even more photos

Meeting her cousins for the second time.



Michael at work explaining his job.

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Eating together at a great Chinese Restaurant'Cheelin'



Our dog, Drake happy in the water.



Michael, John and Dad dragging rocks from the neighbor for a landscaping project.

more photos

Pig tails on the beach.

Contant family on the beach.

Grandma and Grandpa reading Maetia her new book.

The dirty bum that makes us glad she is walking.

At the market, eating swiss chard.

luxuries

Maetia and Grandma

Maetia, Grandma and Grandpa

Michael and Drake at low tide

The three of us

Maetia helping us snap beans

We have been very blessed this summer to have a few of life's little luxuries come our way. The first was buying another car. Another Toyota Corolla, one that will pass inspection and cost less to maintain. Not only does this car have automatic windows but it actually has windows that open and close without great stress on the wrist and brain!! The door handles are all attached and they open and close. Finally, when we use the key on all the doors, it actually unlocks them instead of only sometimes, leaving you in a parking lot with a baby and groceries and no way to get into your car. Another luxury was getting a clothesline. We have been hanging our clothes up inside our house for 2 years and at times using the little inefficient dryer. Now we dry our clothes quickly and easily with the ocean breeze. Our best luxury this summer involved having our parents come all the way from British Columbia. We would both get home from a hard day's work and supper would be ready, there would be cookies and/or muffins made (still warm), Maetia was happy, and all our outside jobs (fixing, painting, landscaping) were all done. We loved having you both here so much and wish that you could come back!! Maetia still asks where is gggma and gggrrpapapa. We also loved to have John, Anne, Tristan, Ella, Nathan and Anne with us for a week. We had such a fun family vacation!
Michael's work continues to be busy and go well. He is enjoying learning this trade and we hope he will be able to use it for our home in the not so distant future. Our farm has continued to grow and keep us busy this summer. I ended up having 28 CSA members which was way more than I planned on. We have been able to feed this many families from less than one acre of land!! With this type of farming it is hard to believe that there is widespread hunger within our own towns and cities. Our land continues to give us more than we need and we are trying to put away things with freezing and canning. We have begun the process of subdividing our land from my father's land and getting it ready for a home. We were hoping for this winter but it might be next fall instead. We love where we live right now and are not anxious to move again, only to be closer to the land we are working and trying to understand. I have been finding I am busier than I hoped to be. I have Maetia with my mum or at my sister's daycare 3 days a week. Then I am busy on Saturday morning with the market. I hope with more organization and planning, next year I will be home with her more. She is growing and changing so much all the time. She copies everything we say and do. She talks and babbles all the time and we can usually understand what she wants by her talk and signing. She is finally walking which has seemed to increase her appetite and help her stomach move food along better. Her acid reflux is still there but seems better in an upright position. I am going to add photos to this post and then post 2 or 3 more to get all the photos on that we want to share. We are hoping that with fall approaching and the CSA winding down we are going to be able to go fall camping, biking and hiking; and spend some time together as a family before it gets too cold.

Deliveries

Walking into the bank has never felt so exciting or fulfilling. Last Thursday I delivered two boxes from my CSA to the Royal Bank of Canada. This is a bank which neither Michael or I were happy with so we switched to the Credit Union. Fortunately for us my friend's mother works there and she and a friend had signed up for a weekly box of veggies each. As I handed over the boxes and all the people in the bank stared at me, they also looked into the box and now I have three more subscribers. Nothing beats in person, fresh, honest, advertising.
This spring at the market, I meekly passed out a little paper about what a CSA is and what I was doing. I hoped to get 10 people and now I have almost 25!! I am feeling overwhelmed but very excited too. This summer we also decided to take on another market which is about one hour away. This market is small but has no vegetable vendors. We figured this would be a good way to compare markets and sell rid of all my extra produce. Now we are finding that some weeks, I have to buy stuff from other people just to meet the demand. The problem with this is that I am doing alot of running around and only making half the money because I am buying other farmer's products. It is something that we just might have to do for this season now that we have committed to the markets. So far the bugs and weeds are under control (barely). We have 2 very special people coming this Friday to visit and we hope they will be as excited about weeding as I am. I know we are excited to see them as it has been almost one year since they have been here. We show Maetia her Grandma and Grandpa every day on the fridge and though she can't say their names, she recognizes them. We can't wait to see you!!
Michael is really enjoying his work and just returned from Peace River, Alberta. They put up a home that was 2500 sq.feet and the owner called 'cozy'. We call it huge. Maetia is growing and is finally weighing in at 18 lbs. We still are not able to switch her seat around even though she is 15 months old. She is finally sleeping through the night and can point to her body parts and say many words. She is so funny and tries to tickle us and tease us. She is not walking yet but can scoot extremely fast. Her cloth diapers are working better now that she has some weight on her thighs and we can just let her go in the diaper without pants because it is so warm here. We are loving the cool ocean breeze and sounds of waves each night as we lay in bed. This is a blessed summer so far. If only we could fit in some camping. Here are some photos of our summer with Maetia.

CSA

Well my garden is growing at a rate that I can't seem to keep up with. It is not just the veggies that are growing or the weeds, it is also the bugs. They are breeding and growing at a speed that is a bit out of control. I currently have Flea beetle on all my Brassicas (Kale, Brocolli, etc.) and the Cucumber beetle on all my Curbits (squash, cucumber etc.). After some time, I decided to spray the cucumber beetle with an oranic spray called Trounce. Basically it is the most mild and least harmful way I could control them. It makes them sick and hopefully die and stop breeding. I did not want to spray at all but years of other farmers in the area growing mass amounts of these plants has encouraged the bugs. Anyways, I am going to try and control it organically and then if this doesn't work, there are other options. These options are: basically loose my crop or spray synthetic pesticides. What is the better choice? For me it depends on my day. Right now, I am frustrated that companion planting, and collecting and monitoring the pests didn't work. I am realistic enough to know I need a crop. But if I spray, I have to tell all my customers, and that will slow down my market and make me frustrated in my growing inability. Well this is farming I guess and I am in it. Yes, I am and I have 8 members of my farm already!!! Michael and I are really excited. I spread the word that I would be doing a trial CSA for 10 weeks instead of 20 and that if it went well I would get a greenhouse and try it for 16-20 weeks next year. Word is spreading and people are looking for ways to get local produce so this seems to be good timing for us as a farm. Timing is everything isn't it?
Look how time is flying for this little girl.......

Doctors visit

In the past month Maetia has gone to see her new pediatrician twice and the Asthma and Allergy specialist once. The pediatrician put her on Prevacid for Acid Reflux. We really don't want our child on such strong medication but within one day, she was eating better and sleeping better. Food is always hard with babies but she is exceptional. She previously always refused to eat after 2 spoonfuls of anything, even ice cream. No wonder she is so thin. She also always cried when we laid her down but we thought she just wanted to move around. One month after starting her medication, she has gained a pound and is starting moving up on her growth curve which she hasn't done in about 5 months. We are so happy that she seems happier and is enjoying her food. She is also having a longer daytime nap and has slept through the night a few times!! We are told that they usually grow out of acid reflux so we are praying that it will happen for her. Fortunately for us, our pediatrician recognizes our financial situation and has given us samples of the medication so we don't have to pay for it. Maetia was tested for allergies to dogs/cats, dust, milk and soy. She tested negatively to all of them, so the doctor has said that her symptoms of milk and soy allergies are also something she will probably grow out of. Lately we have been frustrated with doctors because they only rely on science for their diagnosis'. We completely understand that science has improved and saved the lives of millions of people, I am just venting. The Naturapath is great because they understand and believe you but you are still left with, okay so she can't eat all these things, what can she eat? It is frustrating when your child is extremely cranky, congested and constipated when she eats dairy products but you are told that it is only an old wives tale that they can have those symptoms from milk. Well, thousands of mothers who have experienced this may disagree. But we want to believe the doctor and pray that she will not have any food intolerances as I am all too familiar with how uncomfortable and annoying these can be. But we celebrate that she is growing and doing well and filling our lives with joy. She is turning into much more of a toddler lately. She moves quicker and with more confidence. She teases and tickles us and loves to play games. She will sit still for a few books at a time and loves to bounce up and down on the bed. With every new stage we have some sadness because she is growing and changing faster than we were ready for. We have a little girl, not a baby. It seems like parenting is full of joys and sorrows mixed together.
The pictures of the house framing are of a house that Michael put up with his work Arlington Timber Frames, on Cape Breton Island last week.
The photos of Maetia are at our first cook out on the beach on the weekend. We saw whales moving past (right in front of us) in the Bay of Fundy!! Maetia scoots around on the rocks like it is no big deal to drag her leg over all those rocks.

photos to go

Here is my land that I am planting on. It has floating row cover on the sensitive stuff.

My table at the market, the wave in the background


Maetia and I at the market


Maetia loves this toy, it plays music and blows air in her face and she gets to stand up all at once!


She choses cars and trucks over dolls every time.