Open House

The Open House!

It's hard to believe that a year has past since we moved to this beautiful old farm house on the hill on the Grand River.

Yesterday we hosted a beef BBQ and corn roast, celebrating our journey with our family and friends.   Today, I reflected back on our year here and have been overwhelmed with a feeling of gratitude for all I have been blessed with.   Good health, a dry bed, full cupboards, loving family and friends, a supporting husband and enough disposable income to feed a life long passion in horses.   Really...I have so much it's almost sinful when you really think about it.

I have so many thank you's I want to extend...please know that you all have played a role in this journey.   Whether you are in our daily lives, you are family, a neighbour, a new friend, an old friend or co-worker.   All of the interactions we have with each of you have shaped us into who we are today...thank you for helping us find our way.

FIRST and FOREMOST...A HUGE thank you to my mom for helping me prepare and serve all of the food yesterday.    Helping me clean  Cleaning the house from top to bottom so that it was fit for guests to come through.   Even tho by 5pm it was totally trashed!   Thanks Mom...love ya!
Next I need to thank two very special friends...Tracy and Lynn.   I can't say enough thanks for all that you did yesterday.   You both just stepped right in and made it all work...nobody asked; you both just offered up your hands and organizational skills.   I am actually getting a little choked up typing about the two of you.  :-)  To think I have such great people in my daily life makes me feel so humble and thankful.  Thank you ladies, you went well beyond the call of friendship...love you both.

  Here are the 3 people that made the food happen...

And to finish off the food prep portion of our thanks...Don...You are the east coast chef extraordinare!  ...And Dave for stepping in and giving you a hand for the afternoon.   We have had so many rave reviews about the beef...it was delicious!  

Of course, a big thanks to all the guests that showed their support.   Thank you all for coming and offering your encouragement, words of wisdom and the odd "You two are nuts!".    This year has been one hell of a ride no matter what way you look at it...so yes, at times we certainly have been nuts!

And the day would not have been complete without the kids meeting the horses.   Just look at how they are looking at each other...There is magic that happens when little girls meet horses!

We have had many, many comments and requests to make this an annual event.   Only time will tell...it was so fabulous this time; I would hate to break that spell!   :-)

One Year Blogging

It's hard to believe that one year has passed already since the birth of this HP Haven blog.   As I browse back tonight to the initial posts and the changes throughout the past 12 months I am happy that I made the decision to document our journey this way.    I know the posts have been fewer in the past several months but time has been at a premium...the journey is still ticking forward and the changes to the farm are still progressing as they should.  
I can't say I have regretted a day on the farm yet.  I still recall that first melt down however!  I can laugh about it now... I had been stringing my first strands of fencing before we even moved in.   After several hours of trying to untangle braided wire rope and after I had got about a 1/4 mile of fencing installed I got to a knot that was just far too tight and complicated for me to unravel.   This all happening after a week of 12-15 hour days re-sanding the floors on the second level of the house.   I recall just sitting in the field exhausted and frustrated, bawling my eyes out because I could not for the life of me get the fencing untangled.   Even that terrible first melt down I do not regret.  It built some character, it gave me a low point so I could thoroughly enjoy finishing that field with true blood, sweat and tears!

I want to thank all my family, friends and blog readers for joining me through this phase of my life and expressing your happiness, laughter and encouragement.  Without all of you, this would not have had as much joy.   For that I am grateful.  xo

Today's post will be a picture blog to update what's new.   As always lots has been moving along in the forward motion.

After many months grading the barn bridge and deciding on the exact "perfect" location...I have planted the Tri-Coloured Beech that Reta and Bill gave me for my 40th birthday.  Reta and I have a connection with nature and trees.   This was the perfect gift and for many, many years I will always think of Reta when I pass this tree daily to the barn.   It was important to me that I placed this tree in a spot where I would see it everyday...I wanted to have a thought of Reta everyday for all the love and mentoring she has shared with me since the day we met.   Thanks Reta...it's beautiful when the setting sun hits it!

My cousin Alan (the farm hunter and sharp shooter!) and his wife, Laura had a beautiful baby girl, Kendall.    She is absolutely the most perfect baby I have ever held.  :-)

Here is the new family.

And the baby girl.

And of course, me with the bundle of love in my arms!

My cousin Robert was married this past weekend to a beautiful bride, Sarah.   They had their wedding ceremony, dinner and dance all outside at Woodside Greens Gold Club.   It was such a beautiful day...what a wonderful day to get married and a lovely happy event.

Here are the new husband and wife.

And DH and I too.

I know I had these big dreams of a veggie garden this summer.  As many of you know, I love to grow my own food and especially make my own spaghetti sauce.   Well, I guess I had not fully though that through when I planted the lettuce, squash and ornamental gourds in the garden plot!   My friend Terrie summed it up rather smartly to me one evening as she visited looking over the fence at the 5 foot weeds surrounding the lettuce.   Geez, when you said you were putting in a veggie garden I just bit my tongue and thought well she does have a lot of energy so what the hell plant a garden; it's not like you don't have enough shit to do around here!   Sure wish she would have used her outside voice on that one and talked some sense into me! 

Here is the garden after weeding...look at those huge piles of weeds and how small all the plants are.  They were basically, getting the sun blocked out!   Maybe next year Terrie!!

My little helper spreading the triple mix!

We had special visitors on the farm last weekend!  Chris' folks made their first visit!   After a few failed attempts due weather and then a power outage we were able to get Pop over to see the farm.   Thank you both for coming and enjoying the country air with us for the afternoon.

Big news from the horse side of the farm...My fencing is going up for the pasture shoots!  Hurray!

First fence line at the back of the riding ring to close in pasture #6.

The new gate openings near the barn...

More to come on fencing projects in future posts!

My folks have been out this past week as well preparing us for winter!   Between my mom and dad and very little help from DH and I (because we were at work), they split and stacked about 20 cord of wood!   Thank you so much!!   The yard looks so much better and I will be a happy, toasty warm soul this winter too!

I spent some time cleaning the lower bank barn.   This has not been touched since we moved in.  It was time to start clearing out the mounds of dead, mouldy hay and all the junk from the old owners.

BEFORE

AFTER

This is how I got rid of the old hay and wood...

Lastly, I have been trying to commit more time to working with Wanda.   She's such a lovely lady and really loves to be handled and pampered.

Thank you again for all your love and kindness throughout this past year.   Please keep reading and sending me your comments...I have enjoyed your feedback.

Cheers!