Lap wars

So, Naomi was happily snoozing in my lap yesterday morning when along came LOUISE!

She settled down right on Naomi's butt.

"What? I'm innocent, innocent I tell you!"

Naomi put up with it for a few minutes, then left in a disgruntled huff!

Louise wins. As per usual! She rules the house now, but is mostly a benevolent dictator. Mostly.

Well, then...

It may not officially be winter yet, but Mother Nature has other ideas! It's still snowing and we are supposed to have about 25 cm when it's all done tonight.

Sophie always eats outside. Good thing she loves snow!

No using the gas grill today!

Poor little bird!

I suspect the bees are unimpressed.

The ducks were VERY reluctant to leave the barn this morning.

These two duckling had never seen snow before, but they popped outside for a minute, with a little encouragement from me.

'tis the wintry season.

The farmer who rents some of our land was out combining corn last night, trying to get it all off before the storm.

Alas, he only managed half. He would have done it sooner, but his combine harvester has been broken. He got it fixed just in time to get some corn done.

The three girl cats all went out in their cage today, seemingly not bothered by the snow, but Julius and Alex are snoozing inside!

It's coming!

Tomorrow we are supposed to get our first winter storm of any consequence. We shall see if it amounts to anything! They are saying maybe 6 - 8 inches of snow. I thought it was a bit early for that, but then I cast my mind back to previous years, like...

November 24, 2007

Sunrise, November 25, 2008

November 29, 2009

November 23, 2011

November 26, 2012.

If we had a storm in November 2010, I neglected to take photos! Regardless, it appears that we are right on time for the first biggish storm of the season, so we'll see how it unfolds.

This afternoon, I devoted a good chunk of time to thawing a section of plastic piping that comes out of the barn well and slopes down to the chicken/duck area downstairs. Part of the pipe that is held in place by zip ties had shifted, so that the water no longer drained out of it when you switched off the pump. I ended up with three feet of frozen pipe. Lovely! Nothing motivates you like having to haul buckets of water from the house, so I tried a few things and finally got that sucker thawed with a heat lamp (which I had to supervise so that the barn didn't accidentally burn down!) I adjusted the wonky bit of pipe back to where it was supposed to be and voilà, we had lift-off. What a relief! I HATE hauling water in winter. Or pseudo-winter, since it's officially still fall.

When we got back from NYC last night, it was -12C in the airport parking lot and we had to clear snow off our car. We had a good weekend and spent some quality time with our dear friend Brian. So good to see him and give him some hugs!

I'll keep you posted on tomorrow's snowmageddon. Environment Canada is often wrong about snowfall amounts, so we shall see!

Gotcha Day

Last Thursday was our dogs' "Gotcha Day." They have now been with us for six years, longer than the five years they were with their previous owners. Sophie and Tristan are both 11 now. How time flies!

They are sad. Why? Because the farmer who owns the land next door harvested all his corn, which means the dogs can no longer steal it and spend their days farting in my office!  (I am definitely NOT sad about this!)

It was a lovely day when he did the harvesting...

And my beehives are all wrapped and ready for winter...

Tristan has slowed down quite a lot over the past six years, but Sophie hasn't. She just loves to run!

And run...

...and run...

...and run...

...and run...

...and run...

...and run...

...and run!

Happy girl!

Even the ducks were impressed!

A tough day

It has been a tough day here. Yesterday, our friend Gary passed away in New York. He had a very long journey with chronic leukemia. Gary's partner Brian has been our friend for over 20 years. Brian went to law school with Gordon. We are just so sad for Brian, so sad to have lost Gary, so sad period.

Four years ago, Gary and Brian stopped by the farm while in town to visit Brian's family. We had a good time showing the city boys around the farm...

Gordon, Gary and Brian, December 2009

Gary gamely posed on our Bushhog mower!

And look who's saying hello to Brian and Gary! Yes, it's Charlotte, who is now 4-1/2 years old.

Tomorrow we are flying to NYC to see Brian. 

With Gary's passing, the world has lost a wonderful man. He was a talented computer scientist, not to mention a gifted pianist; just an amazing, giving person, with so many great friends. The loss is indescribable, especially for Brian. I feel angry tonight that he has been taken from us far too soon.

One of my fondest memories of Gary is from my trip to NewYork in 2010. Gary and I went to see a matinee of "A Little Night Music" with Angela Lansbury and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Brian had to work that day.

It was a terrific performance. Before the show, we stopped at Starbucks for drinks and a chat. Afterwards, Gary and I had a nice meal out at a little Israeli restaurant where I had the best hummus I've ever eaten. The whole day was just lovely, and I so enjoyed Gary's company. He was just a sweet, gentle, thoughtful soul with so much to offer. I feel lucky to have known him.

Brian took excellent care of Gary throughout his illness and they were such a great team.

Whenever I think of Gary, I think of Gary smiling. A very sad day here for us...

Maxville Christmas Parade

I had the BEST TIME this evening! Our friends Jake and Sam invited us to ride in their new surrey in the Maxville Christmas parade. It looked so pretty all lit up with lights!

And here are Sarah and Limerick, the Belgians who did all the hard work!

We had a little photo session before the boys got the horses all hitched up.

Powerful beasts!

And off we went through Maxville, heading towards the giant feed mill.

The participants in the parade gathered at Maxville Manor beforehand. Some of the seniors (retired farmers!) came out to admire the horses.

Sam and Gordon chatting.

The boys (I call them "boys" because I am old enough to be their mother, but they are young men!) gpt this surrey second-hand, and it's in beautiful shape. Our seat was super comfortable, too.

Jake got the glory job,

And Mr. Snowman posed for me by his bike!

The man on the left came out and spent quite a bit of time with the horses. He used to have some himself!

Being around horses always makes me happy. Hoping to get some here next year!

Sam very kindly takes the elderly for rides, ha ha ha. I am the same age as his Mom!

I practiced by queenly wave!

Happy!

And our friend Margaret Caldbick took these photos while the parade was in progress...

It was a bit damp this evening, but we had our blanket to keep us warm.

An excellent way to spend a late fall evening. I highly recommend it!