Enjoying the Snow!

My last post was an update but was also a bit negative....

I sound like a winter hater.  Truth is, I don't hate winter at all.  We are snowmobile lovers so if we have enough snow to use the machines it is a ton of fun at our house.  I also enjoy cross country skiing though my boots have seen better days, I also enjoy skating though my skates no longer fit me and we also enjoy tobogganing and when it comes to toboggans we have more than enough of those - wooden ones, plastic ones, saucers, crazy carpets......

So, this morning my Son and I loaded up the truck and headed to the local recreation park.  This was my Son's first time tobogganing on a big hill so I wasn't sure he would enjoy it or even want to go down the hill.  Well, I was wrong.  He enjoyed it and when I asked if he wanted to try going down alone I found myself watching from the bottom of the hill.  He wanted to go down alone, without me, every time.

We had a ton of fun and hated to leave.  The temperatures are rising, the snow was getting a bit soft.  And, even though my last post was about dreaming of spring and camping I found myself hoping it doesn't rain today.  Winter is boring without the snow.  If we have to endure the cold temperatures then we might as well have the snow to play in.

I am looking forward to our next tobogganing adventure.  Next time I will take at least two toboggans so I'm not left watching all the fun!

'til next time!

Happy Holidays!

Wow, it has been over a month since I wrote an update.  We now have snow on the ground and the biggest thing on my mind these days is SPRING.  I realize it's not good to wish time away but I am anxious for Spring to arrive for so many reasons.  I am currently planning how many meat chicks to order and when, how many pigs we want this year - the decision of "when" in regards to the pigs is made for us, apparently they are coming to the farm in March.  AND I am anxious for camping season!!!!  I have been searching Pinterest for casseroles and easy food to prepare when we're camping.  I have been searching the internet for great campsites.  Many of our Christmas gifts this year were camping related.

Meal planning is still going great.  We have run out of freezer beef so BBQ steak is no longer on the menu.  We have a side of local beef ordered and will be bringing it home some time next month.  I'm missing the stew meats.

Our hens have slowed laying again.  I guess they will be happy when spring arrives as well.

We had a fantastic Family Christmas yesterday.  Lots of yummy food.  We are truly Blessed.  I can't believe another year is coming to an end!  Time sure does fly when you're having fun.

I hope 2014 brings you much happiness.

'til next time!

Meal Planning - update!

I am proud to say I have been doing quite well with my meal planning these days.  It's still challenging to find variety each month with two picky eaters but I'm working on it. This month, November, I have decided to throw in a meal of Lamb Chops.  My husband has never tried lamb and neither has my son.  I used to cook a lot of lamb so it's time to get back to it.  If they like it we may get some freezer lamb from the lady who processes our chickens.  You can't beat anything fresh from a local farm, lamb would be no exception.

I didn't realize until I started meal planning that I was cooking the same boring stuff all the time. BBQ steak was on that first meal plan at least 4 times.  Granted it was a summer month but still there's much more to summer cooking than BBQ steak!  My meal planning is bringing me back to my old recipes, the ones I cooked years ago when I worked in a small town that had no fast food restaurants and a husband who actually preferred home cooked meals.

I have been using Pinterest a lot to source new recipes.  My November meal plan contains 5 new recipes.  BBQ steak is only on the menu once ha ha.

We are also saving money!  There is a noticeable difference in our bank account. I realize this should not be a shock but our excuse was always "we don't drink alcohol and we don't smoke so it's okay to indulge in take-out".......  I am keeping track of what we spend on take-out now, it is the only way I can make my husband truly see how much it is costing us and how much we could save.  

It is very tempting when you are tired after a hard days work to just swing by a restaurant.  No cooking, no dishes.....And some days take-out is inevitable, like the days my husband works a double shift and I get off work at 6pm.  I have actually scheduled those inevitable take-out days into the meal plan .....  But there are nights there is no excuse not to cook.  Our biggest obstacle most nights was the fact that I had nothing planned and no food out of the freezer.  I was throwing frozen steak on the BBQ last minute.  With our meal calendar I simply look ahead to see what meals are coming up, head to the freezer, get what I need and put it in the fridge.  Last night I came upstairs with a shopping bag full of frozen meats for the next few days.  I thought - "this is like grocery shopping right in my own house".  I used to throw out a ton of spoiled vegetables.  Now I only purchase what vegetables I need for upcoming meals.  I used to purchase vegetables so I had what I needed on hand for whatever I might make.  I now realize how dumb that was.  Some things like canned goods and frozen vegetables can be stocked to have on hand but to buy fresh vegetables with no plan as to how you will use them is a waste of money.

I have used colour coding on my calendar as well.  The days my husband cooks is orange, take-out days are red and new recipe days are blue.  

Here is a link to my Pinterest account where you will find my recipe boards:

http://www.pinterest.com/luv2cook2/boards/

I almost gave up on my meal plan a few times as I was finding it very time consuming to prepare and frustrating to think of meals ahead of time.  I have learned that putting the work into it today makes tomorrow much easier.  I save my past calendars to see what we have eaten the previous months.  I don't have a detailed meals list, just my prepared calendars.  I am learning as I go, saving money is a huge incentive to stick with it not to mention the health benefits.  I hope hearing my journey is helpful to you and encourages you to give meal planning a try.

'til next time!

The great big piggy went to market!

My husband often asked other farmers the question "is it worth it to raise your own pigs?"  They would always answer "it's a lot of cost and a lot of work, you're further ahead to buy your pork from someone else".  We took their advice into consideration but decided to give it a try.  As they also said "but when you raise your own you know what they've been fed and you know what you're eating".  Which was what we were looking for.  Knowing what has been put into our food is very important to us.

We were unsure if this would be the year we would try raising pigs.  As with everything we do it was a quick "let's go get them" decision.  I found piglets near by on Kijiji, the breed we were considering raising, and that was it.  We purchased 3 Berkshire Piglets in April.  We had the barn space but no pasture ready for them.  We purchased a solar fencing system and built another building for them within the fenced in area.  The building is on a skid so we can move it to another location when the time comes we no longer want to raise them in this particular area.  

Berkshire is a heritage breed known for good flavour and kind nature.  Having a small child being kind in nature was important and of course good flavour ranks high on the list as well.  

We worked hard to feed them as much of a variety of food as possible, not just store bought hog grower.  We fed them garden vegetable scraps (some of which we cooked), apples, pears and lawn clippings.  Just since Thanksgiving they had a feed bag full of over grown beets which we cooked, swiss chard and approx. 8 feed bags full of apples and pears.  And lots of green tomatoes!  They were losing their interest in the green tomatoes lol.  We raised happy, very well fed, pasture roaming pigs who enjoyed fresh air and sunshine.

Since we have been asking others, and really came up with no straight answers, here's the final numbers.  This is what it COST us to raise our pigs.  Not including the fencing materials, solar fencer, barn, water barrel, feeders, etc.  This is strictly cost of pig, feed and butchering:

Cost of Pigs $80 each = $240

Hog Grower: $738.35

3 Bales of Hay for bedding/food:  $9.00

Butcher (killing and cleaning, not cut up): $100

Total cost: $1087.35

Total weight of all 3 pigs 598 lbs

Cost per lb $1.81

Of course this does not include our physical labour, fuel for picking up feed and apples etc.  I guess in the end we "made" nothing off it, but we provided ourselves and family and friends with healthy, flavourful, moist, delicious, pasture raised pork.

I was very afraid we had gone "into the hole" so to speak.  I am pleasantly surprised that we managed to stay on top of it.  We had no idea what to charge per lb for the meat.  We asked around and got the "going rate".  We are not farming to make money but we really didn't want to lose money!  That was my main concern.Considering this was a new venture for us I think we did quite well.  We learned to feed them the other stuff first and the grower feed last.  If they have tummies full of grower they won't eat the other stuff. 

And now the question everyone is asking "will you do it again?"  The answer is "YES".  And we are planning to raise the number by one or two, raise 4 or 5 instead of 3.  

I am a "if it ain't broke don't fix it" type of gal.  If I find something that works I like to stick with it.  My husband is different, he likes to think of what he could change.  As I mentioned previously I am happy with the Berkshire and would like to stick to that breed.  My husband would like to try a mixed breed.  He is mentioning Berkshire and Tamworth mix.  I think we have been told "York" can be a nasty breed.  We will spend our winter trying to decide what to do.  Seeding in the pasture and planning for the newcomers in the spring.  We're even stocking our barn with bales of bedding hay so we'll be ready for their tentative arrival in March of 2014.  :)

'til next time!!!

A Very Busy Thanksgiving Day!

We were invited to a delicious Family Thanksgiving Dinner in the Valley yesterday.  It was a beautiful 2 hour drive, the colours of the leaves were amazing.  Food for the eyes that's for sure.  The temperature was nice as well, perfect for what we had planned.  Across from where our Family Thanksgiving Dinner was being hosted stands an abandoned Apple Orchard.  The apples are no longer sprayed, the trees are no longer pruned and have grown up with rose bushes and other sharp needled shrubs and rip the skin on your hands when your trying to reach through them.  My hands look like I got in a fight with a wild cat.

You can see the small rose berries amongst the apples in this photo.....

You probably wouldn't see a birds nest in a tree of a sprayed orchard......

The Pears will certainly be a special treat for the pigs, something they have not eaten a lot of that's for sure!.......

Ready to head home with our bounty of produce for our animals......

After a lot of scrounging and lugging we came home with 9 bags of apples and pears.  As well as a bag of over grown beets and two bags of swiss chard for the meat chickens.  It was a day of feasting and also a productive day of scrounging produce to feed our farm animals.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving doing your favourite things and being with those you hold dear.

'til next time!

Our Home Away From Home....

After my late husband passed away I saw a psychologist to help me through my grief, guilt and blame.....She said my personality is "I want it done NOW". Apparently I am impatient....hmmmm, think someone less qualified may have told me that in the past as well ;)  Any how.....  This is how things "roll" at our household.....in August we tried camping as a family in a tent for the first time.  In September we bought a lovely tent trailer to have a few more luxuries while camping.  Well, here we are in October and we now have a 27' travel trailer in our yard - our home away from home.

We were looking for that "certain one", the one that caught our eye and was within our budget.  To our excitement we found it.  We did not expect to find it so soon, especially since our budget wasn't very high. Seems like an odd time of the year for such a purchase but this time of year you get the deals, the dealers are wanting to clear out as much as they can so they don't have to keep them over winter, it also gives them a few more dollars in their account going into the off season.  They just got this trailer in 3 days before we purchased it.  After looking at some real losers I didn't hesitate making an offer.

I know it's not good to wish your life away but I am very anxious for winter to be over so we can enjoy our travel trailer.  Apparently we can no longer say we are "camping", I believe the proper term now is "RVing".  Camping is pitching a tent somewhere in the woods and living without toilet, furnace, shower etc. That's fine, I'll take "RVing" over camping any day.  Enjoying the fresh air and wilderness with the comforts of home.  I am by no means a "Princess" but I do love my comforts such as a nice bed, shower and toilet....

'til next time!!!

NEVER SAY NEVER!!!

This has become my motto ever since I said I would "never get married again" as losing my late husband was so painful I never wanted to go through that again....but life has to continue on and you realize you can't live without love and can't predict what you may or may not do in the future.....I am a bit off track from what I'm planning to write about tonight.

I have always said I would "never" go camping.  I didn't think I would like not having access to a daily shower, cooking my meals outside, living next to someone I've never met (campground camping).  Well, late this summer we went camping for the first time as a family.  It was my first time camping ever.  We went to a Provincial Park Campground.  We loved it.  To be in nature with no cares in the world, watching the squirrels chase each other (two even ran over my feet, their little toe nails scratching my feet), hiking through the woods looking for deer or other wildlife.  It was so much fun.  The campground was clean, quiet and private. Each campsite well surrounded by trees so privacy was not an issue.

Our first weekend camping was in a beautiful, roomy tent.  I only packed one double air mattress so we were quite snuggled together.  Our first night was quiet and uneventful.  The second night the raccoons were fighting right outside our tent. The second night was also quite cold so I didn't sleep well.  We enjoyed our weekend camping with the tent but then decided to upgrade to a tent trailer if we could find one within our price range.  We have since purchased a tent trailer, we went camping with it as well just the other weekend.  We were toasty warm with our propane furnace humming away.  Our fridge kept our food cold and the cook top made preparing meals a breeze.  We enjoyed our second camping trip with our tent trailer.  It provided some luxuries to make life in the woods a bit more convenient.  We have since decided if we can find a travel trailer within our price range we would upgrade with the intention to replace hotel stays when we travel within the province to staying in our camper and save some money.  Staying at a campground will be so much more fun than at a hotel.  Though a hotel is luxurious and restful it's nice to be out in the fresh air, cooking our own meals and doing activities together.  Not just laying in a hotel room trying to decide which restaurant we'll have our next meal at and watching TV.

I had no idea people "dressed up" their campsites so much.  Lights, name plaques, screen tents over picnic tables......  The first weekend was a learning experience for sure.  I called our campsite the "dark hole".  Everyone around us had lots of lighting whether solar lights or string lights.  We had a lonely lantern setting on our picnic table.  The second weekend we went camping I was prepared.  I had solar lights, a wash line and lots of lanterns as well as the lighting on our tent trailer.  I also had a table cloth which I didn't think about before......
 
We are looking forward to planning our camping season next year.  I only wish I had known how much fun camping is long ago.  But you can't turn back time.  We have many camping years ahead of us.

'til next time!

Back to Church!

Summer has been very very busy with work and summertime activities.   I am ashamed to say we haven't been to Church since June.  Today, all the cards fell into place...we were home, animals were fed and watered last night in preparation, no chores were so urgent as to keep us from going to Church this morning.

It was nice to be back in Church.  I missed it.  I always enjoy listening to our Minister, he has a way of holding your attention.  He is a great story teller.  He breaks down the lessons and explains the importance of what has happened.  He also uses current day events to bring the lesson into perspective.  Though he is a great story teller he cannot always hold the attention of my 3 year old.  Of course I am the embarrassed mother while everyone else comments on how good he is.

Communion is held every Sunday.  I mentioned in the past a reluctance to take communion only out of shyness.  Well, my Mother, Son and I all take communion now.  I still get a bit panicked, since I also have to make sure my Son moves through the line up efficiently.  Today was an "out of the mouths of babes" moment. As one side of the Church lined up we waited for our turn.  My Son got a bit panicked, he said "we have to line up now".  I explained we had to wait until the others were finished.  He looked at his grandmother and said "Nan, we have to line up now...before the bread is all gone"....  I guess I should start packing a snack for Church.....

Our Minister is fantastic with Children.  After Church he sat with us and discussed farming, a topic which my Son loves.  My Son told our Minister about our pigs, turkeys, baby chicks and chickens.  He reminds me so much of myself as a child, I loved talking about all my animals and pets.  We also had a small farm when I was growing up.

Though my Son is still too young to understand a lot about what is discussed in Church I believe it's a good experience for him.  And he probably understands more than I am giving him credit for.  I enjoy our time at Church together, even when he's speaking when he shouldn't be.....it all makes great memories.

'til next time

A Garden of His Very Own.....

I decided to turn my herb garden box into a garden for my son.  He was watering the grass in our driveway calling it his garden.  Since I am not a fan of the grass in our driveway and don't want it to flourish, I gave up my herb garden area so he can have a real garden to tend to.  He planted peas, turnip, carrots, broccoli and yellow beans.

Before he planted his garden we stirred in some mature compost......

Ready for planting.....

He planted his selection of seeds.....

Now the waiting begins....I hope he has a great harvest from his little garden.

'til next time!

Throw another piece of chicken on the BBQ please!

As I mentioned in a previous post our home grown chicken is very lean.  Learning to cook it on the BBQ took some creative thinking.  I use the BBQ all year, all weather.  I needed to figure out how to cook our home grown chicken on the BBQ without it drying out.  The first time I cooked it I thought I could throw it on the grill like I would "store bought" chicken and it would turn out juicy and tender ...wrong...it got chewy and tough.  After speaking to our butcher she said to cook it longer.  I tried cooking it on low heat over a longer period of time than I would have cooked "store bought" chicken.  Cooking it longer actually dried it out.  I had to figure out a way to keep the chicken from drying out.  I tried placing a pan of water under the chicken.  Eureka!  Placing a pan of water under the chicken keeps it hydrated and keeps it from drying out.  No more dry, chewy, tough home grown BBQed chicken. I placed the pan of water on the heating grid below the grilling rack.  The pan of water creates steam to keep the chicken from drying out.  Voila! Tender, juicy delicious chicken........  YAY!

By the way, the photo above is of chicken thighs.  Our birds ranged about 10 lbs when butchered, we got some nice sized portions.

I thought I would share my little tip in hopes it may help someone else cook delicious home grown chicken on the BBQ!

'til next time!

Gotta Love Those Chicken Nipples......

yup, that's right, chicken nipples.  ha ha, I laugh every time I say it.... "chicken nipples".....  I know what you're thinking, "chickens don't have nipples...do they??" Well, you're right, chickens don't have nipples.  What I am speaking of are ingenious little creations that ingenious farmers use to water their chickens.  My husband spoke of them years ago when we first started raising our own laying hens.  I must admit, I didn't pay much attention, sounded like a lot of work and cost to set up this "chicken nipple watering system".  I didn't jump on the bandwagon so it didn't get put into action.  I had actually forgotten about them until my neighbour showed me her system.  So, when I came home and mentioned it to hubby he got on ebay and found us some chicken nipples.  Oddly enough you can't purchase them at local feed stores.

It is going to be a bit of cost and work to set them up initially but once they are set up they are there for the long haul.  No more lugging gallons of water from the house tap to the barn, just run a hose and fill a barrel.  yay!  And they are so much cleaner for the birds to drink from than the nasty waterers.  

Here is his system before he installed it in the barn.....

For now we are just using a water jug we had kicking around, the barrel set up is yet to come.  The barrel is planned to water all 3 coops.  One barrel to fill, 3 coops watered......

  

We partitioned off the larger area of the barn to keep the chicks closer to the heat lamp, to limit their area to wander when they were very small.  The time has come to open the space up.  They are feathered out more, can handle being away from the heat lamp and could use the extra space to stretch their legs.  I feel they aren't big enough to go into the run yet, that will be in another week or two.  So, that being said, hubby did install the new watering system in their existing area of the barn.  In reality he has probably made more work for himself since we will be removing the partition walls he has used to attach the watering system.  I guess we'll cross that bridge tomorrow.  Today he was anxious to see if they would take to the nipples.  It wasn't long and they were investigating this new addition to their surroundings.  Some were too distracted by the mosquito catching to care, others couldn't take their eyes off those shiny silver watering nipples......

You can see the waterer in the background, it is very dirty after a days worth of scratching and fluttering around.......

Please excuse the mess.....tomorrow they will have more space to roam and fresh bedding.  Of course we freshened their waterer as well, we can't risk them not getting enough water.  

It is hard to believe they will soon be 3 weeks old.  They are not growing off the charts, they are very active and love running around their little space.  When we purchased our meat chicks the first time we asked how long it took for them to grow.  We were told people can grow an 8lb bird in 8 weeks. We cannot seem to do this.  For us it takes 12 weeks.  They have constant access to feed so it's not that, I think it's the fact that they have lots of space to run and get fed garden veggies.  They spend time dust bathing and pecking grass in their large run so they aren't constantly eating the grower.  This year I am going to feed them "finisher" to give them a bit more fat.  Last year our birds were very lean, which in one way is great but it's nice to have some fat for flavour and probably would make them more tender. 

 

'til next time!

The Monkey On My Back....

Time to tackle it head on......

I have mentioned in previous posts that I was married before.  My late husband passed away 7 years ago due to complications from Cancer.  Well, 5 years ago my current husband and I moved into our new home.  And that's where this story begins.....

5 years ago my goal was to move into our current home before that Christmas.  I wanted to spend THAT Christmas in our new home.  Well, it was a tight deadline, we moved in just before Christmas.  All of the stuff from the old house that we didn't need in our new house was piled in the basement.  Along with my late husbands belongings and tons of photo albums.  For years this "mess" has tortured me and every time I thought I was going to tackle the clean up I would get overwhelmed and bury my head back in the sand.  Well, this summer I had had enough of burying my head in the sand.  It was time to tackle that "mess" head on and clean it up.  3 days it took me to sort through most of the stuff, store my late husband's belongings in a safe place and clean up.....wow, what a space I have created!

I also mentioned in previous posts that I am working on losing weight.  Well, I finally have a work out area again.  In the old house I had a spare room turned into a work out room, I missed that convenience.  When I finally made up my mind to tackle the "mess" I discussed turning the area into a work out area with my husband.  I told him "it's my reward after all the work is done, so if I don't finish my project we don't turn it into a work out area".  I needed him to know I was not getting my reward if I didn't complete the task so I had myself and him to keep me accountable.  

There is still work to be done, boxes of MY old clothes to go through, most of which I will probably just donate to charity.  Today I am throwing a chicken in the oven to roast while I tackle more clean up.  This project is much easier than what I tackled a month or so ago.  This clean up is to stack what we're saving or what needs to be sorted through ie: our junk drawer stuff that contains everything from nuts and bolts to string and odd parts from whatever they used to belong to......  The purpose of this next clean up is to make my son a nice play area beside my lovely work out area!  I picked up a bowling set at a flea market for $2, an old fashioned heavy one, one that was made sturdy and built to last, not like the flimsy disposable stuff you buy now days.  My plan is to make him a nice bowling lane with his foam mats.  It feels good to have turned a space that has tortured me for years into a fun play area for him and for me.

I considered taking "before" pictures but decided I didn't need a reminder of what the basement used to look like.  That is burned in  my memory and I hope to forget it some day.  This clean up was about moving forward, getting organized and facing what needed to be thrown out.  Here is an after photo but before my second attack at organizing it into a smaller area and making an area for my son to play while I'm exercising:

And this is after another afternoon of organizing....

I'm about 80% finished with the sorting, the boxes of clothing turned out not to be as easy as I thought.  I assumed most of it would go to charity but it appears most of it may be stuff I'd want to keep....so that means going through my dresser, cleaning that out to make room for the others......It's a big project but I'm glad I've got a good start on it.  I wish I had done this years ago but you cannot turn back time.  I had to get the courage to tackle the memories and I did it and it feels great!

'til next time!

Over The Hedge....Revisited....

Tonight as I am rushing to get our lawn mowed before the next rain starts, and as I blow the grass clippings into piles...I thought about the post I made regarding our new hedge.  It concerned me that I may have made the wrong impression.

The hedge is #1 - landscaping for our property  #2 - defines our property line....and why is this so important you ask?  Here's the MAIN reason why we planted a hedge - the WEEDMAN!  I have made phone calls to their office asking them, no begging them, to  please stop spraying our property.  We had Haskap Berry bushes planted well on our property and a Bleeding Heart plant given to me by my Great Aunt both died suspiciously, previously I had watched where the spray was being applied and requested they not apply it to our property. We have since requested they NOT spray our boxwood but their response to that was "the herbicide won't kill them"....um, okay...time will tell.  When I phoned about our dead Haskap and Bleeding Heart they said "it's not supposed to kill other plants but sometimes it does happen...."  How the heck does a herbicide know if it's a Dandelion or a Haskap?  Also, a very important reason we want to keep the Weedman off our property is the fact that we feed our grass clippings to our animals.  We DO NOT want to be feeding our animals grass containing herbicide!  And yet another important reason is our crops we have planted.  We have Rhubarb and a Strawberry bed not far from where the Haskap plants perished.  My Vegetable garden is on the back corner of our property, quite a distance from where they were spraying but on a windy day I don't know how far that spray will travel.  So, as you can see there were many factors involved in deciding to add a hedge to the landscape of our property.  

It's not a neighbourhood feud like it may have sounded in my last post.  I don't want to sound like someone airing her troubles on her blog.  We are still friendly neighbours, we just have different views on what our properties are for.  He loves his weedless lawn, I love my weeds and grass that grow tall enough to harvest for feeding my animals.  We both have a right to do whatever it is we wish to do with our own property.  That being said I would like to see the herbicide end at the property line.  Now, at least the Weedman will stay on the other side of the hedge!

The seeds are sprouting!

Well, I have already admitted I'm addicted to purchasing transplants.  Today I added a Lime Green Sweet Pepper plant and a Yellow Sweet Pepper Plant to the garden, they were on sale which makes them irresistible.  They were beautiful plants, already bearing peppers.

My lettuce and radish (only planted to mark where I planted my carrots) are sprouting already.  The tiny pepper plants I didn't think would amount to much are peeking out of their "greenhouse" containers.

We removed the "greenhouse" containers from the Brandywine and Sweet Mojo today and put the tomato towers around them.

I have 18 tomato plants in total! And 18 Sweet Pepper Plants - yellow, green/red, lime green and orange!

I am happy everything is planted and seems to be doing well.

'til next time!

The Garden Is Complete....

We had a beautiful HOT sunny weekend and I finally finished planting my garden.

Now, the waiting begins.  Watching for the little seeds to sprout.  Waiting patiently for the lettuce and spinach to grow.....

Every year I get taken up by the variety of Tomato plants available.  Every year I buy too many varieties.  What did I plant this year?  Well, here's the list:

Celebrity:  Bears clusters of large tomatoes that are prized for their flavour.

Bush Beef:  A very popular variety for shorter growing regions.  This is a short bushy plant that grows to 3 feet and yields huge amounts of 8oz beefsteak tomatoes in clusters.  I can taste the home smoked bacon and tomato sandwiches now....YUM!

Scotia:  Very popular home grown variety in Nova Scotia.  Sought after for its ability to set fruit in cool weather and produce firm, deep red, globe shaped tomatoes with good flavour.  I have planted this variety for years.  If you are unsure of what the summer weather will bring it's a safe variety to plant in our area.....

Sweet Mojo:  Red grape type tomato, extra long clusters of 20 - 21 fruit with high sugar flavour....YUM!

And I am super excited that I have finally tried this variety:

Brandywine:  First grown by the Amish over 200 years ago, Brandywine tomatoes produce large, fleshy fruit and are supposed to be the best tasting tomato available....we'll see....I know the plant is certainly out growing all the others.

And I forgot.....

Roma: These are perfect for canning, very meaty interior, few seeds.

Here is a current photo of my garden on this rainy morning.  It's soon time to take their "greenhouses" away as they are peeking out through the top and appear to be well established.....

I sure hope I left enough room between the Brandywine and the Sweet Mojo!

Thanks for visiting!

Grocery Shopping, A New Frontier.....

So, today I went grocery shopping.  "So What?" you say?...well, the "So What" is I went shopping armed with my list of what I actually NEEDED to complete the next 2 weeks worth of meals, aside from fresh Veggies that is.  As I pushed my Son in the Race Car Shopping Cart up and down the isles, crossing the items off my list as I went, I realized this is the first time in a long time my mind wasn't buzzing with activity trying to figure out what I MIGHT make for supper this week or in the near future.  Grocery shopping was actually more relaxing than I expected, armed with my new list of what I needed.  I didn't roll up and down the isles staring at the items on the shelf wondering if I WANTED any of them, I knew what I NEEDED and all I had to do was find it.

I also purchased two binders, one will house the months recipes in order of which they are going to be used.  It is bright orange so a "certain someone" can't say they don't see it.  The other one is bright green and will be used for my notes and holding recipes not being used this month.  Or that's the plan for now.

So far there's only one recipe in the binder, tomorrow's recipe :)

Things are slowly coming together.....I will conquer this challenge!  I am already feeling good about it, much better than I felt last week when it seemed like things would never come together.  What's nice about it is, even though I posted a list on the fridge to write down our "favourite meals", I have started going through my cookbooks again.  I'm rediscovering recipes I used to love cooking.  The one I'm cooking tomorrow is one of them.  Asian Marinated Pork Tenderloin.  YUM!  I am so looking forward to tomorrow nights supper!

Making a meal plan will also help me decide what to do with our "cuts of meat" this year.  Last year we used most of the roasts for home smoked ham, even though I don't really care for ham......  Today I had to purchase a boneless loin roast.  Doesn't make sense to have 6 hams in the freezer and no roasts.  We had roasts but they are all gone, we eat way more roasts than ham.  Last year I mentioned this, it fell on deaf ears, this year I'm insisting NO hams, or maybe one, and the rest are roasts.  Sorry, a bit off track.......

Since I'm already off track, here's a picture of some berries I picked from our little strawberry patch, they are delicious!....

Okay, Back On Track!!!......

Just curious, has my meal planning journey encouraged anyone else to start a meal plan?  Or if you have already been planning your meals, what's your strategy?

Thanks for visiting!  Please come again!

Menu Planning update

I'm still working on it!  I am realizing how it's going to help use up the leftovers as I am incorporating them into future meals, this I already knew but seeing it on paper makes me happy.  I am by no means organized and ready.  I am still filling in the days, I don't have the cookbooks listed or the ingredients listed, or my shopping list prepared!  In reality my monthly meal plan may turn out to be a two week meal plan for the first month since I almost have two weeks complete.  I still have to do an "inventory" of my cupboards.  My goal is to get those first two weeks planned out and prepared for, then tackle the next two or three weeks.

And, to be honest, there are some days that are simply going to be "take out" days.  I used to watch a program where she called them "fright night" and had an easy meal for the family to prepare that night.  I am trying to plan for that but on the days I get home at 6:30 and hubby leaves for work at 7:00 after he just got home at 8:30am, it's probably going to mean a take out meal!

So far I have some frozen chicken and gravy in the freezer for a work night meal.  I am going to prepare some home made lasagna for another work night meal.  Today was going to be grocery day but I changed my plans, trying to get this menu figured out so I can get my grocery list made!

I keep forgetting running this household is another job all of its own!

Thanks for visiting!

Monthly Meal Planning OVERLOAD!

As I mentioned I have been working on my July Meal Plan.....So far I have 8 days planned for...the rest are incomplete....I have posted our work schedules on each day so I know who is home to cook, how many will be dining etc.  I have also listed events we have scheduled so I know if we will actually be home!

Tonight I got out one of my favourite cookbooks to choose some recipes to add to my favourites list.  That's when it hit me, the ingredients listing, the organizing, the shopping....  Oh my, I have a long long way to go!!!!  Panic set in, I took a deep breath and reminded myself "Rome wasn't built in a day".  I will get this, I will accomplish what I have set out to do.  It may take a few months to get it down pat and I guess I will always be working on the "ingredients list" every time I add a new recipe.

I am taking my "favourite meals" list with me to work tomorrow as well as a print out of my calendar.  I will work on it during my lunch hour.  It's going to take time but I will figure it out.  I'm starting by filling in my calendar with meals, then I will look up those meals and prepare the ingredients list.  I will then do an inventory of my cupboards to see what I already have, last step will be preparing the shopping list.  Doesn't sound so complicated when it's written down.  :)

Thanks for Visiting!

Over the Hedge...

I love that movie, the squirrel is hilarious.

Sorry, back on track.....Today, while shopping for larger pepper plants and cucumber plants for my garden I came across a great sale on Green Boxwood.  We have been wanting to plant trees or a hedge of some sort near our property line for some time now and this was a great opportunity to get a good start on it.

Unfortunately I couldn't get nearly enough to do the job complete but it's a great start.  Our property line goes on a sharp angle, very narrow in the front, very wide in the back.  I wish they used straight lines, it would make life so much easier.  We ran a string from one marker to the other to make sure we gave the plants enough room to grow, giving them 3 feet on our neighbours side.

It was a very hot day today, I am hot and exhausted from working in the heat so I'm now working on my menu plan for July, setting under a ceiling fan.  This is my first attempt.  I am posting our work hours on the menu plan so I know what we can do on that day.  The first few months will be the hardest, things should get easier the more plans I do.....  I have 6 days before July 1st!

Spring on the Farm Photo Gallery.....

Here's a photo gallery of our Farm this spring.....

These are our Turkey Chicks we hatched using one of our broody layer hens.  They are Beltsville and Bourbon Red....

These are the Turkey Chicks present day.  They are in their new home in the new barn.  Yesterday we put chicken wire on the outdoor access hatch to give them fresh air and sunshine.  We were hoping to get the run built yesterday but decided to put some plants in my garden before the plants died and/or it started to rain again!

Here is the Pig Shelter.  They love it.....

And here's the boys.  They are growing nicely.  They have a pasture 65' x 75' to roam and dig......

Here's their water barrel.  It's placed within the trees in hopes that helps to keep the water cooler.  For a treat I sometimes over fill it to put a puddle under it where they can wallow and cool off......

Here's our Solar Fencer.  We selected this type so we can move the pig pasture anywhere on our property and not have the concern of running extension cords or batteries....

 And finally the garden is getting ready for planting.  As I believe I mentioned I considered not planing a garden this year.  The weather has been so miserable.  But when the sun stayed out for more than a day the fever hit me.  I also found 4 tomato plants/pkg for 75 cents on Friday.  I couldn't resist that deal so that sealed my gardening fate for sure.  I will talk more about the variety of tomatoes I planted in another post......

And there they are, planted and sheltered from wind until they get stronger, 16 tomato plants.  Every year I say I'm not planting any more than one pkg of tomato plants and every year I get drawn into the different varieties and can't resist trying something new.....

I hope you enjoyed this little look at what we're up to these days on our busy little farm.

Thanks for visiting!

Busy with a capital B....

We have been so very busy on our little farm.  The Pig Shelter is complete and they are loving it.  Their water Barrel is complete and, well, they like it but would prefer the puddles they are used to.  Which then explains why my garden is not planted yet.  The rain that caused the puddles the pigs love so much has also delayed the planting of my garden.  At one point I was wondering if we should be building an Ark instead of a pig shelter.  Basically we have been faced with deciding which part of the household/farm to work on when the sun is shining, trying hard to divide it up so priority gets taken care of as well as a bit of something else which needs to get done...

On the rainy days....Amongst the projects I have been working on is a monthly menu plan.  Our freezer is full of beef, pork and chicken but I haven't been planning far enough ahead to utilize it.  I used to prepare a weekly menu, a long, long time ago.  That was before two home based businesses and a busy little boy!  Our lives get so very busy here, often on a moments notice.  I have not been able to rely on preparing a weekly menu plan for a long time.  Not that I don't think about it or try!  Recently, I have been given new hope.  My friend and neighbour writes a fantastic and informative blog and has given me renewed hope in organizing our family meals.  I am currently compiling a list of meals we enjoy and ones we will tolerate.  I have a husband who can be a picky eater, though he won't admit it, thus the "tolerate" section of my "favourite meals".  He doesn't like most vegetables and definitely doesn't like cut up tomato, peppers, onion etc in his meals.  I have explained that the days of cooking meat only meals are coming to an end.  If I prepare a casserole with chopped up tomato, pepper, onion etc. in it he will just have to waste his time picking them out.  I need flavour, colour and I need vegetables!  I have given in to his picky ways for way too long, I'm done.  Sorry, getting off track and a bit emotional ha,ha!  The hardest days for me are work days.  My hope and intention is to plan easy meals or leftovers for those days to avoid the temptation of stopping at fast food joints.  When Hubby is home I will have something planned that's within his cooking ability ie: spaghetti or a homemade frozen lasagna.

Don't get me wrong, we don't eat out for every meal.  As I said, the worst days are my work days.  We obviously eat at home because our two freezers that were filled to the brim with meat just last Fall are now only half full.  I do love to cook, time and planning stand in my way.  Getting organized is more than half the battle.  I am happy I am taking the time now to figure out a new system, one that fits our super busy lifestyle.

Here is my friend's blog post I spoke about:  http://thelittleacrethatcould.blogspot.ca/2013/06/how-i-learned-to-not-waste-food.html

Well, that's all for now folks.  I have spent the day in the garden planting, time to shower off the dirt and nurse the fly bites.  Stay tuned for a "photo album" depicting all the changes the farm has taken over the past couple of months.  Including the additional and growing animals.  :)

Thanks for visiting!

A never ending cycle.....

Wow, it has been a long time since I even attempted to write!  Here's the post I started way back on May 27th!  I thought I would post it for you to bring you up to present day.  


We are still working hard to finish our newest building on the farm, our pig shelter.  Right now they are enjoying a make-do shelter we created for them, not near as fancy as the little barn we are working on.  The pigs are growing.  No, we have not named them, I have a problem naming something I intend to eat.....

Just this evening I discovered one of our baby layer chicks got its leg caught under the wall that separates the two brooders.  We have no idea how it could have gotten its leg under there as it was quite a chore for us to get it out.  Since its leg is quite bloody we are nursing it back to health in the comforts of the house.  Its own box, heat bulb, water and food.  Right now it is resting.  I'm sure it was quite traumatic to be stuck like that.  It drank a bit of water but hasn't eaten anything yet.

We have 5 turkey chicks.  We're trying to raise turkeys again this year, hoping we learned from our mistakes in the past....

Time Flies When You're Having Fun!

It has been a while since I wrote.  During the past month many many things crossed my path that I found blog worthy but time slipped by and so did the moment to write about it.  So, today I thought I should take a bit of time to bring you up to date on what's happening on this busy little farm.

First: I need to let you know the bean sprouts turned out fantastic, I haven't sprouted any more but plan to soon, my tummy is growling for a stir fry - in the words of my Son :)

Second: our pigs are doing fantastic.  They are now in their pasture happy as can be.  Digging up the land, enjoying the sunshine and shade of the fir trees.  We had them in the meat bird run, they dug that up in a few hours.  They were content there but I knew they would be so much happier in their pasture.  We were working feverishly trying to finish a lovely shelter for them but with bad weather and shift work it was impossible to get it finished in a short time.  So, one night they sent me a sign, they spent the night outside in the meat bird run.  Perfectly happy to sleep under the stars, not caring to go inside the "barn".

That made me realize they would also be happy in their pasture, sleeping in the brushed area if they chose or under the stars.  That day I was determined to get them into the pasture.  It wasn't quite finished.  I put the gate handles on the fence, hooked up the electric fence charger (asked my Dad to check it before I turned it on to make sure I wired it okay) and I was ready to move the pigs into their 65' x 75' pasture.  I built a board corral on one side and ran some chicken wire on the other side, my Dad went in the run and gave them a bit of encouragement to move.  They happily followed a trail of bread to the new pasture area, no problem at all.  I found out quickly that the fence was working when one of them smelled a fitting on a fence pole.  They are happy in their large pasture area so now I am happy.....

At least we don't have to muck out the barn anymore!  That's one less chore on our long long list!

Third:  We are hatching chicks left and right.  We now have 17 baby chicks hatched from our own eggs.  We did order 8 layers from the feed store to make sure we have some laying hens to add to our flock.

We have a broody hen setting on 8 Turkey Eggs which are ready to hatch this weekend.  We are going to try to raise turkeys again.  Last time we were unsuccessful getting them all to the freezer, this time we are taking what we learned and making some changes, here's hoping we are successful!  I will post some pictures of the chicks next time.

I was super excited to find spinach growing in my garden shortly after the snow melted....

I planted it late fall, then winter came faster than I thought.  I figured I wasted the seeds but here it is!  It was a bit crowded, I since thinned it and it is now growing beautifully.  The pigs got the plants I pulled out, they aren't as excited about spinach as I am.  haha  I enjoyed a fresh spinach salad last week for my lunch at work.  I impressed the other staff to have a salad fresh from my garden already.  I threw in a bit of baby kale as well which also survived the winter!  What a treat.

I have been pulling weeds from our strawberry bed, it has become quite over grown.  That's quite a project.....  I will post pictures of our strawberries and other plants another time as well....

That being said I have chores to do and it's way to nice out to be setting inside on the computer!  There's no shortage of excitement here on the farm this spring.  As you can see there is a very good reason why I haven't been writing!  Hopefully it won't be so long between posts next time.  Thanks for hanging in there!  Hope you enjoyed my update on our little farm.

'til next time!

Garden Planning.....sweet potatoes??

The ground is still white with snow, the air is cold and damp but I'm not letting that get me down.  I'm planning my garden now so when the sun finds its way through the clouds, warms the soil and melts the snow I'm ready to go!

I am thinking about growing sweet potatoes in my little garden this year.  The plants are available from Vesey's Seeds.  I am wondering if anyone has any experience, whether it be good or bad, with growing sweet potatoes in their home garden.  And any tips would be appreciated.

Are there any other favourites you have that you grow in your own home garden?  Anything that you plan to try that you haven't grown before?  I would love to hear your plans for your garden this spring.

Looking forward to your comments!

Hey, What About Me!?!

I have spent a lot of time bragging about how well our farm animals are fed and how healthy they are because of it.  It was brought to my attention this week that I have not been taking care to make sure what I am feeding myself is nutritious and good for ME.  My body is now saying "hey, what about me!?!"

I worry more about taking care of everyone else and put myself last.  I also became oblivious of the "extras" I've been eating by finishing off something my Son decided he didn't want.  I realized this the other evening when he asked for a piece of cheese.  He took a bite and decided he didn't want the rest.  I caught myself automatically putting that piece of cheese into MY mouth!  A light bulb went off....that was something I would have eaten even though I wasn't even hungry so it "didn't go to waste".  All along these odds and ends have been going to my waist!

I wouldn't carry a bucket of soda pop to our pigs and chickens, I wouldn't dream of putting that poison into their bodies, but I was putting it into mine!  I wouldn't feed them potato chips and french fries...but I put it into my own body!  Doesn't make sense, does it.

About 7 years ago I joined a well known weight loss program.  I had great success on the program, I went from a size 22 to a size 12.  Since receiving my wake up call this week, I have joined that program again and so far I have lost 5lbs in only 4 days.  I realize this is due to drinking water instead of sugary soda pop but I am still pleased with the result.  This program is fantastic for me because I can still go out to dinner with my family, I just need to plan ahead and account for what I'm going to have.  I can keep track of what I am eating and plan what I will eat next, taking the impulse junk food meals off my plate.  It's all common sense, we all know what is good for us, it's just making the right choice when the wrong choice is staring you straight in the face.

I was scolded when I said I used to be on this program......the Dr. said "they teach you skills for life"...well, my life took drastic changes over the years resulting in ME being the last person on my mind.....until now.

Here's to a new start OR a restart if you will.  I will keep you up to date on how I am doing with my healthier ME lifestyle.

'til next time!

3 Little Piggies.....

Well, there will be 3 little piggies.  One little piggy was very smart and stayed close by his Momma.  Nobody messes with Momma so he's spending another night with her, hopefully he will come home tomorrow.

I had no idea catching pigs would be so hard.  They don't look like fast creatures but they are.  And when you have to consider Momma's emotions it makes it even trickier.

Here's a picture of our two newest additions to the farm:

So, now our meat chickens have competition for our garden vegetable scraps.


'til next time....

My Mind Is Whirling!

As the sun gets stronger, the days get longer and the snow melts away my mind is whirling with plans for our little farm. 

How many layer hens should we add to our flock this year....  How many meat birds do we want to raise for the freezer this winter.....What other additions do we want to add to our farm this year....

One addition we are considering is raising our own pork.  We are considering raising Berkshire pigs.  This is a heritage breed.  They are black and white in color, looking more like a wild boar than the pink pigs raised by commercial producers.    We have been considering this addition for a few years.  We now have some barn space to house the little pigs until they get big enough to be kept outside.  Our goal is to feed them mainly garden scraps but we are well aware they cannot live off only vegetables, they need protein to grow muscle mass. 

One addition is already under way.....we have 11 green shelled eggs under our cranky broody hen.  That should make her happy.....  They are Ameracauna (hen) mixed with Silver Pencilled Plymouthrock (rooster).  Should be an interesting mix.  Mixed breeds are so much fun, such an array of color and size.

We have purchased materials to make the hens some new nesting boxes.  I will post pictures when we get them complete.  They are made using plastic dish pans from the dollar store.  A very neat design which makes them super easy to clean.

I often wonder if we are just plain crazy for taking on all that we do ~ several home based businesses, jobs outside of the home and our little  Farm as well as making sure we don't neglect our most important creation, Our Family.  I believe the home based businesses display work ethic as he enjoys helping us with sorting and creating product, the Farming part of our lives shows him to care for animals, the circle of life and growing our own vegetables.....  Yes, we are busy, yes sometimes I wonder if we are crazy, the answer is probably YES we are crazy, but I also believe being a little bit crazy helps us get through life.  ha ha. 

When it's all said and done I believe our hard work is all worth it.  As long as it adds to our family life and doesn't take away from it.  Now that our son is old enough to help on the farm it makes it a better experience for him and us.  When you have a little one to work your schedule around everything is more complicated.  When you have a "big boy" as he calls himself, you have a helping hand to get the chores done.  And he enjoys doing the chores with us, he takes pride in it.  One thing I have never heard our Son say is "I'm bored".  Life at our house is never boring, there's always something going on. 

To some we appear crazy while others envy us for having the guts and the property space to raise so much of our own food.  So, I guess whether we appear crazy or not is all in the eye of the beholder.  :)

That's an update on our little farm as it stands today.  I have a feeling I will be making many new posts in the days to come as our ideas and plans become reality.

'til next time!

Day #2 of Sprouting.....

Here's a photo of my sprouting seeds as they look today.....

The seed "skin" is starting to crack and little sprouts are appearing.  The larger seeds haven't cracked yet in the "crunchy sprout mix" but the "mung beans" (my favourite sprout) are well under way to becoming a chow mein this weekend.  :)

My Son is loving this new growing adventure as much as I am.  It has awakened the gardener in me a bit early this year, this morning I was combing through the Veseys Seeds catalogue preparing my seed order.  Reading about what's new and trying to decide what to plant this year.  Surely Spring is just around the corner....

'til next time!

Let the sprouting begin!

I have been wanting to make a sprout stir fry for weeks but refuse to purchase sprouts in the store when I have a sprout grower at home.  SO, I decided today is the day to get it out of the box and learn to use it.  We purchased this model on clearance after Christmas, I was disappointed to find out the Company I purchased it from now sells an "improved" model.  But I guess that's why it was on clearance......

I am trying a sprout mix blend as well as mung beans....

It's quite simple to use. Add one or two tablespoons of seed to the tray, fill the upper tray with water almost to the top and that water filters down through all the trays to the bottom catch tray.  You "water" them twice a day.  There's an option of growing them in a dim lit area or give them access to sun for more nutrients.  I have decided to grow in sunlight for more nutrients.

The package says sprouts will be ready in 2 - 7 days.  I suspect the smaller seed produces in 2 days, the seed I am using will probably be closer to the 7 day growth period.  Apparently grown sprouts will keep in the fridge for up to 4 days.

I'll keep you posted on my newest growing adventure.

'til next time!

Spring Has Sprung.....

....according to one of our laying hens.  She has decided it would be a great idea to get a head start on expanding the family.  This has made removing the eggs from her nest a little tricky since she is not a happy camper when you reach your hand into her nest box.  I left the coop with a few battle wounds on my hand yesterday....

Poor Momma hen, I see her comb has been bitten by a rooster a few times.  Maybe she's just pretending to want to hatch some eggs so she gets a break from all the "drama" in the coop.....  There were no eggs under her yet this morning.  I am hoping to source some fertilized eggs from another person's flock for her to hatch.  My husband calls it "adding new blood to the flock".

I'll keep you up to date on what's happening with "Momma Hen"

'til next time

UPDATE:  I think I may have sourced some hatching eggs for our Momma Hen, we should have a dozen by the end of the week!  I'll keep you all posted.  :)

Without Snow Winter is BORING!

I know, I know, everyone "hates" snow.  But without snow winter is boring!

This winter has had its share of snow storms but a day or so later it rains and the snow is gone or at the least ruined.  The only thing that makes moving it from the driveway worth the time and effort is the hope that you will also get to enjoy it once the clearing is done.

Sadly, there hasn't been a lot of snowmobiling going on.  Very frustrating since it costs a pretty penny to get them legal for the trails (registration, permits, insurance....).  It makes me think ahead to next season, wondering if we should be making the investment into something that we may or may not get to enjoy.....  I guess we will make that decision when the time comes.  For now we will watch the forecast, hoping for enough snow for another run on our next weekend off.

We also enjoy ice fishing/smelt fishing.  Yet another winter activity we have been unable to do.  The ice has been unsafe for most of the winter.

So, in my humble opinion, without snow and ice....winter is boring!

'til next time!!

Brushing the Coop......

With almost t-shirt weather yesterday the previous fallen snow has melted away quite a bit and gave us opportunity to do some late winter-proofing.  We picked up two discarded Christmas Trees on our travels today and used them to brush our chicken coop.  This will help keep the draft down under the coop, especially when the brush gets some snow on it.  It will make a lovely wind barrier.  When I lived in an old farm house it made a world of difference when we put the brush around the basement walls in the winter time.  When that brush was taken away, if we had a blast of cold weather, you felt the difference!  Bagged leaves work as well and can be easier to find than brush for most people.  But, today we took the opportunity to grab up a couple of trees, I cut the brush off the trunk and my Son helped me place it around the coop........

Beautiful, heavy fir brush.....

We will use the trunks for fire wood......

The chickens will be warm and cozy with the heat lamps blazing and the brush blocking the cold bitter winds that are coming our way the next few days.  We got our work done just in time for another snow storm tomorrow.

'til next time!

Growing up is harder to do......

I write a lot about how our food has changed with times.  The additives, the hormones.....but our food isn't the only thing that has changed.  How we interact with each other and the world in general has changed.  When I was growing up I couldn't talk to someone on the other side of the world, face to face on a computer.  At one point it was said that would exist but you think "how is that possible?"  Well, today it is possible.  Which brings me to my thought for the day:  Growing up in 2013 is different than when I grew up in the 80's though some things remain the same......

Last week my husband and I watched a movie on Cyberbullying.  It is something we've all heard a lot about on the news, especially lately as it seems to be getting worse or finally getting recognized.  Cyberbullying didn't exist in the 80's but bullying did exist.  I was picked on, as we called it then, these days I guess it would be called bullied.  I was quiet and shy, I didn't wear designer clothes and didn't have much of an eye for fashion.  I wasn't skinny, didn't have long flowing locks of hair........

My worst part of the day was the bus ride to and from school.  For me the bus ride ended, I either arrived at school where I was picked at a bit but could usually avoid those who had nothing better to do, or I arrived home.  Now, when the kids get home from school the bullies are still there.  They can still attack them within the security of their own homes.  Those 4 walls of a teenagers bedroom are usually their safe haven, where they can go to spend some time with their thoughts or not think at all, blast some music, play a video game, talk on the phone to a good friend and giggle about the days events.  Now there's usually a computer within those 4 walls.  And those who have nothing better to do can attack them using social media.  And, as we know, the friends list is a chain.  So, you may not be friends with the actual bully but you can see what they write on another friends wall.  And, as the movie showed, it's addictive to see what people are writing about us.

I'm not sure what the answer is.  Technology has become a part of our lives.  I do believe as parents we have to use our better judgement and be very careful how much access we allow our children to have to social media.  My Son is still very young, I have no idea what technology will be available to him as he grows and I have no idea how I will handle it all at this point.  I do know that it will be my responsibility to monitor it, talk to him about what's going on/being said, make sure he understands a post made today can affect him years down the road - well beyond tomorrow.  I am tempted to say I would not allow him access but we all know kids find a way and the last thing you want is to have them going to a friends house to access a Facebook account which you know nothing about and have no idea what's going on with it.  I will cross the bridge when we come to it, for now I will pay attention to how others are handling it and stay informed.

As if parenting wasn't already the hardest job on the planet today we have to deal with protecting our kids in our own homes from bullies on their computers.  And, not only bullies but also pedifiles and other sick deranged people who can gain access to our children through the world wide web.

A little story about me an one of my bullies.....
Several years ago I confronted one of my bullies.  He actually became friends with my late husband and we all hung out together.  It took me a long long time to tell him how miserable he made me in Jr. High.  His response to me was "you have no idea what I was going through at the time, school was no fun for me either"  So, that says it all, misery loves company.  When someone is bullying you it's to take the focus off of something they don't like about themselves.  He always picked at me about my weight, he was no skinny mini himself.  I didn't bother to go into detail with him about what his problems were at the time, I didn't owe him a therapy session, I just wanted him to know that I did not forget how he treated me.  He was someone I tolerated having around but did not become close friends with, the wall was always there.  As I write this I realize I don't think I ever told my late husband this, I'm not sure he was in the room when I confronted my bully who was then a friend. If I did tell him, I don't remember.  Since my late husband passed my contact with this person was minimal at first and in the past 5 years I may have said two words to him.  Many friends offer a widow help when their spouse passes, this "friend" did not.  I know he wasn't there to be friends with me, he was there to be friends with my late husband and that is why I tolerated him being in my life.  

All the above is simply my thoughts and my humble opinion.  It's what's on my mind a lot these days.  Nobody wants their child to become a victim and the internet has made many of us, our children especially, easy targets.  Be aware of what's going on, don't think it can't happen to you because as soon as you let your guard down, the predators move in..................I am hoping I can use what I have learned from my own experiences to protect my Son as much as I possibly can......