Happy (frozen) New Year

January 1, 2019 / Re-Farmer / 2 Comments

Welcome to a new year! May 2019 be a wonderful year for you, and I hope everyone stayed nice and warm while celebrating last night.

Or, if you’re old an boring, like me, sleeping. ;-)

It was certainly a bitter one last night, as some cities in Canada had their fireworks several hours early, so people could go home, out of the cold. At the time of this writing, we are at -26C, with a windchill of -37C.

The last few days, when going out in the morning to give the cats fresh food and warm water, I have been finding the water bowl in the sun room empty (except for a cat sitting in it, usually). Last night, the girls went out an extra time to make sure there was water for them.

This is what I found this morning.

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Critter of the Day: Big Jim Surprise

January 1, 2019December 19, 2018 / Re-Farmer / 1 Comment

Happy New Year!

One of the things I love about digital photography, and especially with the use of various lenses, is that when the photos are uploaded, we often see more in the photo, than what we saw at the moment. Like the incredible colour of Big Jim’s eyes.

Or… hold on… Is that blood on his lip???

Jim was hiding behind the base of the bird feeder, watching the birds eating the deer feed on the ground. Every now and then, he would make a leap for a bird.

A very clumsy leap, what with the base of the feeder in his way and all…

Maybe that’s how he hurt his lip?

Edit: I had to go back and fix this post. When I first wrote it, I thought I was looking at Bob, because of the white under his chin. Bob, however, has more white, plus a bit of a white splash on his nose, too. A few months ago, I would never have had this problem, as they were so different in size!

2018’s Top Ten

December 31, 2018 / Re-Farmer / 4 Comments

The old year is slipping by quickly! A time to look back and plan forward.

This blog is not much past a year old, which means I can actually do this: make up a list of the top 10 most popular posts!

The Re-Farmer Top 10 posts of 2018

Let’s start with number 10.

Baby, It’s cold outside! This post is from earlier this month, but managed to make the top 10 list. (It was cold, but not as cold as today!)
And now for something more pleasant. Critter pictures always seem to go over well, and this post from almost a year ago, has some I’m really pleased with.
Cracker Toffee with bacon salt. This one was posted even more recently, but I’m not surprised it made number 8, is so short a time. These things are great!
Brined Turkey with bacon. I’ll be doing another one of these, starting tonight. It’s so good, I not longer do turkey without brining it, first.
Sourdough Rye Bread. This is another one from almost a year ago, and still popular. Mmm… I think, after the holidays are done, it’ll be time to start doing more bread baking again!
Wait a minute … who are you? Cats, cats and more cats! Another fairly recent post, making the top ten.
Sourdough Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies. This one goes back to January.
Sourdough Dinner Rolls. This one was posted the day before the previous one! I am sensing a theme for popular posts, here…
Making Chokecherry Vinegar. Hitting the number 2 spot.
Gathering Chokecherries. The number 1 most popular post! Which rather surprises me, but hey, I appreciate the visits!

Of the top 10 posts, 7 of them are recipes or food related.

I think our readers are hungry. :-D

Thank you all for visiting our site and sharing this past year with us. I hope you enjoyed your stay.

We wish you all a Happy New Year, and may 2019 be a year of blessings, good health and prosperity.

The Re-Farmer

A bit chilly out there!

December 31, 2018 / Re-Farmer / 1 Comment

Had to bundle up pretty good to do my rounds, today!

While doing the cat food outside, I saw slick, creeping out of the bottom of the shelf outside the sun room.

Then he just sat there.

Watching.

Waiting.

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Critter of the Day: Pretty Silly

December 31, 2018December 16, 2018 / Re-Farmer / 1 Comment

Or should I say, pretty and silly.

Had a snow-down – and I won!

December 30, 2018 / Re-Farmer / 5 Comments

Happy 6th day of Christmas!

Things have not gone as planned, thanks to some rather unfortunate weather. We were supposed to go into the city for a family gathering yesterday. We drove maybe 5 minutes on the highway, before turning around and coming home. Blowing snow, icy roads, poor visibility… and knowing it would be worse when we were driving home in the dark. Too risky. Maybe if we had a 4 wheel drive and winter tires, but not with our van.

We didn’t have a lot of snow, but it did get to the point that we needed to clear the driveway. Which meant time to break out the snow blower for the first time! :-D

Except, of course, it wouldn’t start…

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Critter of the Day: like a postcard

December 30, 2018December 16, 2018 / Re-Farmer / 4 Comments

This male and female pine grosbeak pair on the frosty trees are like something off of a Christmas card!

Critter of the Day: Queen of the Trees!

December 29, 2018December 16, 2018 / Re-Farmer / 1 Comment

Got two for you, today!

We saw a whole bunch of movement out the window, and discovered it was Butterscotch, chasing Beep Beep.

Beep Beep is a much better climber than Butterscotch, who never got more than a few feet off the ground. Beep Beep, on the other hand, is about 20-25 feet up, in this pictures.

Beep Beep, the mighty huntress – queen of all she surveys!

Brrr…

December 28, 2018 / Re-Farmer / 6 Comments

Today, this 4th day of Christmas, came in bright, clear and bitterly cold!

Part of my morning routine, after feeding the animals, is to switch out the memory card on the trail cam, which I’ve found I can’t do with gloves or mitts on. It was -25C this morning, with a “feels like” of -32C.

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