New Beginnings

On the last day of the year I would like to share some of the photos that I like best.  I have always wanted to visit the Grand Canyon and last March we spent an afternoon there.  We hope to visit again during our spring trip to Nevada and Arizona in 2015.  Do you have any suggestions of where to stay at the South Rim?  we would love to spend a night or two in the park.

We really enjoyed our week in Las Vegas with three other couples.
 We visited the Hoover Dam.

 We rented a twelve passenger van so hat lots of room for the road trips we took to the nearby attractions.  Driving to see the Red Rock Canyon was so interesting and we enjoyed an outdoor picnic there.

The bright lights of Las Vegas had us feeling like country mice.  

It was all so overwhelming but a lot of fun too.  

I enjoyed a trip back to my hometown last summer and it was wonderful to be with friends and family.  

Beautiful weather, familiar streets and experiences always combine to make for a wonderful getaway.  As soon as the snow has disappeared in late April or early May, life on the farm is great and we enjoy the peace and quiet of country living.  Hope that the coming year will be filled with all the things that make you smile.  Sunshine Always - Sheila

Season's Greetings !

Hello from the farm...
The year has passed by and it's time to return to blogging.  I won't make any promises but I have been thinking of all my blogging friends and do hope to get back to communicating with such an interesting and amazing group of people.  Til then I will leave you with a few glimpses of our views through our windows.

Happy Christmas to all of you and best wishes to you and yours for the coming  year!

Hello Again..

Hello again,
This summer is our 20th in this province and I decided to go through every inch of the house to sort and delete, to keep only what is useful, beautiful or meaningful.  I still am working on it but after a peek at a few blogs recently I want to take a bit of time to visit and try to get into the habit of blogging again.  I do enjoy it but life seems to get in the way sometimes.

My last blog entry talked about possibilities.  We met 3 couples from BC in Las Vegas for the last week of March.  it was wonderful to spend time with old friends and the highlight was our trip to The Grand Canyon.  It was just the break we needed as our long winter dragged on.  It was a holiday that was long overdue and I'll tell you about it another day.

Shortly after our return, my mother in law passed away. Because everyone in  the family lives in other places we had many occasions where the house was full of people. Spring finally arrived here on the farm and a few weeks later it was officially summer. It has really been so nice, so warm, just lovely.  Summer is my favourite time of year here on the farm.  Our garden is looking good and it's wonderful that the retired farmer has time for his favourite pastimes which are fishing and gardening. I'll share a glimpse of my perennials.  Before long they will all be in bloom.  I am really looking forward t catching up on what's been happening in your world.  See you soon and my apologies for not stopping by for such a long time.  Sunshine Always, Sheila

Possibilities

"March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb"

Let's hope so!
I started a post on March 1st and this is the first time I've returned to finish it…

"Here on the farm the sky is so bright you almost need sunglasses in the house. 

It was -40 this morning and with the windchill, -45C. 

Every once in awhile the house complains and we hear a loud crack.  Today's a day for chicken soup simmering on the stove and the farmer is baking his famous brownies…just for the smell of them he says. Even the smell does a little bit to ease our cabin fever. "

The possibility of more snow is not over and winter white fields still surround us but things are oh so different now.
It's possible to open a window during the day and breathe fresh air, I am sitting here at the computer in bare feet, the furnace is quieter through the night so it's easier to sleep and patches of dead grass can be seen surrounded by snow.
A little snow melts every day that the temperature goes above zero but since the ground has been frozen solid for 4 months there is nowhere for the water to go so little frozen lakes are forming around the house.
Yesterday I was able to wear shoes instead of boots for the first time.
The streets and sidewalks of our little town are snow and ice free but it's still tricky after parking to walk across bumpy ice that was not cleared from the sides of the streets.
But this is a month of possibilities with a week of smiles and sunshine coming up for us.  Hope you are having a wonderful week wherever you are and remember to keep smiling! I have no idea what pictures I will use to illustrate this post…I deleted most of my "snow" pictures and have been very uninspired to take many pictures these past few months.  Please be patient.  I have a feeling my next post will be far more interesting.

February

This month is flying by… really?

Winter is officially at least half over…

In just a few months the snow will have disappeared and we will be looking forward to green leaves, grass and spring flowers.  

An optimist can survive the northern winters and because I consider each day a gift I can look forward to the days when the world is not white.   

This has been one of the toughest winters for me.  

Today is sunny and bright and the afternoon will be so much nicer than usual.

The temperature climbing to a high of -13 C.  The snow will hold off till this evening and then tomorrow will be even warmer as a high of -3 is predicted.  

Today I'm hoping that this year spring will come a little earlier - but it's wishful thinking. 

February is the perfect month for accomplishing all the things I've been wanting to do for ages and I'm making progress.

Honestly, I just have to say "I'm dreaming of a "Green Spring" !

Hope that you're having a wonderful day - whatever the weather!

January Blues

Winter woes, plans for the year, organizational projects, sorting and deleting, getting around to all the things that need to be done inside the house...every day there are things to be accomplished but each January the list just sort of revolves.

It's really time to accomplish so many indoor projects but when the days are grey and cold and the snow blows sideways for most of the day, it's often easier to just continue reading under a cozy blanket with a cup of hot chocolate to enjoy.

This winter is particularly trying.  Yesterday, with the intention of going to the farmyard to clear the snow off the canvas boathouse and the tarp on the grain truck, we bundled up and set out.  First we had to shovel a knee high path to get to both places and then when the snow was too frozen a step or too was cut into the snow. Both jobs were done in less than an hour an a half but the next project is to clear some of the snow from the old machine shed so it doesn't collapse.  That will be a huge job even with the roof rakes.  The north side of our garage needs to be done as well but the snow will fall on the driveway and then that snow will have to be shovelled. These are just temporary measures because our winter has barely begun but every little bit helps.  At least it was nice to breathe the fresh air and though it was just a few degrees below zero it felt like a spring day.  The sun was shining and made all the difference !

A New Beginning

First of all, I do hope that all of you had a wonderful Christmas and New Years.  Here on the farm the month of December seemed to fly by and we enjoyed having our family together again from Christmas until  after New Year's.
Cabin fever hasn't struck me yet.  I am thankful to be home in such cold weather. Early this morning it was -34C and -44 with the wind chill.  Hopefully it will warm up a bit this week.  It's seems a bit silly to think of a forecast of -16 seeming "warm".
A new year presents an opportunity to make some changes and as time goes on I hope the choices I make will be wise ones.  All the best for 2014 and thanks so much for stopping by my blog.