Where did the time go??

 .. and *Poof* its 2025!  There have been so many changes over these last eight years, I don’t know where to begin.  

We lost my uncle and grandmother in 2019.  Emma was 93, and was independent up until the last few months of her life. Through palliative care and ultimately hospice, she passed peacefully in her home. It was a ‘good goodbye’.  Six weeks later, we lost my uncle to a heart attack- that was much more traumatic.

Then the pandemic hit.  

Through all this, we ended up with Maple Road Farm, just over the hill from our homestead. We decided to sell the home we build together, and move into the farm.  

Through all this, our boys grew into young men!  Tim heads off to college this year in Edinburgh, Scotland, and Patrick just got his driver’s license.  Wow, time flies!

First post of 2017

All I've had to do is *blink*, and it's already June!

February and March were really snowy; in fact, we had snow-cover right up through mid-April this year.  The spring has been cool and wet. In fact, the month of may was characterized by 24 days of rain, and early June has not been much better.

Yesterday, we had our first sunny day in a while.  I took our new puppy, Finn, for a walk through Emma's field. Finn Joined us in March 2017:

Merry Christmas

We're having a white Christmas this year!  Winter came early, around Thanksgiving, and is here to stay. 

A Stunning Season

This years' Autumn has been stunning-  September was warm and sunny with very little rain, and the leaves started to change late.  It truly felt like an extension of summer.  The boys and Loralee are comfortably back into their school routine now, and the competitive swimming season began at the start of October. 

Loralee and I managed to get away to the Eastern Townships of Quebec this past weekend-- The foliage this year has to be one of the best in years, and it just keeps going.  Here is one from the farm this morning:

A Year of Change

2016 will go down as a year of change in our household.  With our two boys getting older, Tim will be going into 4th grade this Fall, and Patrick into 2nd.. they are growing up so quickly! 

On July 1st, I stepped into the role of CEO at Northern Counties Health Care.  It is a big step, and feeds my passion of caring for our community.  The responsibility and challenge is great.  Meanwhile, Loralee has taken an amazing opportunity to teach in Rwanda for 3 weeks this summer- she left last Friday.  when she returns, she will be stepping into the role of Development Director and French teacher at Good Shepherd, the Catholic School that the boys attend.

So far, the weather this summer has been spectacular.  hot, sunny days with the occasional rainy day thrown in.  we've been swimming, biking, and really taking advantage of the outdoors.  With our schedules, the garden is out of control, but we are trying to keep up. 

Memorial Day weekend

It was a late Memorial day this year, coming on May 30th.  I feel like we went from a cool, late spring smack into summer with temperatures in the 80's.  We even had a few thunder showers over the weekend.  With our four ewe's giving birth to a total of 10 lambs this year, we need more pasture, so much of the 'work' over the weekend consisted of fencing.  Beyond that, we had great quality time with friends and family, some excellent biking, and plenty of time to relax.  Here is an image of sunset over the gap on Monday the 30th:

A busy weekend at Northlook Farm

Warm weather, no snow... The roads were the worst they've been in YEARS.   We got buckets up Saturday morning, and had a good run, giving us 40 gallons which we boiled on Sunday.  Also, four lambs were born- we are waiting for two more pregnant ewes to give birth.  here are some photos from the weekend: