February has been a productive and interesting month indeed. The weather has been absolutely phenomenal, hasn’t it? We’ve had lots of sunny days and warmer than usual weather, and I’m just fine with that.
The animals on the farm have certainly been happy about this weather as well. The pigs love basking in the sun and the sheep are out and about. The horses have been galloping to their own merry tune and the hens, well, they’re pretty much always the same.
We’ve also been dealing with some uninvited guests: the Fort Steele turkeys. If you frequent the area, you’ll know the ones I’m talking about. There’s about 50 to 80 of them that show up on our property at any given time. As cool and as beautiful as they are, it’s frustrating that they’ve figured out when the dinner bell is.
With little to no snow on the farm I’ve started to clean things up a bit. Our yard looks a little unkempt when the snow melts, mostly because of the dozens of ponderosa pine trees that are shedding their needles. It helps to tidy things up and run a rake where I can. We also had a fire to burn off some of the firewood bark that’s accumulated over the past few months. It’s almost officially time for spring cleaning. If only the ice on our driveway would melt.
As many of you may already know, I embarked on a new adventure working at the Cranbrook Townsman last week. Paul Rodgers, who used to work at the Townsman, is now working at the Bulletin. He lives in Kimberley so we essentially just switched jobs to help with our commute and expand our horizons. I’ll keep you posted on how that change is going. For now, I’m settled into my new desk and looking forward to getting to know the community in Cranbrook a little better. I’ll certainly miss Kimberley and all of the wonderful people I’ve gotten to know, but I’ll definitely be visiting. Especially for the occasional wing Wednesday at The Shed.
READ MORE: Farm life: making plans for this year’s garden
READ MORE: Farm life: a day of good, clean Canadian fun
Listening to:
For Christmas I was gifted many a vinyl record. I’ve had a few of them on a constant rotation including John Denver, Chris Stapleton and Leon Bridges. I absolutely prefer listening to vinyl and playing an album from start to finish. As much as I’m a fan of my Apple Music playlists, there’s nothing better than going through our record collection and picking an old favourite.
Reading:
I’ve recently been hooked on this series in Outside Magazine called The Horror Vault. Give it a google if you’re into real-life mysteries. It’s a series of outdoor-related scary stories, like the feet and shoes that washed up on the coastal bays of BC, or the double homicide that haunts the Appalachian Trail.
Watching:
I’ve been watching an HBO documentary miniseries called McMillions, which debuted in February. It’s about a man who scammed the McDonald’s Monopoly game between 1989 and 2001. I’m a big fan of HBO shows and documentaries in general and this one is no exception.
Making:
I recently bought a sewing machine after spending a few years looking for a used one. I prefer a more manual machine, so I was hesitant to buy a brand new one, but I ended up finding one that will fit the bill. I’m currently working on some slip covers for the cushions in our camper. Hopefully one weekend soon we’ll also be able to take the camper out for our first camp of the year! If this weather sticks around it will be an easy decision to do so.
I wish you all a very happy month in March and I hope there is sunshine and warmth in your forecast, too.