It's Black what else would I name It?
D-Y, Keats and Mama worked diligently on the fences for a few days. Mama and Keats went out to pick up new boards from Home Depot (because of course the boards we had picked up were way too narrow). Why doesn't anything ever go as planned with our projects? Keats and Mama had finally moved the goats into the two medium sized stalls in the barn and out of the chicken coop area. When we came home there was D-Y playing with a new black kitten. The little guy could not be more than 8 months old. "I named him Negro ... cause he is black ... get it?" (another day we went off to the kid's dentist and Mama explained about the new kitten ... a lovely Spanish speaking receptionist said "How about Negrito?" which Mama finds less offencive.) Akita went a whole nuther route and calls him "Nero" and you know he showed up that day and never left.
And right away the trouble started ...
As we said above ... Keats and Mama had finally moved the goats into the bigger stalls. Dave, Delilah and Mira in one and Juliet, Lily and KneePad in the other.
*The Bigger Buck, Dave showed us a flaw in the barn doors by Butting one of the Does, Mira, out of the side door. He Butted her so hard that she pushed the door open - forward like a flap over an opening. She was then stuck outside in the pasture with no way for her to get back in.
*We then let the dogs loose in the pasture so they could check the fencing for "escape routes" ... they did a good job and didn't find any ... so we decided to let the goats out to meet the dogs.
More Trouble brews ...
*Mac, our loving Pomeranian/Ts hi Tsui/Coyote cross dog .... we thought would love the goats. He immediately kicked into Coyote mode ... singled out and chased the smallest of the goats, Lily. Grabbing her by the back of her neck ... He flipped her over onto her back. Okay this was not good ... so D-Y caught Mac and took him in the house.
*Finn, our "kinda dumb" Corgi/Shelty cross dog ... we thought would not be good with the goats. Finn was confused but his Shelty Blood kicked into gear and he began to herd the goats. He just didn't know what else to do with them ... so he herded them into the barn and back out of the barn and then he herded them into the barn and back out of the barn. At least he didn't appear to want to hurt them in anyway. But this was not really helpful behaviour so Finn was taken back into the house.
And the fences ???
They seemed good enough to hold the six goats in the pasture area. We were wrong. Mama and Akita put the goats out in the pasture and left to visit a new Goat. We had decided to put our "Buck - Dave" up for sale on Craigslist and buy a Dairy Goat so that we could start milking the Goats in the Spring. As fortune would have it ... we found some Nigerian Dwarfs, and a La Mancha Doe. When we looked them up in our "Goat Manuals" ... it seemed that both kinds produced milk after kidding (having a baby or two). Malika was visiting us so we took a drive out to Stave Falls area to view the La Mancha doe. They also had a homemade milking stand up for sale. Mama had been trying to figure out how to build one for as long as we had talked about milking goats. Malika was staying with us for the weekend so we picked her up and headed off to Stave Lake area to check out the La Mancha Doe. Arriving at a very pretty well kept property ... we met a lovely Ginger haired girl named Catherine. She showed us her La Mancha Goats, and her sister's Silkie Chickens (they were Red Silkies ... which we didn't even know existed). Her La Mancha's were kept separate "boys and girls". She had a lovely young black buckling in one stall and three or four does in the other stall. The Goats were a bit odd looking because they looked like they had "No Ears". They really had very small buds for ears. They were a bit skittish but brave enough to eat out of Catherine's hands. We had a small discussion and decided to take home the lovely Chocolate Doe. We said we would be back tomorrow afternoon to pick up the Milking Stand and Doe. We figured we better go off and rent a UHaul as our Trailer was full of a Thousand Pound "do-it-yourself Chicken Barn" in the middle of the pasture (a tale for another day). The Day wasn't over yet, but we will save the rest of this tale for another day.
Thanks for Reading and Welcome to our Barns,
The Lims
Saturday 20 October 2012
Wednesday 10 October 2012
The Lims Miss Cityview
Some of you know what's coming .. for the rest ... Get your Kleenex Boxes Handy ...
Oh What a Very Dark Day until Love lit a Match
July 21st, 2007 was the saddest day in the lives of the Lims. For those of you who don't know ... Kenny (Dada Bear to his 3 little mice and Soul Mate to Mama Bear) lost his life rescuing D-Y (Boy warrior in this tale). The Lim family went on a Cross-Canada camping trip and were on the way home. Stopping at Rainbow Falls, Ontario for an overnight. What a lovely name for a campsite and for such tragedy to strike. Mama & Malika did laundry and D-Y, Akita and Kenny played in the currents in Lake Superior. Somehow D-Y got caught in an undertow and Kenny went in after him. D-Y was pulled from the Lake by a Stranger and Kenny drowned. Many people, even complete strangers helped the remaining Lim family escape Ontario, including Kenny's two brothers, Randy (Developer/Contractor of Million Dollar buildings) and Donald (all around fantastic guy). How would we go on ?? It was the darkest day when Mama and her three mice arrived at the Vancouver Airport. As we exited the plane into the baggage area ... Love surrounded and supported us. 19 people from Cityview Baptist Church were there to greet us. Ignoring the "stay behind the barriers" signs ... they surrounded our small family and Mama felt the embers of her soul re-light while she was transported back home. These loving people carried us through the next few weeks, and months ... feeding us ... contacting others for us and arranging the biggest Memorial service our church had ever seen. Kenny was loved and the Love of the Cityview People and our Lord spilled over and overflowed our souls. That is not to leave out the other friends and family who came over and just sort of "stayed close". Some having known Cynthia for many years ... helped her out of bed each day, supported her in every way, and just plain held her when she cried. We believe Kenny is in Heaven with those others we have misplaced along the way. We see him in every mixed up colourful sunset and we hear him with every Guitar playing. Mama and her three (Not so little anymore) Mice thank you Cityview and friends for all your support and Love. Kenny will still be loved and will Never be Forgotten.
Okay Now You Know ...
Since Moving to Abbotsford ... the Lims have wanted to find a church to call home ... we know we won't find a "Cityview" but one where we can be comfortable would be nice. We may not be the most fashionable family ... well except for Malika that is. So we wanted to find a church who would accept us as we are. We had driven by a smaller church building on Gladwin St. in Matsqui area. I won't name the church, but some of you will know the one I mean. We planned to visit it the next Sunday. When Sunday arrived Mama threw a very sleepy D-Y in the car and off we went to Akita's Riding lesson. Finishing up earlier than usual we hurried off to the 10:30 am service. Pulling up in the parking lot we noticed right away how the families were dressed ... Boys, even little boys had on button up shirts, and some even had ties and bow ties. Girls, were dressed in skirts and dresses without exception. Mama heard her Mother in her head as she walked forward to the front stairs "you can wear a gunny sack to a formal ball as long as you have the right attitude". Well with "attitude" we entered the church building. First off Akita went in search of the ladies room, and D-Y in search of the men's room. Mama turned around as she heard someone say "Cynthia ... is that you?" How had my reputation already proceeded me? Towards me came a lovely looking lady followed by 6 well dressed and well-mannered young girls walking in pairs. "I should know you" was all Mama could say. The Lady explained that she was the wife of the Pastor of David's church. David is Mama's brother (writer of Sci Fi novels, husband of Laura, and father of two lovely daughters). Just then the pastor showed up with a well dressed young son in tow. Introductions were made or re-made and they told us that they were on holidays, and always loved to visit this church. David had mentioned that we were looking for a Baptist Church in Abbotsford ... so she had kept an eye open for us. Akita arrived and a woman followed her with 2 girls around Akita's age. The woman apologised to me, and said she had complemented Akita on her riding breeches, because her daughter used to ride too. I guess she thought she had offended Akita by mentioning that she was wearing "pants" to church. She obviously didn't know Akita. We found a pew in the back row and waited for D-Y to arrive. The service had just started when D-Y kind of slunk in and ducked down into the row. He sat sort of scrunched down so that his back was not showing. Mama whispered for him to sit up, which he did for about a minute and then hunched back down. The Sermon was kinda of "three points and a poem" as Mama's Dad would say. Mama's Dad is a retired Baptist Minister (82 years old and full of life). After the service the pastor greeted us at the door and off we went to the car. Mama asked someone what version of the Bible they used "King James Version". It was then that Mama and Akita learned the reason for D-Y's strange sitting actions ... The back of D-Y's T-Shirt was a gecko that said "Bite Me". Oh well ... this is who we are and we did not feel "the comfort zone" in this nice ... maybe a little "too nice" Church.
Off to Try Another Version ...
After meeting Tracey (super terrific storyteller), D-Y liked her immediately. We had lunch with Tracey and her Mother one Sunday afternoon shortly after moving to Abbotsford. Tracey told us that her church had a 5pm Saturday Mass. Just because we are not really morning people ... well except for Akita ... we decided to give it a try. Mama texted Tracey and Allison (super fantastic Spa Lady) and asked if they would meet us at the Catholic Church. A friend was staying with us and so was Malika the following Friday night. They said they would love to try out the Mass with us ... so off we went on the Saturday afternoon. The parking lot was very busy as the church was just wrapping up their community fair. There was Tracey though, Happily saving us a spot in the lot. Into the building we went ... all six of us ... looking like a bunch of storm troopers. We found a row and filled it. Tracey leaned over past all the kids and whispered "your Cheat Sheet" while waving a laminated card in our direction. We pulled out our cards from the front pocket of our pews. I explained to the kids to just follow along as well as we could ... sit when they sit ... stand when they stand. We followed our "Cue Cards" and Mama even noticed that the woman beside her had a whole book of "Cues". Mama thought to herself "If I come back here ... I am getting one of those". The sermon was interesting as the Priest had just returned from a "Pilgrimage" and he used lots of humour when speaking. The Lim Family followed along as well as we could, Mama was worried if she kneeled ... she might not get back up. After the mass, we were invited to an international dinner ... $2 per country with many countries represented ... Ukraine had perogies ... Mexico had burritos and D-Y and Mama fell in love with the Sudanese Doughnut Holes. Alison, her husband, Brian (a Scotsman who Rrrolls his Rrr's still), and their son Decklan (hope I spelled that right) joined us at our dinner table. Brian told us it was "his penance" to have to talk with an accent. The kids enjoyed trying all the different foods, and the adults chatted happily (Never a dull moment at our table ... we even had a lovely Nun join us for a bit). All too soon ... it was time for home. Mama thanked Alison and Tracey for "dinner and a show" and we vowed to return again soon. Though we had enjoyed ourselves immensely .. we still hadn't found the "right spark". Our quest continues and so does our tale ....
Thanks for reading and Welcome to our Barns,
The Lims
Oh What a Very Dark Day until Love lit a Match
July 21st, 2007 was the saddest day in the lives of the Lims. For those of you who don't know ... Kenny (Dada Bear to his 3 little mice and Soul Mate to Mama Bear) lost his life rescuing D-Y (Boy warrior in this tale). The Lim family went on a Cross-Canada camping trip and were on the way home. Stopping at Rainbow Falls, Ontario for an overnight. What a lovely name for a campsite and for such tragedy to strike. Mama & Malika did laundry and D-Y, Akita and Kenny played in the currents in Lake Superior. Somehow D-Y got caught in an undertow and Kenny went in after him. D-Y was pulled from the Lake by a Stranger and Kenny drowned. Many people, even complete strangers helped the remaining Lim family escape Ontario, including Kenny's two brothers, Randy (Developer/Contractor of Million Dollar buildings) and Donald (all around fantastic guy). How would we go on ?? It was the darkest day when Mama and her three mice arrived at the Vancouver Airport. As we exited the plane into the baggage area ... Love surrounded and supported us. 19 people from Cityview Baptist Church were there to greet us. Ignoring the "stay behind the barriers" signs ... they surrounded our small family and Mama felt the embers of her soul re-light while she was transported back home. These loving people carried us through the next few weeks, and months ... feeding us ... contacting others for us and arranging the biggest Memorial service our church had ever seen. Kenny was loved and the Love of the Cityview People and our Lord spilled over and overflowed our souls. That is not to leave out the other friends and family who came over and just sort of "stayed close". Some having known Cynthia for many years ... helped her out of bed each day, supported her in every way, and just plain held her when she cried. We believe Kenny is in Heaven with those others we have misplaced along the way. We see him in every mixed up colourful sunset and we hear him with every Guitar playing. Mama and her three (Not so little anymore) Mice thank you Cityview and friends for all your support and Love. Kenny will still be loved and will Never be Forgotten.
Okay Now You Know ...
Since Moving to Abbotsford ... the Lims have wanted to find a church to call home ... we know we won't find a "Cityview" but one where we can be comfortable would be nice. We may not be the most fashionable family ... well except for Malika that is. So we wanted to find a church who would accept us as we are. We had driven by a smaller church building on Gladwin St. in Matsqui area. I won't name the church, but some of you will know the one I mean. We planned to visit it the next Sunday. When Sunday arrived Mama threw a very sleepy D-Y in the car and off we went to Akita's Riding lesson. Finishing up earlier than usual we hurried off to the 10:30 am service. Pulling up in the parking lot we noticed right away how the families were dressed ... Boys, even little boys had on button up shirts, and some even had ties and bow ties. Girls, were dressed in skirts and dresses without exception. Mama heard her Mother in her head as she walked forward to the front stairs "you can wear a gunny sack to a formal ball as long as you have the right attitude". Well with "attitude" we entered the church building. First off Akita went in search of the ladies room, and D-Y in search of the men's room. Mama turned around as she heard someone say "Cynthia ... is that you?" How had my reputation already proceeded me? Towards me came a lovely looking lady followed by 6 well dressed and well-mannered young girls walking in pairs. "I should know you" was all Mama could say. The Lady explained that she was the wife of the Pastor of David's church. David is Mama's brother (writer of Sci Fi novels, husband of Laura, and father of two lovely daughters). Just then the pastor showed up with a well dressed young son in tow. Introductions were made or re-made and they told us that they were on holidays, and always loved to visit this church. David had mentioned that we were looking for a Baptist Church in Abbotsford ... so she had kept an eye open for us. Akita arrived and a woman followed her with 2 girls around Akita's age. The woman apologised to me, and said she had complemented Akita on her riding breeches, because her daughter used to ride too. I guess she thought she had offended Akita by mentioning that she was wearing "pants" to church. She obviously didn't know Akita. We found a pew in the back row and waited for D-Y to arrive. The service had just started when D-Y kind of slunk in and ducked down into the row. He sat sort of scrunched down so that his back was not showing. Mama whispered for him to sit up, which he did for about a minute and then hunched back down. The Sermon was kinda of "three points and a poem" as Mama's Dad would say. Mama's Dad is a retired Baptist Minister (82 years old and full of life). After the service the pastor greeted us at the door and off we went to the car. Mama asked someone what version of the Bible they used "King James Version". It was then that Mama and Akita learned the reason for D-Y's strange sitting actions ... The back of D-Y's T-Shirt was a gecko that said "Bite Me". Oh well ... this is who we are and we did not feel "the comfort zone" in this nice ... maybe a little "too nice" Church.
Off to Try Another Version ...
After meeting Tracey (super terrific storyteller), D-Y liked her immediately. We had lunch with Tracey and her Mother one Sunday afternoon shortly after moving to Abbotsford. Tracey told us that her church had a 5pm Saturday Mass. Just because we are not really morning people ... well except for Akita ... we decided to give it a try. Mama texted Tracey and Allison (super fantastic Spa Lady) and asked if they would meet us at the Catholic Church. A friend was staying with us and so was Malika the following Friday night. They said they would love to try out the Mass with us ... so off we went on the Saturday afternoon. The parking lot was very busy as the church was just wrapping up their community fair. There was Tracey though, Happily saving us a spot in the lot. Into the building we went ... all six of us ... looking like a bunch of storm troopers. We found a row and filled it. Tracey leaned over past all the kids and whispered "your Cheat Sheet" while waving a laminated card in our direction. We pulled out our cards from the front pocket of our pews. I explained to the kids to just follow along as well as we could ... sit when they sit ... stand when they stand. We followed our "Cue Cards" and Mama even noticed that the woman beside her had a whole book of "Cues". Mama thought to herself "If I come back here ... I am getting one of those". The sermon was interesting as the Priest had just returned from a "Pilgrimage" and he used lots of humour when speaking. The Lim Family followed along as well as we could, Mama was worried if she kneeled ... she might not get back up. After the mass, we were invited to an international dinner ... $2 per country with many countries represented ... Ukraine had perogies ... Mexico had burritos and D-Y and Mama fell in love with the Sudanese Doughnut Holes. Alison, her husband, Brian (a Scotsman who Rrrolls his Rrr's still), and their son Decklan (hope I spelled that right) joined us at our dinner table. Brian told us it was "his penance" to have to talk with an accent. The kids enjoyed trying all the different foods, and the adults chatted happily (Never a dull moment at our table ... we even had a lovely Nun join us for a bit). All too soon ... it was time for home. Mama thanked Alison and Tracey for "dinner and a show" and we vowed to return again soon. Though we had enjoyed ourselves immensely .. we still hadn't found the "right spark". Our quest continues and so does our tale ....
Thanks for reading and Welcome to our Barns,
The Lims
Sunday 7 October 2012
Kid Pick Up vs. Goat Herding
Lily Joins The Lims
The following Saturday was filled with friends, family and new challenges. Late in the afternoon we got a call that we could pick up the Pygmies (we thought it was all three, but only one was available). When we got to the Suburban Neighbourhood with the "park" in the middle ... the gentleman goat owner told us to drive all the way to the bottom of the property. Mama was happy cause she didn't want to walk that hill again. We (Akita, Malika & Mama) drove down a meandering switchback to a lovely flower garden with the goat pasture on the other side. We waited there as we watched the "goat man - Ron" pick up a screaming little goat. He carried her down the hill and put her in the extra large dog carrier that we had brought to carry the three goats. He told us that he had gone out to Aldergrove to pick up the bucklings, but no one was around and he was unable to corral them on his own. He also told us a funny tale about earlier that year ... apparently the fat miniature horse likes to give piggy back rides to the little pygmies. Or they like to stand on her back and she doesn't mind ... one of the two. He said people slow their cars and almost have accidents when they drive by and see what appear to be "floating goats" cause the hill blocks the mini horse from view. He promises to deliver the bucklings the next day when his daughter can help him "corral them". Okay we admit it ... the red light should have gone on ... these two were supposed to be the "tame - petting zoo" goats. We deliver the goat man back up the hill after he cuts a few fresh flowers and gives them to Mama. We bring this squealing little goat home and deliver her to the barn ... in the chicken coop area cause of course we have not yet fixed the fences. Wow for a little goat Lily (a red and white pygmy) was loud "Maaaaaa Maaaaa " ... all Mama could say was "now I have another animal calling my name". We hoped we would soon have some friends for her. We were looking forward to picking up the two Boer Doe sisters the next day (DY who wants nothing to do with the goats .... ha ha .. had already named them Julie and Juliet). Later that afternoon we got a confused return call from the nice "goat lady - Diane" ... apparently because we did not call her on Thursday ... our bad ... she sold one of the sisters to someone else. Oh well ... we say we can pick up the remaining sister anytime and book a time for the afternoon on Sunday.
Mira and Delilah Come Home
Sunday being the next day, Akita and Mama make an executive decision and decide to pick up two goats instead of one from the Cashmere goat herd. We call up Cashmere goat herder - Michael and tell him we would like to take the Black Cashmere doeling, and the white pygmy-cross doe. He agrees ... we haggle a bit on the price and then off we go to Sumas Mountain. DY, Akita and Mama go off to do some "goat herding". When we get to the property ... we drive down onto the pasture, with goat herder - Michael and he and a young boy bring a bag of grain down ... all the goats and the horse wrestle over the feed. We get the truck open and the cage open in time for him to wrangle the Black doeling into the cage. It is quite funny to watch as he and DY trap the white Doe and Michael wrestles her into the cage too. Wow ... what a fighter she is. Michael suggests that we keep in touch and possibly breed Mira with one of his bucks next year (I guess he plans to get more bucks because we don't plan to breed her with her father ... can we just say Yuck!!).
This brings up the subject of Lily and her brother pygmy ... we decide that we will get the brother castrated and let her breed with the other buck. Off we go home with Mira (Black Cashmere) and Delilah (White Pygmy Cross) and they are a lot quieter than Lily was.
Juliet ... The Calmer Goat?
Later mid afternoon ish, Mama and Akita take a drive to Langley to pick up the Boer Doe. As before, Dianne - the goat lady comes out ... grabs a handful of Grape Leaves and calls "here Goats ... Here girls" ... all the goats, a horse and several Chickens run for the fence. We go inside the fence and she grabs the young doe. She lifts her front legs, and kinda half rides and half carries her to the kennel in the truck. After we get her inside ... she starts "bawling ... Maaaaa Maaaa". Almost as loudly as Lily was. Juliet (a chocolate brown headed, white bodied Boer Doe) has no horns ... only bumps on her head. We ask Dianne and she says it is because she "de-horns" them as babies. We pay Dianne and our quickly on our way home.
What a Busy Day and It Isn't Over Yet.
Later that afternoon we get a knock on the door and our two bucklings have arrived. They are a mess and the goat man - Ron and his daughter deliver them to a stall in the barn. They tell us what a nice barn and house we have. We thank them and they tell us that another year they picked up their goats from this same camp and they were covered in Maple Syrup. We should have asked them more about bathing the goats, but we were just too excited to finally have all of our little herd home with us. Akita and Mama get to work as soon as the others leave and hose them off, but we sure have trouble cleaning the bottom of the larger white Pygmy. Once we have them hosed off ... we put them in with the "girls". We have already had to separate Mira and Delilah from Lily as they were bullying her. It was a little better when Juliet arrived, because even though she has no horns ... she spreads her ears out and butts the others off of little Lily. (They have almost a mother-daughter relationship and have been inseparable ever since). We put "Knee Pad" in with Juliet and his sister. He is a lovely red and white coloured pygmy ... a little bigger than Lily. He does this weird walk on his front knees and doesn't really walk properly when his legs are extended. Mama wants to call him "Tiny Tim", but her children say "that's like calling a crippled child crippled". Oh well ... right now he is mostly called "Knee Pad", but Mama still secretly calls him "Tiny Tim". The Larger Buck came with the name "Oscar", but non of us really liked it. He is white with a great Afro on the front of his head. As soon as we put him in with Mira and Delilah ... he started saying "Yuuuup, Yup, Yup, Yup" .. well being Storage Wars fans ... he had his name "Dave ... of Course" and he is turning out to be almost as much of a donkey as the guy from the show. All six goats in the separated stalls of the chicken coop area. We let them outside one side at a time in the glorified dog run, and soo far ... soo good. Now to fix those fences ... Tomorrow.
Thanks for Reading and Welcome to our Barns,
The Lims
The following Saturday was filled with friends, family and new challenges. Late in the afternoon we got a call that we could pick up the Pygmies (we thought it was all three, but only one was available). When we got to the Suburban Neighbourhood with the "park" in the middle ... the gentleman goat owner told us to drive all the way to the bottom of the property. Mama was happy cause she didn't want to walk that hill again. We (Akita, Malika & Mama) drove down a meandering switchback to a lovely flower garden with the goat pasture on the other side. We waited there as we watched the "goat man - Ron" pick up a screaming little goat. He carried her down the hill and put her in the extra large dog carrier that we had brought to carry the three goats. He told us that he had gone out to Aldergrove to pick up the bucklings, but no one was around and he was unable to corral them on his own. He also told us a funny tale about earlier that year ... apparently the fat miniature horse likes to give piggy back rides to the little pygmies. Or they like to stand on her back and she doesn't mind ... one of the two. He said people slow their cars and almost have accidents when they drive by and see what appear to be "floating goats" cause the hill blocks the mini horse from view. He promises to deliver the bucklings the next day when his daughter can help him "corral them". Okay we admit it ... the red light should have gone on ... these two were supposed to be the "tame - petting zoo" goats. We deliver the goat man back up the hill after he cuts a few fresh flowers and gives them to Mama. We bring this squealing little goat home and deliver her to the barn ... in the chicken coop area cause of course we have not yet fixed the fences. Wow for a little goat Lily (a red and white pygmy) was loud "Maaaaaa Maaaaa " ... all Mama could say was "now I have another animal calling my name". We hoped we would soon have some friends for her. We were looking forward to picking up the two Boer Doe sisters the next day (DY who wants nothing to do with the goats .... ha ha .. had already named them Julie and Juliet). Later that afternoon we got a confused return call from the nice "goat lady - Diane" ... apparently because we did not call her on Thursday ... our bad ... she sold one of the sisters to someone else. Oh well ... we say we can pick up the remaining sister anytime and book a time for the afternoon on Sunday.
Mira and Delilah Come Home
Sunday being the next day, Akita and Mama make an executive decision and decide to pick up two goats instead of one from the Cashmere goat herd. We call up Cashmere goat herder - Michael and tell him we would like to take the Black Cashmere doeling, and the white pygmy-cross doe. He agrees ... we haggle a bit on the price and then off we go to Sumas Mountain. DY, Akita and Mama go off to do some "goat herding". When we get to the property ... we drive down onto the pasture, with goat herder - Michael and he and a young boy bring a bag of grain down ... all the goats and the horse wrestle over the feed. We get the truck open and the cage open in time for him to wrangle the Black doeling into the cage. It is quite funny to watch as he and DY trap the white Doe and Michael wrestles her into the cage too. Wow ... what a fighter she is. Michael suggests that we keep in touch and possibly breed Mira with one of his bucks next year (I guess he plans to get more bucks because we don't plan to breed her with her father ... can we just say Yuck!!).
This brings up the subject of Lily and her brother pygmy ... we decide that we will get the brother castrated and let her breed with the other buck. Off we go home with Mira (Black Cashmere) and Delilah (White Pygmy Cross) and they are a lot quieter than Lily was.
Juliet ... The Calmer Goat?
Later mid afternoon ish, Mama and Akita take a drive to Langley to pick up the Boer Doe. As before, Dianne - the goat lady comes out ... grabs a handful of Grape Leaves and calls "here Goats ... Here girls" ... all the goats, a horse and several Chickens run for the fence. We go inside the fence and she grabs the young doe. She lifts her front legs, and kinda half rides and half carries her to the kennel in the truck. After we get her inside ... she starts "bawling ... Maaaaa Maaaa". Almost as loudly as Lily was. Juliet (a chocolate brown headed, white bodied Boer Doe) has no horns ... only bumps on her head. We ask Dianne and she says it is because she "de-horns" them as babies. We pay Dianne and our quickly on our way home.
What a Busy Day and It Isn't Over Yet.
Later that afternoon we get a knock on the door and our two bucklings have arrived. They are a mess and the goat man - Ron and his daughter deliver them to a stall in the barn. They tell us what a nice barn and house we have. We thank them and they tell us that another year they picked up their goats from this same camp and they were covered in Maple Syrup. We should have asked them more about bathing the goats, but we were just too excited to finally have all of our little herd home with us. Akita and Mama get to work as soon as the others leave and hose them off, but we sure have trouble cleaning the bottom of the larger white Pygmy. Once we have them hosed off ... we put them in with the "girls". We have already had to separate Mira and Delilah from Lily as they were bullying her. It was a little better when Juliet arrived, because even though she has no horns ... she spreads her ears out and butts the others off of little Lily. (They have almost a mother-daughter relationship and have been inseparable ever since). We put "Knee Pad" in with Juliet and his sister. He is a lovely red and white coloured pygmy ... a little bigger than Lily. He does this weird walk on his front knees and doesn't really walk properly when his legs are extended. Mama wants to call him "Tiny Tim", but her children say "that's like calling a crippled child crippled". Oh well ... right now he is mostly called "Knee Pad", but Mama still secretly calls him "Tiny Tim". The Larger Buck came with the name "Oscar", but non of us really liked it. He is white with a great Afro on the front of his head. As soon as we put him in with Mira and Delilah ... he started saying "Yuuuup, Yup, Yup, Yup" .. well being Storage Wars fans ... he had his name "Dave ... of Course" and he is turning out to be almost as much of a donkey as the guy from the show. All six goats in the separated stalls of the chicken coop area. We let them outside one side at a time in the glorified dog run, and soo far ... soo good. Now to fix those fences ... Tomorrow.
Thanks for Reading and Welcome to our Barns,
The Lims
Thursday 4 October 2012
The Lims are adding new "Kids"
Howdy y'all ... we're back ...
So our normally chatty family and friends have not left us any comments ... so we decided to trudge forward anyway.
Akita ... the riding begins
One of the major reasons ... for Akita to move was for her to be around Horses. (Eventually to get her own of course). Mama and Akita went in search of riding lessons. We looked up the closest ones to BRB ... and found 3 close to home. We called them and the first one was out of business. The second no longer provided riding lessons ... strictly "horse boarding only", but was currently flooded from the recent Fraser River flooding in the neighbourhood. And the third listed an address on Halpert which was within "bike riding distance" from BRB. True to form though ... they had moved to Mission and were currently moving again. We set up a date to view the "new" location and Jen (new super coach for Akita) took us on a tour. De Novo Training had now moved to a bigger facility in Matsqui area. Not within biking distance, but still within an easy 10 min drive (unless you get stopped at a train crossing for 10+ mins). In preparation for the big move Akita had taken some riding lessons in Langley at the A&T Equestrian Centre. She had even taken a "horse first aid class" ... just in case. She loved the spring camp and did very well according to her coaches. She started her new lessons with Jen, The first Friday in August. Jen was pleasantly surprised at how much Akita already knew as a beginner. Of course anyone who knows Akita would not be surprised at her "quick learning skills". Mama, Jen and Akita all decided that the best course of action would be for Akita to do a "half lease" option. Jen had confidence in Akita's horse grooming skills and tacking up skills (putting on a saddle and bridle) ... so we started with one lesson and two practise lessons per week. Akita has done very well with these lessons even when the added responsibilities of caring for sick cats and new kittens came along. Mama barely rolls herself out of bed and makes a coffee while Akita feeds 2 dogs, 4 inside cats, 5+ barn cats, Momma Cat (Violet), and her 5 kittens (and later 6 goats). Akita was meant to be an early morning child. MamaBear was not.
From Cashmeres ...
Remember the tale of the nesting boxes in Aggasiz ... Mama had decided it was time to get some goats. Now most logical people would study goats for a bit, make them a home, fence the yard properly and then pick up animals. Not Mama ... she often puts the "cart before the horse" or in this case "the Kids before the fencing". Craigslist is hit again and Akita and Mama go out to view some "Cashmere Goats". We drive up Sumas Mountain (near where we had looked at a house to buy last year). The guy selling the goats was nice, but the goats were not very social. The male, Bucky, was said to have one job, and one job only ... to impregnate the females. Apparently he was quite good at his job. The young cashmere (about 4 months or so) was beautiful. Black in colour and looked very soft, although we could not get close enough to touch her or any of the herd in fact. We did learn something important that day though ... if a goat's head fits through a space ... they will make the rest of themselves fit through. They are the escape artists of the herding world. Mama and Akita listened to Bucky as he "sang a little song" or mumbled a little mumble and had a giggle but were not quite convinced that these were the goats for us.
To Pygmies ...
As we drove away we decided to call a few more names on Craigslist. Left a couple of messages and then got through to a young sounding girl in Mission. We followed our GPS into a very suburban looking neighbourhood. One of us said "where would you keep goats here?" and then we turned into what looked like a park entrance. We drove up a driveway to a log cabin and Out came a young woman who led us down a path towards a fenced off area with goats (several kinds) and a really fat miniature horse. We were told that the girl pygmy goat was there and the boys, her brother and another pygmy were at a camp in a petting zoo for the summer. We hoped this would make them really social and we fell in love with the little pygmy girl goat. A big happy dog had come along with us on our walk down the trail. We then headed back "up the trail" with Mama wishing she had driven down there and Akita pushing her back up it. The happy dog trying to help too by pulling on Mama's key chain. Of course the owner of the goats ... an older man came out to greet us as we got back to the truck. Mama was now spluttering and gasping and falling over from the hill walk. She put up one finger and barely caught her breath to say "one minute". They must have really wondered about these crazy city folks wanting goats. We decided to give the girl some money to hold the goats for us. They told us we could pick them up on the following Saturday and they would bring the boys in from Aldergrove. We headed out with the best intentions of working on the fencing to the pasture. We didn't get around to it though. Next we got a return call from a lady in Langley ... she would be home the next day and we could come by and view her lovely lady Boer does. Boer doe ... doesn't it sound fancy like a fine wine.
To Boer Does ...
Another person called back to say that her goats were sold, but we figured we would have enough with the six goats we had in mind. Sunday afternoon and Akita and Mama are off to pick up DY from Scout camp in Vancouver. We stopped into see the Boer Does in Langley on the way. Boy Langley is confusing, even our GPS told us lies. Last year DY and Mama had gone to pick something up in Langley and we got completely turned around in the dark. DY has a really good sense of direction, but Mama is often lost. At the time DY said to Mama "let's not move to Langley okay? ... You will never find your way home." ... He may have been right. Mama and Akita finally find the correct 6th St. and drive up to a nice farm with a pasture full of goats, horses and chickens. We knocked on the door and we met a super nice "goat lady". She calls the goats and they all walk up the fencing where she bribes them with grape leaves. She explains all kinds of interesting facts about goats and even shows us their shelter, hay feeders and grain feeders. We discuss us taking the sister goats and we tell her we need to fix our fences and could pick them up next Sunday which is her next day off. We tell her we can give her cash to hold them for us, and she tells us "No need". We promise to call her on Thursday to tell her how our fencing is coming along, then we are off to pick up DY. After picking up DY ... we tell him that we bought 6 goats. He is not happy, but as a teenage boy ... when is he ??
Which "kids" will we choose ??
Thanks for reading and welcome to our Barns,
The Lims
By the way ... check out our Facebook Page "Lim Farm"
So our normally chatty family and friends have not left us any comments ... so we decided to trudge forward anyway.
Akita ... the riding begins
One of the major reasons ... for Akita to move was for her to be around Horses. (Eventually to get her own of course). Mama and Akita went in search of riding lessons. We looked up the closest ones to BRB ... and found 3 close to home. We called them and the first one was out of business. The second no longer provided riding lessons ... strictly "horse boarding only", but was currently flooded from the recent Fraser River flooding in the neighbourhood. And the third listed an address on Halpert which was within "bike riding distance" from BRB. True to form though ... they had moved to Mission and were currently moving again. We set up a date to view the "new" location and Jen (new super coach for Akita) took us on a tour. De Novo Training had now moved to a bigger facility in Matsqui area. Not within biking distance, but still within an easy 10 min drive (unless you get stopped at a train crossing for 10+ mins). In preparation for the big move Akita had taken some riding lessons in Langley at the A&T Equestrian Centre. She had even taken a "horse first aid class" ... just in case. She loved the spring camp and did very well according to her coaches. She started her new lessons with Jen, The first Friday in August. Jen was pleasantly surprised at how much Akita already knew as a beginner. Of course anyone who knows Akita would not be surprised at her "quick learning skills". Mama, Jen and Akita all decided that the best course of action would be for Akita to do a "half lease" option. Jen had confidence in Akita's horse grooming skills and tacking up skills (putting on a saddle and bridle) ... so we started with one lesson and two practise lessons per week. Akita has done very well with these lessons even when the added responsibilities of caring for sick cats and new kittens came along. Mama barely rolls herself out of bed and makes a coffee while Akita feeds 2 dogs, 4 inside cats, 5+ barn cats, Momma Cat (Violet), and her 5 kittens (and later 6 goats). Akita was meant to be an early morning child. MamaBear was not.
From Cashmeres ...
Remember the tale of the nesting boxes in Aggasiz ... Mama had decided it was time to get some goats. Now most logical people would study goats for a bit, make them a home, fence the yard properly and then pick up animals. Not Mama ... she often puts the "cart before the horse" or in this case "the Kids before the fencing". Craigslist is hit again and Akita and Mama go out to view some "Cashmere Goats". We drive up Sumas Mountain (near where we had looked at a house to buy last year). The guy selling the goats was nice, but the goats were not very social. The male, Bucky, was said to have one job, and one job only ... to impregnate the females. Apparently he was quite good at his job. The young cashmere (about 4 months or so) was beautiful. Black in colour and looked very soft, although we could not get close enough to touch her or any of the herd in fact. We did learn something important that day though ... if a goat's head fits through a space ... they will make the rest of themselves fit through. They are the escape artists of the herding world. Mama and Akita listened to Bucky as he "sang a little song" or mumbled a little mumble and had a giggle but were not quite convinced that these were the goats for us.
To Pygmies ...
As we drove away we decided to call a few more names on Craigslist. Left a couple of messages and then got through to a young sounding girl in Mission. We followed our GPS into a very suburban looking neighbourhood. One of us said "where would you keep goats here?" and then we turned into what looked like a park entrance. We drove up a driveway to a log cabin and Out came a young woman who led us down a path towards a fenced off area with goats (several kinds) and a really fat miniature horse. We were told that the girl pygmy goat was there and the boys, her brother and another pygmy were at a camp in a petting zoo for the summer. We hoped this would make them really social and we fell in love with the little pygmy girl goat. A big happy dog had come along with us on our walk down the trail. We then headed back "up the trail" with Mama wishing she had driven down there and Akita pushing her back up it. The happy dog trying to help too by pulling on Mama's key chain. Of course the owner of the goats ... an older man came out to greet us as we got back to the truck. Mama was now spluttering and gasping and falling over from the hill walk. She put up one finger and barely caught her breath to say "one minute". They must have really wondered about these crazy city folks wanting goats. We decided to give the girl some money to hold the goats for us. They told us we could pick them up on the following Saturday and they would bring the boys in from Aldergrove. We headed out with the best intentions of working on the fencing to the pasture. We didn't get around to it though. Next we got a return call from a lady in Langley ... she would be home the next day and we could come by and view her lovely lady Boer does. Boer doe ... doesn't it sound fancy like a fine wine.
To Boer Does ...
Another person called back to say that her goats were sold, but we figured we would have enough with the six goats we had in mind. Sunday afternoon and Akita and Mama are off to pick up DY from Scout camp in Vancouver. We stopped into see the Boer Does in Langley on the way. Boy Langley is confusing, even our GPS told us lies. Last year DY and Mama had gone to pick something up in Langley and we got completely turned around in the dark. DY has a really good sense of direction, but Mama is often lost. At the time DY said to Mama "let's not move to Langley okay? ... You will never find your way home." ... He may have been right. Mama and Akita finally find the correct 6th St. and drive up to a nice farm with a pasture full of goats, horses and chickens. We knocked on the door and we met a super nice "goat lady". She calls the goats and they all walk up the fencing where she bribes them with grape leaves. She explains all kinds of interesting facts about goats and even shows us their shelter, hay feeders and grain feeders. We discuss us taking the sister goats and we tell her we need to fix our fences and could pick them up next Sunday which is her next day off. We tell her we can give her cash to hold them for us, and she tells us "No need". We promise to call her on Thursday to tell her how our fencing is coming along, then we are off to pick up DY. After picking up DY ... we tell him that we bought 6 goats. He is not happy, but as a teenage boy ... when is he ??
Which "kids" will we choose ??
Thanks for reading and welcome to our Barns,
The Lims
By the way ... check out our Facebook Page "Lim Farm"
Thursday 27 September 2012
Okay People
I know you are out there ... Leave us a comment, a praise, even a critique. We would like to hear how we are doing. Do you like the one long paragraph or the three parts ??? Would you like us to put pictures on here or save them for FaceBook ??? By the way ... we are starting a FaceBook page for the Big Red Beharrell Farm.
Check it out later this weekend.
Thanks for reading and welcome to our barns,
The Lims
Check it out later this weekend.
Thanks for reading and welcome to our barns,
The Lims
Wednesday 26 September 2012
A Hitch and Another Tractor ???
Rusty Bolts and Popped Hitches
To continue the Tale of Chilliwack we must add a little information about our knowledge about hitches. A few years or maybe 5 years back ... The Lim Family (including Kenny ... Dada Bear {daddy to his 3 little mice} and Peach {soul mate to Mama Bear}) decided to take a trip across Canada with our 19 ft travel trailer "Mama Bear's Den". Many long hours of driving in a hot car with 3 kids, a dog, and 2 grumpy parents doesn't always make for the best of trailer and hitch experiences. We would park after a long day ... backing up, fighting about backing up and crashing into things with the trailer while backing up. Finally we would get parked and often we would barely have the energy to unhitch, eat and get ready for bed. The better mornings were when we were able to leave the truck hitched to the trailer for the night. The insane mornings were the ones when we would have to unhitch the trailer at night and re-hitch it in the morning. Our trailer was old and so was its hitch ... we would generally line it up approximately then kick it or jump on it to get it to attach. We only lost the connection once over the whole trip and thanks God it was not while we were driving. We had parked and it rolled backward into a tree. Whew.
The Hitch Experts
Okay all this being said about hitches ... Mama and D-Y knew a little about faulty ones. D-Y used his skills and lowered and raised the trailer many times in order to change the tire. The true fact was that the bolts were rusty and hard to loosen. Mama and D-Y had to work together to get the old tire off. Boy we sure were glad for the "Tire Jack Thingy shaped like an X" (more commonly known as a "Lug Wrench") The Ditch jokes continued as D-Y jumped on the wrench while Mama leaned on the trailer with all her weight in strategic locations. Finally when we got it changed, the hitch decided to give us trouble. We knew it fit before we changed the tire ... so what the heck was happening now? We tried to roll the trailer back and forth on the ball ... no connection. We tried to back into the trailer with the truck ... no connection. We tried to jump on it ... a slight connection. Mama was losing it so we, (mostly Mama) decided to just hope it slipped into place while we were driving. We took off down the road from Chilliwack to Yarrow which isn't quite as close as you might think. Mama and D-Y were giggling again and fighting over sunglasses when Mama decided to hit some railroad tracks doing 50 km an hour. Okay maybe it wasn't a decision so much as a brief glance away from the road. Naturally the "slightly-Hitched Trailer" bounced off of it's small connection point and dragged along the road. Laughing and saying "of course" ... Mama pulled over and we assessed the damage. Surprisingly not much damage ... some more dents in the trailer front ... some twisting of the attached jack unit and some bending of the hitch itself. As we stood there checking it out ... a nice couple stopped and asked if we were okay. Apparently they had been behind us and watched the sparks fly. We told them we were fine and by jumping up and down on the hitch harder this time ... we got it connected. Really connected this time. By the way ... if any of you are wondering ... metal gets very hot when dragged along an asphalt road. Mama knows this cause she grabbed it to lift it onto the ball hitch (or hitch ball ... whichever that is).
Just drive across the Lawn
Through the rest of Yarrow ... Mama now drove at a slower pace. We arrived at a house with a bunch of Wooden Planter Wheelbarrows out in front. Wagon wheels, Milk Cans, and Watering Can planters were Mama's objects of desire at this location. We knocked on the front door and waited ... A big friendly dog came up and slobbered on D-Y. We heard a voice of welcome and waited a little longer. A heavy set man with a cane ambled over and greeted us ... Mama gave her usual greeting of "Howdy ... Cynthia from craigslist" D-Y isn't sure whether Mama thinks that she works for craigslist or are they just good friends? The man opened up his garage and Mama fell in love with some Amish Wagon Wheels. The difference in the Amish buggy wheels and the usual wagon wheels are the size and the materials used. The Amish wheels are almost double the height of the others and are made of Iron. The usual wheels sometimes use some iron in their construction and are mostly made of wood (which rots and decays quicker). 2 water-can planters, a wooden wheelbarrow planter, an old red milk can and two Amish buggy wheels later ... D-Y is loading up the trailer and the car. Mama barters a bit on pricing and the guy even throws in a free hanging planter full of purple petunias. D-Y continues to load everything up ... saying loudly for Mama to "really hear him" ... "We are all full up". The guy says to Mama come on out back and just look at what else I have ... maybe for next time. We amble off down a slight hill into the backyard which is full of old farming equipment (some rusty ... some painted Green and Yellow >>> John Deere colours?) Mama tells him she loves the Rusty old Equipment but our acreage is just too small. "Oh I have just what you need ... a Tractor" says the guy ... Didn't Mama just say that the property was "too small" ..... We come around a corner, and huddled under a tree are three little folk art tractors. Orange, Brown and Red ... they look like little lost orphans, and it was all Mama could do not to take them all. She chose the biggest, scruffy looking red one and back up the hill they went. Have to say though ... D-Y had been a little nervous to see Mama wandering off into the back acreage with some crazy looking guy who had just told us he was "on medication" and smelled a whole lot like Marijuana. Mama told D-Y later that she "figured she could take him because of the cane". Just as we are about to take off and were assessing how to back the trailer out of his driveway ... the guy says "just drive across the lawn ... I have to dig the whole thing up next week anyway" What a huge contrast the day had been .... from pristine driveway to "just drive across the lawn". Boy we love the country.
Thanks for reading and welcome to our barns,
The Lims
To continue the Tale of Chilliwack we must add a little information about our knowledge about hitches. A few years or maybe 5 years back ... The Lim Family (including Kenny ... Dada Bear {daddy to his 3 little mice} and Peach {soul mate to Mama Bear}) decided to take a trip across Canada with our 19 ft travel trailer "Mama Bear's Den". Many long hours of driving in a hot car with 3 kids, a dog, and 2 grumpy parents doesn't always make for the best of trailer and hitch experiences. We would park after a long day ... backing up, fighting about backing up and crashing into things with the trailer while backing up. Finally we would get parked and often we would barely have the energy to unhitch, eat and get ready for bed. The better mornings were when we were able to leave the truck hitched to the trailer for the night. The insane mornings were the ones when we would have to unhitch the trailer at night and re-hitch it in the morning. Our trailer was old and so was its hitch ... we would generally line it up approximately then kick it or jump on it to get it to attach. We only lost the connection once over the whole trip and thanks God it was not while we were driving. We had parked and it rolled backward into a tree. Whew.
The Hitch Experts
Okay all this being said about hitches ... Mama and D-Y knew a little about faulty ones. D-Y used his skills and lowered and raised the trailer many times in order to change the tire. The true fact was that the bolts were rusty and hard to loosen. Mama and D-Y had to work together to get the old tire off. Boy we sure were glad for the "Tire Jack Thingy shaped like an X" (more commonly known as a "Lug Wrench") The Ditch jokes continued as D-Y jumped on the wrench while Mama leaned on the trailer with all her weight in strategic locations. Finally when we got it changed, the hitch decided to give us trouble. We knew it fit before we changed the tire ... so what the heck was happening now? We tried to roll the trailer back and forth on the ball ... no connection. We tried to back into the trailer with the truck ... no connection. We tried to jump on it ... a slight connection. Mama was losing it so we, (mostly Mama) decided to just hope it slipped into place while we were driving. We took off down the road from Chilliwack to Yarrow which isn't quite as close as you might think. Mama and D-Y were giggling again and fighting over sunglasses when Mama decided to hit some railroad tracks doing 50 km an hour. Okay maybe it wasn't a decision so much as a brief glance away from the road. Naturally the "slightly-Hitched Trailer" bounced off of it's small connection point and dragged along the road. Laughing and saying "of course" ... Mama pulled over and we assessed the damage. Surprisingly not much damage ... some more dents in the trailer front ... some twisting of the attached jack unit and some bending of the hitch itself. As we stood there checking it out ... a nice couple stopped and asked if we were okay. Apparently they had been behind us and watched the sparks fly. We told them we were fine and by jumping up and down on the hitch harder this time ... we got it connected. Really connected this time. By the way ... if any of you are wondering ... metal gets very hot when dragged along an asphalt road. Mama knows this cause she grabbed it to lift it onto the ball hitch (or hitch ball ... whichever that is).
Just drive across the Lawn
Through the rest of Yarrow ... Mama now drove at a slower pace. We arrived at a house with a bunch of Wooden Planter Wheelbarrows out in front. Wagon wheels, Milk Cans, and Watering Can planters were Mama's objects of desire at this location. We knocked on the front door and waited ... A big friendly dog came up and slobbered on D-Y. We heard a voice of welcome and waited a little longer. A heavy set man with a cane ambled over and greeted us ... Mama gave her usual greeting of "Howdy ... Cynthia from craigslist" D-Y isn't sure whether Mama thinks that she works for craigslist or are they just good friends? The man opened up his garage and Mama fell in love with some Amish Wagon Wheels. The difference in the Amish buggy wheels and the usual wagon wheels are the size and the materials used. The Amish wheels are almost double the height of the others and are made of Iron. The usual wheels sometimes use some iron in their construction and are mostly made of wood (which rots and decays quicker). 2 water-can planters, a wooden wheelbarrow planter, an old red milk can and two Amish buggy wheels later ... D-Y is loading up the trailer and the car. Mama barters a bit on pricing and the guy even throws in a free hanging planter full of purple petunias. D-Y continues to load everything up ... saying loudly for Mama to "really hear him" ... "We are all full up". The guy says to Mama come on out back and just look at what else I have ... maybe for next time. We amble off down a slight hill into the backyard which is full of old farming equipment (some rusty ... some painted Green and Yellow >>> John Deere colours?) Mama tells him she loves the Rusty old Equipment but our acreage is just too small. "Oh I have just what you need ... a Tractor" says the guy ... Didn't Mama just say that the property was "too small" ..... We come around a corner, and huddled under a tree are three little folk art tractors. Orange, Brown and Red ... they look like little lost orphans, and it was all Mama could do not to take them all. She chose the biggest, scruffy looking red one and back up the hill they went. Have to say though ... D-Y had been a little nervous to see Mama wandering off into the back acreage with some crazy looking guy who had just told us he was "on medication" and smelled a whole lot like Marijuana. Mama told D-Y later that she "figured she could take him because of the cane". Just as we are about to take off and were assessing how to back the trailer out of his driveway ... the guy says "just drive across the lawn ... I have to dig the whole thing up next week anyway" What a huge contrast the day had been .... from pristine driveway to "just drive across the lawn". Boy we love the country.
Thanks for reading and welcome to our barns,
The Lims
Tuesday 25 September 2012
There and Back Again: a Lims tale
A Chilliwack Tractor (ok mini-Tractor)
Mama and D-Y decide to take a "quick" trip out to Chilliwack to pick up a Lawn Tractor (Kinda like a John Deere Mower without the mower blades underneath). We get out the usual GPS app on the iphone and truck off to Chilliwack. Mama's phone ... like much her world is not updated so it takes us along a back route and away we go. We brought our "trusty ... new" trailer to pick it up. We pull up to a spotless clean driveway with our "hunk-a-junk" converted tent trailer and dump out our old rusty 8 foot ramps (we sure could've used those ramps when we picked up the JD). The rusty old ramps scatter bugs and bits of wood all over the "way-too-clean" driveway. D-Y and Mama amble up to the front door and a nice 30 ish year old guy tells us to wait by the garage door. We step back down the stairs and stand in front of the garage doors. When this garage door opens ... We gotta say ... it was so clean in there ... everything was in it's place and there was a place for everything. You really could've eaten off of this floor. The guy takes a tiny screwdriver out of the drink holder on a little orange tractor. That alone should have set off bells, but Mama just made a little joke about it being "stolen if you have to start it with a screwdriver". The guy tells us that he has called the company and they no longer make keys for this model. "I was just kidding" Mama says and the guy wheels it out of his pristine garage onto the once pristine driveway (remember we have just dumped rust, dirt, bugs and wood chips onto it). He shows us how to start it ... with the mini screwdriver ... how the gears work etc. We listen intently (NOT) ... and he helps us load it up onto the trailer. Afterwards he runs into the garage ... takes a broom and dustpan from their forever homes, and cleans up the big mess we have just made with our ramps. Mama offers to sweep up while DY straps the tractor onto the trailer with bungees. The guy just waves her off and tidies up quickly. Mama and D-Y drive off knowing that he is going to run out 2 mins after we are gone with his power washer to clean up after "those hick suckers" who bought his re-built tractor without a key.
Chickens, Signs and a Horse gate (much too small)
Never wanting to waste a trip to Chilliwack ... Mama has one more pick-up planned. Onto the trusty GPS and we turn around and head off to the next stop. We arrive down a cul-de-sac where people wave at you from their front stairs and chickens pretty much run loose in the neighbourhood. We go around back of a lovely house, surrounded by friendly dogs and chickens. We hear a saw at work and hope we are heading in the right direction. We meet up with a friendly guy (of whose nationality we will later ponder), who is refinishing an old oak barrel ... the kind that whiskey or wine used to come in. He greets us with a big smile and shows us the "horse gate". Mama can see it is much too small for the pasture, but since she has already talked him down $15 in price ... we take the gate anyway ... maybe we can use it somewhere else. He walks us back out and I ask him about the "free range chickens" in the hood. He happily explains that he has chickens and so does the guy across the street. As long as they each have the right amount of chickens when they close their coops at night everyone gets along. What a contrast to the too clean ... don't talk to your neighbours yard we had just been in. Well D-Y is hungry, but Mama is nervous to leave the little orange tractor in the hunk-a-junk trailer. We pull up to a Tim Horton's where Mama can still see the trailer from the window. Mama checks her email on her phone with Tim's free wifi, and she has 2 more responses to emails. She calls one back and it is just down the road. Off we go and pick up a sign from a lady. The sign says what most women's hearts say "Chocolate doesn't ask silly Questions: Chocolate Understands" ... Am I right ladies or am I right ?? Mama is actually getting pretty good at handling the trailer, because of a trick that a guy taught her at the dump. "Watch your mirrors and whichever way the trailer turns ... turn your wheels the same way". It isn't fool proof but it works a lot of the time. So backwards and forwards a few times and we are out of there ... just one more quick check of the email and off to Yarrow we go. "Wait what ??? I thought this was just a quick trip to pick up a tractor?" asks D-Y as we pass the same Canadian Tire for the 2nd time. Nothing is ever quick with Mama at the wheel.
A Flat Tire and a Corn Field
Mama and D-Y eat some more of their Timmie's and down the road we go. After driving for about 10 mins, crossing a little bridge and stopping at a stop sign ... Mama notices the people in the car behind us are waving at us. They yell something about the trailer and Mama pulls off into the next field at the side of the road. They pull up next to us and yell "You have a flat tire on your trailer". Of course we do ... everything had gone too smoothly until then. D-Y looks up the nearest gas station on the GPS and we dump the trailer in the field and away we go. Not sure what we were going to get at the gas station ... maybe "canned air or sealant". We get to the station 10mins later and realise that it is a holiday Monday. Back to the trailer we go. We decide to go back to Canadian Tire that we had passed once or twice along the journey. We go back to the trailer, re-park it, farther into the field, out of view (like anyone would steal it, but Mama is from East Vancouver). While D-Y writes down the info from the tire, Mama drives down the road to the house that she assumes belongs to that field. She parks the truck, and knocks on the front door. As the dogs inside the house start barking .. Mama thinks OMG ... "what if this is a grow-op and they come out and shoot me just for being on their land". (Again ... remember ... Mama grew up in East Vancouver). No one answers the door and Mama waddles back to the truck and drives back to pick up D-Y. Back up the same road for about the third time .. do all roads lead back to Canadian Tire in Chilliwack? Mama comments that she is soo lucky that she brought D-Y on this adventure, cause all of the corn fields were starting to look alike and she never would have found the flat-tired trailer again. D-Y explains that all the corn fields do not look alike and the one beside us looked shorter because it was in a "ditch". So the Curse Word "Ditch" was born ... apparently "Ditch" is the Male version of a "B*tch", and D-Y and Mama got a whole lot of crazy giggles out of it being said. It couldn't have been that they were overtired and silly ... No ... it was just funny. We arrive at Canadian Tire at 5:50 pm and it closes at 6:00. Mama sends D-Y off on a wild goose chase for a "Tire Jack thingy", while she lines up to buy the tire. The three people in front of Mama are arguing about whether or not they should buy this part that the shop guy has taken about 15 mins to find for them. They find out that the piece is $13.00 and now we have to learn that the guy's car is a POS and probably not worth the money. They take the part anyway and wander slowly towards the cashier. The part's guy finds the right tire and then explains that the other "thingy" I am looking for is called a lug-wrench. As we wander off to find the lug-wrench and D-Y, Mama sees the guy put the $13.00 part back on the parts counter. (What a waste of space they were ... really). D-Y arrives back in time to find the lug wrench and off to the cashier we go. Buying a few pop, a pair of Sunglasses for Mama, a new trailer tire and oh yeah ... a lug wrench ... has just turned Mama's trailer into not quite as good a deal as it was before. When we get in the car, D-Y says "How did you explain the Tire Jack to the part's guy?". Did you say ? "Tire Jack Thingy that is shaped like an X to take off bolts?" I couldn't believe that he had explained almost word for word what I had said. Mama asked D-Y if he was "standing right behind me" when I said it. He said "I was on the other side of the store looking for the Tire-Jack" Giggling and calling each other ditches ... we drove past Canadian Tire for the 4th or was it 5th time that day. Hopefully D-Y's GPS pin would lead us back to the Flat-Tired Trailer ....
Thanks for reading and welcome to our barns,
The Lims
Mama and D-Y decide to take a "quick" trip out to Chilliwack to pick up a Lawn Tractor (Kinda like a John Deere Mower without the mower blades underneath). We get out the usual GPS app on the iphone and truck off to Chilliwack. Mama's phone ... like much her world is not updated so it takes us along a back route and away we go. We brought our "trusty ... new" trailer to pick it up. We pull up to a spotless clean driveway with our "hunk-a-junk" converted tent trailer and dump out our old rusty 8 foot ramps (we sure could've used those ramps when we picked up the JD). The rusty old ramps scatter bugs and bits of wood all over the "way-too-clean" driveway. D-Y and Mama amble up to the front door and a nice 30 ish year old guy tells us to wait by the garage door. We step back down the stairs and stand in front of the garage doors. When this garage door opens ... We gotta say ... it was so clean in there ... everything was in it's place and there was a place for everything. You really could've eaten off of this floor. The guy takes a tiny screwdriver out of the drink holder on a little orange tractor. That alone should have set off bells, but Mama just made a little joke about it being "stolen if you have to start it with a screwdriver". The guy tells us that he has called the company and they no longer make keys for this model. "I was just kidding" Mama says and the guy wheels it out of his pristine garage onto the once pristine driveway (remember we have just dumped rust, dirt, bugs and wood chips onto it). He shows us how to start it ... with the mini screwdriver ... how the gears work etc. We listen intently (NOT) ... and he helps us load it up onto the trailer. Afterwards he runs into the garage ... takes a broom and dustpan from their forever homes, and cleans up the big mess we have just made with our ramps. Mama offers to sweep up while DY straps the tractor onto the trailer with bungees. The guy just waves her off and tidies up quickly. Mama and D-Y drive off knowing that he is going to run out 2 mins after we are gone with his power washer to clean up after "those hick suckers" who bought his re-built tractor without a key.
Chickens, Signs and a Horse gate (much too small)
Never wanting to waste a trip to Chilliwack ... Mama has one more pick-up planned. Onto the trusty GPS and we turn around and head off to the next stop. We arrive down a cul-de-sac where people wave at you from their front stairs and chickens pretty much run loose in the neighbourhood. We go around back of a lovely house, surrounded by friendly dogs and chickens. We hear a saw at work and hope we are heading in the right direction. We meet up with a friendly guy (of whose nationality we will later ponder), who is refinishing an old oak barrel ... the kind that whiskey or wine used to come in. He greets us with a big smile and shows us the "horse gate". Mama can see it is much too small for the pasture, but since she has already talked him down $15 in price ... we take the gate anyway ... maybe we can use it somewhere else. He walks us back out and I ask him about the "free range chickens" in the hood. He happily explains that he has chickens and so does the guy across the street. As long as they each have the right amount of chickens when they close their coops at night everyone gets along. What a contrast to the too clean ... don't talk to your neighbours yard we had just been in. Well D-Y is hungry, but Mama is nervous to leave the little orange tractor in the hunk-a-junk trailer. We pull up to a Tim Horton's where Mama can still see the trailer from the window. Mama checks her email on her phone with Tim's free wifi, and she has 2 more responses to emails. She calls one back and it is just down the road. Off we go and pick up a sign from a lady. The sign says what most women's hearts say "Chocolate doesn't ask silly Questions: Chocolate Understands" ... Am I right ladies or am I right ?? Mama is actually getting pretty good at handling the trailer, because of a trick that a guy taught her at the dump. "Watch your mirrors and whichever way the trailer turns ... turn your wheels the same way". It isn't fool proof but it works a lot of the time. So backwards and forwards a few times and we are out of there ... just one more quick check of the email and off to Yarrow we go. "Wait what ??? I thought this was just a quick trip to pick up a tractor?" asks D-Y as we pass the same Canadian Tire for the 2nd time. Nothing is ever quick with Mama at the wheel.
A Flat Tire and a Corn Field
Mama and D-Y eat some more of their Timmie's and down the road we go. After driving for about 10 mins, crossing a little bridge and stopping at a stop sign ... Mama notices the people in the car behind us are waving at us. They yell something about the trailer and Mama pulls off into the next field at the side of the road. They pull up next to us and yell "You have a flat tire on your trailer". Of course we do ... everything had gone too smoothly until then. D-Y looks up the nearest gas station on the GPS and we dump the trailer in the field and away we go. Not sure what we were going to get at the gas station ... maybe "canned air or sealant". We get to the station 10mins later and realise that it is a holiday Monday. Back to the trailer we go. We decide to go back to Canadian Tire that we had passed once or twice along the journey. We go back to the trailer, re-park it, farther into the field, out of view (like anyone would steal it, but Mama is from East Vancouver). While D-Y writes down the info from the tire, Mama drives down the road to the house that she assumes belongs to that field. She parks the truck, and knocks on the front door. As the dogs inside the house start barking .. Mama thinks OMG ... "what if this is a grow-op and they come out and shoot me just for being on their land". (Again ... remember ... Mama grew up in East Vancouver). No one answers the door and Mama waddles back to the truck and drives back to pick up D-Y. Back up the same road for about the third time .. do all roads lead back to Canadian Tire in Chilliwack? Mama comments that she is soo lucky that she brought D-Y on this adventure, cause all of the corn fields were starting to look alike and she never would have found the flat-tired trailer again. D-Y explains that all the corn fields do not look alike and the one beside us looked shorter because it was in a "ditch". So the Curse Word "Ditch" was born ... apparently "Ditch" is the Male version of a "B*tch", and D-Y and Mama got a whole lot of crazy giggles out of it being said. It couldn't have been that they were overtired and silly ... No ... it was just funny. We arrive at Canadian Tire at 5:50 pm and it closes at 6:00. Mama sends D-Y off on a wild goose chase for a "Tire Jack thingy", while she lines up to buy the tire. The three people in front of Mama are arguing about whether or not they should buy this part that the shop guy has taken about 15 mins to find for them. They find out that the piece is $13.00 and now we have to learn that the guy's car is a POS and probably not worth the money. They take the part anyway and wander slowly towards the cashier. The part's guy finds the right tire and then explains that the other "thingy" I am looking for is called a lug-wrench. As we wander off to find the lug-wrench and D-Y, Mama sees the guy put the $13.00 part back on the parts counter. (What a waste of space they were ... really). D-Y arrives back in time to find the lug wrench and off to the cashier we go. Buying a few pop, a pair of Sunglasses for Mama, a new trailer tire and oh yeah ... a lug wrench ... has just turned Mama's trailer into not quite as good a deal as it was before. When we get in the car, D-Y says "How did you explain the Tire Jack to the part's guy?". Did you say ? "Tire Jack Thingy that is shaped like an X to take off bolts?" I couldn't believe that he had explained almost word for word what I had said. Mama asked D-Y if he was "standing right behind me" when I said it. He said "I was on the other side of the store looking for the Tire-Jack" Giggling and calling each other ditches ... we drove past Canadian Tire for the 4th or was it 5th time that day. Hopefully D-Y's GPS pin would lead us back to the Flat-Tired Trailer ....
Thanks for reading and welcome to our barns,
The Lims
Saturday 22 September 2012
Bats, Trailers, and Boxes ... Oh My
Delving Deeper into the Valley
Out in the Valley ... we have alot of mosquitoes. Some are small and some are almost the size of bats or it would seem like it when they eat you alive at night in the summer. A little known fact it that "bats can consume up to 1200 mosquitoes in an hour"... reading this fact we decided to encourage our little black bat (that Akita called to the barn) to stick around. Onto craigslist again ... we found a guy in Dewdney who built bat boxes! We drove out there by Lougheed Highway because we were on our way to Agassiz to look at nesting boxes for chickens. A tough looking tattooed guy came out to meet us when we got there ... he was great ... taught us all about; how to paint and where to hang our bat boxes and even how high to hang them. Never judge a book by its cover. He told us to email him anytime if we forgot what he had told us. On to Lougheed Highway we continued our journey towards Agassiz, it is a loong way when you take the back Highway. We decided to stop into a Deli on the main strip for lunch and then we discovered ... STROOPIES. For all those non-Danish readers and eaters ... Stroopies are syrup-soaked waffle cookies. OMG they are Delicious ... we bought 2 cases of packages. I guess we should say who is on this adventure ... Mama, D-Y and Akita. It's D-Y's fault that everyone who tries Stroopies is instantly addicted ... apparently he had something like these "cookies" in Europe. After lunch we headed off to meet up with the coolest chicken lady (the woman selling the nesting boxes). She gave Akita and Mama a quick tour of her little hobby farm. She showed us her chick nurseries, her heritage chickens and her very fat goats. She told us a couple of funny stories about her goats magically escaping the fences ... how one minute they were in their yard and the next thing she knew they were eating her rosebuds behind her in the next section of the yard. That's when Mama decided it was time to start getting goats. This story however is about nesting boxes and chickens ... (goats come later). She finally showed us the nesting boxes and like usual Mama had no spacial skills and thought that this huge wooden box would fit into the back of our SUV. D-Y and Akita knew that it wouldn't fit but dutifully carried it out to the truck. When Mama and the chicken lady got the huge box all the way across the yard to the car, they decided that it wouldn't fit. We put it off to the side and the lady offered to deliver the box with her pickup truck the next day. D-Y then offered the lady a Stroopie (another victim down). Oh that generous mischievous boy! We left Agassiz by the no. 1 Highway this time. We drove about a third of the way home when we got a phone call about a utility trailer ... if we came tonight to get it ... we would get it cheap. We did a U-turn on the Freeway ... no just kidding ... we took the next exit, turned around and headed back towards Chiliwack. True to form .... nothing goes smooth when it comes to The Lims. We arrive at the people's house and the ball on our hitch is the wrong size. We head off to the nearest auto part store to get a smaller hitch ball. (The truck had been too small for the chicken boxes and now its ball(s) were too big ... we will let you come up with your own jokes about "size mattering"). We arrived at the store just before it closed ... whew ... another close call. Back to the couple's house and the guy attached the new hitch-ball. The trailer now cost us almost what we had saved by coming early to pick it up. We hitched it up and off down the Freeway we go. We had to take it slow, annoying a few drivers along the way. This was not the usual utility trailer ... this was an old renovated tent trailer. Nothing normal for The Lims. We toyed with the idea of going back to pick up the nesting boxes but since we had already arranged delivery, we decided not to. Our 2 hour nesting box pick up had now taken 6 hours and we arrived home with 2 bat boxes, a utility trailer and no nesting boxes. Another day on the farm well spent ... Teehee
Thanks for reading and welcome to our barns,
The Lims
Out in the Valley ... we have alot of mosquitoes. Some are small and some are almost the size of bats or it would seem like it when they eat you alive at night in the summer. A little known fact it that "bats can consume up to 1200 mosquitoes in an hour"... reading this fact we decided to encourage our little black bat (that Akita called to the barn) to stick around. Onto craigslist again ... we found a guy in Dewdney who built bat boxes! We drove out there by Lougheed Highway because we were on our way to Agassiz to look at nesting boxes for chickens. A tough looking tattooed guy came out to meet us when we got there ... he was great ... taught us all about; how to paint and where to hang our bat boxes and even how high to hang them. Never judge a book by its cover. He told us to email him anytime if we forgot what he had told us. On to Lougheed Highway we continued our journey towards Agassiz, it is a loong way when you take the back Highway. We decided to stop into a Deli on the main strip for lunch and then we discovered ... STROOPIES. For all those non-Danish readers and eaters ... Stroopies are syrup-soaked waffle cookies. OMG they are Delicious ... we bought 2 cases of packages. I guess we should say who is on this adventure ... Mama, D-Y and Akita. It's D-Y's fault that everyone who tries Stroopies is instantly addicted ... apparently he had something like these "cookies" in Europe. After lunch we headed off to meet up with the coolest chicken lady (the woman selling the nesting boxes). She gave Akita and Mama a quick tour of her little hobby farm. She showed us her chick nurseries, her heritage chickens and her very fat goats. She told us a couple of funny stories about her goats magically escaping the fences ... how one minute they were in their yard and the next thing she knew they were eating her rosebuds behind her in the next section of the yard. That's when Mama decided it was time to start getting goats. This story however is about nesting boxes and chickens ... (goats come later). She finally showed us the nesting boxes and like usual Mama had no spacial skills and thought that this huge wooden box would fit into the back of our SUV. D-Y and Akita knew that it wouldn't fit but dutifully carried it out to the truck. When Mama and the chicken lady got the huge box all the way across the yard to the car, they decided that it wouldn't fit. We put it off to the side and the lady offered to deliver the box with her pickup truck the next day. D-Y then offered the lady a Stroopie (another victim down). Oh that generous mischievous boy! We left Agassiz by the no. 1 Highway this time. We drove about a third of the way home when we got a phone call about a utility trailer ... if we came tonight to get it ... we would get it cheap. We did a U-turn on the Freeway ... no just kidding ... we took the next exit, turned around and headed back towards Chiliwack. True to form .... nothing goes smooth when it comes to The Lims. We arrive at the people's house and the ball on our hitch is the wrong size. We head off to the nearest auto part store to get a smaller hitch ball. (The truck had been too small for the chicken boxes and now its ball(s) were too big ... we will let you come up with your own jokes about "size mattering"). We arrived at the store just before it closed ... whew ... another close call. Back to the couple's house and the guy attached the new hitch-ball. The trailer now cost us almost what we had saved by coming early to pick it up. We hitched it up and off down the Freeway we go. We had to take it slow, annoying a few drivers along the way. This was not the usual utility trailer ... this was an old renovated tent trailer. Nothing normal for The Lims. We toyed with the idea of going back to pick up the nesting boxes but since we had already arranged delivery, we decided not to. Our 2 hour nesting box pick up had now taken 6 hours and we arrived home with 2 bat boxes, a utility trailer and no nesting boxes. Another day on the farm well spent ... Teehee
Thanks for reading and welcome to our barns,
The Lims
Wednesday 19 September 2012
Violent Violet ... now a MOM
Never a Dull Moment
Lisa C (Mama's adopted little sister), and her family came out to visit and check out the BRB. We had a great BBQ thanks to the Boy Child and his cooking skills. They spent the night and we all had a fun evening. The next morning following many coffee ... Akita ran downstairs with exciting news. It seems that our now newest resident of Akita's space had figured it was about time to pop out those kittens. Violet was crying and fidgeting and trying to find a safe space in the room. Apparently she thought that a safe space was in behind a pile of moving boxes. Mama grabbed her and placed her in the box of towels that DY and Akita had prepared for her. She settled into the box and Akita and Sierra (Akita's adopted twin) settled down to wait like expectant fathers. It wasn't too long til No. 1 was born, a little grey tabby who looked alot like Mom. Lisa C. was in love with this kitten instantly. Violet didn't seem to have much trouble with the birth and knew exactly what to do. We will spare you the details cause they really were kinda gorry. No. 2 was more painful ... she cried out as a larger black kitten pushed into the world. We (now Lisa C, Sierra, Akita, and Mama were in the room) made a few jokes about it being a Jamaican Kitten named "Hey Mon". No. 3 entered the world when no one was paying attention ... A tiny little runt with orange and brown colouring that Mama thought might be a Tortoiseshell. Violet took a break right after No. 4 was born and Mama was a little worried that Violet wasn't going to break open the sack. At the count of 22 seconds ... Violet bit the sac open and a larger gray kitten mewled into the world loudly. Violet looked so very tired ... we spent time encouraging her and didn't even notice as No. 5, a small orange bundle entered the world. Although it didn't seem that long for it all to take place ... the whole miracle or the 5 little miracles took about 5 and a half hours. DY and Azad (one of DY's buddies) had peeked in once or twice. Geoff (Lisa's guy) had brought Avery (Mama's Godchild) in and out a few times, but every time he cried ... Violet became very Agitated. Lisa had kept everyone fed and comfortable ... so that Mama and Akita could nurse and watch their "little mama" give birth 5 separate times. Aren't all you Mother's out there glad you only had one or two at a time. Whew ... we were exhausted just watching.
Washing in an Extreme Way
DY put it together, figured it all out and so of course we had to try it. We dragged it out to the barn, hooked it up to the power and the hose and OMG Power washing is addictive and soo much fun. We all (DY, Akita & Mama) took turns power washing the "Chicken Coop" area and the two smaller stalls of the Barn. WOW were there ever a lot of cobwebs and mashed in animal leftovers. Akita and Mama worked on lists of "too do" things of what to fix etc. and swept off the floors. DY dragged the junk out of the barn by the side door. We continued to take turns with the Power Washer until none of us could lift our arms without pain. We finished up ... thinking to ourselves that we were finally getting some of the outside stuff done. Mama closed the barn door and Akita said "I saw something fall as you closed the door" DY came to check it out and it was a bat ... a tiny little black bat. Mama knew there were bats ... she had seen them fly past the front room windows ... in the early dusk but seeing it soo little and cute was yet another new experience to chalk up to "Farm Living". Pictures were taken and Akita jumped as the bat flew towards her, bounced off of her and flew away. Those animal whisperer powers at work again. Being exhausted ... We never so happy to have a Hot Tub to get into afterwards.
Thanks for reading and welcome to our barns,
The Lims
Lisa C (Mama's adopted little sister), and her family came out to visit and check out the BRB. We had a great BBQ thanks to the Boy Child and his cooking skills. They spent the night and we all had a fun evening. The next morning following many coffee ... Akita ran downstairs with exciting news. It seems that our now newest resident of Akita's space had figured it was about time to pop out those kittens. Violet was crying and fidgeting and trying to find a safe space in the room. Apparently she thought that a safe space was in behind a pile of moving boxes. Mama grabbed her and placed her in the box of towels that DY and Akita had prepared for her. She settled into the box and Akita and Sierra (Akita's adopted twin) settled down to wait like expectant fathers. It wasn't too long til No. 1 was born, a little grey tabby who looked alot like Mom. Lisa C. was in love with this kitten instantly. Violet didn't seem to have much trouble with the birth and knew exactly what to do. We will spare you the details cause they really were kinda gorry. No. 2 was more painful ... she cried out as a larger black kitten pushed into the world. We (now Lisa C, Sierra, Akita, and Mama were in the room) made a few jokes about it being a Jamaican Kitten named "Hey Mon". No. 3 entered the world when no one was paying attention ... A tiny little runt with orange and brown colouring that Mama thought might be a Tortoiseshell. Violet took a break right after No. 4 was born and Mama was a little worried that Violet wasn't going to break open the sack. At the count of 22 seconds ... Violet bit the sac open and a larger gray kitten mewled into the world loudly. Violet looked so very tired ... we spent time encouraging her and didn't even notice as No. 5, a small orange bundle entered the world. Although it didn't seem that long for it all to take place ... the whole miracle or the 5 little miracles took about 5 and a half hours. DY and Azad (one of DY's buddies) had peeked in once or twice. Geoff (Lisa's guy) had brought Avery (Mama's Godchild) in and out a few times, but every time he cried ... Violet became very Agitated. Lisa had kept everyone fed and comfortable ... so that Mama and Akita could nurse and watch their "little mama" give birth 5 separate times. Aren't all you Mother's out there glad you only had one or two at a time. Whew ... we were exhausted just watching.
Washing in an Extreme Way
DY put it together, figured it all out and so of course we had to try it. We dragged it out to the barn, hooked it up to the power and the hose and OMG Power washing is addictive and soo much fun. We all (DY, Akita & Mama) took turns power washing the "Chicken Coop" area and the two smaller stalls of the Barn. WOW were there ever a lot of cobwebs and mashed in animal leftovers. Akita and Mama worked on lists of "too do" things of what to fix etc. and swept off the floors. DY dragged the junk out of the barn by the side door. We continued to take turns with the Power Washer until none of us could lift our arms without pain. We finished up ... thinking to ourselves that we were finally getting some of the outside stuff done. Mama closed the barn door and Akita said "I saw something fall as you closed the door" DY came to check it out and it was a bat ... a tiny little black bat. Mama knew there were bats ... she had seen them fly past the front room windows ... in the early dusk but seeing it soo little and cute was yet another new experience to chalk up to "Farm Living". Pictures were taken and Akita jumped as the bat flew towards her, bounced off of her and flew away. Those animal whisperer powers at work again. Being exhausted ... We never so happy to have a Hot Tub to get into afterwards.
Thanks for reading and welcome to our barns,
The Lims
Tuesday 18 September 2012
Living in BRB ... or are we?
Ahhhhhh soooo easy
On a Friday afternoon 4 storage Pods arrived full of more of The Lim's hoardings. We had a visit from Malika and Kurt (Malika's long term beau) to help rearrange and empty part of the garage. Thank God for Malika's spacial skills. We emptied two Pods in one afternoon and then Kurt had to go back to city living and his real job. The next day mama was sick and asked us to rearrange the two remaining Pods. When we were done we told mama that we moved some things around but what she didn't know was that we emptied one and a half of the Pods. When mama felt better she went to see what needed to be done and found that the Pods were almost empty "oooo I love my children" yelled mama. We finished emptying the half Pod and the garage was full again. Tuesday morning the 4 empty Pods were picked up by the company and they asked us how our move went. Akita and mama cracked up and told them about The Move From Hell. They said "guess you didn't use us or it would have been ... Ahhh sooo easy".
Akita The Animal Whisperer
Awhile after moving out the old owners of BRB arrived at the door ... the husband needed a place to stay for a few nights while they emptied the rest of their belongings out of BRB and into the machine shop. It was kinda nice inheriting a guy to fix things for the first little while until we found our way around the place. The first day Rich (The husband/ old owner) brought a frog to Akita and said "ever since I have been hanging around i have never seen one of these here". Akita and Dragana's boys Milan and Charlie (mini warriors) created a habitat for the frog out of our old pond with water, leaves, grass and dirt. Dragana (coolest woman ever) sat and had coffee with mama. The next day Rich arrived with a salamander and said "wow you really are The Animal Whisperer!". About a week later while playing with our barn cats (of which we inherited 7 of) Akita noticed that the young kitten was hogging all of the food and might be pregnant. We were told before moving in that the SPCA had done a TNR (Trap Neuter and Release) program in the neighbourhood with the barn cats 2 years ago ... guess they missed a few. so now we arrived with 2 dogs, 4 cats and two kids (not goats they come later). Here we are with 1 toad, 1 salamander, 7 barn cats (possibly 1 pregnant) plus all that we came with. Akita goes to a sleepover and mama arrives home to find another toad in the garage ... "her powers are working even when she isn't home" says mama.
Saphron and Emmie Kitty switch Roles
Saphron has always been Malika's cat ... she was supposed to be Akita's cat (thus the name ... Saphron ... a yellow spice), but cat's choose their slaves. So Saphron choose Malika ... sleeping on a pillow next to her head in the old house ... Malika's loft bed. Yes it killed Malika's allergies, but still she slept where she wanted (Cats have Slaves ... Dogs have Masters). Saphron has always been a social (talks a lot), easy going (when she gets her demands fulfilled ... "OUT ... NOW") and sometimes even downright cuddly.
Emmie Kitty was pretty much the opposite kind of cat. She sat above Mama's bed at night mumbling demon incantations (mmmnnnn munumba grrba grraa or some such things). Mama would often have to ask Akita for help as she woke up to Emmie's claws in her throat ... "Emmie ... down" was all Akita had to say and down she would hop and under the bed she would hide. To save Mama's life ... The vet allowed Emmie to have her front claws removed. (the vet's office had been caring for her through all her psycho-fabric-eating-demon-incanting ways). the vet's office used to put up a "caution" sign in her kennel whenever she boarded there. Following her declawing ... Emmie started to slowly change her ways. She began sleeping in Mama's bed more and more often (usually on Mama's pillow - above her head). She also started "teaching sock school" .... she would carry a sock around in the bedroom and often make small piles of socks and "talk to them". "Nooo Nooo Ohh Nooo" she would recite ... when no one was looking.
Moving to BRB has had an interesting effect on both these cats. Saphron now fights with all the other cats in the house, talks a lot less and really does not enjoy cuddles. She even peed all over DY's bed when Malika slept over to show her displeasure at her "bringing Kurt here". On the up side ... Shauna (longtime forever friend) suggested "Calm" cat food for Saffy and it seems to be helping.
Emmie walks around the entire house (in the old house she hardly left Akita and Mama's Bedroom) and hisses at all the other animals to tell them she is boss. She comes downstairs at around 10:30pm to bring Mama to bed or stands at the top of the stairs and yells "Mamma, Mamma R u?" (we think she is saying Mama where are you?) or "Nooo Mamma Nooo". And the vet's office didn't even have to use the "Caution" sign on her last visit.
Thanks for reading and welcome to our barns,
The Lims
On a Friday afternoon 4 storage Pods arrived full of more of The Lim's hoardings. We had a visit from Malika and Kurt (Malika's long term beau) to help rearrange and empty part of the garage. Thank God for Malika's spacial skills. We emptied two Pods in one afternoon and then Kurt had to go back to city living and his real job. The next day mama was sick and asked us to rearrange the two remaining Pods. When we were done we told mama that we moved some things around but what she didn't know was that we emptied one and a half of the Pods. When mama felt better she went to see what needed to be done and found that the Pods were almost empty "oooo I love my children" yelled mama. We finished emptying the half Pod and the garage was full again. Tuesday morning the 4 empty Pods were picked up by the company and they asked us how our move went. Akita and mama cracked up and told them about The Move From Hell. They said "guess you didn't use us or it would have been ... Ahhh sooo easy".
Akita The Animal Whisperer
Awhile after moving out the old owners of BRB arrived at the door ... the husband needed a place to stay for a few nights while they emptied the rest of their belongings out of BRB and into the machine shop. It was kinda nice inheriting a guy to fix things for the first little while until we found our way around the place. The first day Rich (The husband/ old owner) brought a frog to Akita and said "ever since I have been hanging around i have never seen one of these here". Akita and Dragana's boys Milan and Charlie (mini warriors) created a habitat for the frog out of our old pond with water, leaves, grass and dirt. Dragana (coolest woman ever) sat and had coffee with mama. The next day Rich arrived with a salamander and said "wow you really are The Animal Whisperer!". About a week later while playing with our barn cats (of which we inherited 7 of) Akita noticed that the young kitten was hogging all of the food and might be pregnant. We were told before moving in that the SPCA had done a TNR (Trap Neuter and Release) program in the neighbourhood with the barn cats 2 years ago ... guess they missed a few. so now we arrived with 2 dogs, 4 cats and two kids (not goats they come later). Here we are with 1 toad, 1 salamander, 7 barn cats (possibly 1 pregnant) plus all that we came with. Akita goes to a sleepover and mama arrives home to find another toad in the garage ... "her powers are working even when she isn't home" says mama.
Saphron and Emmie Kitty switch Roles
Saphron has always been Malika's cat ... she was supposed to be Akita's cat (thus the name ... Saphron ... a yellow spice), but cat's choose their slaves. So Saphron choose Malika ... sleeping on a pillow next to her head in the old house ... Malika's loft bed. Yes it killed Malika's allergies, but still she slept where she wanted (Cats have Slaves ... Dogs have Masters). Saphron has always been a social (talks a lot), easy going (when she gets her demands fulfilled ... "OUT ... NOW") and sometimes even downright cuddly.
Emmie Kitty was pretty much the opposite kind of cat. She sat above Mama's bed at night mumbling demon incantations (mmmnnnn munumba grrba grraa or some such things). Mama would often have to ask Akita for help as she woke up to Emmie's claws in her throat ... "Emmie ... down" was all Akita had to say and down she would hop and under the bed she would hide. To save Mama's life ... The vet allowed Emmie to have her front claws removed. (the vet's office had been caring for her through all her psycho-fabric-eating-demon-incanting ways). the vet's office used to put up a "caution" sign in her kennel whenever she boarded there. Following her declawing ... Emmie started to slowly change her ways. She began sleeping in Mama's bed more and more often (usually on Mama's pillow - above her head). She also started "teaching sock school" .... she would carry a sock around in the bedroom and often make small piles of socks and "talk to them". "Nooo Nooo Ohh Nooo" she would recite ... when no one was looking.
Moving to BRB has had an interesting effect on both these cats. Saphron now fights with all the other cats in the house, talks a lot less and really does not enjoy cuddles. She even peed all over DY's bed when Malika slept over to show her displeasure at her "bringing Kurt here". On the up side ... Shauna (longtime forever friend) suggested "Calm" cat food for Saffy and it seems to be helping.
Emmie walks around the entire house (in the old house she hardly left Akita and Mama's Bedroom) and hisses at all the other animals to tell them she is boss. She comes downstairs at around 10:30pm to bring Mama to bed or stands at the top of the stairs and yells "Mamma, Mamma R u?" (we think she is saying Mama where are you?) or "Nooo Mamma Nooo". And the vet's office didn't even have to use the "Caution" sign on her last visit.
Thanks for reading and welcome to our barns,
The Lims
Monday 17 September 2012
Welcome to the Middle
Welcome ... our story starts in the middle where all good stories begin. Crazy happenings are constant at the Big Red Beharrell.
This is the beginning of our farm adventure ... The Move From Hell,
Thanks to the old owners of Big Red Beharrell (BRB) we were allowed to move a few things in earlier than our possession date of July 2nd, 2012. Otherwise we would still be moving in. 2 huge truck loads later ... our house still has a ton of stuff to move. Because of all their moving company screw ups, Malika (the first warrior child) went all "Georgia girl on their Donkeys" and got another truck for cheap. So one more large truck full and many many many small truck loads later we finally have most of our stuff (minus four storage units) into the building ... well mostly the garage. No thanks to the moving company that moved it ... or to the 5000 dollar moving bill ... arrrghhh. We do however want to say a real thank you to all those who came to the rescue and worked up until our 12 o'clock deadline on July 2nd, 2012. The backyard was full of stuff, but at least the Big Blue House was empty. Well at least it wasn't raining .... and then it did.
And now the fun begins
Akita (youngest warrior) and Cynthia (mamabear) decided that 3/4 of an acre needed a John Deere ride on mower ... so mama got on craigslist and found one in Langley. We rented a UHaul trailer and went off to pick it up. The guy detached the blower unit and his son drove it onto the trailer using their ramps (their ramps ... that is important). Akita and mama merrily drove it home ... then we realised that we had no ramps to take it off the trailer. We tried to rig some up with planks of wood which slid sideways as we reversed off the trailer. We then tried some wooden ramps we found on the side of the shop ... they slid backwards from under the trailer of the John Deere ... almost taking mama and the JD sideways off the UHaul. We then detached the bagger unit from the JD and retried the planks of wood and the wooden ramps together. Mama drove in reverse at top speed and we finally made it off the UHaul!!! Round 1 complete ... we have a mower! (but it is now in pieces and we have no idea how to put it back together).
Next adventure: D-Y gets home
D-Y (middle boy - 2nd warrior) decided to spend our move in Ontario (lucky him). On the day he came home Akita and mama decided it was time to mow the lawn. After a struggle putting the mower back together we finally started to mow the lawn. We stalled it ... couldn't figure out how to raise and lower the mower deck ... never mind how to turn on the mower option. We finally got it figured out and mama saw a screw in the front tire (thinking in her head ... don't pull this out) she pulled it out. Akita took a turn and the JD was not responding to her skills. So mama took over and promptly crashed the JD, with a now flat front tire into the raspberry bushes. Akita got D-Y and he lifted the JD off the first wire and raspberry bush and got on and crashed into the next bush. So the lawn had a bad haircut for a week until we got a chance to mess with it again. One new tire and a fix up later ... we mowed the lawn a better haircut.
We hope you have enjoyed our first few adventures ... more to come very soon.
Thanks and welcome to our barns,
The Lims
This is the beginning of our farm adventure ... The Move From Hell,
Thanks to the old owners of Big Red Beharrell (BRB) we were allowed to move a few things in earlier than our possession date of July 2nd, 2012. Otherwise we would still be moving in. 2 huge truck loads later ... our house still has a ton of stuff to move. Because of all their moving company screw ups, Malika (the first warrior child) went all "Georgia girl on their Donkeys" and got another truck for cheap. So one more large truck full and many many many small truck loads later we finally have most of our stuff (minus four storage units) into the building ... well mostly the garage. No thanks to the moving company that moved it ... or to the 5000 dollar moving bill ... arrrghhh. We do however want to say a real thank you to all those who came to the rescue and worked up until our 12 o'clock deadline on July 2nd, 2012. The backyard was full of stuff, but at least the Big Blue House was empty. Well at least it wasn't raining .... and then it did.
And now the fun begins
Akita (youngest warrior) and Cynthia (mamabear) decided that 3/4 of an acre needed a John Deere ride on mower ... so mama got on craigslist and found one in Langley. We rented a UHaul trailer and went off to pick it up. The guy detached the blower unit and his son drove it onto the trailer using their ramps (their ramps ... that is important). Akita and mama merrily drove it home ... then we realised that we had no ramps to take it off the trailer. We tried to rig some up with planks of wood which slid sideways as we reversed off the trailer. We then tried some wooden ramps we found on the side of the shop ... they slid backwards from under the trailer of the John Deere ... almost taking mama and the JD sideways off the UHaul. We then detached the bagger unit from the JD and retried the planks of wood and the wooden ramps together. Mama drove in reverse at top speed and we finally made it off the UHaul!!! Round 1 complete ... we have a mower! (but it is now in pieces and we have no idea how to put it back together).
Next adventure: D-Y gets home
D-Y (middle boy - 2nd warrior) decided to spend our move in Ontario (lucky him). On the day he came home Akita and mama decided it was time to mow the lawn. After a struggle putting the mower back together we finally started to mow the lawn. We stalled it ... couldn't figure out how to raise and lower the mower deck ... never mind how to turn on the mower option. We finally got it figured out and mama saw a screw in the front tire (thinking in her head ... don't pull this out) she pulled it out. Akita took a turn and the JD was not responding to her skills. So mama took over and promptly crashed the JD, with a now flat front tire into the raspberry bushes. Akita got D-Y and he lifted the JD off the first wire and raspberry bush and got on and crashed into the next bush. So the lawn had a bad haircut for a week until we got a chance to mess with it again. One new tire and a fix up later ... we mowed the lawn a better haircut.
We hope you have enjoyed our first few adventures ... more to come very soon.
Thanks and welcome to our barns,
The Lims
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