Saturday 8 September 2012

Halliburton Hills Homestead in Ontario, the # 3 blog

I will have to figure out how to clean up my site.  I can't seem to match the browns behind the lettering and don't want any that are different from the bigger background I chose. 

I found a place that said I could add 10 e-mail addresses for folk to get an immediate copy of each new blog.  That seems egotistical to me.  Who would care?  Who would want to read my journals, except the folk around the world that asked to be on my list in the first place, other bloggers.  My relatives don't want to have my long blogs going into their mailboxes every few days, even to look at the pictures.  We actually keep up well on regular e-mail with photos.  That is partly why I don't understand Facebook.  So if you start getting these and want to just look them up for yourself  at     
www.krunn.blogspot.com     when you have time, I would find that reasonable and sensible.  Let me know and I will cross you off the e-mail list.  There are a few others who  have said they would like the ease of not having to go to a blogspot site and just scan them in their inboxes.  I am very flexible and easy on this issue.  You will not be able to hurt my feelings.  I won't even punch you the next time we meet in real life.  hee hee



Dave and Cheryl have done a tasteful and functional job of re-building and restoring the old parts of the homestead site that still had a lot of character.   They had to learn a lot about old fashioned skills, like masonry.  They did a good job of decorating their former log cabin, while keeping the furniture in keeping with the era.  They inherited a few good Canadiana antiques, which adds to the cachet of their home.





The above heritage seed tomato was being grown in the hothouse but is not in Dave's repetoire.  Heritage tomatoes are Cheyl's bailiwick.   Cheryl was in the Yukon visiting their son.  He didn't know the variety and so we went along to check out his favorite rooster, an Oricana with 3 hens who are Golden Phoenix.  It is so good to see chickens out in an unfenced place.  "Lonesome" the rooster leads them.  The free-range cage???? is the top right corner apparatus that can be moved when the grass gets bare.  Lonsome and  his girls just roam.  But Lonesome is also good about taking his girls in under the big old barn to their roosts each night.  Watching them is super-good Indian TV for us old folks.  We start to give the hens names and notice quirks in their personalities and .....and is the next step is taking them to the vet for a cold.....or a hangnail........Old Man recoils at that kind of thinking.
Here is a lovely coop built by Dave and installed under the old heritage barn.  I went in after my walk one day and found a few free eggs.  I don't know why that thrills us all so.  But there is something magical about what hens do.  And Old Man loves to fry them.
The rooster is an Oricana?  and the hens are Golden Phoenix.  The heritage pigs love to be scratched and come from under the trees to talk to Dave.  But then he talks to roosters too.  Maybe he talks to the tomatoes also. I will ask him. 
We always enjoy visiting pigs but these are a heritage breed called Tamworth Reds.  They are a funny thing for vegetarians to raise. They follow the Thrive Diet as in the book by Brendan Brazier and claim it has really helped them.  The pigs are a heritage breed and the meat is sold.  And Dave admits that about every so often he will have a bit of meat. These pigs didn't smell bad but maybe that is because it is not a pen, it is more like a pasture with brush and trees to root around in.
I love this place as it is so quiet and a kind of solitary-heaven.  I must take more outside photos of the old barn.

11 comments:

  1. Great blog... It's a gorgeous place and it's always nice to see animals having a good life.

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  2. The farm does look and sound like a little bit of heaven! That rooster surely is a proud and handsome looking fella! No wonder the hens follow him around! LOL Pigs are so smart. I know they can also be vicious, especially the old sows protecting their little ones. I grew up around them. They are also stinky...much worse than cattle, but I guess you get used to it. I'm glad to hear Dave gets a little "good" protein in his belly at least once a quarter! I could not be totally vegetarian. I like meat too much to give it up completely. Love your blog! Until next time...

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  3. I'd love a little farm... I really would!

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  4. I can imagine everyone being very happy there!

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  5. You've made more progress than I have, Karyn. I haven't worked out yet how to get a page like this. Nor can I post links to my page yet.

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    1. Don't worry about the format until next week. One day I just felt comfortable enough to branch out. I played it safe taking the easiest background and not trying to create one of my own. This will do for a few months. Maybe at Christmas I will want a change. One step at a time as they say at A. A.

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  6. P.S. I don't even know what "links" are so you are ahead of me.

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  7. the green tomatoes are lovely...

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  8. Well, I do get notices when you post now. AND I've customised my page! But I can't seem to find new people; there must be a way.

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  9. It is a beautiful place. With all those animals and plants, I am sure the couple have their hands full. love those pigs!

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