Oaklawn Adventures..

What a magical place. Oaklawn Farm is a zoo of sorts, but built on love of animals and caring beyond business. Gail Rogerson started this farm out of love and compassion for animals who needed homes and its grown into a collections of exotic and local animals. You have the freedom to roam amongst lamas and goats, you can pet the camels and be amazed by the hand raised lions and other cats. The morning started with this baby pony, upon seeing these three energetic girls watching down the fenced path, pranced over to see them and stayed while they all petted and babytalked her. It was like she picked these girls as her favorites, or that what the girls felt like. She chose them! The deer were adorable, sweet, gentle and somewhat hungry... but the goats...oh, the baby goats... they kept those kids mesmerized for ages.

We spent ages with the little baby goats who had escaped from there pen (because they were small enough to sneak out!) and then we moved on to see the other animals. We made our way to the main house again, but only to get quarters so we could go back to the goats and deer to buy corn bits. We spent ages again there feeding and petting... before we headed home for an afternoon of crafting. After supper we drove back to the farm (we had stamps on our hands to get back in free ) and it was suppose to be that we were there to watch Gail feed all the cats (lions, tigers, panthers, etc) but Gillian was all about those goats. We stayed only a second to see the big lion take TWO steaks out of the wheelbarrow and she lost interest. So, we broke off from the crowd and went off to see those goats again. They were frisky and full of vinegar, but they didn't want to come out of the gates.. they seems to be more interested in playing with each other than Gillian. She moved on to the deer and fell in love with their gentle faces, as she feed them the corn she had picked off the ground. She was amazed at how gentle they really were. She hadn't given them a second thought in the morning, because she was focused on the baby goats.

When we were about to leave the deer, we saw a momma goat, who had tried to get some grass from the other side of the fence, and her head got stuck because her horns prevented her from pulling her head back through the hole. So, we decided to be the "goat hero's" and we went to find Gail, the owner of the zoo. She was patiently walking through all the cat cages telling lots of facts about this particular cat, and what they ate, and little funny stories about them. After she was done feeding the Ocelot, we told her about the goat and she went with us to help get her unstuck.

Gail, has to be in her early 60's, and she hopped the 4.5 foot fence as if it was a 2 foot bench, and walked through a gaggle of geese, dispersing them in all directions, to get to this goat. She gently talked to it, trying to get its head straight enough to get it out but the goat was having no part of that! So, Gail said, "well, I didn't want to have to do this, but your asking for it!". We all held our breath..... and she flipped over the goat onto its back, and folded its chin down to its throat and pulled the head, out of the fence... just like that.... We all cheered, and the goat ran off to be with its family... not looking back to say thanks or anything. Gail said, it happens once and a while and she had to develop a technique to get them out. They don't like being on their backs but it was the best way... I never took one picture... can you believe it... I felt so bad for the bleating goat, I didn't want to take its picture. Now I wish I had!

One last thing... in all my years going to Oaklawn farm (20 plus years) I have never given the camels a second thought. They are ugly, stinky and rather scary looking. The girls never gave them a second look either today... like.. blah, who cares. Well, in the evening when we went to see the goats, we passed the pen with the friendly pony... and we gazed across the field in search of her. All of a sudden.. Mr. Camel trots along the fence to us... with a purpose.. like, he walked right along the fence, and stopped in front of Aubrey. He turned and we all backed up... ewwwwwwww..... but then he stuck his big brown nose through the fence.. and waited for us to pet him.



sorry about the double picture.. I can't see to delete the double. Anyway, we did, we petted him and the girls fell in love with his big brown eyes, soft nose and gentle manner. He was a bit drooly, and that was gross.. but other than that he was pretty cute. I have never seen a camel so friendly.. it was a fun night for sure.

Wedding Shower fun

Our dear friends gathered to have a wedding shower for Michelle in preparation for her wedding. It was a beautiful day and Lyndsey and her mom hosted us at their beautiful home with a magnificent view of the valley (and a herd of horses entertained us for part of the afternoon). We played some hilarious games, one being a relay race out in the yard (we entertained the horses, I suspect, with our running, screaming and laughing). The other was a grocery game which had you guessing prices of ordinary grocery items. I was taken aback at how poorly I did at that game, but the old girls won the relay so I guess you can’t win them all.
Michelle received so many awesome gifts and great ideas for gifts too.


Lyndsey and Cricket are getting ready for Lyndsey’s wedding which is two week after Mick's and we hosted a shower for Lyndsey last week…. Michelle came up with some really fun games and cute prizes. There was tons of laughing and story telling, and Lyndsey got the boobie prize in one of our games which was a sort of Yankee swap.. and although the other 3 prizes where pretty cool, our little bride to be scored the Pink Sunglasses.... what a hoot.

the snacks were a challenge to come up with because we wanted this spread to be friendly to people with food sensitivities... We had lots of crackers and veggies, and a few dips that were gluten free (thanks Karen Brewster for your recipe) a very nice gluten free carrot cake and a fancy fruit display. Below are a few pics of the building of the fruit bouquet!

SHEDDING

It’s a summer sport. Not to be confused with sledding, which is a winter sport. The Scott and Michelle team sing the praises of Kijiji because they have scored exercise equipment, furniture, pets, pet supplies and a job using this search and purchase site. Their most recent bargain on Kijiji is this massive lawn mower which was much needed at their lawn was like a hay field in the back.
Scott, being an expert in yard maintenance what thrilled to get a great deal on this oversized gas push mower until he had to hump it up and down his basement stairs when it wasn’t in use.

Meanwhile at the other end of the 101, terry was deep in neighbourhood conversation with our newfie neighbor when “Newf” as we affectionately call him, offered Terry this large stack of thickly planed boards he had milled to build a fence. First off, Newf’s wife had wanted the fence and she flew the coop 1.5 years ago, so why build it now, and secondly, he hasn’t ever finished a project, that we are aware of. The wood sat, rotting, for over three years and was over grown with grass coming up through it. It was a kind thing to offer it to us and we were happy to take it off his hands.

Now, Terry loves a project that he can sink his teeth into. He figured he could design a shed for Scott that
a. was big enough for his lawnmower and whippersnapper and bike, garden tools,
b. build it in portable sections so it could be moved in his utility trailer and rebuilt on location in the backyard, and...
c. didn't cost much.

He designed several versions, and he and Scott “MSN”ed ideas and changes for a week or two, and finally during the weekend of Michelle’s wedding shower, Terry and Scott began working on a shower gift of a different type. They bought minimum supplies and puttered through rain and yipping dogs (Lucy, that is). The weeks of chatting and planning grew into a weird looking shed. For only $111, (strapping, hinges, stain, screws). We delivered the first half of the shed on Saturday and the second half on Sunday.





and the completed shed is moved, rebuilt and housing the awesome lawnmower as well as a few other outdoor things... great job boys!

Blog challenge

Sometimes you have nothing to blog about…so you just don’t blog. Sometimes you have too much to blog about, so things just pile up. Then you just can’t seem to blog because things seem too old to blog about when you final do blog. And then there are times when you are busy, day and night… and there is no time to blog. I have truly been hit with all three of these reasons for not blogging, in the past month. There isn’t a day that doesn’t go by that I don’t write a blog in my head about things that go on in my day. My gardens are a source of stories daily. My pond and its lack of frogs this year… Mollie and her bladder infections… walking in the mornings with Debbie (and our 200 mosquito escorts). There are new developments each day having to do with Michelle and Scott’s wedding. I have two and hopefully three young nieces coming to spend a week with me for their east coast vacation (and I have plans on them dusting, vacuuming, doing dishes and laundry!!!). Even our damp weather is bloggable (hence, the blog yesterday)
The rainstorm yesterday beat down every flower, lettuce leaf and beet green. My gardens are littered with dead bloom petals and tree leaves. It won’t be long before they dry up and compost into the soil but right now it looks like there was a teeny tiny rock concert in each one of my flowerbeds, and all that was left was the litter. . Also, the lettuce and beets were pounded into the soil and I had to go and gently unstuck them from the wet soil that held them down.
I spent my morning washing the mud off my cucumber leaves and the tomatoes. I weeded the millions of little weeds that thrive so vibrantly in my flowerbeds. there are hopes of sun times coming. My whole soul needs some sun!

an Enlightening Saturday morning

My Nanny Adele would talk for at least an hour on the phone to me, every day... sometimes more than once. I was a young mom, of two busy kids, in the days without cordless phones. Oh, I would listen to her with the phone tucked under my chin, doing dishes, making suppers, chasing the kids. On occasion, I would put the phone down to search out one of them, or go get something that was out of reach..... I loved Nanny, but oh, some days it would get so frustrating.. but saving grace.... was Kingston Ontario would have tons of thunderstorms. Nanny was nervous of them and felt if she was anywhere near the phone during one... she might get zapped through the phone~! I lived closer to the lake and could often hear the thunder come rolling up the lake before she did, and when I could get a word in edgewise, I would announce that I could hear the thunder. That would be the end of the conversation... for a bit. I loved thunder storms then, because I didn't want to hurt her feelings by telling her I was too busy to talk (listen)... so this was my way out. I feel bad now about feeling that way...

Well today.. she would be hiding under her bed! Terry and I sat in the living room with our coffee and chuckled about sweet ole Nanny and her thunder theories. My work plants are spending their first day outside today and are enjoying a refreshing cleanse of rainwater to clean off the winter dust! I brought them all home yesterday.. as Monday is my last day for the summer! Yipee...

The Glad Gardens

In looking back at my blogs from last year, I realized how often I blogged about my plants, gardens and yard wildlife. I am trying hard not to bore people with that stuff this year, but some things are blog worthy.
As you are all aware of, Michelle is getting married this summer to Scottie the Hottie. We will have lots of family here over that week and my back yard will be used quite a bit (hopefully, weather permitting). I usually have a blast with planting stuff in my back yard and I love doing up fun pots full of flowers. My usual color choices are pinks, purples and whites but with Michelle's wedding colors being bright and hot colors, I thought it would be fun to do all my pots in the same hot and bright colors.
My favorite greenhouse for plants is a family run establishment just outside of Berwick called Glad Gardens. I have gone there for about 3 years (since my other favorite closed). The own Laura and her daughter are so friendly, knowledgeable and creative and I always get so much help when I visit them. Last fall, I went out and spent an evening with Laura, looking through flower books and talking about pots, sun needs and veggies that are bright colors. She helped me make a shopping list of what plants I would need in the spring and she also made sure she ordered and started some of the seeds that she doesn't usually carry. I spent all winter looking forward to weeding, gardening, sweeping the little helicopters off the pavement and walking though my yard at 6:30 in them morning dead heading little flowers. The weekend before planting weekend, I dragged out all my pots stored away and cleaned them and filled them with soil and this cool stuff called ZEBA which is this stuff that is made to go in your soil and it retains the water for longer and helps plants not dry out so fast. Its made of the same stuff found in baby's diapers that absorbs so well, except its made from cornstarch and it not harmful to the environment. Very cool stuff. Finally, on a rainy saturday morning I drove off to Berwick and picked up all my plants that I had chosen a month earlier and Laura tucked away in the back greenhouse for me. All the plants totally filled my back and front seats. I had to go back a week later because I forgot to buy my brown eye'd susans for climbing the side of the deck. Some fun~!

In with the new

Terry finished the fence in less then 6 days, working after work and the weekend. We had such a great weekend last weekend, weather wise, and not even very buggie. Terry had come up with all kinds of designs of what we could do right at the fire pit area to sort of make it a little more private. He had some pretty elaborate design ideas but in the end, he went with a simple "taller & wider" version of the rest of the fence panels. We wanted to do something different to give that area a bit of privacy (as much as you can get in such a "back yard to back yard" environment. We wanted something that would keep down the noise from us sitting around the fire at night too.

When Terry first built it, the little boy who lives behind us was swinging on the swingset behind it and he said to Terry, I think I can still hit my ball over that fence too. You might have to make it bigger all the way across! I chuckled because we end up with his toys over on our side several times a week, and his sister comes over and retrieves them. I hope his mom doesn't think thats why we raised up the fence right there!