Costco

Yesterday we stopped at Costco in Quebec..gotta love it...

Mike's

We had a great day with Mike. Mike had the proper idea, and strapped a beer cooler to the catamaran.
Then Carrie, Beth, Mike, Kendra (Mike's neice), and I all boarded the 3 person catamaran.

But you know what happens when you mix beer and an overloaded sailboat and a good wind...

So after we got that all sorted out, we went tubing.

And Mike wasn't satisfied until he lost us both. Fun times!!

Road Trip

Today Sarah, Carrie, Beth and I left for Ottawa, we didn't leave early, and only came as far as Quebec City today. One exciting point of our trip was passing and waving at Tanya at km. 178 on the highway near Woodstock.

We stopped and visited the park at Les Chutes de la Chaudiere.

And tested Sarah's endurance. I carried the cane for her...


Sarah, Carrie, Beth, and I enjoyed the bridge.


Tomorrow...Mike's.

Grandma's House

I went to visit Grandma yesterday. After I got my eyes checked. Need new glasses. Sarah lost my other pair. I think she just put them somewhere...no matter, they were 4 yrs. old and nothing much bothers me anyways. So I took a picture of her house with her new lawn and shrubs, but got caught. "What are you up to?"

"Just taking a picture of your house, Mom"...but if you look carefully, you'll see Ginger escaping via the front door while Grandma is worrying about what I am doing.

Anyways, I visited Grandma's house, and had a nice bowl of fish chowder, and a cracker, or two.
Thanks Mom.

Happy Birthday T J

Today is TJ's birthday, and I hear he spent most of the morning playing on a water slide in Amherst. Good way to spend a 27th birthday.

Ahhh...The life of a potato farmer! Happy Birthday TJ!

Happy Birthday Tanya

Our little Tan Tan turns 27 today! Wow, how time flies.. These pictures were taken on our very first camping trip to Lakeside, where we used to camp every summer after haying. This is our 29th summer here and this is the very first summer that we are still haying on August 19th. And I can't even say we are just about done. Yikes! This is also Emma's first day of school up in potato country. I wonder how fun school will be in this heat? Have a great day, Tanya!

And pull that bathing suit up!

Trying out a New Toy

Jesse convinced Hall Bros. that we needed to try out this fancy side mount brush cutter. I think he just wanted to get his lawn mowed. But we tried it out, it worked great, now we just have to scrape up the dough.


Jesse

Farm Blog...Swimsuit Edition

Not quite Sports Illustrated...
As everyone knew, Grandma turned 81 last Wednesday. Happy Birthday! She had her good friend Valerie down from Quebec, so Sarah & I took them to Halifax for a birthday lunch with her sister Joan. A stop at the Nova Scotia Welcome Center, another stop at the beautiful Wentworth Valley picnic area, and then a good lunch at the True North Diner in Bedford, and then back home. We stopped a few times on the way home, including a visit with Buttercup & Daisy in Sussex. Anyways....we didn`t get a birthday picture of her with her sister, so that is a bad thing. But we did get a picture when they came over here swimming on Sunday. They look kinda cute in their bright one piece suits, in an elderly way...

And for an update on how the pool turned out, not bad, huh...

Little Sarah's Christening

Sarah got baptized today. By Father Bill (TJ's uncle). Maria and her fiance Ben were Godparents. A happy day!

Changing the Pool Liner

Eleven years ago, Tanya, Stacy, & Jesse bought a used pool with a new liner. The deal was that if they bought the pool, I would set it up and build a deck. Our neighbor that sold us the pool told us we would get 10 years out of the liner. We did, but not 11, so this year we had to change it. Carrie told us to!
A big job. The pool had to be all straightened out and releveled. Then new styrafoam put down.

And to get liner in straight! We had 2 arrows to guide us. Pointed up. I hope we have the water on the right side. We are filling with our spring overflow.And this year it is sure overflowing.

All this work called for a beer. Or 5. I kinda liked the new Moosehead Light Lime. Jesse stuck with his rice beer.
Half of the management team drank coolers. The other half is cut off.

Carrie couldn't wait to enjoy! Now tomorrow we get to finish off the top edge.

Carrie got her Tractor License!

It is now legal for Carrie to run up and down the road with a tractor. Now, if only we could convince her to do that. She might break a nail. Congratulations Carrie!

I painted the Mail Box!

I have been told that my mailbox has been getting a little scruffy looking, so a few years ago I decided to build a new one. That went well, some of the materials are still just inside the calf barn door. So last Friday I decided to tackle the job again. It must have something to do with all the non hay days we are getting. When I looked at my poor old mail box(I should have got a before picture), I started remembering how proud we were back in 1981, peeling the J TAYLOR off, and putting on the B MITHAM. So I decided to take out the dents and give her a coat of paint. Nuhn manure spreader red and John Deere green. I know there is a song about John Deere Green, but what about the Nuhn Manure Spreader Red?
Anyways, we got it back up yesterday and guess what? The mail lady had a parcel for us today, so she brought it right up to the house.

Happy Birthday Peter

Peter turns the big 40 today. Happy Birthday Peter!. Have a great day!

And the Nominee's are....

2009 Farm of the Year candidates are:

4 other farms from around New Brunswick...and...

Bruce & Sarah Mitham .... nominated by the Kings Co. Soil & Crops

I didn't believe Jesse when he told me we had been nominated for New Brunswick Farm of the Year. But a few weeks later, I got the call, so I guess he was right. And here I am looking at everyone else, wishing I could grow a crop like theirs, or have a herd of cattle like them. Wow, quite an honor. Anyways, tomorrow is the day the judges come visit. At 8:00 AM. Online voting begins at 10:00. Just kidding. Wish us luck, and Good Luck to everyone else. Just getting nominated is special. Thanks to the New Brunswick Soil & Crop Improvement Association.

Something New..Bark Ash

We are trying something different today. Spreading bark ash from the pulp mill. It is supposed to do the same as lime, but it is a lot cheaper.

Here is Jesse loading it...


And spreading it.

Brad is getting a House

Now I know I have at least some people checking the blog. Here are some pictures I got from Victoria.


All we need now is the address, as I hear we are all invited there for a party after the house is finished.

And what does everyone think of the weather forecast? Did I do good Peter?

Abby had a Friend Over

We saw Abby behind the house and in front of the house at the same time yesterday. It took a few minutes to figure out why.

Grandma's Pu.. Cat

Apparently we are now accepting pictures of family members to be published on our blog. This is Ginger, Grandma's heir. Or should I say hair, as she sheds a lot. Pictures can be sent to me. It might help me fill some nights when I really don't have much new to post. Maybe I'll get an indication if anyone even looks at this.

TJ Wishing...

Tanya & TJ went camping at Lakeside last weekend, but when the rain started Sunday morning they thought they might pay a visit to Mom & Dad. As it happened we were unloading hay at the time, so TJ & Tanya pitched right in and helped. They thought they were coming for breakfast! TJ only had potato farmer clothes with him (silk PJ's I think), so he thought if he borrowed a set of my clothes he would learn to be more like me!

Thinking of Grandpa

Today would have been Grandpa's 85th birthday... We are thinking of you Dad.