It Snowed...


A LOT!
...but not here. 


My sweet nephew made it into the BC winter games.
(that's British Columbia for anyone not Canadian) 
So the whole gang headed up to Silver Star Mountain in Vernon to cheer him on.


He was drawn as a wild card.  
Picked after all the other athletes.
Not meant to be there, no expectations, and he forgot his team shirt.
He won a gold medal.
He won the only gold medal.
How's that for fabulous.


The snow was pretty fabulous too.
Lots and lots of snow.
How much...


This is the front of our cabin.
That is my husband and his brother on the snow bank.
The kids are in a snow cave..I think?


It was really cold, but dammit, this is Canada,
and this is what it's all about.

In My Garden Today...


I found signs of spring.
hello little garlic shoots.


hello hydrangea leaves.


hello early blooming azalea that gets flowers first then later gets it leaves and I have no idea what you are called but love the flaming colour of your blooms against our cedar fence.


and hello my little determined rhubarb patch.
Perhaps, 
the Missing Goat Rhubarb with Rosemary jam will be back early this spring!
*fingers crossed.
What's in your yard bloggers of the world?

Validation...


The past few days, I've tried shutting off my comment validation requirement.
It was a spam slam.


So, it's back on, but now anyone who is anonymous, is unable to comment.
I feel bad for anonymous.  And I'm sorry.
But I tried commenting on a blog the other day, and after five different words, I still couldn't get it right.


That irritated me.
A lot.


Am I old.  
Do my eyes not work as well.
I know my brain is not working so well.
I forgot yesterday was picture day at my girls pre-school.
We didn't go, we have no picture.


I'm a horrid mother.
Care to share a bad parent experience to make me feel better?
...unless you are anonymous, then I'm sorry, you can't say anything here.
I'm a horrid blogger.

Chicken Chat...and Bees!


Just catching up on the latest issue...
...and filming our first episode of 
Chicken Chat.
Hey, maybe I could be Ms Chicken next!!


Our poor beekeeper became allergic to bees.
Well, getting stung by them.
So, all you hobby beekeepers...if you are looking for a lovely clean organic 
blueberry farm to raise your bees on..
give us a ring!

Ms.Chatelaine...


My wee girl and I are featured in this months issue of Chatelaine magazine.
I'm Ms.Chatelaine! 

*thank you to my sweet friend Janis Nicolay for doubling as my agent!!
 ...and for taking such a lovely shot.

How to Dry Lavender...


I mentioned that we dry our own organic lavender for our Missing Goat Blueberry Lavender Jam.
A few people asked how to dry lavender.
So, here it is.


I use English lavender for cooking.  It's the shorter variety.
You can also get very tall French lavender - which is great for sachets.
You want to pick it before the buds open.  
Like the opening shot and the one above.


We have many shades of lavender - even a white.
Unless you are making a lavender jelly - it doesn't matter about the colour.
If you are making jelly - the darker the lavender, the prettier colour your jelly will be.
Then you don't have to add food colouring.


Bundle up your lavender and hang in a dry space out of direct sun.


This could take a week or two for them to dry.


You will then have bundles of dry lavender to do as you please.
I like to bag mine up.


I gently rub the bundles together and the flowers fall off easily.


If you do this on wax paper you can pour the dried flowers into a zip lock bag for storing.
Hope that helps ladies!

Hello Sunshine...


Welcome February


Welcome beautiful sunshine.


The girls got out today.
This is Hadie


They've been rather ...cooped up... with this cold weather.
Is that where that phrase is from?
This is Johnny Drama - my husband is a bit afraid of her.


But some sunshine, a multivitamin in their water, some garlic mash...


...and some time with the wee girl makes life pretty good.
She does love her chickens.


And today, they gave us two eggs.
Lately it's been one or none.
The middle one is Peep and Lola was in the coop all day trying so very hard to lay an egg.
No luck though.
I don't know where Coco is...?  
Chasing Oliver I think.  
She's still mad about the sundae theft last week.


Spring is coming...right!?