Civic Holiday…

Posted on August 5, 2013 by Deborah

Is today.

We get an extra valuable long weekend in a short Canadian Summer.

But exactly what IS Civic Holiday?

It depends where you live for starters as not all Provinces recognize it as a Statutory Holiday while some do. Some don’t recognize it as anything other than a normal Monday in August.

It goes by a variety of names too….in British Columbia, it is British Columbia Day, in New Brunswick, it is New Brunswick Day and in Saskatchewan, it is Saskatchewan Day. In Nova Scotia, it is celebrated as Natal Day, but is not recognized as a … Read more...

Next Week’s Menu…

Posted on August 2, 2013 by Deborah

Will be a surprise for all involved. This weekend, our daughter and her husband (oh, and don’t forget the ‘grand-kitty’) will be coming up to the Homestead for 9 days. They love coming up for vacation and they actually haven’t been up since last August, so I know they are pretty darn excited. We are excited too, but I think I am WAY more excited than they are as son-in-law is the chef of their household which means….

I DON’T HAVE TO COOK EVERY NIGHT!

I get a holiday within a holiday!

Did I tell you I was excited?

They … Read more...

A Carrot Named Earl

Posted on August 1, 2013 by Deborah

I was really having trouble deciding on a pet
Exactly what I wanted I wasn’t sure just yet
I pondered and I pondered until I couldn’t bear it
Then it finally came to me, I’ll get a baby carrot

Now I did not expect to have just any orange sprout
It took a lot of looking to pick the right one out
By the time I picked one out, my head was in a whirl
But he was sure a cutie and I quickly named him Earl

Earl can be a character and he is quite a riot
But when

Of Ducks and Salmon….

Posted on July 31, 2013 by Deborah

Diary of Homestead Vacation continued….(see prior post here)

Salmon…. the Ocean’s gift to a healthy heart, diet and lifestyle.

I love salmon. I could eat it every day of the week. I broil it, BBQ it, bake it, steam it and have been known to skewer it. There isn’t a more versatile fish than the humble salmon. You can Cajun it. Blacken it. Smoke it. Salt Cure it. Can it. Make a salad out of it….or eat it Tartare fashion.

This fish of Omega-3 fatty acid fame has a long standing history with humans. Native peoples on both … Read more...

Chapter 6 of the Homestead Vacation

Posted on July 30, 2013 by Deborah

Diary of a Homestead Vacation Continued…(see prior post here)

I need to preface this Chapter for my good friend Tina ~ please do not read this, it will only make you want to run for your duck recipe book…and your gun…

As I sat out on the deck in the afternoon tap-tap-tapping away on my computer, with clear skies and hopefully no return of the hot, hazy and humid weather that we have had recently, it was turning out to be a beauty of a day. The lake was calm and quiet, with hardly a whisper of … Read more...

Chapter 5 of the Homestead Vacation

Posted on July 29, 2013 by Deborah

Diary of a Homestead Vacation Continued (see previous post here)

Some chores are a necessity at the Homestead, like going to get water. We have a line up from the lake to the cottage, which goes through filters and is ok for washing/showering, etc., but we have never had the water tested to see if it was suitable for drinking as we have always gotten our drinking water from a local spring.

About a 15 minute drive away, located on a narrow, dusty dirt road in the middle of nowhere is a waterline coming out of the bush … Read more...

Chapter 4 of the Homestead Vacation

Posted on July 26, 2013 by Deborah

Diary of a Homestead Vacation Continued….(see prior post here)

Gardening is an almost daily chore, but I don’t really think of it as a chore. If it was a ‘chore’ like house cleaning, I certainly wouldn’t enjoy it, nor would I have any gardens. I rather think of it as ‘coddling’, like you are doting on a grandchild. Spoiling them with rich foods and letting them stay up late and generally running amok before you ship them back home high on sugar. Bonus is after all the coddling, I get some pretty tasty produce to eat, can and … Read more...

Chapter 3 of the Homestead Vacation

Posted on July 25, 2013 by Deborah

Diary of a Homestead Vacation continued from Chapter 2 (review past post here)

Three seasons of the year I love to cozy up in sweaters and I realized I didn’t have a knitted cardigan anywhere in my closet. I have a zip up hoodie and a few pullovers, but no actual cardigan style sweater. Pullovers are ok if you are layering to head out in -25C winter weather, but for spring & fall, I need something to ward off the chill without ending up feeling smothered like pullovers are prone to do, along with being quick to shrug … Read more...

Chapter 2 of the Homestead Vacation

Posted on July 24, 2013 by Deborah

Diary of a Homestead Vacation continued…. (see previous post here)

…..BLUEBERRY picking!

Last year’s wild blueberry season was a total bust. I don’t think I even picked one full cup of the tasty, little blue pearls. It was such a hot, dry early Spring that then stretched into Summer and the teeny flowers of the blueberry bushes never had a chance of being pollinated. The poor plants just shriveled up and keeled over.

This year has been vastly different. We have had pretty much perfect growing conditions and I suspect we are in for a bumper crop. My … Read more...

Diary of a Homestead Vacation

Posted on July 23, 2013 by Deborah

With technical issues beyond my control no matter how much I stomped my feet in a temper tantrum, I conceded defeat to the telephone line Gods and drank a two-four of beer to drown my sorrows. Maybe not the entire two-four, but 6 is pretty close isn’t it? How about we went on vacation instead, definitely more plausible a scenario…and I can neither confirm nor deny the consumption of beer.

With nothing to do in cyber space, hubby and I dashed off to the Homestead for some well deserved R&R before his 3 week shutdown commenced mid-July. This being one … Read more...