Liebster Award

Thanks to Lisa from A Witch in the City, I've been nominated for a Liebster award. That really made my day 'cause I was having a bad one... (explanation will follow)

As requested I'll tell you 11 random facts about myself and answer 11 questions given by Lisa. In the end I have to nominate 3-5 blogs with less then 200 readers.
1. Describe your favorite day.

Ummmm, that will be a sunny summer or spring day. It will be a Saturday, Martin will not be working and Mat will be with us and we will be working on the farm together.

2. Who or what is your inspiration?

Nature inspires me the most. My friends do too.

3. What is your favorite food and drink?

Everything with cheese in it or on it.

4. The book you recommend everybody to read?

I am not a fan of books. Strange heh? I mean when I read it's mostly reference books. I could be a bit chauvinist and tell you guys to read mine... but it's in French.

5. Who would you like to have a conversation with (dead or alive)?

My grandmother Pauline. There are still a lot of things I would like to know about her.

6. What is your favorite outfit?

Jeans, tshirt, doc martens (praying to have a pair soon) or boots.

7. Have you done any of these: skydiving, paragliding or bungee jumping?

No, and I will never do that

8. What's in your purse right now?

Well... If I had one, I could tell you. I have several bags though who are containing so random stuff. Keys, make-up (remains of my girly days), tickets from places, receipts ...tissues (not used ones of course)

9. Any bad habits you want to break?

Biting my nails. Drinking cola.

10. Do you have pets? Would you want to have a pet?

I have 4 indoor cats. ... Well you guys read that place you know about all of them! :)

11. What is your favorite flower?
I love all flowers growing on trees, lilacs, magnolias, all things that are very odorant.

11 random facts now ... 

1. I sang a lot. I've been in bands, I did some "major" amateur shows. I've even taken classical training classes for like a year and a half. I once sang for the prime minister.
2. I am an amateur writer, I recently published a book with a friend on kindle (well it's not the end of the world but still)
3. I don't have brothers and sisters
4. I can't have children
5. I studied languages in university and human sciences in College
6. My grandfather was a native amerindian
7. I can touch my nose with my tongue (super handy! hahaha)
8. I am super flexible (a bit more handy)
9. I never took drugs.
10. I have a very short attention spam especially when it comes to science and stuff like that
11. I speak 4 languages, English, French, Spanish and Italian


And the nominees are:

The are tons of people I would have love to nominate but I have to obey the 200 readers and less rule.


1. Sunnybrook Farm
2. Simple Life  
3. Calamity Acres

And my question to you guys (since it's all about simple life and stuff I will oriented that way)

1. What drags you to live a more down-to-earth countrystyle life?
2. What is your biggest challenge as a farmer?
3. Do people accept your lifestyle well?
4. What is the animal all small farm should have?
5. What is the best reference book about farming you have read?
6. What is the skill you have never been able to get as a farmer?
7. What is the most useful skill you have as a farmer?
8. Do you think more people should have access to a garden?
9. Do you think hens should be allowed in city?
10. Do you have difficulty to have access to heirloom seeds?
11. What is your favorite farm animal?

What if Birdie lay you an egg?

During one of my recent introspection, everyone knows that I can not stop thinking, I started to think about the possibility for "urban farmers" to avoid ... or by pass the anti-hen laws.

Ok, What I'm going to say may sound ridiculous, but think about it. It is allowed to have all parrots, doves and a multitude of fairly large bird in a house or an apartment, that being said, a fancy bantam hen is often the same size or smaller than some of those birds.

Contrary to what you read on the internet, bantam hens produce eggs depending on the size, the age and the race of the bird. There's a time when my Sultan, known not to produce eggs in quantity, was laying  a beautiful egg size medium a day or every other days. It is almost the performance of a Leghorn !

So, think about it, a hen without a rooster, is no more noisy than a parrot and some breeds of bantams are even cuter. If the cage is well maintained, odor level is neither worse nor better than a cat litter. Some bantams live well in cages no bigger than a rabbit cage.

The food is about the same price as a parrot... and the purchase price ... less. One Mille Fleur can be bought somewhere in between 20 and  35$ adults. For young ones think in the $ 5-6. Of course it is a dozen eggs at the grocery store, but your eggs will be fresh!

Just a thought ...

Coco veut un biscuit?

Note: Sorry my English followers, that post will be in French as it is attended to my followers near me. I will probably translate it asap.

Et si Coco vous donnait un oeuf? Durant l'une de mes dernières introspections, tout le monde sait que je ne peux pas m'arrêter de penser, je me suis mise à réfléchir à la possibilité pour les "fermiers urbains" à la possibilité de contourner la loi anti-poule.

Bon ok, ce que je vais dire va peut-être sembler ridicule, mais pensez-y. Il est permit partout d'avoir des perroquets, des colombes et une multitude d'oiseau passablement volumineux dnas une maison ou un appartement, cela étant dit, une poule de fantaisie bantam est souvent de la même grosseur, voire plus petite que certains de ses oiseaux.

Contrairement à ce qu'on lit sur internet, les poules bantams produisent quand même passablement d'oeufs selon la race et l'âge. Y'a des temps où ma poule sultan, bien connu pour ne pas produire d'oeufs en quantité, me pondait un belle oeuf, grosseur moyen par jour ou par deux jours. C'est pratiquement le rendement d'une Leghorn ça!

Donc, pensez-y, une poule, sans le coq, ne fait pas plus de bruit qu'un perroquet et certaines races bantams sont tout ce qui a de plus mignon. Si la cage est bien entretenue, niveau odeur c'est ni pire ni mieux qu'une litière à chat. Certaines bantams vive bien dans des cages pas plus grandes qu'un cage pour lapin.

La nourriture c'est environ le même prix que Coco ... et le prix d'achat ... moindre. Une mille fleur peut se défrayer entre 20 et 35$ adulte. Jeune, pensez dans les 5-6$. Bien sûr c'est plus qu'une douzaine d'oeufs à l'épicerie, mais les vôtres seraient frais.

Vous voulez tenter l'expérience? Nous avons des mille-fleurs à vendre toute l'année.

Nous aurons aussi bientôt d'autres variétés.

Dites adieu à coco et dites bonjour aux cocos!

Une mille fleur femelle.

Sultan

Values

The deeper I go in this adventure, the less I understand people.
I don't understand the economy, the society, the way people are spending money or doing things.

I was having a conversation yesterday with someone about clothes.
(and I've realized in the meantime that my clothes addiction isn't as bad as I thought finally)

"I bought this pair of jeans for 35$ on sale" That person said.

"35$, you call that a sale?" I've said

"Yeah, those things worth more than 95!"

Still ... it's a pair of jeans. In no world a pair of extra jeans will worth 95$. In Quebec, the average hourly rate is 21.50$. So that jeans will be like around 3 hours of work, to that you have to add the taxes too that is a generous 15% here.

That made me realized that ... never ever do I spend more than 20$ on a piece of clothing (and 20$ is like the amazing maximum ... most of the time I go for 10$ or 15$.) except for my prom dress, my wedding dress and something that would be very specific occasions (deaths, weddings (and even that, last wedding I went too, I was dressed from head to toe for 85$)).

Of course, I would like to be able to afford best quality and more durable and ecofriendly clothes that are way more expensive, and by way more ... I mean wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy more. And I also find that most of the clothes aren't fitting my style or my lifestyle. Magnificient dress to clean the coop ... not sure.

Most of the time I will shop in clearance centers or thrift stores for that and a piece of clothing will have to be pretty damaged before going to the bin (and it's never really going 'cause I am keeping all the "fibers" for further uses).

And my clothes are as durable than most more expensive brands. So I just don't get it. I just don't get why would one spend so much on a piece of clothing.

It made me realized how brandwashed we are. Yeah I've said brandwashed, not brainwashed. I mean people see a brand and instantly think that will bring them nirvana.

This is so sad.

Oh Flower!

Martin and I should have had that conversation 3000 times.

Gardening is the only way out.

People should be allowed to garden everywhere. Grass shouldn't exist anymore.

Why on earth can we keep all this place full of ... nothing. 'cause hey, grass is nothing!

When I arrived on the farm, a huge part of the land was covered with trees and grass and flowers. You know typical landscaping.

What a waste of space. Of course it's beautiful, but ... it's useless.

I plan this year to get rid of what can't be eaten and keep just what can be eaten (a lot you'll be surprised) or that can be used as medicine or doesn't have the sole purpose.

How is your landscaping? Edible?

Pictures ...

I thought it could be great if I posted some pics ...

I can't believe I forget to tell you guys about this ...

I started weaving !!!

It's like the biggest high I've got in my creative life so far after singing. It's amazing how relaxing and fun it is.

Here is a pic of me caught "in the act"

Can you see the happiness in my smile?

This is like a dream come true to me.
So far I've been there 3 times and I love it.

News from the barn ...

Ok, so what's new in the barn these days.

Plenty of things.

First, we started to sell hens and roosters (well babies) we sold 5 in the last weekend.

We painted one of the coops because it's empty now (tons of deaths due to the chicken cold).

Next weekend we are transferring the first batch of babies we had in the painted coop.

Another batch is due soon.

The cats are all well but the babies. Camille is not a super good mother ... :-(

With spring coming, the lil cats are running everywhere, driving Cayenne crazy.

We started planting seeds for the upcoming season. We hope it will go fine.

The renovation are going well.

We put our city house on sale. We plan on getting some money from it that will be use to get rid of some debts and rebuilding the farm.

I am all excited.

Impossible!

I've had many reactions about our plans to homestead in Quebec. Among those: total disinterestedness, mild snobbism, amazing encouragements ...

But since a month or two I have a new kind of reactions.

I don't even know how to call them. Well let's call them "the saviors"

The saviors, like most saviors, are the bearer of the truth. Besides being super smart and being the answer to all questions, the saviors feel they are on a mission: They have to save me from that silly idea that is mine of being off the grid. They have to save me. They have to save me before I forget to buy myself a spa and third car, a bigger house ...

I find that very funny.

I mean what does it change if I want to get out of this society?
What does it change to them?

"yeah but if we all start to do what you are doing, supermarkets will be empty!"

Yeah ... and then???

"and how would one build a house?"

"And what about the other jobs?"

You mean the "artificial ones we created out of artificial needs"?

It's funny to see how people seem to have forget about the previous years of humanity.

Way back then, people were able to be autonomous for most of their needs. It was possible. Why on earth now it wouldn't be?

So they keep on ... trying to convince me I am a delusional fool.

And I laugh.

My two cents on Women's day

It was everywhere on the street, on facebook ... everywhere....

HAPPY WOMEN'S DAY!

Happy? What's happy in this?

I mean, why do we need a Women's day? To remember that the fight is not over.

To remember that still nowadays women's are treated as second class, just after men ... in some place just after everything ...

So is that happy? No.

It's not.

Ever heard of an international men's day? I think not.

When Women's day will be over.

That's be an happy day.

We would have won the fight (well there is no winner here ... just equality)

Minestrone of news

Hey lovely people!

I am sorry if I am not writing often, let say that I am running like crazy these days.

First news on the list. Camille got her babies. 4 males. Super cute. Last Sunday as Martin was going to give food she was there taking care of them.

The picture isn't too good but I took it with my cellphone ...

She got 2 grays, 1 yellow and one black all of them are tabbies and got thumbs which brings us to the easy conclusion that the father is Tom.

She is a super good momma, and it's nice to see how caring she and some of the other cats (Auguste and Patou for ones) are too. 

It will probably the last litter to be born on Domaine Coquelicots as all the cats have been sterilized on World Spay day. I will try to find some funds to make Camille and her 4 boys too asap.

As for the renovation of the second floor, we had to raise back the house from 3 inches in order to put back the beams that were there 140 years ago into place. Well the beams aren't set there but they will be next Saturday.

I was offered a job at the village that I've turned down. I am pretty glad about it. That would have brought me back to the time I was not independent. It seems strange but even if I am pretty convinced on this self-sufficent/homesteading wannabe life, I have to put myself back on tracks many times a week. Being the outcast making it hard to focus on the real deal. I am pretty proud of myself though, normally I would have taken that job even if I wasn't sure of the fact I'd like it and even if the salary was a pity one. I was raised to never refuse work even if that would be "the end of me". So I am starting to learn, I am quite proud of myself.

We planned our garden for the season. So far, around 30 people will be fed by us, which makes it encouraging.

All of this makes a ton of work, but I love it.

My Auguste came back after his surgery, he has an eye less now ... he looks like Frankenstein. Never ran away from the barn when it's -30 Celsius outside and you have troubles with your eyes already...

Soleil and Paul are in the house right now. Muscade isn't really happy about it. But ... it's life. I am glad I can offer more heat and comfort to two more cats now.

Paul ordering pizza ...

The chicks are now older. We transferred them in a big cage in the barn. They are around 5 weeks old now.
We are selling a bunch. All our hens are reserved. It's going fast.

And some other pictures of the gang ...

Eole

Proud papa Tom

Miss Mousse

One of our guinea fowls

Chausson

Myrshouk

Azul, still wearing the scar of the Coyote attack on her nose (we knew she was probably with Baptiste that day as she had that wound since)

Biscuit, who we recently discovered was a female ... lol

News from the barn

On Tuesday Feb 26th, all of our cats (except Camille that is still really really pregnant) were sterilized. Our vet took part of the World Spay day and therefore we had been able to make the cats sterilized. That was a great help for us.

So 13 cats have been spay out of 14. As soon as I will have money and that the kittens of Camille will be born, I'll make the other ones spay too.

Auguste have had to have a surgery too. Now he has one eye less ... He went away in the cold during january and he frozen his eyes ... so sad.

But he will get better.

Another good news ... Soleil and Paul are now house cats. They are now living with us inside along with Muscade and Cassis. The transition is going super well for Soleil, Paul is a bit having more troubles as Muscade is constantly hissing him. But I know the lil fella will make it.

Soleil looks super happy to be here. Paul seems confused, a mix of I am happy and I am not. We will see. I want what's best for him and if I feel he would be better outside, he will go.

There are a lot of contest related to the spay day, we registered to some of those... I hope we will one of them.

Speaking of which ... Can you guys vote for Mousse by clicking here?