Thank You

We just want to say a quick Thanks to everyone who have helped us out in both small and big ways. From a little note on the blog to an e-mail welcoming us to the neighbourhood, or doing things to help us out like making friends with our kids or dropping over some boxes of veggies. Every kind act is appreciated. We hope we can repay you some day or pay it forward.

Riding lessons are going well. Jordan even got into the act last week. We're enjoying it and learning lots. Steve and I spent some time together just driving around the valley some more exploring the different areas and a couple of places on the Bay of Fundy side too. The leaves are just starting to turn so in a couple of weeks it's going to be just spectacular to drive round the country side. I can't wait.

We had our first quick visit to Halifax/Dartmouth today and went to the mall. It was ok...it's a mall...what can I say. Chris was in Heaven though because they have a pretzel place...yum! And Katie bought a new outfit for her bunny, gold wings with a wand and tiara. Nice. Our friend Kiandra came too and the girls loved having their adopted big sister along for some shopping. Goodness knows that I'm no fun. I did try and talk Steve into buying me a wedding ring though to no avail. Oh well, I'll keep trying. Maybe we'll have the money some day to afford one.

We got the cleaning done at the chapel again this evening, seems to be a habit for us to get it done on a Saturday night, but since I did all the vacuuming on Wednesday while the girls had their activity, tonight was easy. We also had a nice visit with our friends the Mullens and hanging out with them is always fun. And tasty. Don't tell my kids...they had Kraft Dinner aka. Yellow Death or cardboard-a-roni.

Well, that's it really. Nothing interesting to report. Still nothing on the job front so I think we're at the point of hanging out our shingle and getting our business running for ourselves. We'll keep you posted. In the meantime I've got to get to bed. Have a wonderful week. And don't forget to tell your family that you love them.

Make Your Own Energy Efficient Fridge

There's a video I'll post from Youtube that shows one guy's efforts to save $$ and power from his fridge. Then I'll explain some flaws.



Ok, while I get the general idea there are some things you should know.
1. It's frost free because during the time it's running it actually heats up and melts the frost then re-freezes again. Does that make sense? It's automatically done several times a day if necessary.
2. Your freezer is where the cooling happens. In most fridges the the cool air is blown from the freezer into the fridge compartment to keep it cool too. It's adjusted through a damper or other method of controlling the flow of cool air.
3. This particular fridge is computer controlled to automatically run only as long as it needs to. That's how a thermostat works. Once it reaches the desired temperature, it shuts off.
4. An upright freezer is never an energy-efficient choice as every time you open it you let out tons of cold air. You'd be better to have a smaller fridge and a chest freezer. A chest freezer however holds most of the cold air inside. It's simple...hot air rises and cold air sinks.
5. It's always better to not mess with electrical and mechanical things like fridges where there are so many inter related components. By adjusting one you can foul up the whole thing. If you don't know what you're doing... then don't! You should call a professional if possible, like us. Nova Appliance Service in Greenwood, Nova Scotia. 765-3819

That's not to say that you can't have an energy efficient fridge that can run off a generator or solar and wind power. You absolutely can. The best thing Steve and I have seen is this chest fridge. If you knew what you were doing you could change out the thermostat from a regular chest freezer for a fridge thermostat (different temp. ratings) and you'd have yourself a nice brand new chest fridge for about $300-400. Or you could convert a freezer you already own.

As much as I'd like to think I have some good ideas, the website for Mt. Best has some great ones. I love the chest fridge and the bubble glazing idea too. So if you're into efficiency or preparedness, go have a look at their site and poke around http://mtbest.net/chest_fridge.html

Books I Recommend

I was thinking about you all, and what I could post as an uplifting message given that this is a special Sunday, marking the 10th Anniversary of the 9/11 bombings in the US.

So I thought about it...and nothing spectacular came to mind.

Only the thoughts that I am so very glad to live in a free country in a time when as a woman I have more opportunities than any other time in our history. I'm very grateful. There's a wonderful book called 'North to Freedom' by Anne Holm which I recommend as reading for young adults and adults alike. it makes you see all the wonders we take for granted and is a truly heart warming story. There is also a movie based on this novel called 'I Am David' that's available on Netflix. Well worth watching.

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir will have a special program tomorrow called 'Rise Above' and the link for more info is here. I'm going to try and catch it after church.

Hope you all have a wonderful day and take some time to appreciate even one thing you have in your life that you take for granted most of the time.

Feeling Frazzled?

Ever have one of those days when you just can't seem to get your emotions and your brain to work together properly? Your fingers feel like they're typing just fine,only the wrong letters keep appearing and you're just a bit off? Or the stupid 'U' doesn't work and you don't notice until the end of the 2000 words you've typed? The oven is burning everything for some unknown reason, you're mad at the kids or your husband and there's not really a good reason, you're just feeling overwhelmed and there's still a mountain of dishes and laundry and that service project you promised to help out with?

Well, Take A Deep Breath...and let it out again before you turn blue :)

We all have those days but for some they are more frequent. New moms, parents, wives, bsiness people, infact pretty much everyone in this hectic modern world we live in; we're all prone to the busyness of life that leaves us with not enough time in the day to recharge our batteries, let alone have some life altering positive experience. Some day's I'd kill for just an hour to myself without kids knocking on the door to ask what I'm doing or would I fix their broken stuff. But alas, on the days I'm most frazzled and at my wits end, I'm often swamped with expectations of things I want to get done.

So this year I decided to try and NOT take out my frustration by getting all uppity with the kids who are often the cause of my grief. Yeah yeah, I know...it's not always 100% effective, but I'm not beating myself up about it for 3 reasons.

1. I'm getting better. That out of body experience you have when you're getting mad and yelling at people and that little you inside your head says 'what are you doing? Just be nicer, you don't mean what you're saying' doesn't happen to me much anymore. So that's good.

2. Frozen pizza is a perfectly acceptable alternative to cooking a meal if you're at the point of tears or a nervous breakdown. Heck, I've been known to tell them just to eat cereal, I know, I'm a terrible mother.

3. Sometimes the kids really deserve it. Why not show your frustration and disappointment to the kids? If they're being numbskulls they should learn that their actions have consequences that affect the whole family. What's that old saying? 'When Momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.'
I try really hard to not lose my temper though. There's a fine line between being honest and frustrated with your kids and becoming verbally abusive. That's a line I never want to cross. And on the other end of the scale, I'll never treat my children like emotionally fragile can't do anything wrong little dolls, because that doesn't help them in the real world where there are expectations and consequences. Sorry, no spoiled brats in our house, I don't have the emotional energy.

In the real world there aren't any ribbons just because you participate, there are rewards for performance. That doesn't mean you have to be the best at everything. Performance can be things like honesty, integrity, dependability, good skills, hard work, creativity..the list goes on. I think that instead of coddling children we need to give them unconditional love with realistic expectations. I know this won't sit well with some of you...and that's fine. We raise our children using our own personal values and they're different, and that's ok. We instill in them the ideas that we think will benefit them in their lives and then they go and make their own decisions anyways. Darn teenagers. But we can still try, right?

On those days when all 4 kids seem to be sharing one brain I just take a deep breath and think 'just wait till you have your own kids'. Our mothers have wished it upon us and so we are just carrying on the tradition to wish this for our children too. Maybe that's what's meant in the scriptures by 'the hearts of the children will turn to their fathers...', maybe? No?

I hope you know that no matter where you are or how bad your day is, there's always someone who loves and cares about you. And if you need to vent feel free to send me an e-mail. Sometimes just getting it off your chest can be very therapeutic. Even just writing it down helps you to get things into perspective. Hey, whatever it takes, do it. And don't end up like me...


Just give me a hug and feed me chocolate and all will be right with the world in a little while.


And Thanks C. for inspiring the blog entry for today, you're a good friend and I luv ya!

Hens and Sex - Who's Your Daddy?

There are so many different breeds of chickens to choose from that it can be really daunting for someone new to decide which breed to keep. They have different personalities, characteristics, sizes, temperaments and looks. You can choose between aggressive, small, big, curly feathered (frizzles), fluffy, smooth, bald (I'm not kidding), mean, docile and just plain dumb. Backyard Chickens has a great web page that outlines traits people look for in hens such as broodiness, temperament and have the breeds all listed alphabetically right here for you to look at. One thing not mentioned is what some of the traits are good for. Broodiness is important to know if you want to have an egg laying hens keep laying and not always quitting so she can be broody. On the other hand maybe you want to hatch out your own chicks and then that's important. larger birds with feathered feet don't do well in wet muddy conditions but are good int he snow and cold, and those with pea combs are better in cold areas where they are less prone to frostbite as opposed to long red combs that are a target for pecking and frostbite. If you have anyquestions about chickens or don't understand something please just send me an e-mail or leave a comment and I'll get it.

For me, I love Dark Brahmas and Silkies/Frizzles. We love the large size of the Brahmas and also their gentleness. Steve would often walk around the farm with Ben, our Rooster, tucked under his arm getting petted. I'm not sure it did much for his reputation with the other chickens but Steve sure loved him. And 80% of the chicks we hatched were his offspring, so he can't have been doing too badly. He was the #1 rooster in our flock. I also love the look of frizzles and Silkies make great mothers because they go broody and are good setters, meaning they will sit a clutch of eggs and hatch them, even if they are someone else's eggs. On that note...we will not let a hen hatch out ducklings anymore. Having your hen go mad with anxiety on your dock and then pass out because her 'chicks' have just gone swimming for the first time was funny to watch but upsetting for the hen. Who eventually got used to the idea. Here's a gorgeous pic I found on the internet, I thought he'd be a great chick to name Spike, or Elvis, or something Japanese. I think he's a Golden laced frizzle but not 100%. I'll have to do some more research. He looks like a rockstar don't you think?

The picture is of a Dark Brahma Rooster and Americana Hen's offspring. All of our roosters featured different colours and were shiny and beautiful, sorry boys...handsome. When we took them in to be butchered they actually gave us a credit on our bill of $10 and told us they'd kept one because he was so gorgeous. See...sometimes being handsome can save your life!

Here's a copy of a story features on the BBC world news online for Sept 6th. I've been debating about posting it so up till now I didn't. Instead, I've decided in the interest of general interest and education to post his with a disclaimer:

This research is not my own, but the work of the BBC. While I have verified that the information is certainly plausible and was what I already knew about chicken reproduction, it is still not backed up by any sources that I can conclusively verify or any research data.

It is of a technical nature and may be unsuitable for children under 12, unless they already live on a farm and are comfortable and familiar with the general process of reproduction. In which case they won't care about this anyways because it's something they see all the time and could care less about.

I just thought that it was interesting because given our experience with chickens running free with multiple roosters, there were always a huge number of chicks with Ben, our big Dark Brahma as their father and not many belonging to the other roosters. Now I know why...



Hens evolve secret sex strategy

By Matt McGrath Science reporter, BBC World Service

Chicken Chickens have evolved the ability to eject the sperm of unsuitable mates

Scientists have discovered that female chickens have a remarkable ability to choose the father of their eggs.

Wily hens have evolved the ability to eject the sperm of unsuitable mates say researchers working with Swedish birds.

Promiscuous roosters try to ensure that their genes are passed on by mating with as many females as possible.

But by removing the genetic material of males they consider socially inferior, the hens have managed to retain control of paternity.

Many species ranging from zebras to insects use the strategy of sperm ejection - but the evolutionary ideas behind it are often uncertain.

Among birds, male Dunnocks force females to eject the sperm of other suitors in order to protect their own genes.

But this research indicates that among chickens the battle of the sexes seems to be all about female empowerment.

Working with feral fowl in Sweden, the scientists found that many matings were forced, as the roosters are twice the size of the hens.

To cope with the unwanted attention, females have evolved the ability to remove the ejaculate of those males they consider undesirable.

Dr Rebecca Dean from Oxford University carried out the study. She said: "It's really important for females to have the best male sperm to fertilise her eggs so if she can't choose before copulation then having a mechanism to choose after copulation could really increase her evolutionary fitness."

Even when unforced, the females still exercised their right to choose by opting to eject the sperm of males they considered to be at the bottom of the pecking order.

With the reproductive odds stacked against them these low status roosters have fought back by developing larger ejaculates in the hope of increasing their chances of passing on their genes.
Chickens Hens eject more sperm from socially subordinate males

But according to Dr Dean, the shrewd females have worked out a way of dealing with this tactic as well.

"We found that hens will eject a greater proportion of the ejaculate from socially subordinate males, so she is in this way favouring the dominant males both before and after ejaculation," she said.

The scientists explain that domestic fowl would certainly use a similar tactic, but normally they have fewer mating choices than their wild Swedish cousins.

The research has been published in the journal American Naturalist.

Riding Lessons and Horse Care

As some of you know, our girls have wanted to learn to ride for a long time. So I put an ad on Kijiji stating that we were looking to be able to learn how to care for a horse as well as riding. Well we got lots of responses and then a lovely family e-mailed us. They have 9 horses, ride English, have an indoor ring and have kid friendly ponies and horses because they have lots of children. So we went to meet them yesterday. And Hooray!! That was exactly what I'd dreamed about. They live west of us over the mountain (hill) and it takes about 25 minutes each way, but the travel is well worth the money!

Although Mum (Tina) helped, Abby (daughter) was the instructor. She had everything prepared and even had a poster made of the steps and items used in grooming horses before saddling them. She went through everything from greeting a horse int he field, to bringing them into the barn and saddling them and then riding. Kate had a lovely big gentle guy named Jon Boy and he's perfect for her. Calm, stands still when he doesn't understand what you want, and just a nice sweet spirit.

Meghan had Flicka, she's a pony with an opinion. Not as docile as Jon Boy but still gentle and calm but with a bit more pepper in her personalty. And it turns out it was great because Meghan is a more natural horsewoman than Kate and was trotting round the ring in no time at all with no fear. She loved the speed so Flicka is, we all agreed, the best pony for Meghan. Here's a picture but not of Meghan, just the pony. We'll get more pics posted next week now that I've figured out how to e-mail pics from my phone. Yep, I'm cool now!

Kate is learning how to use her reins and knees, and how to turn a horse using her body. She had a great time. Meghan now wants to go back every single day for more horsin' around. We should get a little group of people together and keep Abby busy. Her rates are amazing and apart from that she's just a really nice teenager. I learned a lot about horses just from watching. Now it makes me really want to learn to ride properly.

This is a picture I think from the Spring of Abby, riding instructor extraordinaire and Jon Boy.

The girls are learning to ride English. If you don't know the difference, the saddle is much smaller than a Western saddle and doesn't have the big horn on the front for roping. It's all a bit different but I think it's easier to learn English first and then switch to Western or Aussie. Sort of like driving a standard vs. an automatic. If you can learn on a standard then the automatic tranny is easy as pie.

Here's a good horsey website / blog if you want some more horse info. And I'll direct you directly to the page with pics showing the difference between saddles.

I'm off to scrounge up more apples. Shouldn't be hard here in the 'Apple Valley' and next year we'll just adopt a tree or 4. I'm making pie filling and sauce once our busy weekend is done and right now if you walk into my storage room is smells like fall...apples and potatoes. Sugar and earth. Yum! There's nothing quite as comforting as standing there looking at shelves of canned food in preparation for winter. And while we have to remove some old and swollen cans we are very grateful to Aileen who left us her storage room already partly filled with canned beets, apples, peaches and other goodies. We're going to add to the stash which will make me feel better about not having my usual food storage and livestock. I never thought I'd miss the animals as much as I do, but it gives me something to look forward to.

If you're craving some amazing footage that shows terrific cooperation between man and horse (and great balance) then you've got to watch this 5 minute video. His name is Lorenzo and his style of Roman Riding is pretty cool to watch.



Have a Wonderful Weekend!

Elizabeth

Getting Work in Nova Scotia

Hi! Sorry for not posting yesterday...the day just sort of got away from me. Today is going to be busy too with meetings, shopping, meeting the kids new riding instructor (more on that later) and getting more cleaning done. I have a meeting with the area director for the Welcome Wagon. I'm going to be doing the baby welcome in my community which will be great, meeting new mums and babies. Oh, and Steve finally heard back from the appliance repair company he'd called previously. Just when we'd given up and decided to go in another direction. He's not too sure exactly what the plan is but he and the appliance guy are doing a ride along on Monday. SO I'll let you know how that pans out.

This is an area of Canada with about 10% unemployment. Some portion of that is seasonal workers like teachers and fishermen but some are active job seekers. There are also underemployed people working menial or part-time jobs who want better ones. But despite that there is still a lot of work to be had. Depending on your skills and what you're willing to do. If you will pick apples then you'll be guaranteed work for September and October, at last count I found a dozen farms advertising and lots more that just have signs up and spread the information by word of mouth. That's how lots of things work in smaller towns...word of mouth. So it can be hard for a newcomer to get the 'in'. But here it's easy to just be upfront with everyone and let them know what you need. You'll be surprised at how often people will tell their friends that that nice new couple down the road need such and such. You'll get calls out of the blue, we certainly have, from the friend of an acquaintance etc etc.

Other places to look for work in Nova Scotia are of course the local newspapers, bulletin boards, business windows, and the easiest way is online. Here are some links:

http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/ns/lmi/workplace/jobs/jobsns/jobsns.shtml

http://www.jobbank.gc.ca/Intro-eng.aspx

Nova Scotia Job Shop is here.

http://ourvalley.ca/jobs/ This one is Annapolis Valley specific.

To work in Nova Scotia you must generally be over 15 years old unless working on a farm and you must have a valid SIN or Social Insurance Number to work in Canada or to receive benefits like the Child Tax Credit or a Pension. Here's the application to get your SIN or replace a card. Getting your first card is free but there's a $10 fee to get a replacement. I know that for myself I have to get my immigration docs first before I can replace my SIN card. I lost my card years ago and I need to replace it as of course my name changed once I got married.

The current minimum wage is $9.35 as a training wage and $9.65 is the standard minimum wage. If you are a farm worker though and doing piece work you could make less, as Chris and Dave found out last week.

Other ways to get a job are to go to companies in your area of expertise and ask if they are now or will be hiring in the future. Just because they don't need you right now doesn't mean that someone might not leave next week and your resume will be fresh in their minds and on the top of the pile. You should devote as much time looking for a job as you would do working. So be prepared. Comfy shoes, neat appearance, lots of resumes, cover letters and reference letters. Whatever is relevant to your job. Think ahead, customize your cover letter for each individual job and consider having a professional read over your resume and give you advice. Remember, you should point out your experience, skills and qualifications. Be concise, get to the point, and make them want to meet you in person. A resume and cover letter are tools you use to sell yourself and get the interview. The interview is where you can expand on why the employer should choose you over other candidates. What makes you the best employee? Think about the questions you'll be asked and prepare mentally.

Goodness, it's time to get ready for work. TTYL.