Friday, March 2, 2012
Blogging on the Go
Well, in bed actually! Publishing to Blogger via my iPhone. Procrastinating, as I have to get up, feed the hens and plough the drive.
Monday, December 26, 2011
From One of the Year to the Other
2 blog entries for 2011 is fairly pathetic. I mean, I know noone actually reads any of this stuff, but as an exercise in diary-ing it hasn't exactly stretched my typing muscles. I'm in contemplative mode, so this may not be the most entertaining read...
Interestingly, though 2011 felt like it was a year in which we/I headed off sidey-ways, reading the post from the start of the year proved that there was, in fact, consistency.
I did run a marathon in 2011 as well as a lot of other running races, and brought my pace down to the sort of times I was running 12 years ago. That was a big success point of the year and made me very happy. I did manage to get to bed at 10:30 by and large, and I cut my alcohol intake to a fraction. The eventual effect of these three actions was a surprising improvement in my mental health! Why surprising?!
With me concentrating my recreational time on running and cycling and us both spending more time on gainful employment, the farm has taken a back seat. I said this time last year that I did not want to spend a lot of time on it in 2011, that it should go back to being a hobby for Jane, if she wanted that hobby. Where we go with it next year is up for discussion at the moment.
We all made it back to the UK for Judy's wedding in October. It was interesting being back in the UK, in Scotland, on Arran - my first trip out of Canada since we moved. On Arran it was like we hadn't left really. Jane had worried that it would unsettle me, but no fear, there was nothing that made me very homesick and it was good to get back to NS again. Albeit thousands of dollars lighter, with a cracked rib and bad road rash on my hip from a cycling fall on the wedding day.
Work-wise things were very lean in the last quarter, worryingly lean, especially no longer having the money buffer that the UK trip used up. One web project went poorly and then there seemed to be no more coming through. At the end of the year though, I won the contract to carry out a feasibility study into creating an 'Innovation Centre' in Caledonia, and will be teaching another IT course in the New Year, together with a couple of web projects means that we should haul back out of the trough.
So, 2012, what's the plan Stan?
Well, I have some racing goals; I'd like to run under 20:00 for 5k, 1:30 for a half-marathon, and possibly under 3:30 for another full marathon. However, I also want to try another triathlon which I haven't done for 10 years or more. There's a half-ironman 70.3, long course tri in Bridgetown in August that I'm thinking to make my main season goal. I can't do any swim training until the ice is out, but thesufferfest.com makes indoor bike training bearable and I'm managing to run outdoors so far this winter.
I want to lose another few kilos, if I could get under 70kg it would be good. Keep concentrating on healthy living other than the training.
We decorated the kitchen and I made a new kitchen dining table, and I want to keep the house improvements going. I enjoyed the woodwork and would like to do more in 2012.
I always feel that I want to play more music, but never seem to make the opportunities. I want to sing! Maybe in 2012 I'll join a choir.
So, there you have the scoop. Not very exciting wursent it not.
Interestingly, though 2011 felt like it was a year in which we/I headed off sidey-ways, reading the post from the start of the year proved that there was, in fact, consistency.
I did run a marathon in 2011 as well as a lot of other running races, and brought my pace down to the sort of times I was running 12 years ago. That was a big success point of the year and made me very happy. I did manage to get to bed at 10:30 by and large, and I cut my alcohol intake to a fraction. The eventual effect of these three actions was a surprising improvement in my mental health! Why surprising?!
With me concentrating my recreational time on running and cycling and us both spending more time on gainful employment, the farm has taken a back seat. I said this time last year that I did not want to spend a lot of time on it in 2011, that it should go back to being a hobby for Jane, if she wanted that hobby. Where we go with it next year is up for discussion at the moment.
We all made it back to the UK for Judy's wedding in October. It was interesting being back in the UK, in Scotland, on Arran - my first trip out of Canada since we moved. On Arran it was like we hadn't left really. Jane had worried that it would unsettle me, but no fear, there was nothing that made me very homesick and it was good to get back to NS again. Albeit thousands of dollars lighter, with a cracked rib and bad road rash on my hip from a cycling fall on the wedding day.
Work-wise things were very lean in the last quarter, worryingly lean, especially no longer having the money buffer that the UK trip used up. One web project went poorly and then there seemed to be no more coming through. At the end of the year though, I won the contract to carry out a feasibility study into creating an 'Innovation Centre' in Caledonia, and will be teaching another IT course in the New Year, together with a couple of web projects means that we should haul back out of the trough.
So, 2012, what's the plan Stan?
Well, I have some racing goals; I'd like to run under 20:00 for 5k, 1:30 for a half-marathon, and possibly under 3:30 for another full marathon. However, I also want to try another triathlon which I haven't done for 10 years or more. There's a half-ironman 70.3, long course tri in Bridgetown in August that I'm thinking to make my main season goal. I can't do any swim training until the ice is out, but thesufferfest.com makes indoor bike training bearable and I'm managing to run outdoors so far this winter.
I want to lose another few kilos, if I could get under 70kg it would be good. Keep concentrating on healthy living other than the training.
We decorated the kitchen and I made a new kitchen dining table, and I want to keep the house improvements going. I enjoyed the woodwork and would like to do more in 2012.
I always feel that I want to play more music, but never seem to make the opportunities. I want to sing! Maybe in 2012 I'll join a choir.
So, there you have the scoop. Not very exciting wursent it not.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
I feel like I need to counter Richard's rather negative last couple of posts. Tonight, having done the barn chores, I sat on the step watching the quiet night. It was one of those moonlit nights that makes the snow sparkle like magic, and it was quiet, but for the sound of Max, the barn cat, sitting on my knee, purring almost loudly enough to drown out the wonderful sound of the horses munching contentedly on their hay. All that contentment rubs off a little. I wouldn't say that there aren't times when the animals are a tie and strife inducing, but they do add something to it all, especially when everyone is fed and happy.
Reflecting on the last year; 2010 was just too busy for my liking, and whilst I accept that the next couple of years are likely to be hectic a lot of the time (- the kids are involved in various clubs and hobbies, which is great, I am hooked on producing as much home-grown food as we can muster, and the farm continues to crumble and need constant repair, oh, and yes, we do have to make a living too!), I see the last three years as a steep learning curve, and want 2011 to be a year of consolidation, with a little more attention to stepping off the treadmill occasionally to admire the view!
Reflecting on the last year; 2010 was just too busy for my liking, and whilst I accept that the next couple of years are likely to be hectic a lot of the time (- the kids are involved in various clubs and hobbies, which is great, I am hooked on producing as much home-grown food as we can muster, and the farm continues to crumble and need constant repair, oh, and yes, we do have to make a living too!), I see the last three years as a steep learning curve, and want 2011 to be a year of consolidation, with a little more attention to stepping off the treadmill occasionally to admire the view!
New Year, New You
The Family Von Krapp brought in the new year in the traditional manner, annoying people with a fairly enthusiastic, if poorly played, rough approximation of Auld Lang Syne. The advent of skype has brought a new dimension to playing live, and we felt we had to apply something of the visual dimension to our performance - thankfully, we didn't go the whole hog to Jane's suggestion of an Abba tribute version - jeez.
Because UK 'bells' is only 8pm here, we are relatively sober for the performance, which is probably not that great a thing. This year lost a little spontaneity too, as various family members were queued up on skype trying to get it over and done with, so they could get to bed - not very rock 'n roll.
I made several resolutions this year including: run a marathon in 2011, be in bed by 10:30 unless there's a very good reason not to be and drink well under the recommended 21 units of alcohol per week. So far, I've done very well and you'd think I would be beginning to burst with health and vigour. The reality is that in the last two weeks, I have pulled both calf muscles, had a upset stomach for several days and now have a cold. I was healthier steaming every night.
Because UK 'bells' is only 8pm here, we are relatively sober for the performance, which is probably not that great a thing. This year lost a little spontaneity too, as various family members were queued up on skype trying to get it over and done with, so they could get to bed - not very rock 'n roll.
I made several resolutions this year including: run a marathon in 2011, be in bed by 10:30 unless there's a very good reason not to be and drink well under the recommended 21 units of alcohol per week. So far, I've done very well and you'd think I would be beginning to burst with health and vigour. The reality is that in the last two weeks, I have pulled both calf muscles, had a upset stomach for several days and now have a cold. I was healthier steaming every night.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Deep Sighs
Damn, only two posts ago I was talking about the spring task list, and no here I am with the pre-winter essentials stretching out in front of me. It has been a very busy spell, but the focus has switched to off-farm work for both of us since the early summer.
Jane is working fairly full-time for the Mersey Tobeatic Research Institute (MTRI) creating a group of owners of woodlots certified to FSC standards. I think she's enjoying it, doesn't talk about much else now anyway! I've been working with webprogrammingsolutions.com providing web build and programming for design agencies, primarily on the US west coast. You might think that LA, San Fran, Palm Springs and Seattle would be hoaching with programmer types, but apparently designers have trouble finding folk to do the work accurately, on time and in budget - we're probably mucho cheapo too :-)
In fact, this is the first time I feel like I've had time to draw breath for a while. There has been so much that I could have reported on over the summer, Cam's first place in Provincial 4H woodwork, and Breagh's 2nd in photography, my return to cycling and success in the scything competition etc.
What's on my mind a lot though, is this balance between income generation and the rest of life. We had to to earn a bit more cash, but now, we're both working full-time, and we won't be able to run a market garden next year. Is that really what we're here for? I'm back to sitting in front of a computer for 12 hours day and I haven't been out in my canoe all year. I think we came to the decision that really, until the kids leave home, we have to concentrate on earning a living, hope to put a bit of cash away, and chip away at the infrastructure. The alternative is to live cheaply and work less, but that isn't the kids vision, it's ours. With hindsight, maybe we should have bought a house in town and stuck at good paying jobs, then bought a big woodlot with lake frontage and room for a cabin as a weekend retreat and 'retirement' destination... on the other hand, maybe we just need to work at balancing work and income, chores and recreation, and enjoy the farm!
On the upside, we managed to cut, split and stack firewood for the year in a couple of wonderful days in the wood. We have poured a concrete floor in one stable, made 30lb of sausages, 2 full sides of bacon and the freezers are stuffed with pork, beef, chicken, fruit and veg. Beer brewing, we're just about ready for winter... bring it on!
Jane is working fairly full-time for the Mersey Tobeatic Research Institute (MTRI) creating a group of owners of woodlots certified to FSC standards. I think she's enjoying it, doesn't talk about much else now anyway! I've been working with webprogrammingsolutions.com providing web build and programming for design agencies, primarily on the US west coast. You might think that LA, San Fran, Palm Springs and Seattle would be hoaching with programmer types, but apparently designers have trouble finding folk to do the work accurately, on time and in budget - we're probably mucho cheapo too :-)
In fact, this is the first time I feel like I've had time to draw breath for a while. There has been so much that I could have reported on over the summer, Cam's first place in Provincial 4H woodwork, and Breagh's 2nd in photography, my return to cycling and success in the scything competition etc.
What's on my mind a lot though, is this balance between income generation and the rest of life. We had to to earn a bit more cash, but now, we're both working full-time, and we won't be able to run a market garden next year. Is that really what we're here for? I'm back to sitting in front of a computer for 12 hours day and I haven't been out in my canoe all year. I think we came to the decision that really, until the kids leave home, we have to concentrate on earning a living, hope to put a bit of cash away, and chip away at the infrastructure. The alternative is to live cheaply and work less, but that isn't the kids vision, it's ours. With hindsight, maybe we should have bought a house in town and stuck at good paying jobs, then bought a big woodlot with lake frontage and room for a cabin as a weekend retreat and 'retirement' destination... on the other hand, maybe we just need to work at balancing work and income, chores and recreation, and enjoy the farm!
On the upside, we managed to cut, split and stack firewood for the year in a couple of wonderful days in the wood. We have poured a concrete floor in one stable, made 30lb of sausages, 2 full sides of bacon and the freezers are stuffed with pork, beef, chicken, fruit and veg. Beer brewing, we're just about ready for winter... bring it on!
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Roundup
... haven't used any, but it has been recommended to us for various projects in the last couple of weeks. From clearing under the pear trees, to killing the invasive and tenacious alder buckthorn which we need to deal with in our woods. We won't of course, preferring, as we do, the hairshirt approach to land management...
What else? 100lb of seed potatoes are in the ground in 3 long rows, 3' apart - we spread horse muck to about 4 inches and disc harrowed it in, then I ran the tiller over it with the furrower on, placed the potatoes with at least 18" spacing, and covered them up to a few inches depth. The furrower is also a hiller, so I'm hoping that when the time comes to mound soil on the growing haulms, I can run it between the rows and do two sides at once.
The Queens County Farmers' Market has been running two weeks now and even when it's quiet, can earn a few dollars - we've just about covered the cost of the seed already, but we've been selling our transplants which do seem to sell well - it'll be quiet now until the veg starts cropping properly (nearly have peas though!). We could easily have sold twice as many tomato plants. It's just finding the time to plant and tend for lots of seedlings... maybe next year we take orders. The market is a bind though, and I have a idea of establishing a small self-serve farm shop here. We could sell eggs and veg direct, have a box scheme pickup, I could try some bedding plants and we could even sell some frozen meat of our own, or from friends locally. For the future...
More pressing is the imminent arrival of this years piglets and chicks. Chicks are due on the 11th, pigs are due for pickup week commencing Sat. 19th. The chicks will be indoors for a few weeks, then out - we have a house and fence for the meat birds, but I have to come up with something for the new flock of layers. The pigs will probably go straight out, but I want to create a moveable hurdle fence to restrict them when they are still small.
We had a run in with a fox. I looked down the farm the other night to see him/her wandering off with a hen in his gob. The following night, we were keeping an eye out, but in a flash he was inside the fence! Jane and I plus two clueless dogs hurtled to the rescue. I got to within a few feet of him, before he shook free of the fence and streaked off across the field. We brought the hens back up closer to the barn and electrified the net - he hasn't been back yet.
We had an interesting walk through the woods with a local guy who won the Woodlot Owner of the Year a couple of years back. It's amazing what we have when you take the time to look, and I feel a blog entry coming about the woods.
There's a gap in IT work this morning, so I think I'll take the opportunity to get out and cut grass in the plot. I've been out with the scythe more, but this is a job for the flail mower!
What else? 100lb of seed potatoes are in the ground in 3 long rows, 3' apart - we spread horse muck to about 4 inches and disc harrowed it in, then I ran the tiller over it with the furrower on, placed the potatoes with at least 18" spacing, and covered them up to a few inches depth. The furrower is also a hiller, so I'm hoping that when the time comes to mound soil on the growing haulms, I can run it between the rows and do two sides at once.
The Queens County Farmers' Market has been running two weeks now and even when it's quiet, can earn a few dollars - we've just about covered the cost of the seed already, but we've been selling our transplants which do seem to sell well - it'll be quiet now until the veg starts cropping properly (nearly have peas though!). We could easily have sold twice as many tomato plants. It's just finding the time to plant and tend for lots of seedlings... maybe next year we take orders. The market is a bind though, and I have a idea of establishing a small self-serve farm shop here. We could sell eggs and veg direct, have a box scheme pickup, I could try some bedding plants and we could even sell some frozen meat of our own, or from friends locally. For the future...
More pressing is the imminent arrival of this years piglets and chicks. Chicks are due on the 11th, pigs are due for pickup week commencing Sat. 19th. The chicks will be indoors for a few weeks, then out - we have a house and fence for the meat birds, but I have to come up with something for the new flock of layers. The pigs will probably go straight out, but I want to create a moveable hurdle fence to restrict them when they are still small.
We had a run in with a fox. I looked down the farm the other night to see him/her wandering off with a hen in his gob. The following night, we were keeping an eye out, but in a flash he was inside the fence! Jane and I plus two clueless dogs hurtled to the rescue. I got to within a few feet of him, before he shook free of the fence and streaked off across the field. We brought the hens back up closer to the barn and electrified the net - he hasn't been back yet.
We had an interesting walk through the woods with a local guy who won the Woodlot Owner of the Year a couple of years back. It's amazing what we have when you take the time to look, and I feel a blog entry coming about the woods.
There's a gap in IT work this morning, so I think I'll take the opportunity to get out and cut grass in the plot. I've been out with the scythe more, but this is a job for the flail mower!
Monday, May 3, 2010
Spring with a Vengeance
With no further ado, preamble or farting around, Spring, with it's over long task list is upon us. The black flies are upon us too, making the task list into more than chores.
I also managed to get the field behind the house ploughed and disced with the old tractor. My ploughing isn't going to win any plooboy laddy prizes, but hey... The field needs a huge quantity of horse muck, and luckily we know a man with immense quantities of horse muck. Then I can plant my potatoes.
The other big task this weekend was felling, logging, drilling and plugging some hardwood logs (ash and maple growing in the wrong place) with mushroom spawn dowels. We have a mixture of shiitake and elm oyster and I have prepared 12 logs. They still need to be sealed with cheese wax and planted end-up in a special grove I have created in the woods, hopefully shady and damp enough for them to develop. Then we wait and see.
The horses are on the move; grazing them on smaller areas of pasture but keeping them moving with electric fence in an attempt to lessen the bad influence they have on my pasture. Chickens too, the mobile house is mobile again. This years meat birds (18) and additional layers (24) are ordered, and 2 Berkshire piglets are scheduled to arrive in June.
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