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:

Winters last gasp?

We don't have any snow at our house- in fact, we never had enough to even cut trails this year!  However, on Saturday the boys and I drove to the Northwoods Stewardship Center in Brighton for the Nordic ski program.  The trails were surprisingly good!  However, with temperatures hitting the 50's and 60's this week, I think it was the last time we'll get out.  time to start thinking about sugaring....

Food & Friends

We had a get together at our home last Friday, and Loralee outdid herself with dinner.... it was amazing!

Forty-five on the first

February first today, and it was 45 degrees out this morning.  little snow in January, and our fields have more bare ground than snow cover.  Not much of a winter this year!