Frosty

I've neglected my blog for more then 2 months! So I've added this picture of Mr Snowman. Say hello Mr Snowman!

It's been so busy here. Christmas and New Year's are long gone. Real winter finally arrived and we got our first big blizzard in years. The kids were thrilled with a real snow day at long last. We received around 50 cm of snow! We also experienced a good long deep freeze which will hopefully destroy the gypsy moth eggs. We might actually have leaves on our oak trees this summer!

My parent's took their yearly vacation, this time to Cuba and carried on the tradition of missing the biggest blizzards here at home. Keeping the hen barns warm and dry was a huge job while they were away. These are the moments in farming when normal work hours fly out the window. Barn checks have to happen every few hours day and night to make sure heaters and fans are working. But we made it through with only a few minor disasters, lol!

Of course during this time the lambs started to make their appearance. They seem to always choose the bitterest of February days to birth. We've had 2 single births. 2 sets of twins - one twin died from one set. And yesterday we saw our oldest mama birth the first set of triplets we've ever had here on our farm! I'll try to get a picture of them to add. I hope all three will survive. They've made it through the first 24 hours which is great. But there is one that seems weaker than the others. I've taken extra care to see that she's eating and is warm, but with weak lambs, it's never a sure thing. The other lamb we lost was a weak-at-birth lamb too. I'm crossing my fingers!

Happy Birthday Niki!!!!!

My boy turned 10 years old on November 30th! Here's a picture of him playing 'babies' with Willow. He is so amazing with younger children and babies. And he's a great big brother.

Isn't he a sweet looking boy? He is going to be such a hansome man!

It seems like such a short time ago he was my brand new little baby. His birth was so sweet and easy, I was smiling the whole time. The whole pregnancy, I felt something magical was happening, like I was walking around on a slightly different plain of existence from the regular world.

He was the sweetest and easiest baby to have around. He laughed early and easily. He's still my bubbly happy boy. A true Jovial Jupiter Saggitarius.


Now I know that the magical presence I felt was his life force. He is my magical boy.

Smithville Christmas Parade

Hmmm, for some reason, I can't pick the order of my pictures! I switched to beta blogger and now it takes longer to upload pictures and they are out of sequence.

These are pictures from the Smithville Christmas Parade. We went to the Hamilton parade last weekend, but there is something missing there, something you can only find at a small town parade. It was a blast!


Livestock! Always lots of livestock at a small town parade. These sheep needed extra coaxing to convince them that being in the parade was their glorious moment in the spotlight. Yes, that is a grave yard across the road, We chose a spot across the road from a cemetary. Merry Christmas!



This picture would have been the last. Willow fell asleep close to the end of the parade. She's still clutching her candy canes.



This would have been the first picture. Smithville's Christmas parade always begins with the old milk truck giving away free hot chocolate. What big city parade does that? We always love that part of the parade. Even this year in the 15C sunshine!


I had no idea that this was Smithville's WORLD FAMOUS grapple manufacturer. I didn't even know there WAS a world famous grapple manufacturer! Cool!


Yes, I admit it. I live in a community that features a Poultry Festival. But don't go a-knockin' the poultryfest til ya bin der!

Voices From The Farm

If you are like me, a fan of the book Spiritual Midwifery by Ina May Gaskin or know anything about the most successful commune in America, you will enjoy reading "Voices From The Farm". The book is Edited by Rupert Fike, he also makes many contributions in the writing.

The book is a collection of memoirs of Farm residents. It starts of with tales from the beginning when The Farm was only an idea conceived by Stephen Gaskin, a well known teacher in San Fransisco's counterculture during the 60's, and the people who were like minded in their dream of creating a new way of life.

The earliest tales are of the arrival of "The Caravan" in Tennessee. Stephen Gaskin, an English teacher at the San Fransisco State College, was well known for his free Monday Night Classes. Spiritually, Stephen and his pupils seemed to be quite eclectic, though they have always been described as a Christian community. One winter evening in 1969, several ministers from the American Academy of Religion happened upon a Monday Night Class. They were so impressed that arrangements were made for a tour of Stephen and his "sermons" in churches and campuses across the country. The Caravan was the result of his friends and pupils following the tour. Several hundred hippies travelled in buses, trucks and vans across the US. It must have been quite the sight in many a small town and city to see that many San Fransisco hippies in one place at one time!

It is truly a sign of the times that this tour happened the way it did, in my opinion. You have to understand that Stephen's "Monday Night Class" or Sermons if you prefer, were not at all what you might imagine any church service to be. Essentially the people attending services would talk about their experiences of psychedelics from the previous weekend (thus the name Monday Night Service) and try to gather what messages or lessons they were suppose to gain from the experiences. This was the roots of their spiritual community though later on psychedelics were no longer used by the community.

When the tour came to an end and Monday Night Classes resumed in San Francisco, I think there was a sense of loss. They folks of the Caravan had experienced a feeling of community, though nomadic, but a rare type of community. The community was based on honesty and on the idea that problems should be fixed immediately. Bad feelings must be dealt with immediately with truthfulness (and at times it seems rather blunt) so that negativity would not be allowed a space to fester. In the beginning this created a feeling of closeness and love and no one wanted to lose that.

A decision was made to pool all of the communities resources and assets. They would buy land and make that community into a reality - The Farm. Tennessee was chosen for it's inexpensive land, relatively mild winters and laws that would allow them the freedom to form their community. The communities assets would be held in common and redistributed as needed.

Here is where our story really begins.

The stories are interesting, funny, meaningful and sometimes sad. If you are an idealist and dream of living such a lifestyle, it is a reality check. Things are not often easy here. Poverty is a fact of life. You learn that "When Something Belongs to Everybody, It Doesn't Belong to Anybody". Having your friends and neighbors constantly trying to make you confront your issues must have been difficult to take at times!

I was fascinated by the practical details such as getting fresh water, food and shelter to all of the Farm folks and how they managed to make money to pay the bills. I particularly enjoyed reading some examples of the gate house log! Very interesting!

The Farm residents are admirable in their dedication to problem solving, not just within the community but in how they extended it to the world beyond. They stretched out that helpful hand to the world in projects such as Horn of Plenty, providing aid to Guatemala after the Quake of 78. They also provided an ambulance services in New York's Bronx when other ambulance services were afraid to enter the neighborhood. They made a positive impact outside of the community in their offers to take in women with unwanted pregnancies, to provide a safe place for them to bring their children into the world. It was a place were a woman could decide to keep her baby or leave her with a nice loving Farm foster family with the agreement that she could change her mind and come back for the baby any time. The Farm also extended help to the elderly and the mentally ill. The Farm was a community that viewed no one as worthless which so often seems to be the case in the larger world.

I appreciate the honesty in these tales. As you read on, you eventually begin to see the less than ideal events bound to happen in such a community. People tire of living in poverty. Things are not always distributed fairly and equally. Finally in the mid 1980's there were disagreements that could not be resolved and The Farm went through a process that felt like an ugly divorce. Eventually it emerged transformed from a Commune to a Cooperative. Individuals became responsible for their own household finances. During the transformation, many members left causing a collapse of the charitable organization "Horn of Plenty".

Today, many of the members that remain on The Farm are the ones who were there at the start in San Fransisco. There is a strong bond there still. Now their important works are the midwifery practice, the eco school, the book publishing company and their contributions to vegetarian food and cooking. There is still an idealism amongst the residents. They have a positive and vibrant energy. The experiment may not have been completely successful, but they have taught many valuable lessons to the world. It would be a mistake not to take something from their story and incorporate it into your life because it is up to each one of us to make this a good planet. We can learn from The Farm that a new way is possible, we can follow dreams. We CAN make a difference!

Your Vocabulary Score: A-

Congratulations on your multifarious vocabulary! You must be quite an erudite person.

How's Your Vocabulary?

November Double Rainbow

 

Peter got this picture from our porch. 

Halloween/Samhain Celebrations

 

Our trick or treaters.

 

Some of our many jack o lanterns. 

Halloween Fun at Howell's

 

Peter and Willow enjoying the jack o latern display.

 

Mama and kiddos

 

Spooky Jack O Laterns

October is my favorite month of the year. There is rarely a boring moment. This year has probably been a bit slower than a typical year for us because of the constant rain we've been having this autumn. Still we have managed to take a trip to Hanes Corn Maze in West Flamborough, ten acres through an eloborate labrynthe of corn. We made a night time trip to Howell's Pumpkin Farm in Pelham. All of the pictures are from that trip. What a fun place Howell's is. Definately my favorite. And we made one bone chilling trip to Dymet's Pumpkin Farm in Dundas. Bonechilling not because it was spookiy but because it was absolutely freezing! Dymet's Farm is goregeous in that it perches on the egde of the escarpment overlooking Dundas valley. It's a spectacular view. But it's very open and windy there on a good day. Yesterday happened to be extra windy and cold so it was frigid there! We didn't stay long.

October is drawing to a close. Tomorrow is Halloween and Samhain. Fun celebrations for the family. I will post pictures as soon as I can! 

My Baby Turns 2 !!!!!!

Willow had a birthday on Friday October 13th. She is now 2 years old! She had a wonderful day of treats and fun. The play kitchen set from Granny and Grandpa were a huge hit. She had been "cooking" and "baking" just like Daddy ever since.


I thought it would be nice to share her birth story to celebrate this day. So here it is!

THE HOMEBIRTH OF WILLOW CERRIDWEN


It's a girl!

10-13-04

9lbs
22inches long

Willow’s birth was so different than my other’s. It’s so true when people tell you that it’s different each time. At least it was for me. My son Niki's birth almost 8 years ago was fairly quick and easy. So was Willow’s and yet it was different in so many ways!

Willow was low in my pelvis a month before her birth and completely engaged a couple of weeks before she was born. I don’t recall that feeling until the birth of my other children.

Of course time has a way of making you forget certain details!

I had tons of braxton hicks contractions, especially throughout the last month of pregnancy. A couple of weeks before the birth I would have series of braxton hicks contractions that were perfectly timed. I would get them every night and they would be gone by morning. They didn’t hurt at all, but I was amazed by the amount of downward pressure I would feel with each one! I definitely had that pregnant lady waddle!

A few days before she was born the evening contractions began to get more uncomfortable. I would feel them all the way around to my back and the peak began to feel a bit painful. They would wake me from my sleep as well! The day before the birth I had good strong contractions half the night. I kept the kids home from school thinking that this must be it! I mean I’ve been through all this before so I know what’s what! Well by 9:00am the contractions were pretty much gone. I would get some occasionally through the day, but nothing regular. I was so surprised by this prelabour. I didn’t have anything like that with my son and I figured that it would be the same or even shorter this time around. But now it seemed like I couldn’t even get going. I was so ready to finally meet my baby and I was getting pretty tired and moody.

I had planned from the beginning that the kids should be there for the birth, but I began to realize that the idea of having the kids there was making me feel a bit inhibited. I had shown them birth videos and talked about birth sounds and such, and they seemed very comfortable with the idea. But I guess I wasn’t. I didn’t want them to worry about me. (Even though they probably wouldn’t have been worried.) And I needed to be free to be loud and uninhibited. I began to think my body was reacting to these feelings and I thought it might be waiting for the kids to go to bed that night.

Well, as soon as they were in bed I was contracting again. I got a nice hot bath going, scented with essential oils and listened to soothing music. It was great and really helped me relax. And get into the sensations. I’m sure that going into labour you just have to be in the right space in your head sometimes. It seemed to be the case for me.

After awhile I came out and sat with my hubby and tried to watch a movie with him. The surges were only coming every 10 to 20 minutes, but they were sharp at the peaks and made it hard to really enjoy the movie. I decided to go to bed and see if I could get some sleep. I still wasn’t convinced anything was really happening since it was the same drill as the night before. I spent another night waking up with each surge, but I could still sleep in between. They still seemed like really early contractions by how irregular they were. They were still anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes apart. Sometimes there would be a half hour of no pains. Other times there would be just a few minutes. I had felt this pattern with the births of my other kids. I was surprised how strong they felt though since they were so short and usually pretty far apart. Since I was trying to sleep I would wake at the peak of each contraction. It was a little harder to deal with the sensations since I wouldn’t be prepared for them. But I still managed to fall asleep between each one. I was so tired from the previous nights of surges!

I got up at 6:00 am so that I could rest on the couch. It helped to be sitting up! Made them way more manageable. I dozed on and off for another hour with only a couple of surges. I still couldn’t decide if it was going to happen that day or not. I decided to send the kids to school since keeping them home the day before had not worked out at all. I made their lunches, packed their backpacks and went to wake them up. I had to stop every once in a while for a contraction. They were still pretty irregular. Occasionally one would be pretty strong and I would need to stop for it. But I only had a couple like that as hubby and I got the kids fed, dressed and off to school. I told them that we might have the baby that day but then again we might not. They’d already heard that one a few times by then so I’m sure they didn’t take it too seriously, hee-hee!

Once they left I headed straight for the tub again but I didn’t stay in long because it felt just too hot in there. Instead I went back to my nest on the couch and got comfy, I tried to knit but couldn’t get into that at all.

Have I mentioned how wonderful hubby was yet? I should!!! He was so great! He brought me drinks whenever I asked. Got me my soothing music. Tempted me with his yummy baked treats and rubbed my back and belly whenever I looked uncomfortable. There was so much that we didn’t get to do when our other children were born. Our first had been at the hospital. We got there very early and had had almost every intervention you can think of other than a c-sec. We were pretty scared, not well prepared and just did what we were told. Our next birth was also at a hospital, but we were very well prepared that time. It was a great birth, but since Peter had to spend all of my active and transition part of labour driving us to the hospital, it wasn’t exactly what he had hoped for I’m sure. And since I arrived ready to push, he was pretty much shoved aside in the bustle to get ready. This time we were alone, relaxed and this may sound odd but it was very romantic. His love and support made that day so special. I got to see how gentle and caring he really is.

By 9:30 am we decided that the baby would probably be born that day, but probably not for a while. We put the waterproof cover on the bed and an old sheet on top and got cozy. Contractions were pretty short, but they were definitely getting strong. I had to breath slowly and deeply through many of them and after awhile I started to shake at the peak. Going to the bathroom at this point was not too fun partly because I had to go downstairs each time and also because each time I went, the contractions were so strong and it would turn out that I didn’t really need to go that much after all. I checked my cervix and thought I was probably completely effaced but probably only 3 cm (though I was only guessing) I was disappointed since the contractions felt strong and I was feeling that constant need to go to the bathroom. I felt so much further than 3 cm!

I suppose at that point I should have stayed up on my feet, but it felt so much nicer to sit in bed resting against Peter while he rubbed my lower back. I was definitely shaking at the peak of contrax and they were about 5-6 minutes apart by 10:00 am. I started thinking that even though I had a long way to go in dilation that it might go very fast soon. There was so much energy and pressure!

Peter paged our midwife and talked to Sue. She is a student midwife and I was really glad she was going to be there as I felt we had really hit it off. She asked to talk to me and of course that made my contrax stop! It’s amazing what a connection there is between brain and body. It's happened to me every time. I get stage fright! Sue understood though and still wanted to check since she knew how fast things went once I hit active labour with my son’s birth. She said she would come out at noon. I thought that sounded great.

It didn’t take long after I got off the phone for the surges to start again. Peter and I stayed in bed and continued as we had been before. Sue and Sandy arrived at about 11:30am. Sue checked my dilation and found me to be between 3-4 cm. I was surprised that my guess was so close but a little worried that the contractions were so strong without being more effective. I still felt that under the right circumstances I would go really fast!

It was exciting watching them take out the little blankets and clothes and wrapping them in a heating pad so that they would be nice and warm once our baby arrived! We talked and we all felt very strongly that I was going to have a speedy birth once active labour picked up. I had this odd instinctual feeling that once my water broke we would be in for a wild ride and so I actually asked if my water could be broken! I know that might seem like a strange request for a natural birth, but it was something I just knew was right. Normally I wouldn’t have picked that route. In fact, my water was artificially broken with my daughter Josi's birth and that was the first intervention that led to many others. But it was like I knew that this was the boost I needed and wanted. I just knew that it was going to be okay this time. The water bag was bulging with each contraction at this point. I said let's go for it. We got ready for a short, intense ride!

On the next contraction Sandy broke the bag. It was around noon. They helped me up and I went downstairs for a short walk and to use the bathroom again. They gave Peter and I privacy and he held me up through the next few contractions. They were suddenly very long, strong and fast! I tried the bathroom again and thought I really needed to go. I pushed just a couple of times before I realized what this was. I couldn’t really believe it though since it had been only 20 minutes since my water broke! I told Peter that I thought it wouldn’t be long now and so he helped me back upstairs. Sue checked the baby’s heart rate and had me lay down for a quick look at my cervix. Fully dilated! Wow! Lying on my back was unbearable, as was sitting, leaning back on my stack of pillows. I got up on my knees and Sandy brought over a chair for me to lean on. I told her I was feeling a huge amount of bowel pressure. I knew the baby was starting to move through my cervix then. Sandy was on the phone with a 3rd midwife who was lost on our back roads.

I asked Peter to sit in the chair I was leaning on so I could hang onto him rather than an empty chair. Then my body began to push! There was nothing I could do to stop or add to that power. It was the most intense sensation! I thought I might explode! I grabbed onto Peter, buried my face in his lap (hey, no jokes!) and just screamed and hollored my head off. I couldn’t not yell! There was so much sensation, power and energy blasting through me it had to go somewhere and boy did it ever. It hurt like hell, but yelling honestly helped me deal with it.

The baby was coming out fast! I was worried that I would tear and tried to tell the midwives that but I could only say ‘I can’t go slow. I have to go fast!’ Having midwives was such a different experience. They never told me what to do. I loved that. Being ordered about during pushing is the most annoying thing. People telling you when to push and when not to push as if it’s a moment you can control. They just spoke very quietly to each other while I clung to Peter and yelled. I could barely tell they were there! So wonderful! Another wonderful thing was having Peter to hang on to. We had wanted to have him catch this baby. But I really needed him in front of me for me to cling to and get comfort from rather than have him behind me looking at my bum with the midwives while I faced an empty chair.

As the head began to show I reached down to feel it. I did that with my son's birth and really loved that part. One difference - I was all smiles while Niki was coming out. This time I was still hollering but I started feeling that excitement too. It was very intense. The burning wasn’t too bad but the pressure was so strong. It felt like I might blow up into a million pieces. The head crowned and came out in one contraction and I yelled to Peter that the baby was coming out. I felt relief for a moment, but pushing out the shoulders and chest was still pretty hard. Once the head was out I kept my hands on her and as soon as her shoulders and chest were out she slid into my hands. I scooped her up and went straight from yells of pain to whooping with laughter. I started yelling ‘That was amazing! That was amazing!’ I saw she was a girl and told Peter. I love that moment after the birth! All 3 times have been incredible no matter what kind of birth it was.

From the time that I made my way back upstairs to the birth only 7 minutes had passed!

I had gone from 4 cm to birth in 27 minutes!

I felt so high and amazed by the experience. We had done it again. There was this whole new person that wasn’t here before. She was whole and perfect and we just loved her right away. Peter cut the cord, a first for him since he had always felt too overwhelmed with our hospital births. I chose active management for the third stage since I have a mild bleeding disorder. I got a pitocin shot and the placenta came out whole and huge! A quick check of me and baby and then the midwives went quietly downstairs and let Peter and I have a private time with our new baby. I felt so much love for Peter and our baby and Josi and Niki though they had missed the birth after all. I felt that they could have handled it, but in the end I needed to feel completely relaxed and uninhibited to let that birth power carry me away.

Later we discovered she was 9 pounds. And that she was born with her hand up over her head. No wonder it was so intense! I didn’t tear though and I think being up on my knees helped quite a bit. The midwives checked us over again in an hour, tidied up a bit, hugged us, thanked us for such a nice easy birth and left just as quietly as they arrived.

By then it was only an hour until the kids would be home from school so we decided not to pick them up early, but surprise them instead. I greeted them at the door when the bus came, just like I always do. Peter was with the baby in the living room. They came in telling me about their day just like they always do until I showed them how squashy my belly was. They looked at me in such a funny confused way! Then I brought them to the living room to meet their brand new sister. They were so surprised and happy, Josi was a tiny bit disappointed at missing the birth, but was still completely happy. It’s wonderful having older kids because you always have hands willing to hold baby when you need them. They are wonderful with their new sister and love her so much!

Life is good!

 

Almost 8 month preggo belly at the beach.

 

Willow, a bun fresh from the oven.

 

Josi and Niki meet their new baby sister.