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...

Gone Fishin’

Posted on June 29, 2013 by Deborah

It is time for vacation here at The Homestead From Sunday, June 30th to Sunday, July 7th I will be incommunicado.

There will be no posts, no pictures, no stories,
no gardens, no critters, no yummy recipes.

Nothing. Nada. Zip.

So enjoy the virtual peace and quiet for the next week
and I will be back bright and early on July 8th to hound you all
about the GangUp Challenge… which will be due that evening!

Adios!… Read more...

New Tenants At The Homestead

Posted on June 17, 2013 by Deborah

Here in the Great White North, we are exposed to many, many creatures….some good, some bad, some cute and ever amusing and some are just downright scary (i.e. Dock Spiders), but out of all the critters that abound at the Homestead, the favourite ones I like to watch are the birds. Many different birds call Northern Ontario home during the summer, some of them migrating thousands of miles to breed and raise their young alongside the year-round avian residents.

My lovely daughter and son-in-law, knowing that I am an avid bird nut, gave me a birdhouse as a gift for … Read more...

Bike Butt

Posted on June 10, 2013 by Deborah

Hubby and I started bicycling last weekend on the country roads surrounding the Homestead. We are doing our part to be more active as we get older, plus, as much as we love walking, biking in Northern Ontario in the summer means you can go faster than the Deer Flies can fly. Seriously, these insect vampires will leave welts as they take a chunk out of you. So hubby pulled his bike out of mothballed storage and I pilfered (ok, I asked first) our daughters bike as mine had rusted out eons ago.

The first day was fun, exhilarating, and … Read more...

The Best of May

Posted on June 5, 2013 by Deborah

May has come and gone like a flash. A welcome one for me though as the weather really didn’t cooperate for us here in Ontario. Actually, April was really miserable too…combine a miserable, cold, wet April with another miserable, cold, wet May with only a few days of sun provided to keep my sanity, meant for a very cranky Homesteader….

I WANT HEAT AND SUN!

There, now that that is out of my system…can we move on to summer please?

There was a glorious long weekend in May for both Canuck’s and Americans alike, albeit spanning 2 different weekends, which … Read more...

Deer Repellent Spray

Posted on May 14, 2013 by Deborah

There is another new experiment on the Homestead horizon. With deer being rampant in the area, as well as rabbits, groundhogs, birds and marauding red squirrels, I have been googling for hours/days/weeks searching for ways to fend off the pesky forest dwellers from thinking my garden is a walk-up buffet attraction or ideal stash site for acorns.

I found this one and was intrigued. The ingredients seemed common enough and easy to find and I needed something else that I can combine with the already put in place deer/bird fencing that will enclose the main raised garden bed as well … Read more...