarf for my next project. Knitting is helping me focus in meetings and I'm very content knitting while I'm a passenger - in fact it makes me feel like I'm doing something productive too.

The Prince Edward County Construction Association Awards ..

Their annual dinner was last night.

Mum admiring the award

We were invited as Mum (and the folks who pulled her project together) won an award. One of only 4 awards given out. Amazing.
I'm so proud of her I could bust! I ate so much last night I could bust!

The top of the plaque - I wonder where Mum will put it?

Her house is a vision of beauty. The careful restoration has taken years. Mum and her crew (headed by the most amazing Neil Thomson) took small windows out and replaced them with beautiful french doors. They took little rooms and made them open inviting living spaces. They put in two fireplaces of great beauty. They are currently working on a bathroom. They did an amazing kitchen. The award was so well earned.

The photo shoot! 

wooding, walking, exploring ...

what an unlike February day ...

some random images from our afternoon at the farm ... spent quite awhile thinking about the garlic and trying to protect it - ended up putting down rabbit droppings with a leaf cover over that - fingers crossed it works!

Worried about the garlic crop ...

planted 170 cloves of garlic this fall but in the no winter winter we are having they are struggling ... they are being heaved out of the ground regularly and keep starting to grow - then a fast freeze hits before I can tuck them all back to bed and they lie on frozen soil exposed

the most snow we've seen this winter - can you the lion in the grass?

what a shame we are trying deep mulching but I can't see having 170 survivors .. maybe half the crop will be ok now if winter sets in properly ever?

much more typical of this winter ...

nobody said farming was easy

Some of Our Favourite Places to Shop ...

Lee Valley Tools
This handy little go to store is Canadian and while there is a retail location on my way to work they are also apparently very shipping friendly too! Christmas shopping is a pleasure; people send me lists of what they want from Lee Valley. I walk in with  a list and a clerk organizes my shopping, bing, bang, boom! For gardeners and woodworkers there are all kinds of treasures to find. Service is terrific and the staff know their products.

Richters Herbs every winter we trek up to Uxbridge and wander the greenhouse. I buy some seeds and we are inspired. They have a terrific selection of books about herbs and all kinds of neat seeds to try. The website has a great question and answer section (under growzone).They have an excellent reputation for their mail order business as well. We've found their seeds germinate above expected rates and love the variety of things we can get.

Veseys   the first place I ordered from back in the winter of 2007 getting seeds for our garden. All the way out on PEI I have never had any problems with them. I wouldn't order potatoes from them again (heavy to ship) but Dad and Jean order my fall birthday bulbs from them every year, our mantis tiller came from there  and I suspect this year's blueberries will come from there too! Their greenhouse looks pretty tempting as well!

The County Store a local business in Picton we find ourselves getting all kinds of things here. Jeans, gloves, seed potatoes, seeds, our gate, our weather vane, local food, our chicks, tools, you name it - odds are good you can get it here.

TSC  really if we had gotten nothing but the mower here it would make the list! Having a way to mow trails with the ATV is just amazing. We spent years driving by a TSC on the highway and I thought it was an outlet for The Shopping Channel. Then one day we went in the one in Belleville.  The hook was instant. Cool buckets, feed, tools, and more -  it's the kind of place you learn from as you wander the aisles listening to people.

Canadian Tire  Our fail safe store since we started camping way back before we'd even noticed the school house. It's the one flyer we both check every week. We've bought cutlery, kitchen stuff, sports stuff, plants, pet stuff (Kizmet's heated bed!), paint, tools, car stuff, solar chargers, solar lights, and more.


Neither Big T nor I are big shoppers but these are some of our favourite spots to spend our hard earned money!