not from the hill, but all so lovely

i had hoped to leave you with a hill post before i departed for france but time did not allow for that, so instead i write to you from the medieval village of Beynac in Dordogne. it is early morning here, still dark and i can hear the rain from my open window. Days have been filled with work, meeting new people, making new friends and all things french. I have eaten my weight in baguette and figs. the above photographs are  just a quick few as we shot and picnicked in a walnut grove. chickens and geese made me think of the hill and the animals, i am told all is well with them, (thank you sarah).

i hope you are all doing well and that the early autumn is good to you, a bientot! 

thin layer of envy

 

a  light dusting of snow fell yesterday. as i sat sipping tea and staring out at gentle flakes

i started to think about my last post, more precisely your comments- thank you for them of course

but there was something that worried me, you see if i was going to be totally honest i would tell you that the last few month while visiting certain blogs a seed of envy or jealousy or comparison started forming, never did these things happen to me before. I would not want anyone to feel that way visiting my blog. i feel as if i do a good job and balancing the good and bad here on the blog. my last post made it seem as i got out of the gate of 2012 with a bang and that is not true, in fact i think for the first time ever in my life i wore my pjs for a whole day ( it is true k. the whole day) a slow start you see. yes of course some good things are coming and some good things i will work had in making happen but my life is far from total bliss but full of bliss just the same. yesterday after spending most of the day on the computer talking about the upcoming announcement( that is not all mine) i went outside to feed the horses, as i poured grain into their buckets, my feet in muck boots that for three years i could not afford but needed and finally gifted to me by my mother,  i stood on a thin layer of snow under the starry night sky singing to splash while he gave me big kisses, i felt like the luckiest girl in the world- it is these tiny moments that make everything sound like bliss here on la porte rouge. you see it is the accumulation of small moments but pure ones that make my life what it is.

these are the things that i need to hold unto while being a spectator to all the big things that are happening to others.

the opened door

it has been raining here for two days now, it is not a complaint since the rain is much needed here at the farm. my mind has not stopped thinking, under a night time sky i pace with thoughts. things happening so fast yet i am reacting to them as if they are not happening at all. they are good changes so please do not worry, i just have to ask why suddenly i am okay with it. a grown up voice in my head says "be wise and know that it might still come with heartache" i know this is all vague to you dear readers it can be nothing else at this time, all i can say is, it is odd to me that one can keep a door closed so tight and one day sunddenly with no explanation to oneself  you walk to that door and open it.

dear readers i love  having you here, do you know how much your presence makes my day richer.

* i think the rain might be stopping since at this very moment a symphony of birds are outside my window!

oh good things are coming

dear friends next week my mum is coming for our annual autumn getaway, i can not wait! last night my sister emailed me to say would i like the kids to come up for a few days prior to my mums arrival OF course. it's so unexpected and only for two days since they will  be missing school but K and i are beyond excited!

this weekend k and i hope for a day trip, visit a bookstore, make our  farm porch more festive, removing air conditioning units,  we will begin to build a duck house, decorating guest bedroom and hopefully making some soups  to reflect the season.  also deciding if we should have our canadian thangsiving/harvest/birthday dinner next week.

oh goodness how i love october!

today i am rewarded!

i have just come from the garden, i can not express to you how bountiful it is. i am wet and muddy just like a carrot you would pull from the earth except i am truly happy. it is very over grown and serious weeding must take place, tomatoes to heavy for the support lay on the dirt, so i am heading back out there- wearing a skirt and rain boots.plan to eat tomatoes and beans right of the vine!

as i expressed to a friend, i do feel very happy to have had this moment in the garden.

i just went back out there and weeded and steacked- how i love it all. i have brought back a basket full of vegetables, some of them already in a pot of ratatouille. the house smells lovely! i also brought a lot of the weeding greens to the chickens how they love it so and carrots to the horses who were ready to climb the stone wall into the garden! my hands smell of basil- i wish i could send every one some since they are as big as trees! now i have filled a bowl of ratatouille that has the house smelling so wonderful! sprinkled with home made croutons and goat cheese, have put on a warm sweater and grabbed my book and i will head to porch and enjoy this fall like day!

the last day

there is only one left on the farm with the children. inside i am terribly sad for they have been my companion, my giggle partners, my foodies, my fellow adventure seekers.... summer with the children passes so fast and you can't help but notice a to do list none completed. i will have more to say i am sure as it all sinks in but for now like i said one more day- no time to waste.

spending the day at home

today we have fed all the horses and other animals. we groomed tolstoy and he is looking handsome. we hung the laundry, we swang on the rope swing, we harvested vegetables from the garden and popped some cherry tomatoes in our mouths! next we will take afternoon showers, elle and i picked the perfect polish and we will give each other pedicures and manicures, watch a girly movie while we embroider(crewel) and bake some cookies and then when the boys arrive we will be going to the old fashion washington county fair!

* we have decided to not watch a movie to nice outside instead will try to have dinner ready for the boys when they get home( scary)

little lives all around us.

i have three ducklings and three chicks in the house that we received from our neighbors. my hen sasha just gave birth to four chicks and she is sitting on three more eggs. she rejected a chick this morning it is so tiny( pictures maybe another day) and is doing good under the heat lamp. this is so new to us but it is so lovely to watch. we could see the tiny beaks coming through the shell-miracle -it all feels like miracles. k. and i are amazed by the whole process and we are definitely acting like grandparents!

*the rooster is liev he was a gift from my neighbor we introduced him to sasha a gift from another neighbor- i guess at the farm you do not give a pie or a bottle wine when you move into the neighborhood!) but she was already knocked up with seven tiny eggs and it looks like many different fathers. but for a rooster he is so kind and has sat with her through most of her brooding and he is kind to the babies- ( sasha was already named so i named him liev)
*sorry about the bad pictures