Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, we hope that 2014 will be the year that tops all others for you.

Our blog has been terribly neglected and we apologise to the faithful who kept returning to see what we were up to and were disappointed at each visit. Time flies (especially for these two old broads) and before you know it a year has passed.

Last year was sprinkled by many firsts for us. The first time my brother came to visit.... Jim, the one who writes and plays the music for this blog. It had been nearly 20 years since we spent time together and it didn't take us long to get to a place where we were enjoying each others company. He was a great sport and got involved in everything we do. His visit was in September, garden producing in full swing, still time to enjoy the warm weather and he was good enough to tackle the start of a pressing project, rescue the garage from total collapse this winter. He must have enjoyed his visit as he plans to return in June and his son will be visiting in August, along with my Mother.

We extended our gardens to include a separate stand-alone stretch along the fenceline that borders the pasture. It runs right up to the chicken house area that allows us to use the hydrant we placed there in 2012. Our biggest struggle was prairie grass and its persistent roots but, as usual, we started the garden out with potatoes for its first year. A good practice as potatoes not only break up the ground for you but also add more nutrients to the soil than they take out. We bank our potatoes regularly to stop them from being sunburned so they are usually accompanied by leeks that also need banking. We got a really good deal from Dixondale Farms and planted 1800 leeks, all of which did splendidly.

The abundance of leeks led to a new endeavour for us. We planned to start a Farmers' Market in our local town, yet never actually got to any location! Our local town has a rummage site on Facebook, and each time we advertised the available vegetables, we were sold out before we even got to town! Many locals had never used leeks before so we gave the first samples for free, accompanied by a recipe for leek and potato soup. Everyone came back to buy more, so we consider that a success, along with everything else we sold. I do believe folks will be back this year to buy their eggs and veggies from us. Perhaps we should think in terms of  moving toward a CSA rather than Farmers' Market, so our customers would receive a weekly box of goodies for as long as the season lasts.

Leading up to Christmas we sewed and crafted, fulfilling soap orders from PetalCraft, Anita making shirts, jammies, jackets, baby clothes and doll clothes. My sewing talents are not as diverse but I quilted and finished projects from last year as well as getting a quilt top ready to send to the lady I use in Missouri who does such a lovely job doing the actual quilting. If anyone needs the name, just let me know, she is a treasure and does some remarkable work. While this latest quilt is away being quilted, I have a new one cut out and ready to sew together. So far it has been a cold winter but we are never bored.

Seed catalogues have arrived and we plan to put in our orders by the end of this month. We love sitting and planning, ordering, double checking that we will have enough food for the coming year and now ensuring we have the seeds to grow all the vegetables that people have shown they like to buy. In the deepest part of winter we prove that we believe in spring and plan for the future by ordering all these seeds. As a friend recently said "Gardeners show their optimism at this time of year".

We bought snow shoes this winter and I am loving them. Today is too windy but I am determined to enjoy them, not just for chores but also to go for walks when the sun is shining and the wind is down. I plan to arrive in the spring moderately fit and healthy! We are blessed with some lovely countryside and some beautiful, if cold weather, which you can see in the video link below.

Enjoy our views on a cold sunny day

Again, we wish you a happy 2014:

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May your God hold you in the palm of His hand.