Almost 4 months, time to write again...

Pictures on Mom's last day
(note the chickens on the left)

It is a chilly morning, October 18th and almost four months since I have written anything on my blog. Some people have asked, what's up? You've been quiet! Others, who have me on FaceBook, say, you make way too many status updates! Well, however you see it, I am BACK! 

Hartland Bridge -
The World's Longest Covered Bridge
One of our "touristy" days

Initially I quit writing because it was our high season for work and farming. More people around, more business, more baking, more cooking, more cleaning, more chickens, more everything... The end of school is always a busy time with kids too and so there was no way I could keep up and write, not too mention the fact that I was to exhausted for most of the summer to even think straight.

My 'other' daughter and I
resting after cooking
(Note the chicken) 

Now, summer is over, we are well into October, the leaves have changed once again and the air is crisp and brisk. I need to keep the fire lit and house warm and start to plan for the long cold season. You would think that since there is more time, less stress, I would be writing a lot, but I discovered something, I don't know if I have anything left to say, or that might actually interest anyone... I did discover though, that in quiet  times, when not working, I don't really have much to say. I mean, how much can I discuss the humidity that affected the rise of today's bread? Who is really interested in hearing that today we only got 57 eggs but yesterday we got 92? Pretty important facts to us, but to others... maybe not so interesting...

Must stop - on the way to Fredericton
World's Largest Axe
Touristy trip to Nackawic

This summer the coffee shop was open full time, 9am to 9pm most days plus Fridays in town for the farm market, an increase in customers and special orders and just busy, busy, busy. Not to mention the fact that most mornings I was up between 6 and 7 am to bake fresh product for the shop. 

On top of these 12 hour day 7 days a week schedule, we had company, for almost 7 weeks if you add it all together. We ran out of water in the well, twice, lots of packing water required and not more than a few minutes at a time to sit and visit. It was a dry summer in New Brunswick and we did spend quite a bit of time at the lake, thank you Sandy Beach, you were a lifesaver!

My three girls
Posing

My feeble attempt at meat birds
Had to give them away, not set up right
Had hoped for one in my freezer :(

I say company, but that is not true, we had family, people we know and love and who understood (I think) that although they were on vacation, we weren't. My mom and nephew (age 6) spent almost 5 weeks with us. During that time a dear old friend and childhood friend of Jess' came for a few days (we wish it could have been longer, but I think hours of sitting and peeling hard boiled eggs and washing a 100 eggs at a time, might have driven them away.) In September, my German daughter came to stay with us. She is sweet and beautiful and was a homestay student with us about 6 years or so ago and she has been wonderful to come and see us several times. I do believe she found it a bit insane with quiet and no activity for a day or two, but then she seemed to adjust and made a little photo/recipe cookbook of what we did together. (You see, I still had to bake, cook, preserve/can, etc...)

We went to "The City"
Forest City, NB
Population 12?

Actually taking time to play
East Grand Lake

I do think that EVERYONE who came underwent a culture shock. They realized that when we say we live in a remote area, that we really mean we live in a remote area. There are NO stores, shops, buses, quick places to go from here. The very nearest is about 20 minutes across the border, 30 minutes to Canterbury where the kids go to school or almost an hour from here to Woodstock - and allowing time for all of the road construction that our country byways endured all summer.

NB Idol 1st PlaceMarina Jay

A Golden Day

I almost forgot to mention the Second Annual Golden Unicorn Arts Festival - held on Aug 19th was a huge success! We had 30% more artisans and lots more people visiting! Live music all day and an overall fabulous day! I was certainly grateful mom was there that day to help out, we were run off of our feet!

Old display at market

New display at market

Sample box of goodies

Yes, to say that it was quiet out here was a misnomer, to say that we are rural is true, but to say we are extremely rural, well, that hits the mark much more clearly. Our company/family, discovered that, we did not just run to the store or to tourist attractions, anywhere of any consequence was at least 1.5 hours one direction away. Nothing was a little trip. I bought a van thinking I would save a little fuel and have room more comfortably to transport everyone, but of course that was a complete waste of time and money. Can you say , lemon? Buddy is back on the road and transporting us around. (Len was kind and only said "I told you so" about a dozen times.) 

Little world traveler
Incognito

We did however, have several fun trips to Fredericton to pick up and drop off people at the airport and made sure that we shared the highlights with them on the way. Touristy? Not so much, but we managed to take enough pictures to make it look like they had fun and got to go places! I am posting a few pictures in this blog to share the experiences we managed to cram in during the summer amidst my full time work, Rachel working full time, tons of visitors, lots of customers and oh yeah 100+ chickens running around and watching bears eat all of the apples off of my tree.... (I will say there was one evening we had about 6 customers, standing outside the back of the house, watching a huge mama bear steal all of the apples from my tree. Lots of fun and video's!)

Graduation 2013!

We are now well into the beginning of school, kids settled in, back on a regular schedule, up at 6:30 AM still, yes, however, most days if I want I can crawl back under the warm covers for an hour after the girls get on the bus. Of course it is Grade 12 and graduation year for Rachel, so lots of planning for prom, college, moving back to BC - yes that is where she is going and wondering, have I done my job well as her mom? Will she be OK  Only time will tell... besides, it might be nice next year to only have one girl at home, my 11 year old Jessica, I mean, who can she fight with in the mornings if her sister is gone? Right?

Yes, it is a cold October morning, my fire has gone out, time to relight it and begin my baking for tomorrow's farm market.... First, time for my second cup of freshly ground, organic, fair trade coffee... I do look forward to slower cooler days.... Welcome back, eh?