The benefits of electric fencing for livestock far, far, outweigh the jolt an animal (or careless, or acting on a dare, human) receives on contact with a wire. Electric fences can be used in in place of, or in addition to, regular fencing – like barbed wire or page wire – to keep predators out, and livestock and/or dogs, in.…
Up here in central-western Alberta, summer is often just a suggestion and more accurately called “mud and construction season”, and spring and fall are unofficially known as “late winter” and “early winter.” To add insult to injury, our soil consists of an inch or so of decent top soil and then concrete. Well, not literal concrete, but it’s such compacted…
Last year we put in the new compost bin that we picked up at Costco. It’s made in Canada from recycled plastic and not very pretty to look at, but that’s ok. Functional is good enough, pretty is just a bonus. I left it alone for a full year, only adding material. It has been nearing full, so it was…
The plants were quickly running out of room, I think the tomatoes are plotting world domination. So, today’s supply run to Grande Prairie included a new set of shelves (only $35 from Costco) and the last 2, 3ft lights from Home Depot (I wanted to buy 4). This gives me 5 out of 7 possible shelves with lighting for my…
Work, school, and farming have effectively killed all the time I have to write (which used to be right after the kids left on the bus, peace and quiet with hot coffee by my keyboard…) but I am trying hard to steal the time to sit down and post. It’s only been, what, 3 months? Dang it! Currently, I’m taking…
When I started making our homemade tortillas, I didn’t have any lard in the house (post holiday pie baking wiped out my big tub), so olive oil it was, knowing they should be good, but maybe not as good as they could be. Still, they turned out wonderful, as has all the batches I’ve made since. We go through a…
How much trouble can a water well be? Besides the cost, which can be 10s of thousands of dollars, you might have issues with water quality that has to be resolved to be able to use the water. If it’s bad enough, it can damage your pipes. In most any municipality, your water will come from a varied distance away,…
My mother in law gifted me a countertop magnetized knife block and I’m not going to downplay it, I was so excited. I can be a total cooking geek for the right gadgets. I use most of my knife sets every day, and it’s a pain in the arse to open a drawer when you’ve got messy hands – stop…
We recently ran frighteningly low on honey, and my brain being, well, it’s usual scatter-brained brain, forgot to buy more on the last two trips to Grande Prairie. It was on the list; I did go down that aisle. Maybe something shiny distracted me. Anyway…. We use honey in our homemade bread, so we use a fair amount of the…
If you follow me on facebook, you probably noticed a few pictures I’ve posted of our recent “guests”. They are gypsy moths (or the caterpillars that will turn into them) and they don’t want to move out. Google says that BTK is “the thing” to get rid of them. We are in very rural Alberta and it took some work…
I am a lousy decorator. I know what I like, but being able to create the look I want in my home has made it so that for too many year, the most decorating my homes have gotten is new shower curtains in cute or fun patterns. Like, I don’t even put up pictures or art. Bare walls. It’s terrible.…
Pinterest has fast become the go-to place for ideas and inspiration. We’re building a house and will have a large garden next year, so most of my pins are garden and house design! My top picks for this week from my Gardening Board So I can plan where to plant: Source: fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net via Amy on Pinterest Save seeds in photo…