Clear Day Farm Archives - Farm Fresh Style

Meet the New Lambs!

Well, Lambing 2019 is behind us! And boy oh boy, are those new babies cute!! They’ve been filling my Insta feed, but I thought I’d share here, too, because new lambs are just too cute not to share EVERYWHERE!!!

First to lamb was Mocha, one of last year’s lambs from Sweet Willow, our matriarch. Mocha had a single ram lamb, who arrived healthy and strong and unaided. We all rolled home the Friday before last and there he was. Hannah named him Spencer and he continues to grow like a bad weed!! He’s a heavy little guy! It’s because he does this all the time and doens’t have to share all that great milk….

Next to lamb was Lily, she was a twin from Sweet Willow during her second year to lamb. { Lily and her twin, Sweetie, both lambed here last year but Sweetie got culled due to her aggresive behaviour towards any lambs but hers. } When I went to do morning barn chores last week, there was one little lamb waiting for me, brand new and I saw tiny feet coming so I ran back to the house to wake up Hannah for the second delivery, but we were too slow, the other twin was already born when we got back to the barn. Both ewe lambs did well off the hop, although the last one was a little smaller than her sister, so I did tube feed her to give her a little boost. Hannah named the first-born Rosie and the little one Mia.

Then we waited for Sweet Willow. Now, I feel like I need apologize to all those I told that I was sure Sweet Willow was going to lamb at any minute. I kept you all waiting, unintentionally, I just can’t read sheep pregancies and labour signs very well. In fact, I think I mention that same issue I had last year HERE and HERE { insert eye roll }

We watched and we waited, we looked for lamby-type signs from her and she gave ALL the signs. And guys, she was as big as house!!! In fact, she was so big, she had a hard time breathing, those babies took up so much room in her frame. I was honestly worried about her. And admittedly worried about how many babies were in that enormous belly. Every day, multiple times a day someone would go out, check on her….and report back that there was nothing happening.

Until there was….last Friday morning, I went to the barn and sure enough, there was a lamb….but he was stuck. I called Dad, because, well, I’m never too old not to need Dad in an emergency and he has years of practice with lambing. I also woke up Michael but not Hannah, I didn’t want her to see this. After some hard work, some tears on my part and lots of pep talks for Sweet Willow, we got the huge ram lamb out, but sadly he didn’t make it. Then Dad reached back in to see if the other twin he felt earlier was still alive. Well, I lost it again when this tiny little lamb shook her little head and started breathing upon her arrival to the outside world. She was just a little rig but boy, what a fighter. Thankfully, oh so thankfully, she made it as did her poor momma. Hannah named her Emma and named her big brother Domino, who we buried in the yard with Twiggy, BB and Cuddles. { These animals are so hard on the heart – we love, we lose and we cry and then we move forward and open up our hearts agian! }

The lambs are all doing very well this year, now that they are all here. They are going out to pasture with their mommas everyday and it’s so fun to watch them run and hop and play together in the grass. Once Emma gets a little bigger, they’ll stay out at night, too, but I’m a big sook and baby them too much, I’m sure. I can just picture Dad reading reading this and thinking to himeself, ‘oh, just chuck them all out on pasture, they’ll be fine’.

It’s amazing how quickly they start doing ‘big’ sheep things like eat grain, or hay or graze like their mommas out on pasture. I could took lamb pictures all day long….think there’s a job of that?? 😉

And just because lambing is such an amazing time of year, you can read some other posts about it HERE and HERE from previous years.

I love watching Hannah and hearing her talk to others about her lambs. She has such a heart for these animals of hers and I’m just thrilled with how well she handles all the ups and downs of it all. She’s a true farmer in her being and it gives her such a sense of place in this crazy world. And even though having sheep means hard work for us, too, I wouldn’t trade these life lessons that are teaching her for anything.

Stay tuned to Instagram for more pictures, they are growing so fast and are just so stinkin’ cute!!!

Colourfully Yours,

Lori

June 14, 2019 By lori@farmfreshstyle.ca

In Clear Day Farm

March Fourth

Today was the day, 2 years ago, that Ebony joined our family. It’s easy to remember her ‘Gotcha Day’ because she was rather hard to load onto the trailer and we really just needed her to ‘March Forth’ onto the trailer. 😉

Even though it’s only been 2 years that Ebony has been with us, it feels much longer, she is such a fixture in our family and in the barn. I can’t imagine what life was like without her! The girls love her and I hope the life lessons having animals that they are responsible for will help set them up to be good, hard workers later in life.

Ebony is no spring chicken anymore, I think she must be about 18 now, hard to say what her life span will be, she does have a bit of a health issue but she’s doing just fine otherwise. She’s a hardy little rig, she much prefers to be standing outside no matter the weather even when she has a nice dry stall to go to. It’s pretty common to find her, butt to the wind, in the middle of rain, wind or snow. If you do close the back barn door, she is certainly unimpressed and doesn’t mind letting you know.

Lena has taken over ownership of Ebony and Hannah has her flock of sheep. But, really, Ebony owns the sheep and loves them dearly, especially the ram we have here to breed the mommas so that there will be babies this spring. We had to trim Shrek’s { the borrowed ram } feet and so we locked him the sheep pen and locked everyone else outside, and man, oh man, was Ebony worked up!! She pranced around the paddock, tossing her head, coming up to the window and being very clear she wanted her Shrek let out!

Last spring, if she was not in the same field as the sheep, Ebony was very unsettled. When we put the sheep out to pasture, they would stay there but all the rich grass is too much for Ebony, so we move her to the paddock behind the barn each night. And she hates it. She wants to be with her sheep and their babies. Horses and ponies tend to be social animals and will bond with other animals, even if they are from another species. And Ebony certainly has grown attached to her sheep!

I’m not sure if it’s the same at your house with nicknames, but our animals also have a few. Ebony gets called ‘E’, Bebby, Bebs, Bebbertons. And of course, EBONY!!! when she’s being sassy….not that a pony would ever be sassy….. { insert HUGE eye roll } Can you tell she has a big personality for a little pony?

I love taking pictures of her, she’s got such wild and woolly hair!! She grows a thick, heavy coat in the winter but her mane and forelock are crazy no matter the time of year. It gives her such character. I’m not sure how she sees and the black on black makes it hard to photograph her, but I try anyway. She’s pretty cute.

Happy Gotcha Day, Bebbs, we love you tons and are so thankful to have you in our lives!!

Colourfully yours,

Lori

March 4, 2019 By lori@farmfreshstyle.ca

In Clear Day Farm/ Decorating/ Thrifting with Farm Fresh

Top o’ the Stairs To Ya!

Months ago I made some changes to the top of our stairs. All because I wanted a full-length mirror somewhere. Our upper hallway is this awkward maze of doors and angles so there really wasn’t a good spot for it, except where the bookcase sat.

You know how this story goes, right? To move the bookcase meant I had to move the cabinet that was where I going to put the bookcase. I shuffled some of the cabinet contents into either another space or the trash. A million colouring books and dried up markers, my scrapbooks and a few other random craft supplies. The space where that cabinet sat had strict requirements because of the folding attic steps that come down right there, so anything in that area couldn’t be deep. I had looked at various armoires with mirrored doors but they would be too deep or too wide to fit. But the bookcase was definitely narrow enough. The cabinet moved onto its next home, it owed us nothing, it did us well over the course of nearly a dozen or so years, I will miss the chalkboard doors though.

Old Bookcase location – note the angle on the top right of the picture – watch your head!!

New bookcase location!

So, move the cabinet out, swing the bookcase in and then rehang alllll my wooden shoes above the bookcase again. I have a few. I have a huge soft spot for old wooden shoes, especially those that have lost their mate. A stray wooden shoe is almost guaranteed to come home with me if I spot it out in the wild.

That left us was a wide open space at the top of the stairs. It felt huge. I tried the handsome Mr. Byrne’s telephone bench there but it felt too big for going down the right hallway to the bathroom and the little back bedroom where Lena has taken up residence. Back down to the kitchen it went….I would’ve rathered it went to the studio for a makeover but…..it still hasn’t changed…haven’t quite convinced him it would look fabulous brought into this century.

I drug out my wicker basket from the closet and tucked it there, just so my closet had more space and that corner didn’t look so empty. Then I started keeping an eye out for a full length mirror. I found a few in regular stores but never was 100% sold. Then I saw one in Value Village but couldn’t buy it because I had a carload of kids. And of course, when I went back it was gone!! So, the search continued.

Finally!! Finally!! Michael spotted one in the back corner of Value Village. It was wooden, in great shape and had a perfect retro vibe to it. And, the best part? $18.00!! The other one I wanted was way more, like $65 or something crazytown. Plus, I had a 20% off coupon!! Score!! I probably would’ve left a kid there to ensure I got this mirror, thankfully there was room in the car for everyone AND the mirror.

I was excited to take it home and get it hung up. No, it might not be a proper full-length mirror but I can pretty much see all of me in it so that works! I added an old kilim rug I had tucked out underneath and a cool stool with hairpin legs that was a curbside find. I still think it needs a plant, but I think every area in our house needs at least one, if not 5. But it’s a pretty lowlight area so I’m not sure what would survive there.

It is fun to shuffle things around, move out a big cabinet that clearly was no longer needed and create a space so we could have a big mirror somewhere in this house. This is all part of my urge to purge, to simplify what we have on hand and make sure everything is functioning up to par. In fact, the wicker basket I mentioned? Well, it has since gone back to being a toy box and all the stuff I was storing in it got sorted through, some passed on to Value Village and the rest tucked away in a manner that makes more sense. And by Hannah getting the wicker basket as a toy box, meant her larger, old wooden one also got gifted to someone who has put it to good use already. It frees up floor space in Hannah’s room, plus it doesn’t hold as many toys so we sorted through those and dropped off a bag to…you guessed it, Value Village!

I’ll get all my projects tackled sometime! I can’t imagine not having something to work on in my spare time…

Colourfully yours,

Lori

February 26, 2019 By lori@farmfreshstyle.ca

In Clear Day Farm/ Decorating

Snowball Effect

It’s a line I hear all the time – ‘It all just snowballed!’ You start with one thing in your home, sprucing it up and then the next thing you know, you have plans to re-paint every room and buy new furniture for three. I know the effects of it. In fact, quite often, I’m the cause of it!! { I do love my job!! }

My current snowball all started with organizing one small closet that is part of kitchen cabinetry. You can read about the long, drawn out process HERE. But what happened was that once I started thinking about how things functioned and what we actually use where, then I wanted to do more and more!!

As I mentioned, I moved some things into my new shelves which meant I had the chance to re-work the shelves out above the laundry area. And frankly, all that did was make me realize how much I don’t enjoy that space. It’s always cluttery and it is the first thing you see walking into the house. We can’t even put a door on it, because then it would be pretty chilly back there and the last thing we want are frozen pipes!!

As you can see, the back door is right there that leads to the back porch and I’m standing in the front entry, taking the picture! What you can’t see, is just to the right is the pocket door into the bathroom and the sink is actually just beside the back door. So this space is very visible, well-used and gets a ton of traffic.

And, I do believe, this is the last remaining original wall colour in the house. Everything else has been painted but this lonely, hard-working area. Even the ceiling is begging not to be glossy paint anymore! Crisp white trim alone would freshen it up.

But I have a plan! Of course – lol!! I did what any modern soul would do – start a Pinterest board!! I want two upper cabinets with shelving between. It would be functional and pretty! Then fresh paint everywhere. And maybe shiplap on the wall behind the washer and dryer…or beadboard…I’m undecided. I think a pretty slim budget and some elbow grease could make this space look and feel a whole lot better than it does now. I have a light fixture to change out the bare bulb situation happening there, too.

So, that’s one thing I want to do. There’s something else. Surprised? No, I didn’t think you would be! I want to add shelves to either side of the window above the sink. I’m debating whether to do chunky live edge shelves, or simple white curved shelves. I think more plants in that area would be in order, don’t you?? Lol!!! All the places for all the plants, please!! And of course, another new Pinterest board started…

But, then that train of thought snowballed!! Yes, shelves….but I was thinking of using those peel-n-stick tiles on the back splash until we get to re-do the kitchen properly. Then I saw them actually installed and thought otherwise. My goal is to cover up the pink and gold arborite!! Beadboard would be easy enough to do and would be a great nod to the country roots of this house. But if I go to the extent of doing beadboard, then I want to upgrade the countertop first. If you give a mouse a cookie, right?

So I started thinking about those changes to the kitchen. Of course, then I would give the upper cabinets a fresh coat of white and at that time, spray paint the hardware to match what I did when I painted the island HERE. I would also love to pull off a set of the high upper doors to have a little bit of open display but the cupboards aren’t balanced and the set that would really work have the light built into them over the sink. Insert eye roll – I really want to break up allllllll those cupboards!

And I’d love to change the ceiling but then that leads to the fact that our upstairs bathroom needs to be redone and there’s no point in doing the ceiling now, until we’re ready to change that bathroom….see? It really does snowball!!! I will however, get the light fixtures changed out to the awesome old school house style that I added to the studio during the One Room Challenge all those years ago, which you can see HERE.

I think my next actual project will be painting the interior doors a colour….turquoise I believe!! 🙂 But I would like to change all the door knobs then….lol!!!! And the light switches and outlets to white….oy – does it ever stop???

I have some things to do around here. The big, huge projects will have to wait. But there are a lot of smaller jobs I can do now that will make our house feel a little better and continue on the journey of making it ours. Ideally, I will be here until I’m a little old lady so I have lots of time. 😉

Do you have a list of small jobs around your home? What few, small jobs can you do to make your home a better reflection of your family?

Colourfully yours,

Lori

February 7, 2019 By lori@farmfreshstyle.ca

2 In Clear Day Farm/ Decorating

Closet Makeover

Do you have something in your home that just isn’t functioning to the best that it could? So frustrating, eh? We had ‘that closet’ in our kitchen. And finally, 4 + years later, I fixed it!!

Our kitchen has a broom closet worked into the end of the cabinetry, beside the pantry cupboard. It stored the central vac hose. And the broom, swiffer, some cleaning supplies, the potatoes and the bag of flour. And stored none of it well. It wasted so much space, meanwhile other cupboards were overflowing and things I used regularly were a pain to access.

Brace yourself for crappy ‘Before’ pictures!

I had drawn up plans probably at least a year ago, if not longer. I knew what I wanted to do. Leave the top shelf, divide the lower portion in half, keep the hose and broom, swiffer, etc on the one side and then add shelves to the other half for more dedicated storage of small appliances, cleaning supplies, potatoes and flour with worrying about the dirt falling off the broom into the flour bin. It just needed to function better for me.

I also wanted to paint it all white. It was old paneling and a wooden shelf. I mapped out my plan, bought the wood. Then I primed it all way back in November… And then progress came to a grinding halt. I did nothing. Well, I complained about wanting to do the closet over, I complained about how useless the space was and I moved those boards around my studio, out of my way, multiple times.

Then I listened to a podcast that made me think about the way I was storing things. Of course, it came in January, with all the tidying rage that took place…not at my house but in general. Every time I wanted the crockpot, I had to get the stool, climb up to the top cupboard, get it down and do the reverse when it was time to put it away. And with the oven being broken { long story, long wait } we used the crockpot more than usual which meant up and down a whole bunch more, too.

After listening to that podcast, I put the last coats of paint on the boards and the inside of the closet. I was on a roll! Annnnnnd, then nothing. Grinding halt. Again.

But then yesterday I reached that point where enough was enough. I have lots of other things I want to do around the house but I wouldn’t let myself start anything new until I finally. Got. That. Closet. Done. So, after supper, I took my final measurements, my little drawing and I went out to the garage. Safety glasses on, the handsome Mr. Byrne to guide me on using our lovely new compounding mitre saw so I didn’t lose any fingers….I cut that wood into the exact sizes I needed and pre-drilled the holes!! And I still have my fingers, so there’s that, as well! All the wood and the tools I needed went into the kitchen and I got to work.

Guys, 4 plus years of wanting this closet changed and it took me maybe 3 hours altogether between painting and putting that darn thing together. It isn’t pretty. I mean, it’s shelving inside a closet. But, boy, does it look good to me!!! Also, this closet is so hard to photograph, the stove is in the way, the lighting sucks, but here’s the best I could do!

Having this shelving meant I got to organize a few others spaces, too, as stuff that made more sense in this closet moved in. It means the girls can reach the towels to have a shower without having to grab a stool or an adult. Seriously. 4 plus years!

I hope if you have those annoying projects you want to get down around your house, this motivates you to just go and do it!!! Stop putting it off! You’ll be so thankful you did. Granted, it might mean that once you finish that one, there may be 10 other jobs to be done, but, trust me, it’s worth it!!

Well, this isn’t the best post I ever posted, but I’m excited to share this bit of progress with you. Closets are tricky to photograph!

Colourfully yours,

Lori

February 6, 2019 By lori@farmfreshstyle.ca

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