Clear Day Farm Archives - Page 3 of 11

Twig and Mocha

We have been waiting for a long time for lambs to arrive and this morning Sweet Willow had twins!! And, boy, are they cute!!

Hannah owns the three sheep that live here with us at Clear Day Farm. Sweet Willow is the momma and Sweetie and Lily are her twin ewe lambs from last year. The sheep hung out at the farm, even after Dad sold it { which you can read about HERE } to be bred before they moved up to our place this winter { which you can read about HERE } I chatted with the couple that bought the farm about what kind of sheep we should breed them to, and we decided Scottish Blackface because they are so cute – good reasons, right? 😉 I pick the breeds purely on how photogenic they’ll be!

Fast forward the five months it takes to grow a lamb or two and we arrive at lambing season! I thought last week Monday Sweet Willow was going to have her babies but I was a little off….over a week off..but whatever! You can read about that HERE.

Ruckus in the barn awoke me at 5 am on one of the few days I can sleep in, so I put on my rubber boots and coat over my pyjamas, because that’s how I roll, and headed out to see what was going on. Sure enough, there was a lamb running around the pen with the other three. I put Sweetie and Lily out in the big pen and ran into the house to wake the girls because I knew there was going to be at least one more baby, I could see a set of hooves making an entrance… And it never gets old watching a new life come into this world.

Shortly after the girls come to the barn, the second lamb arrived. And in no time, she was up, trying to find her feet and nurse.

So, let me introduce you to Twig and Mocha! Twig is the firstborn and a ram lamb. He is also the bigger of the two and a real snuggler. When you pick him up, he truly snuggles right in under your chin.

How cute is he? And that tongue!!!

Mocha is a ewe lamb and pretty feisty, she’ll try to escape your arms any chance she gets. But that face!!

Sweet Willow is very tolerant of us, she is used to being petted and having us around in the pen and she is okay with us handling her lambs. But not all momma sheep feel that way, some will try to run you off with a good head butt and other mommas will not love their lambs if they’ve been handled too much by people. When Sweetie and Lily lamb, we’ll have to see how they react to us being around their babies and we will respect their wishes.

So, those are the two new lambs, we are expecting at least a couple more so I’ll be sure to introduce them to you when they arrive. You can expect to see lots of pictures as they grow!

To be continued,

Lori

April 28, 2018 By lori@farmfreshstyle.ca

Grace the Fern

You all love a good fern, it seems. Everytime our fern makes it into a picture, you guys go nuts and ask all the questions. So here’s my fern tips and her story.

I love how house plants make our home feel lived in and alive. And I’ve bought some plants and some have just found their way into our home, like the fern that everyone loves. I’m not even sure how long we’ve had her – getting close to 4 years now, I think, she moved in shortly after we did.

She belonged to our neighbour’s mother, whose name was Grace. Her health was failing and she was looking to simplify things around her home so she offered up some of her plants. Brenda knew I liked plants, I may have even put a call out for ALL the plants….so, one day I came home and there was a collection of plants on my front step, including this fern!

Her first landing spot was on top of the green cabinet in the corner of the living room. But when we switched that out because we bought another cabinet, the shelf wasn’t as big and she would’ve tipped off. So, I took in an old plant stand I had in my stash, rearranged the living room and then she moved into the awkward corner where she still is today. And she apparently really likes it there as the growth from then to now is quite substantial.

The new growth shoots out the top and is such a bright, fresh green! And they grow longer, they droop and hang down and then eventually, the leaves fall off and litter my floor. Every now and then, I trim the remaining ‘dead’ leaves and go through the cycle over and over.

I can always tell when someone has been playing in my fern….the leaves on the floor are a good indicator! Since it is next to the doorway to the kitchen via the dining room, little hands have a hard time not brushing through the leaves on their way by….

I water my plants usually once a week and fertilize them every now and then….no set schedule, mainly when I remember. And I fertilize all my plants with the same Schultz 10-15-10 Liquid Plant Food, just add some to the water and away I go. I hate to waste water, too, so I empty water bottles and glasses after meal time into the various plants close to the table…I know which ones dry out quickly and who needs lots of water. I haven’t repotted this fern yet and nor do I have plans, too….should I, well, I really don’t know! 😉

Here’s another one of the plants that I found on my deck that day. This ivy { of some variety } died back to barely anything and I was afraid I had killed it. But, it came back and is loving it on the china cabinet and has grown a lot since I took this picture over a year ago!

Once a year I also take them all up to the tub and give them a rinse to get all the dust from winter off their leaves. They really seem to like that, in fact, it’s time to do that again! They look so fresh and lively after a good bath! And that is pretty much all I do for my spring cleaning routine, too 😉

I have no great secrets to share about plant care really, just water and sometimes fertilizer! I love having them around, too, especially when they do well and if they die, oh well, I toss them and start browsing for some new ones! And by browsing I mean eyeing my friends plants and going to Forge in New Glasgow! You can read a previous plant post HERE, too, if you want!

If you have any great fern secrets, please share them, we’d all love to know!

To be continued,

Lori

April 23, 2018 By lori@farmfreshstyle.ca

In Clear Day Farm

Due Date – T Minus 7

I’m going to preface this by saying I am not a farmer, I’m an interior designer. Secondly, I’ll apologize because for the next 20 days to 60 days it is going to be all about the sheep and their babies. Maybe longer….

So, you know we have these sheep living here, they belong to Hannah but I’m just as excited about the fact that the babies are due ANY DAY NOW! And, today, my post, may have led you astray in thinking that we might have babies sooner rather than later. I saw some signs that led me to believe lambs might make an appearance. And I posted about it because clearly I could think about nothing else. I was trying to figure out a way to spin it to my boss so I could stay home to be there when the lambs arrived. Hannah wanted to stay home from school, too, and I almost let her….Miss Ferguson, if she isn’t in school for the next 2 weeks, she’s standing by the sheep pen, just send the homework home with Lena!

Then Michael looked in on the expectant mothers and said, nope. I talked to my dad a couple of times today and he laughed at my exuberance. I messaged Tashia { the farm-wife/friend next door who bought the farm } in my excitement and I’m pretty sure she got a kick out of me and our lambing out of three ewes as compared to their 600 ewes, give or take. Then the girls flagged Dad down later this afternoon and he looked and told me we probably had some time to wait before the lambs arrived. Insert a huge eye roll here because I WANT THE BABIES HERE!!!

If you were waiting all day for sweet lambie updates or pictures, I’m sorry….I’m not a farmer, I’m just an enthusiastic hobby farmer who has been waiting for lambs for far too long now….since last Spring!! All I have to share is this blurry snap of Hannah giving the expectant momma a loving head scratch – one of Sweet Willow’s favourite things!

But I promise to keep you posted! And I’ll try not to get your hopes up…again! In the mean time, if you need a lamb fix, you can go HERE and HERE!

To be continued,

Lori

April 16, 2018 By lori@farmfreshstyle.ca

3 In Clear Day Farm/ Life

My Beauties

The best laid plans doesn’t always work, do they? We had a session booked for family pictures last fall but things weren’t working in our favour that day and the shoot never happened. So, I made other plans, on the sly!

While Michael was away for work, Christine of Wonkyeye Photography came over one VERY windy afternoon and captured our girls and a couple of their four-legged friends on camera. And I have to say just how awesome the pictures turned out, like they always do with Christine behind the camera!!

We started out with both girls and the pony. Hannah wasn’t into that so much but we did manage to capture a good one!!

Then it was Lena’s turn with just Ebony. They have a funny relationship, they both love each other as long as the other is doing what they want and if not, wellllll….. Ebony looks so short here, and yes, she is little, but not as little as she appears here.

We tried to get Ebony, Buttecat and the girls in one picture but the cat wanted nothing to do with the pony. And yet he would wander into the pictures at random. Buttercat is used to being photographed by Christine as he used to belong to them, which you can read about HERE. Hannah thinks the world of that cat, everything is about BB.

And finally, just our two sweet girlies together!! I love Hannah’s legs stretched out and their boots and how Hannah is leaning into Lena. They aren’t very lovey dovey towards each other, and by that I mean that they aren’t affectionate so this rare display is extra cute to me.

So those are my favourites but some of the outtakes make me laugh, too. I feel like I should share them and I’m so thankful Christine included them with all the rest. They show the personalities of the girls even more. For example, what exactly is Hannah doing here??

And the four of them together….Buttercat is making his exit from Hannah’s arms…and Lena is sternly speaking to the pony, trying so hard to get everyone to cooperate! And there’s Hannah’s muddy knees, I think she gets her inability to stay clean from me, just ask my Dad.

Michael loved unwrapping pictures of his two favourite girls { I don’t stand a chance against them 😉 } and the grandparents loved getting pictures, too, this past Christmas. I mean, how could they not, right?

Some of my favourite pictures of our family are ones that Christine took over the years. She has such a gift at capturing us, just living real life together. The pictures aren’t forced, we feel very at ease in front of her camera. And hopefully this spring weather and life will cooperate and allow us to get all of us together.

To be continued,

Lori

February 16, 2018 By lori@farmfreshstyle.ca

5 In Clear Day Farm/ Country Life

Winter Wonderland

We got a huge pile of snow overnight last night. But it wasn’t a violent, windy storm, it was more of a soft, gentle crowning of snow.

It snowed all day yesterday. And I guess it snowed all night, too. We woke up to a gorgeous, snow-capped wonderland. So, after doing some shovelling while waiting to get plowed out, I grabbed my camera so I could share it with you { and remember how fresh it was when it’s too hot during the summer… }

Thank heavens for this guy and his trusty old Massey Ferguson! It’s a cold, snowy job but someone has to do it…..and it isn’t going to be me!!

Today was a snow day for the kids so I delivered them to Mom for the day on my way to work. They have the best view from their new home – wouldn’t you agree?

I hope you all enjoyed the gorgeous views around the East Coast today – or wherever you might call home! Stay safe on the snowy roads!!

To be continued,

Lori

January 18, 2018 By lori@farmfreshstyle.ca

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