farmlass

Friday, February 26, 2010

Cherry Point and beyond...part 2...

As mentioned in a previous post ,http://farmlass.blogspot.com/2010/02/new-residents-of-swallow-fieldpart-1.html, there was so much fun and flavour and photos that I had to write an additional post to cover it all...

After playing with Sophi and Benita for a while, we took a drive north into the small city of Duncan and had a yummy lunch at Bistro 161...

...and dessert of course!!

I think Irma is clapping her hands in glee over this choclatey, lemony, moussie thing!

We were'nt able to see each other to celebrate Christmas and our birthdays, so thats what we did over lunch...I like spreading out holidays like that..

One of Irmas pretty lamps for moi!

Seems like the theme was birds...

Then it was off to a few thrift stores ...

Found this pretty olive oil can for 25 cents which I'll use for a vase...

...and some sweet cotton hankies which I have an idea for brooding in the back of my mind.

On the way home we stopped to admire this flock of swans near Cowichan Bay...

Its such a beautiful valley here...

Back at Swallow Field the dogs had another good romp...

...and we checked in on Red, who is sitting on a clutch...

Hopefully some little yellow ducklings will come out for Easter!

This is where Irma spends a lot of time creating her beautiful lamps...

You can visit her etsy shop here to have a look...

http://www.etsy.com/shop/Geewillowkers

Even though Irma doesn't have a 'studio' per say, it doesn't stop her from being the incredibly creative person she is...look at some of her watercolours...

Here's another member of SwallowField...Cousteau overseeing the production line...

In the warmer months she opens up this little studio to showcase her work along with daughter Jenny's lovely jewelery...you can have a look at her silver creations here...www.BellezzaBijoux.etsy.com

So thats the adventure for today...hope you all have a fun weekend doing what you love...

cheerio!

Song for Friday...song for many..

I've been reading on a lot of people's blogs of late about change.

Fear of it, embracing it, questioning it.

I once heard someone say.."If you're not changing at some point in your life, you're not living."

As I look around at the world outside my door I see that nature is in full on change.

Trees in bud, birds singing their hearts out, sprouts shooting up out of the spring soil, even the frogs have started peeping...

It seems, as humans, that we are the only living things that have such a struggle with change. Maybe it's the time of year and rebirth and how it all comes on so intensely.

Go outside and plunge yourself into because you know....Change is going to come....

Thursday, February 25, 2010

The new residents of Swallow Field....part 1

Yesterday I went up Island to Cherry Point to visit Irma and to meet the newest members of her family. The drive is about an hour from my place, up the roadway they call The Malahat. Its a fairly high pass that can sometimes be treacherous in the winter but on my way up the clouds started to break just as I was reaching one of the veiwpoints. The body of water there is called Finlayson Arm Inlet, which comes from the ocean and ends up flowing into the Goldstream river where the salmon spawn every year.

The house sits up on a hill overlooking the ocean...

And here is Sophie to greet us!

Ever since I've known Irma, she has been talking about moving to the country and getting her own horse. She found her country home a year and a half ago and found her sweet little filly about 2 months ago. Yup, shes only a young thing and just like a kid, in your face and curious about EVERYTHING!

She really wanted a piece of my camera strap so sometimes it was hard to get a picture of her from a distance...

Its hard to see from these pictures, but she's the most lovely shade of sandy gold with dappled spots all over...

Griffin LOVES horses but wasn't so sure about Sophie's gregarious nature...

Much safer from the other side of the fence he figured!

aahhh...nothing better than a roll in the sun in the mud!

And this lovely fuzzy ear....

...along with this lovely fuzzy face...

...belongs to this lovely fuzzy Miniature donkey.

Her name is Benita and Irma has her on loan as a companion to Sophie...she is so meek and sweet and stands only about 3 1/2 feet tall!

Then of course there are the ducks...Irma's had these girls and boys since last summer and if you want to read some funny tales about them you should go to her daughter Jenny's blog...http://www.theserestlessfingers.blogspot.com/2009/06/more-ducky-business.html

Lolo (who used to be Lola), with his muddy face is quite the character and has had quite the little life..you just have to go and read about it...
We also went for lunch and thrift store shopping, so that will be in another post along with more photos of Irmas work space where she creates.
Until then...

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

rock walls...

I LOVE rock walls...they remind me of old secret gardens in tiny villages. We have been trying to uncover this one at our place..

It is not really old...maybe 30 years and not very well constructed, but its a rock wall and I love rock walls.

There has been many years of blackberry brambles growing over, through and around this wall but we are slowly trying to bring it back to life.

We also have a crude rock wall/ stepway that I try to keep trimmed..

Of course it's got nothing on the beautiful rock walls in Ireland...

When I was on the Aran Islands, I couldn't believe the quantity of walls and the diversity in design...

Of course they are functional in their design as well...

...and so lovely to ride a bike through!

...o.k now back to work before the rains come again.

Monday, February 22, 2010

From across the miles....

When I mention to people that I keep a blog, some ask "why?" while others ask "where do you find the time?" The reason for 'why' is simple...it's my own journal, a place to keep thoughts and stories and the pictures which sometimes accompany them. The 'time' question is sometimes an issue but quite often it's my down time with a cup of tea and thoughts fresh in my mind. I suppose its more constructive than just surfing the net...although I do a bit of that too.

Since I've been on this blog ride, I have sometimes caught my breath at how many kindred spirits I have out there. I will look at some photos of someones farm and think..."I would like to visit there". Or going along on ones virtual tour of their day out on the town and again I think..."That looks like a great little cafe to sit with a freind".

Its a great feeling to know that there are like-minded people in this huge world and that I can somehow connect with a few of them through the technology at hand even though they are miles and miles away.

Last night was one of the more meaningful connections I've made and I am still on cloud nine about the whole thing.

I follow a Cork man's blog and we have left comments regularly on each others posts. One such post I wrote was about my Irish roots and the ever increasing search for more information about them. Paudie offered to go for an adventure some day to try to find some of my ancestors gravesites back in Ireland. It turned out after he had read my post, he realized how close in proximity they lived to this tiny village near Limerick and lo and behold, last night I received the most amazing link to the post he did on finally finding these headstones!

I can't tell you how much it meant for me and my da to see the photos and to hear of his family's adventure...truth be told I am still quite emotional about it. It has taken a long time to find this information. Unfortunately my da and I didn't have it before our pilgrimage to Ireland but it has fueled the fire for the next visit.

I am still working on the Lietch branch of the family which is much more muddled than the Quilty side but I have faith that books and records will be dusted off and mysteries revealed one day...watch out Paudie..I may send you on another wild goose chase!

So cheers to all of you who don't think this blogging is a big waste of time! Have a look at Paudie's post and count yourselves lucky to have these grand connections.

(you might have to copy and paste this if the link doesn't come up)

endofera.wordpress.com/2010/02/21/irish-roots

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Where I work...commute...10 minutes

Mosaic by local artist Noreen Schmuck.

I used to commute 45 minutes to my job in the city as a letter carrier with Canada Post then...

Last summer I met a lady named Kate who was dreaming of opening her own eatery/ deli/ whole food market. She wanted it to be a place where like-minded people could gather not just for the shopping and eating, but to be a part of the community where we live. Sooke is a small town with it's roots in logging and fishing and times have changed and more and more diversity dwells here. There are artists, small farmers, musicians and people from all over the world who have made this small oceanside town their home. The closest large town is 1/2 hour away and the city of Victoria is 45 minutes away so most people would prefer to buy local if they can. The 2 grocery stores here are o.k but don't provide many organic or locally produced food. So Farmers Daughter to the rescue! I work here 3 days a week doing a bit of everything including baking, soup making from scratch, preparing meals, customer service and I even do dishes! Actually that's the great thing about this place is that we all do a little bit of everything...