Bushel And A Peck: February 2013

It was a rare occasion, a moment of peace and solitude, as I sat silently congratulating myself on having accomplished the formidable task of having both girls in bed by 7:30. Not quite believing my luck, I tried to remain completely silent in fear that a floorboard squeaking would be enough to shatter my transient sanctuary. After about a half an hour I allowed myself a physiological pat on the back (a physical one may well have blown my cover), not having heard a word from either since they had retreated to their respective dens when abruptly my solitude crumbled with the declaration of Mooooommmm! I finally got my tooth out!!!” erupted from deep inside what we call Grace’s cave. Realizing that I’d been enjoying a false sense of security, I banished all prior warm and fuzzy notions of little girls happily lost in a sunshiney dreamland for the reality that Grace had been executing her own tooth extraction all the while. Momentarily Deer in the Headlights, I gripped tightly to one more millisecond of peace, then, chastising myself for being so selfish, and also for having actually believed bedtime would go smoothly, I went to offer my congratulations and bring Grace a drink of water and a hug.

Having delivered a Kleenex, glass of water, and the hug, we packaged the tooth up and placed it under Grace’s pillow to await the Tooth Fairy. Reassuming my post, sitting silent and still, so as not to wake the bears, I was just about to allow myself the privilege of exhaling when once again a voice sounded from the cave, and it was calling my name. Resolved to the fact that my prior conception of an uneventful evening was moot, I slunk back to inquire as to the nature of her issue “this time”. Sitting cheerily atop her loft bed, obviously more fresh and energized then I, and more so still, then I care to see her at this time of night, she cordially asked “So Mom, when are you going to get this tooth out of here and leave me my money?”

A couple of weeks ago we had a severe deep freeze here in Eastern Canada, this presents many challenges on the farm, and most particularly, the ever freezing water lines to the animals and our own home. Our latest adventure began around 2:00A.M a few of weeks ago, when we were wrenched from our sleep by the resounding splatter that can only be produced by vomit hitting the floor at a five foot drop. Gripped by the revolting knowledge that Grace was sick and had missed the provided garbage can which sits on her dresser for such emergencies, I threw on my housecoat and flew up the hall just as she began yelling in panic for back-up. Opening her door I was quickly reminded that I had not gathered her stuffed animals off the floor that day, nor fixed the 2 drawers of her dresser that frequently break and hang open. As I silently cursed myself and gathered sopping Teddies and clothes from the askew drawers, I tried to reassure Grace that all was well, while, having taken a moment to regain her composure, she proudly brings my attention to the fact that she had managed to “get a bit in the bucket”. Momentarily impressed, as it was a first for sure, I congratulated her on her improving aim, and then turned my attention back to the messy task, as Jamie scrubbed the floors beneath her loft bed.

WHAT BARN DOGS DO IN THE COLD

As I stumbled out of bed the next morning, trying to shake the cobwebs caused by the previous night’s activities, and decide if vision was really worth the effort, I groped for the life restoring coffee pot and held it under the tap. Not hearing the water filling the pot, I prayed that my other senses had failed me and the water really was pouring freely, prying my eyes open confirmed my suspicions….it was not, there would be no coffee. Apparently the -40 degree temperatures (with the wind chill) had frozen the water, which in itself is not uncommon, our well provides water for two households and four barns, typically if the water freezes it’s a simple matter of pouring hot water onto exposed pipe and the problem is solved. Not so this time. Taking a moment to give thanks for the fact that we had water to clean up the mess from the night before, I broke the news to Jamie who suited up and headed out to find the source of the problem. He was gone for an hour or so when he came in and reported that the lines were actually frozen down about 9 feet of cement foundation in our old Dairy Barn, fortunately his parent’s water had not frozen, so we were able to get water for our house and also to use to thaw the pipes from them. Jamie and his father spent the day running hot water down the lines and finally by evening the water line had let go. After a brief moment to exhale after the long cold day, Jamie came to the house to make sure that we had water, we didn’t. Back out to the barn, he discovered the line had frozen in another spot further down, which meant that neither our house nor the livestock had access to water. By 3:00am he managed to get this section of pipe thawed which provided water to the cattle, however, our house still had none. Accepting defeat for the rest of the night, Jamie was up bright and early the next morning to thaw more lines, this time he discovered the line under the new cement in our horse barn had frozen, and so the day was spent busting cement (my new, shiny and long awaited for cement) and pouring hot water in the line. By around 4:00pm victory was again his and he raced into the house to find, there was still no water, this time however the problem was in the pipes in our house and after a brief session of warming some exposed pipes the final battle was finished and the war was won.

TILLY COMING HOME FROM THE WATER HOLE

FUSE COMING HOME

HICCUP HAVING A PLAY

The next day (Saturday) Grace told me that she was feeling a bit tired and went to lie down. This, coming from a kid that does not sleep, has never slept and dives off the deep end anytime a nap is suggested, raised some red flags, but apart from being a bit lazy, she had no other symptoms. By Sunday A.M her fever spiked and she informed me that she thought her throat may “blow up”, so we kept her home from meeting to rest, much to her dismay as she was planning to go sledding later that afternoon. It was quite clear throughout the day that she was certainly lethargic, but working very hard to stay upbeat, so that by the time we were considering going sledding, she felt “100% better” and most definitely up to going. It was obvious however, as she lay at the bottom of the hill in a heap of tears and demanding we tow her back to the top that we’d been had, and she really was under the weather. The next morning brought fever and chills to both girls and Grace stayed home from school. As it turned out, she remained home for the entire week battling fever, chills, incredibly sore throat, a hacking cough and pink eye. Miss Bethany shared many of the same symptoms therefore our home was quarantined.

By mid-week Jamie’s throat began to flare up and the chills set in. Listening to his seemingly dramatic account of the battle raging within his body, then witnessing him go to bed at 8:00pm, when he, like Grace, does not sleep, reminded me of the Nyquil commercial and prompted me to sound the alarms to warn anyone that would listen that we had a “Man Cold” in our home. This generated an unforgettable lesson in Karma as I felt the small tickle in my throat grow, and the pain in my joints flare to create my most prominent symptom, acute and shameless wining. The encouragement I received as I watched Jamie return to his normal self after just a couple of days, was short lived, as I was left in a heap on the couch, with the girls frequently reminding me (now that they were better) how boring I was. They were forced to entertain each other and themselves, and I was left to consider (between fits of coughing and bouts of vomiting) how peculiar it was that I could contract a Man Cold. On my day 3 Bethany relapsed, her fever soared, and she could keep absolutely nothing down, so after a couple sleepless nights spent trying to comfort her I brought her to the ER. She threw up several times in the car and then sat crying and pointing down her throat for the 4 hour wait. Having had laryngitis set into my chest, I whispered my way through the consultation to the kind doctor who spoke only broken English then informed me that there was nothing to be done and to take her home and keep an eye on her. Back to the car in the freezing air, bare under her jacket because her shirt was soaked from throwing up, Beth again threw up on the way home and suffered through a quick stop at the drug store. Elated to see our driveway come into view I hefted Beth in one arm and my plastic bag of goodies in the other, proceeded to walk down the steep mountainous slope that is our lane and promptly fell on my backside and slid down a portion of the hill. Silently cursing Man Colds everywhere, I hefted us into the house, bathed Beth, put her to bed and reassumed my post on the couch to wallow in my own misery and self- pity, and be sure that Jamie would be able to see me. Finally after about 6 days Bethany and I took a definite turn for the better and opted to choose life, being left however with the pride less notion that Man Colds are called Man Colds because men are the only ones that can handle them…..lesson learned.

THE BARN YARD

Our winter has not been a bad one, we definitely had a few busy weeks but all in all, we’ve had a great winter. Until recently the animals have stayed healthy in the barns, and the girls and I have spent a great deal of time enjoying the snow. Grace has taken up Cross Country Skiing and Snowshoeing with a youth group after school and is also Step Dancing, which she is really having a great time at. Bethany is an ever changing and evolving creature, who perpetually keeps us giggling (or scratching our heads) and has become an accomplished mimic, copying whatever, and whoever, strikes her interest in dramatic displays of gesticulation and garble that only a Chosen Few are fortunate enough to understand. Grace shifts by the moment between fits of laughter at her little sister, and shear annoyance for times when Bethany uses her own ammo (such as sticking out her tongue, or grabbing toys and screaming for Grace to stay away) against her. It’s been a slow lesson in leading by example.

Our cattle have been happy and healthy this year, until lately, it seems that we are slipping into the same sicknesses as we dealt with last year, having lost a calf just this evening that Jamie treated all last week, and we expect to likely lose another. The one he is currently treating, and whom we have little hope for his recovery, was born breech and had a particularly difficult entrance into the world. It is not typical that both Cow and Calf survive such a birth, however we’ve considered ourselves fortunate as both survived the ordeal, although the calf has been slow to get going, and unfortunately now is quite sick. We currently have about 20 replacement heifers having their first calves, these are also the first

calves to the Red Angus bull we purchased at last year’s Bull Sale. We’ve been very pleased with the outcome thus far in our replacement breeding program, our calves are arriving reasonably small (a great thing for first time moms), and they seem to hit the ground running and grow very quickly.

It is hard to imagine, but winter is slipping away quite quickly (insert apology here for not updating the blog before thisJ), we are all looking quite happily in the direction of spring and all the promises for growth and adventure it holds for our little family.

RECIPE:

CANDIED NUTS

I just discovered this recipe today as I researched different ways to add nuts to finish the top of my pumpkin desert. It was incredibly easy, and very, very yummy, my only issue is that I only had about a ¼ cup of nuts and once candied Bethany and I had a hard time to leave enough for the desert. I will definitely be making them just for a snack.

Here’s what I used:

¼ cup Sliced Almonds and Pecans combined

4 tbsp. Water

4 tbsp. White Sugar

Place on medium heat and stir constantly until the liquids evaporate and the sugars turn golden brown (appx 10 minutes), turn out and spread on greased cookie sheet to cool and harden. Once hard, break them apart and enjoy. These would be excellent to add to deserts, homemade Ice Cream, a nice spring salad or just to eat on their own. Trust me:-)

SOME OTHER FAMILY ACTIVITIES: