Does anyone know what this object is?
Yearly Archives: 2017
Gingerbread houses!
Most Decembers don’t go by without our annual gingerbread house decorating “party.” It is an event enjoyed by all ages! I think the pictures tell the story…
And if parents “want” help making theirs, they can usually find eager volunteers!
Thank you, Jonathan, for all the work you did to make this special day!
Product photography
Looking through my photos from the past year, I observed that quite of bit of it was actually product photography… but not your typical products!
First there was the cow…
Then there were rabbits…
And now there is a sheep!
Yes, we’re selling Raspberry. She’s too small, in our opinion, to breed right away, and we don’t want a sheep lambing in August. So we’ve decided to sell her.
We thought that taking her away from her sister to be photographed would stress her out completely and that all the photos would reveal her bleating, but that was not the case. Apparently, Evelyn and I are as much a part of her “flock” as Strawberry, so she is just fine without her sister so long as we were there. We almost didn’t need the rope – she followed us like a dog, better than some dogs!
And of course the cat had to come along to inspect… Maybe she just likes showing up on the blog!Any one looking for a cute, friendly little sheep? And, no, the cat doesn’t go with her.
End of November Update
Before I have to flip my calendar page to December, I’ll take a few moments to give a “before the Christmas rush” update. Since our trip to New Brunswick at the beginning of September much has taken place, though a lot of the activity doesn’t get caught on camera.
There was a family trip to the Village d’Antan. Taking a step back into the past was fun and interesting.
Evelyn and I continue helping a friend with her horses. I had the joy of seeing the horse I helped to train go to a good home.
More bunnies were born and some are now sold.
The lambs are looking more like sheep than lambs now.
The kittens are growing up too.
Evelyn has started hand quilting her quilt. I’m almost to that step on mine.
Daddy and Mommy took a couple hikes, including the difficult Mount Katahdin. It was foggy the day they hiked, but the following day revealed a beautiful outlook on the mountain.
And at last, after years of hiking in the White Mountains, they sighted not one, not two, but three moose!
In October, we took Nana (Mommy’s mother) out for her 90th birthday.
The cousins have been over to visit multiple times.
Since the family keeps growing new family photos were in order!
Sometimes the candid shots are the most fun.
Stephen didn’t know what he was getting into when he invited Elizabeth and Keziah onto his back…
Perhaps he should start a new pushup challenge for 2018!
Mid-November saw us heading down to the VA FEW conference. Yes, it snowed on route, but there was no snow in VA. It was a incredible time of Christian fellowship and refreshment in the Lord.
With December around the corner, the “Christmas rush” has actually already begun with a few cookies made and frozen and the FFF&F written, printed, and getting ready for the mail! We look forward to what the Lord has in store for us in the next month!
Family Vacation! (part 2)
Given that we took our trip to Fundy during the off season, many of the beaches were deserted. This was wonderful for us and we enjoyed roaming all over, drinking in the beauty of God’s creation. Of course, we were always careful to keep one eye on the tide…
One of our stops was Cape Enrage. Here a lighthouse and fog horn warn ships of dangerous rocks in bad weather.
A narrow staircase leads down to a rocky cove.
Nearby, a “marshwiggle habitat” drew our attention. I believe these are what are called “salt marshes.”
Mary’s Point was another very quiet beach, but this one was sandy instead of rocky. We got to be here at both low tide and just after high tide. The land slopes so slowly in this location that the tide runs kilometres out. One would have to run to keep ahead of it as it came in!Ā
We also made a trip out to Moncton to see the reversing tide. The river in this place actually reverses directions as the tide comes in!
Another spot of interest was Anderson Hollow Lighthouse. Actually not a functional lighthouse, this tiny replica and corresponding boat were built in honour of those who served as lighthouse keepers over the years.
Our final stop before leaving New Brunswick was a receded cove in a quiet spot: Herring Cove. It was beautiful here. Perhaps it was just the before-a-storm lighting and the hazy, almost fog combined with seaweed covered rocks backed by soaring cliffs, but something made it feel a bit “fjord-like.” It made me think a little of the pictures I’ve seen of Scandinavian ocean sides.
And what would a vacation from the perspective of a family of photographers be without a few pictures of photographers? š
It was a wonderful family vacation! The only improvement for next time would be to have Stephen with us!
Family Vacation!
Though our family travels a bit, most of the time we go places in order to attend a conference, to spend time with another family, or simply take a day hike. It has been 11 years since we took off for more than a day to see a new place and enjoy God’s creation just as a family. September 4th to 7th was such a time for us. Sadly, Stephen’s classes at the university started up that week, so he wasn’t able to be with us. Hopefully we’ll be able to work around that next time.
Monday morning, we took off. It was a long drive…
…but eventually we began to see signs of what we were coming to see:
Finally, we arrived at our destination:
We camped at Wolfe’s Point campground where we rented an oTentik – like a permanent tent. We were glad to have them as during our last night there, it rained hard. Taking down our tents in the rain would not have been fun.
But on the whole, we actually received very little rain during our trip. Despite dire predictions of heavy thunderstorms, the only showers came either during the night or while we were driving in the van – never while we were walking beaches or exploring coves.
Of course, one of the first things we wanted to do upon arriving was to go down to the rocky cove and see tide come in.
The Bay of Fundy is well known for experiencing the world’s highest tides. Knowing that in one’s head and seeing it with one’s eyes are two radically different things. In 2006, during our trip out to the west coast, we had the fun of lighting a campfire on the sand and of watching the tide slowly come in to wash it away. But the tide in the Bay of Fundy is nothing like that slow-moving, gentle, western Vancouver Island tide. Here the tide rises and falls as much as 30 feet every 12 hours! We had to be careful always to keep an open escape route behind us as we backed away from the incoming tide! All camera equipment had to remain tied to our backs or in our hands, for in a matter of minutes the water could come in and wash any forgotten tripod, etc. away.
During our two day stay, we had opportunity to visit numerous beaches, coves, and the famous Hopewell Rocks. These last are situated in the spot where the tides climax. Though we were there neither quite at high tide nor quite at low tide, the pictures show the dramatic flow and ebb of the tide. The sheer rock cliffs make you realise how dangerous it would be to get stuck here at high tide! We were careful to time our visit as the tide was going out, not coming in.
The Hopewell Rocks were by far the most crowded place we visited, but even there it was not impossible to get pictures that didn’t contain tourists. And there were birds everywhere we went. Some of them, we recognised from pictures, but had never seen in the wild.
And other wildlife…
And not so wild life…Though we took some interesting, very small roads…
… and saw moose dropping all over one road, this was the only moose we saw:
But to tell of all of our stops would make this post very long, so I’ll pause here and post more pictures later.
Calves
As mentioned it a previous post, our cow calved at the end of August. However, unlike other years, we haven’t posted any pictures. That is because the calf didn’t survive the birth process. It was a malpresentation: tail first! We had to help Hershey out by turning the calf around and pulling it out back feet first. By the time we accomplished that, however, the calf was dead. š
Nevertheless, we do have a calf. Actually, we bought two: a Jersey and a Jersey/Holstein. Toblerone (named for the triangle shaped marking on his face) has always been a very lively calf.
But he’s practising posing!
Roast Beef, on the other hand was never quite so active, though he did try out the wading pool.
Though at first it looked like he might pick up and do well, we were mistaken and he died too. So we’re left with just Toblerone who makes up for the two lost calves with all his energy!
Kitten Update
My name is Muffin
Last summer I was born.
But I grew up quickly.
I like to explore.
Sometimes I find new things.
One day, I met a rabbit.
It turned out to be friendly.
I also met a cow and a lamb.
But now I’m grown up.
And I’m expecting my own kittens.
How many do you think I’ll have?
A busy summer
What a summer it has been! The kitchen renovations were done just in time to get going on another busy time: preparing for the first Quebec FEW conference! Several projects around the house needed to be done, such as putting in a drain…
… and installing a new (pressure sensitive! š ) shower head upstairs.
And there were a few non-FEW related events… Daddy and Mommy got out hiking a couple times.
Of course the kids were over several times. They are such a joy!
We washed some of our sheep’s wool and halter broke our young ram.
Then began the real planning. There was a lot of discussion on how to work everything…
…and phone calls…
…and more discussion!
And things came together. The linens and towels emerged from cupboards and were washed.
As the final countdown began, boxes were filled and carefully labelled. The sound system was taken apart and made ready to travel to Grace Village where the conference was to be held. All the equipment for simultaneous translation was organised and ready to go. Temporarily the house looked a terrific mess!
But the place soon looked better as beds were made and the trailer was loaded. The office turned into a makeshift hotel suite and even the pantry turned into a “bedroom.”
Hard to believe the above photo is usually the boys room! š
The big day finally came and the FEW team arrived!
We enjoyed joining them in song.
And since the cow went and calved that same day, several got to try their hand at milking!
The conference was a tremendous success. So many people expressed how encouraged they were through the sessions, through talking one-on-one, through interactions during the children’s hour…
As a family, we were really blessed. Hosting aĀ FEW conference made for a very busy summer, but it was well worth it! We praise the Lord for the FEW team’s willingness to travel all the way up to Quebec. Thank you,FEW Team!