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Friday night I loaded Hudson and my mom, who was down for the weekend, into our truck to head to my girlfriends farm a few miles away. She had texted me earlier in the week to tell me their yearly delivery of piglets had come so if I was free, I had an open invitation to come take some pics of them. I was more excited than you could possibly imagine. Photographing & documenting the farm life and all it encompasses has truly become a passion of mine. So, off we went! And what I got was definitely worth the trip!!

These cuties were quite a bit larger than I first expected. (when I think of piglets, I think of little bundles with a twirly tail and can be picked up easily) They were easily 60lbs each already but still quite adorable! At first they ran away from my presence but my quiet demeanour quickly lured them closer and for that I’m ever so grateful!

Each piglet had their own personalities and appearance. Their grunts were truly the cutest thing and I’ll admit I had way more fun than I should have. But hey, thats what this life is all about, no?

and last but not least, probably my favourite image that I captured that night..
Hehe!!
Happy Monday everyone!!

Posted in farm animals , farm life , piglets
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Just popping in on this beautiful Sunday afternoon to wish every mom out there a very Happy Mothers Day!! Being a mommy is the hardest/most rewarding job in this world and I never fully realized that until I became a mom myself. It is a blessing and a privilege..and I am so thankful that this year I get to join the league of moms all around the world..what a blessing!!

and a very special Happy Mothers Day to my momma, who has held my hand thru every major milestone in my life and never let me down..you are an amazing grandma to Hudson and I thank God for you every day..
and last but DEFINITELY not least, Happy Mothers Day to my beautiful Mother in Law..I am lucky to call you family, lucky to call you my neighbour and beyond blessed that you are also the grandmother to my son. Thank you for raising an amazing man in my husband and for helping teach me the ways of the farm wife in this little oasis we call “home”..
love you all..

Posted in family , moms day
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  • dawn - Hi Dawn, I’m finally here to see your beautiful new blog and LOVE IT!!! So cozy and warm and welcoming here!!

    Happy Mother’s Day to you and these beautiful women here that you are inspired by. All 3 of you are so blessed to have each other and so is that sweet boy of yours. Hope it was the perfect first one for you dear friend!!

    Gorgeous pictures here!!ReplyCancel

If you are like me, you grow the flowers you really love in your garden only to feel bad when it comes to cutting them for inside your home. I started growing zinnias 2 years ago alongside my veggies and when it came time to cut a few for my home, I realized how choosy I had become in order to not take too much out of the garden. (Silly, I know!)

Anyways..fast forward to this Spring..we are finally in our own home with our own yard and I decided a cutting garden is exactly what I needed! Adam and I got to work spraying off a patch of grass I had marked off then we dug up the sod (which is a lot more work than I ever gave it credit for!)

Next I added in some peatmoss and well composted cow manure to add some much needed nutrients back into the soil and then the fun began!

This year I have dedicated the majority of this bed to my floral love..zinnias. I was quite embarrassed when I realized how many seeds I had so in they went (this is going to look gorgeous when it starts blooming! I planted approximately 1,000 in here!)
Also added to my cutting garden is:
– sunflowers
– dahlias; and
– sweet peas

I will write another post with an update on my cutting garden as soon as the blooms begin to open. Can’t wait!!
Posted in Farm Garden , gardening , zinnias
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  • Nikala - Can’t wait to see how beautiful this turns to be! I got a box of 1000 zinnia, marrigold AND daisy seeds last fall. (for $5 a box, I obviously couldn’t leave them on the shelf!) Plus I have a ton of flower seed packets i’ve picked up since! And just one large garden! How did you plant your zinnia’s along veggies? Like a row of say beans, with zinnias/flowers along it or what? I’m desperately trying to figure out a way to incorporate taller cut flowers (mainly zinnia’s+daisies) into my veggie garden. Sunflowers and marigolds are a bit easier to figure out :)
    Or maybe you have a picture of your veggies+zinnia’s together?!ReplyCancel

    • Dawn Cosgrove - OMG I wouldn’t have left those seeds on the shelf either!! lol Way too tempting to pass up! What I like to do is just either plant a row of flowers amongst my veggies (I did a border of sweet peas each year that outlined my garden from our fields) or, with my zinnias in particular, I just made a centre point in the middle of the garden that I staked a bamboo tee pee, planted morning glories to climb up the stakes then made a double, circular planting of zinnias around that as a focal point of the garden! I did that again this year as well in my veggie plot that I just planted here on Thursday 😉ReplyCancel

  • dawn - I know you love your flowers Dawn and this is a perfect idea for you!! I can’t wait to see them growing and how many you will get!! I don’t like cutting my flowers either, we don’t have many so I want them to stay outside to enjoy but a few find their way onto my kitchen table, lol.

    ENJOY IT!!ReplyCancel

I don’t know about you but this time of year always tests my patience in the best way possible. Winter has finally left us and Summer is just on the horizon..and Spring is the magical time when the world comes back to life! I walk around my yard every day, looking for evidence of new life beginning. Did those bulbs I plant last Fall take? Are they growing? What did I plant there? Is that perennial going to come back? What should I plant there? I want so badly to see everything bloom that I find it so hard to be patient for it!

Every day I go out with my camera hoping to capture the newest bud opening or the latest seed to push thru the soil. I know that it won’t be long until everything is lush and green again and I will be cursing the heat but right now? I’m full of anticipation!
So far in my garden, the rhubarb plants have been busy pushing their way up through the dirt again..

The peonies are showing promising signs of another beautiful Spring..

The sweet peas I sowed are finally making their way up my willow obelisk..

Life is returning to the farm again..oh Spring, I have missed you more than you will ever know..

Posted in Farm Garden , farm life , gardening
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  • dawn - I love reading this Dawn, can hear the excitement and feel you smiling. So happy we can share this love of nature and growing things and we try to be patient. My camera has been in my hand on these daily walks too, just this week we finally have new blooms to see. The lilacs are starting, new leaves on trees, dandelions everywhere, yellow flowers up front and white blossom on our apple trees!! This makes me very happy too, especially after this loooong cooooold winter, so good to be outside again and know that spring is slowly coming in.

    Soak it all up my friend and keep smiling and documenting it all!!

    Read thru the rest of your posts below and love reading them and happy your blogging. Have a wonderful week my friend!ReplyCancel

While I admit taking over a large established yard with mature trees, established flower beds and acres of grass may be a bit much for a new mom with a 4 month old, I am definitely up for the task! I have been dreaming about taking over this yard for 4 years and now that its mine? I am excited to make my ideas and dreams a reality. It will take quite some time before I get it to look how I have always envisioned it to be but I have been having so much fun getting my hands dirty again and putting in some much needed elbow grease to fix this old farmhouse up!

Our home was built in the early 60’s and my inlaws took it over in the late 80’s. While they did do some work to it, they have been focusing their attention on their new dome home across the way, so now that its ours? We get to play as much (or little!) as we like!

Currently I am working on cleaning up the beds from last years’ foliage, weeding and deciphering what is what, creating a new bed, ordering bulbs and writing down perennials that I would like to invest in next month. I have all the vegetable seeds purchased, seed potatoes and garlic/onions started..now I just need a string of a few nice days here and we’ll be golden!

The plot that I will be building my dream vegetable garden has been left empty over the years and therefore needs a major overhaul of fresh dirt, compost and TLC. This Summer we will be working on building up the area, getting water to it and even (hopefully) some electricity. I have ordered 60 strawberry bushes and 20 raspberry canes to come any day now that will be started in the garden (jam, anyone?) So while I won’t be working with another huge veggie patch this year, I will still be planting everything we can eat in any available bed space I can find!

Fruits & Vegetables I will be growing this year include: green & yellow pole beans, Eggplant, Bell Peppers, Potatoes, Sweet Corn, Strawberries, Pumpkins, Tomatoes, Bush Beans, Carrots, Radishes, Peas (Shell and Snap), Onion (green & yellow), Herbs, Swiss Chard, Lettuces, Watermelon, Zucchini, Baby Bok Choy, Beets & Cucumbers

Of course I will be planting a TON of flowers this year as well, including my love..the Zinnia..

Growing zinnias has become a true passion of mine. They are a beautiful flower, they keep well as a cut flower and, of course, since my Daddio and I grew them together when I was just barely old enough to walk..it will forever remind me of him. Since my love of these flowers is rooted so deeply, I will be planting more zinnias then you may have ever seen before in your life..consider yourself warned 😉
Posted in Farm Garden , gardening
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