Bread Crumbs In The Butter

The Willow

I clearly remember the first time I drove down the driveway of this farm I call home. The acres of fields, maple trees and well kept lawns were breathtaking. John had told me his father considered this property to be heaven on earth. He wasn't wrong. Being a city girl, the first thing I noticed was the quiet.  The house is set far back from the road. The only thing you can hear on a beautiful summer day is the sound of the leaves hitting the bark of the tree. It was a bit unnerving at first, but that lack of stimulation is something I now relish.

My favourite spot on the entire farm is underneath a massive weeping willow. I don't know what it is about that breed of tree, but willows make me wistful. I'll be honest, I've never sat underneath it. I've never bought the hammock I keep saying I will buy. I've never rested on that hammock with a cup of tea. I will though.

Before the renovations on the old house and the building of the new house, there were two weeping willows. Perfectly symmetrical twin trees that swayed in a unison I found poetic.  When the new house was being constructed it was necessary to cut down one of those beautiful trees. I was not impressed with that turn of events and fought long and hard with both John and his father to keep the second willow exactly where it was - even if it meant redesigning the driveway.

I did win. That willow is still there. It blows and sways and loses branches and buds like you wouldn't believe.  Our bedroom window is perfectly situated so that it is the first thing I see when I wake up in the morning, the edges of the massive glass perfectly framing my beloved tree.

At this time last year, I was less impressed with that tree than I am now and was before. In fact, I was in a bit of a quarrel with the entire farm. Times being what they were, the farm was becoming a financial burden that felt like it was strangling us.  So, we put the property up for sale.  It sat for seven months. We had showing after showing, cleaning and scrubbing for lookey-loos and a few folks with the financial well-being to entertain actually purchasing this house.

For a long time, driving up that driveway produced an entirely different feeling than that first time. It was suffocating and taxing. The entire house produced a heavy feeling on my chest. The space to keep clean, the grass to maintain, the fields to be cut.  I wasn't kidding when I told several friends and well meaning acquaintances that I would gladly sell the entire place for a beer and a plate of nachos.

For seven months it sat.  It just didn't call out to anyone like it did to my father in law when he first saw it and had to have it.

And I'm okay with that.

I took a nap this afternoon, as I often do to in celebration of the end of a long work week.  I plugged my iPod into my ears and let Bob Dylan lull me to sleep.  When I woke up, I saw my willow tree. The buds have sprung up and by week's end, will be fully bloomed into the most beautiful leaves on any tree I have seen.  Their lush green reminded me why I don't think we can leave this house.

Not yet.

Fish Fries & Marshmallow Peeps

This first long weekend of the year has been idyllic, to say the least.

We've enjoyed friends, family and food.  My mother visited on Thursday, pepped my kids up with sugar and prezzies and left on Friday morning. We fried fish on Good Friday and Lucy and I may have had some Pinot Grigio and beer.

The night was clear and warm. We sat on the deck until the wee hours.  Yes, that is my foot on the table and I don't care what you say. And yes, that is a Jimmie Johnson beer cozy. I'm not ashamed. Also, notice the low cal beer?  Don't worry, I'm keeping an eye on the size of my ass.

Easter Sunday morning was the best by far. The kids were up at the crack of dawn. Actually, Alex was up first. His screech that the Easter Bunny had stopped by was enough to wake the birds.

Kristyn and Erin stayed up late to help us hide eggs this year. I can't tell you how bittersweet it is that we've gotten to this point.  The pride they exuded this morning as they helped their younger siblings hunt for eggs (they were pretty sneaky hiders!) made me well up a bit. Of course, that didn't last long because Alex approaches Easter Egg hunts with the tenacity of a soldier in a mine field. I don't recommend getting in his way.

After the hunt, we teamed up to turn out a breakfast feast that I am still full from at almost 2pm.

Yes, that is a bowl of Cadbury Mini Eggs and a bowl of Peeps on the table. What? Is chocolate and marshmallow not a part of your Easter morning table?

*Forgive the grainy photos, I've been using my Blackberry while my beautiful, and expensive, camera is being fixed.

As I sit, the dishes are put away, the eggs are cast aside in favour of the new basketball hoop the Easter Bunny brought and a serious game of 3 on 3 is set to begin.  On this beautiful Easter Sunday I am reminded of just one thing. I am so blessed.

This little town

Recently, Jess posted philosophical about her tiny little town.  She inspired me to do the same.

John and I moved our brood to this small town three and a half years ago. I wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea, but eventually I got used to it and learned a few things in the process. Though I have to say learning about small animals, tapping maple trees and how to get a four-wheeler out of the muck around the pond don't come close to the things I've learned about small town life.

I grew up "in the city". My kids are fascinated that I took the city bus to a school that was amoung skyscrapers. (Okay, so the taller buildings in Ottawa aren't necessarily skyscrapers, but they're the tallest my kids have seen!) We didn't know our neighbours very well and often got lost in the hustle and bustle around us.  While there was never shortage of anything to do, I didn't feel particularly moved to stick around when it came time to head off to university.

Things in this small town have proven to be drastically different. I've never felt so drawn to a community of people in my life. Suddenly, I'm engaging with my neighbours, volunteering like crazy and saying things like "I will never leave here and I hope my kids raise their kids here."  I'm thinking of grandchildren, people!

I've managed to surround myself with a close group of friends that has moved beyond simply having kids in common. We work together, play sports together and drink together.  As a teen I read novel after novel and watched TV show after TV show about close-knit families and those who lived around them. They came together to eat, drink and be merry as children spread out around them. I can't tell you how many barbecues, hoedowns and skating parties I've been to that have been exactly like that.

My job affords me a great luxury as well. I work at the post office so everyone knows where to find me. It's not uncommon for me to say "Just bring it to me at work!" or put little smiley faces on their gas bill. Not only that, but I'm getting to know so many more of the citizens of this town.  I get to see people at their best, which is the day to day. Babies are born, couples get married and people pass on.  It's entirely engrossing and beautifully moving all at once.

All this to say that this is just the beginning for us. I'm envious of anyone who has grown up in a town like this and come back to raise their children.  I can't see us anywhere but here for a long time!

One big tree!

Not bad, huh?

The entire process took us about an hour. And I've made a set of the adventure - just click on the above photo.

Living on a farm has proven to be such a learning experience for me (and we don't even farm the land yet!).  I grew up in the city, took the OC Transpo to school and had a backyard the size of my current deck!  Here I'm continually doing things I thought I would never do.  Cutting down a tree from my own property has been the most fun experience so far - and that is surprising to me.

Back to my Tylenol 3 induced stupor.

I love the bullets!

Things I did not sign up for when I moved to the country to live on a farm:

• Bugs. Not just regular bugs. Bugs on 'roids. They're hungry and mean. You can tell those who live in Almonte cause we all have big welts on our legs and arms. They draw blood!
• Mice. Okay, I'm getting used to these, but they're everywhere!  I can now empty a trap without screaming and getting the heebs - and no, we don't live trap.
• Bats. Can't a girl go into the room where her beer fridge is without having a bat attack her in the head?  I screamed like a complete girl and made John go in and kill it. Bats are HIS job. I don't do bats. Ever.
• Skunks in my garage.  The smelly blue Suburban driving to nursery school this morning was mine.  I pulled in last night about 10pm, after my soccer game.  Noticed a strong smell and weird sound. Thinking a skunk was outside, I rushed to close the door.  I closed the door with the skunk inside. Didn't realize that until 7:50am this morning when the kids and I came face to face with a very scared skunk.  I didn't know my kids could run that fast. I didn't know I could.
• Earwigs. Fuck off. All of you.

So most of my complaints are of the "small critter, disgusting insect variety". I think that's pretty damn good considering I grew up in Ottawa taking the OC Transpo to school, eh?

A twister! A twister!

It's been about 6,000 degrees celcius here in Ottawa for the last few days. Okay, more like 36C with the humidex. It had to break soon and severe thunderstorms were called for our area.

Around 4:30, the kids were running the sprinkler when we noticed some dark clouds and really loud thunder headed our way. Frightened, they all wanted to go in, so we did.  Alex was freaking out because he had left his t-shirt on the grass. I ran out to get it and looked out into our back field. The wind was insane and the rain was like a sheet headed toward us. Just above the trees I could see something - I still can't describe it. It wasn't round like you see on TV. More like a wall of yard waste and wind.

I ran back in and told the kids to sit in the hall by the bedrooms. John was in our room and I ran in and yelled  "I think there's a tornado coming!" and he didn't believe me.  So I pulled open the vertical blinds (we have a patio door leading to our deck from our room too) and yelled "Then what the fuck is that!?"

"Everyone downstairs into the basement!" John yelled.

Well, living in a "rambler" (a bungalow that takes about ten minutes to get from one end to the other), we reached the basement steps just in time to see it going right over us.  I could see our tent arbour, which was screw nailed into the deck, blowing up. Lauren said she saw one once and it was like going through a car wash. Best description ever.

When we heard that everything had stopped, we came back up.

To this:

Last year, John and I needed couples therapy putting that thing together!

Where's the top you ask?

Why, it's in front of the house!

See the wash out? That's from about 2 minutes of rain.

John's Dad and Uncle were in the barn when it happened and not one drop of rain fell on them. They said they saw the arbour top fly over the house after it went through. It just sort of spit it out.

Not much else was damaged. You can see a clear path where the little weather system went through. All of the grass and flowers lean that way.  Almonte saw no rain during that time and we live 7km out of town.

Freaking cool. Freaking scary!

Mainlining coffee today

There is not enough coffee in the world to wake me up today. I will inevitably drink too much and have a headache by 4pm, but I can't help it.

• I was woken up last night/this morning every hour by each one of the kids in turn.
• For a few hours yesterday we thought Alex might (finally!) have the chicken pox. I resisted exposing he and Meg (Kristyn and Erin have had them) for a while since they were young, but I'm ready for it now. Now they won't come.
• Said marks were not in fact CP, but they were proof that black flies in Almonte are hungrier and meaner than they are in Stittsville. Holy cow, we all look awful. Hence all the kids waking up so much last night. At one point I spilled a bottle of calamine lotion on the bathroom floor and just left it there.
• Because of an indoor/outdoor soccer overlap, I have been playing or practicing three times a week. Leaving little time to run and train for the 10K in two weeks. Next week I also beging coaching Kristyn's U10 team. I am really looking forward to it (seriously!).
• Meghan has spent the better part of this morning crying because I am going to soccer tonight. I can't leave this house without her crying about it. I'm quickly losing patience with her on this. John tells me she is fine within seconds of the truck pulling out of the garage. That pisses me off.

To leave this on a funny note (and a way of redeeming Meg), a funny conversation:

Me: "Meghan, I'm glad you're finally learning to wipe your own bum, but we need to work on doing it properly."

Meg: "If I keep doing it badly, will you start wiping it again?"

Me: "I guess so. Someone has to."

Meg: "Good. I'll keep doing a bad job."

Me: "Well, you have to learn. Who will do it when you're in high school?"

Meg: "I'll be a grown up then. I will call you from my cell phone and you will come to do it."

Not a chance, dear daughter, not a chance.

Goooooaaaal!

This Easter Monday 2006 featured the first Hubert Family Violent Soccer Championship game or HFVSC.

Today's teams were Daddy, Kristyn and Alex (Daddy's Team) versus Mommy, Erin and Meghan (Mommy's Team).

Early in the first half Daddy's Team scored a possibly illegal goal as Daddy had Meghan lifted above his head. The ball did go in clean past the goalie so the referee (Daddy), deemed it good. 45 seconds after this goal Meghan took her first of 36 water breaks because she was "Incredibly thirsty." Leaving Mommy's Team down one man. Mommy's team managed to score a goal despite the opposing team's power play because Mommy flashed Daddy her boobs.

The first injury of the game occured when Kristyn kicked Mommy in the knee causing a previous HFVSC injury to split open and bleed everywhere. Meghan had to take another water break because she felt sick to her stomach and afraid that Mommy would die from bleeding.

Several more goals were scored by Daddy's team but we won't discuss those because Erin and Meghan were looking at worms and looking for fairies and Mommy was left playing Ironman all by herself. After a serious time out where Mommy discussed the importance of dedication to the moment, the girls got back into it. Then, Meghan took another water break.

Break for halftime.

Mommy scored 3 minutes into the second half using her left foot and sailing it right through Daddy's legs. He said he flinched because she was aiming for his balls. Mommy said to suck it up and move on. Shortly thereafter, Alex was put to the sidelines for hogging the ball and not passing to anyone. When he cried, the decision was made to bench him. There is no crying in the HFVSC.

A penalty was called with 4 minutes remaining for a serious offense. Daddy scored on Erin, but the goal did not count since he had farted in Mommy's face, causing her to go down hard. Farting on your opponent is most certainly not allowed in the HFVSC. Mommy took the penalty shot with Daddy in net. This time she did aim for his male area and while she didn't score, she hit her mark.

The game ended at 6:30pm with a score of 9-6. We're just not sure who got 9 and who got 6. During the discussion Mommy was a sore loser proclaiming it impossible to block Daddy given he is 6'3" and 245lb. Daddy said they could settle it over beer in the house. Mommy was getting cold, so she conceded and enjoyed her Coors Light.

Did you know minnows turn into frogs?

Fresh Laundry

This is becoming a new favourite part of farm life for me. Fresh sheets off the line. The dead mouse in my pin basket was not fun, but I'm not thinking about that anymore. Did you know when I lived in Stittsville I was not allowed to have a clothesline?  Stupid suburbs.

Grandpa (John's Dad) is here for a few days. He comes to stay every 2-3 weeks or so.  During this time I don't exist.  There is no one this is more true for than Alex.  He and Grandpa have "alot of work to do."  They run around the farm looking for treasure and then Grandpa lets him drive his Jeep. I just can't compete with that.  I make him take a bath and eat fruit. I don't even stand a chance in that contest.  Earlier he let me wipe his ass, but wouldn't even hear of sitting down and reading a book with me. Not with Grandpa here!

Kristyn is home today as she's having some problems with wheezing and asthma. This afternoon  Alex, Grandpa and her went down to the pond to see what they could see.  When they got back in, Kristyn had a fishbowl full of dirty water and the biggest minnow I have ever seen.

I said "Where do you think you're going with that disgusting thing?"

Kristyn said "It's not disgusting, it's a minnow!"

I said "Won't that thing turn into a frog?"   Knowing that didn't sound quite right.

She rolled her eyes (in a cute way, not in a snarky know-it-all way, cause hey, she was right!) and said "No Mommy, those are TADPOLES!"

My 9 year old daughter has a better grasp on biology than I do.

Show and Tell: Windows

Kitchen Window

I love this idea from Blackbird.

Here's a wee peek into my wonderful (mostly) country life. Still getting used to saying that.

The kitchen window is my favourite spot in the house. It's bright and warm and where I spend most of my time. I can see the entire panoramic view of our back property from here. And the kids when they're playing outside. It's my ideal kitchen window.

Also included in the link to the window are photos of Spring on the farm and how "Spring" equals "Mud".   Much fun for the kids. Very dirty for me.