Life Update ... Summer ... Autumn ... Winter

Everything that Happened over Summer

Back in March, I wrote that I was hoping to blog more frequently since I wasn't going to have school until September. It turns out that there are things beside school which can take over your free time... things like renovating your farmhouse and selling off livestock...and getting ready to attend university.

Renovation started in June, right after school closed for summer. We ripped up all the old carpeting and had new hardwood floors installed. We also removed all the wallpaper and repainted the entire house, from top to bottom. We had all the bathroom floors re-tiled and new vanities installed. We also swapped out some older showers for new ones. We changed doors, baseboards, and even window casings. We had the stairs, the bannister, and all the spindles updated. Then, we got rid of our pine furniture and replaced them with cherry or maple to match the floors. And we did most of these things on our own because... well, because its financially efficient. Do I know why we decided to do this? I want to say no, but...we renovated because we thought we were going to sell the farm and move the whole family closer to our post-secondary institutions. Was that a crazy idea? Yes, it was. Did it go through? No. Thanks to the Almighty Lord, it didn't. And hopefully, it won't. We ended up deciding that only those who were attending post-secondary this year needed to move. Did I get pictures? Well... kind of. I snapped some here and there, but I don't have any before-and-after documentation. I wish I did.

It was a hectic time, and everybody was annoyed every single day...even dear Bobo. During this chaos, we also decided to sell off the livestock because the main caretakers (i.e., my brother and I) were going to be moving away. We started with the sheep 😥 Saying goodbye was not easy, especially to dear ones like Popcorn. But it had to be done, so pictures were taken and sheep were sold.

Popcorn being skeptical about it all

These are the two sheep left: a full-grown mama, and a young ram (not her son)

The summer of 2020 is quite memorable for a couple of reasons. Covid, is the first one, obviously. We had to stay on the farm and were unable to visit friends and family, or even have them over like we usually did. The next reason was that we were halting our operations for a bit, so I just wanted to take extra moments to appreciate our livestock and all that. The main reason though, was that there was the possibility of having to say goodbye to the farm and to the beautiful countryside that we lived in. So I took a lot of pictures. 

We are always threatened with skies like this in August, but we rarely have thunderstorms

And before we knew it... autumn had arrived

I had to leave the farm and move to the city with my brother and sister. It was hard. I hated the noise, the smell, the traffic, the closed spaces. We went home whenever we could, and continue to do so. We're actually going home for all of winter break, and I am very, VERY, excited about that. It will be a relief.

Soon after we moved, the cows calved. And then we sold the cows. Luckily, they all went to the same farm, so I'm guessing they are happy. The only one remaining is Tiny, a bull born last year, who broke his leg and couldn't be sold. He is the one remaining cow on the farm at the moment and he is not happy about being alone.

This is Tiny. He is Agnes' baby from last year.

Amber was the first cow to have her baby. It was August 24, and the baby was a beautiful girl. We named her Esmeralda (Essie, for short), because she had prettiest eye lashes. Amber, as you can see below, is named due to her beautiful red coat. I'll just show you all the mamas before I show you the calves.

Agnes, Amber's half-sister

Daisy, being a little sassy

    

Essie with her mama, Amber

Tinkerbell (Tink, for short, born September 4) with her mama, Agnes

Tink on the left and Essie in the centre

Oreo (born September 26) with his mama, Daisy

A week after Oreo was born, the three mamas and their babies went to their new home. The farmer contacted me about a month after that and said they were all doing very well. I am glad that they are all together and probably having a jolly good time meeting new cows.

Towards the end of October, we got our first snow. Since then it has snowed intermittently, but we have not yet entered the true winter phase. So far, the winter has been mild, and seeing that we have not yet reached the winter solstice, I don't think that's a surprise. Luckily, I was at home for fall break, so I was able to capture some photos of the beautiful snow.

And so that is how most of my year went. Once classes started, there was no time for me to write at all. The fall semester is nearly over now; this is our last week before we begin winter break. I hope I can write during my break, but I may be too busy not sitting at my laptop! I will probably end up writing in April, once I am done with my next set of courses.

Thank you for following along on my journey to I-know-not-where. Hopefully, I will always have something to write about and lots of pictures to share. Until next time! Stay safe!

Ellen Hamilton 💖