The reason we moved was...

Pat created an opportunity for us to try a new life on the coast. He brought his work home with him one day for some extra training (the bird not Pat).

Goose had a lot to say about the experience. Between the noise of the kids, the dogs and the cats (who eyed him with great suspicion) he hollered to no end.

Eventually he got used to his surroundings (which was what Pat was trying to accomplish). I tried to pet him once but I'm not as comfortable with them as Pat is. Eventually I'll get the hang of it, but for now I'll leave it to the experienced one of the house.

And the animal menagerie grows...

So I new it was going to happen, we planned to expand our small flock of quail and we finally had a good hatching this week. We started with 30 eggs, quite a few were infertile, a few stopped early on and a few just never made it out of the egg.

 

But of the 13 that hatched we have 11 healthy little ones. 4 yellow and 7 brown. They are the cutest little things and they make the sweetest noises.  Their first day out of the incubator and they didn't do a whole lot. Small, still somewhat damp but drying off.

The next morning they were all huddled together in a little fluffy pile. I couldn't resist taking more pictures of them while I worked.

This evening they were really raring to go. Pecking and chirping, climbing all over each other.

This is my company while I work.

Hardly any snow on the island...yeah right

So we thought we'd left snow behind, but of course, it followed us. At least it's not as cold as Calgary is right now. We can play, build snowmen and just revel in the beauty of it all.

Pat wasn't so happy about having to shovel off the car before work though. It was at least 5-6 inches of snow.




 

Of course, at least he was nice enough to dig my van out for me.


The cows were unimpressed, they've been hanging around near the house, probably thinking we're going to feed them. Tough luck though, cause that isn't going to happen.

So in the spirit of the seaon, we made gingerbread men!! Kids did the decorating. If you notice, some of the men are perfectly symmetrical in their candy placement. Those are Ronan's cookies. He was very particular on which candies he used.

It's been three weeks...

since moving to the island. Lots of rainy weather but at least not too cold. House is slowly shaping up as the boxes slowly disappear. Yesterday the kids convinced me it was time to put the Christmas tree up. Hopefully I'll have it decorated before Christmas actually comes.

The yard is progressing slower than I'd hoped. We still don't have a fence and we are waiting for power to come to the shed so we can get chickens. The picture on the right is the future chicken coop. Eventually the space between the buildings will be the chicken run.



 Last week we discovered a doggy ball hidden in the grass underneath this tree (it's in front of the red horse trailer). A real treasure for Timber, now that she has the cone off she can actually dig it out from whatever she looses it under.

The novelty of the cows in the yard starts to wear off when you step off your front stoop into a large fresh cow patty. I hung my wind chime I got from 10 Thousand Villages. At least it's starting to look like home.

I guess the way everyone gets rid of their yard debris is generally by burning it. We have at least 4 or 5 giant piles of yard debris that the landlord has been creating or was created by the last owners. This pile is what is slowly growing with the clearing for the fence. I shudder to think of the flames it could throw, but considering that it's pretty wet, it will probably just smoke a lot.

So hopefully we'll see some progress soon. I miss having a yard to play in.

You know you're living on a farm when...

you look out your front window to see cows.

At least 5 or 6 Angus cattle strolled through the yard sampling the vegetation before heading off to the house next door.

One quick look back to make sure we knew they were there.

And then they were gone.

I found the camera cord!!!

So a brief update to life here on the island. I've discovered my new favorite footwear.

 

It's much easier to keep my feet clean this way.

The dog finally had her first fun in the yard on Monday, needless to say, it earned her the cone of shame. She's adjusting to it now though, although she still manages to catch it on the furniture. She caught herself on the corner of an old truck topper that was laying in the yard. We're going to have to do a sweep of the area once the fence is up before we let her loose again, I can't hear another vet bill.

She seems to be healing well though.

I'm really starting to enjoy mornings, especially when this is what I see when I look out my kitchen window and see this...

Once I find my Christmas lights I should decorate the tree in the backyard...

Well perhaps I should start with something a little smaller.

The kids are really liking the place too, Ronan has to finish most days in the bath though, "Mucky, mucky, mucky" is his favorite thing to say outside.

Well, that's all for now, at least for this morning. Errands to run and boxes to unpack.