Living the Dream

A long walk around the partially combined field, 57 pictures on the camera and now no excuse to put blogging aside. Its that time of year again when farmers are patiently weather watching and anxiously waiting to get the combine into the wheat fields to harvest. The crop is good in quality and quantity with better than expected moisture content. Thank everyone involved in providing the daily bread for your table.

Winter Project

 

Over Christmas while house sitting, I had time to piece together this puzzle. Puzzle building is like an addiction. Once you connect the first two pieces together you can't stop. With me, it's always just one more piece and then I'll do something else. A lot of the time I look at the clock and its hours later since I said, "Just one more piece or I know where that goes". The thrill of finding the next piece that fits, keeps me going. Starting with the frame is easy. Anything that is easy to assemble is my next step. I'm not sure why and I should really change my strategy when it comes to puzzle building but I don't. I always leave the large, same colour pieces like sky, trees, grass or water to the end. It makes for a real tedious task. No complaints, though, when the last piece is fitted, I step back and look at the finished product and smile.

Twice Blessed

It happened to me again and I am feeling very blessed to have the opportunity to be published in The Chicken Soup Series of Books for a second time. As you may recall, the first time I received this honour was August 2013 when my story From Worker to Owner  was published in From Lemons to Lemonade.

The Farmers' Parade of Lights, is the title of my latest story. Books will be available for sale from me after the publication date of Oct 14, 2014. Because this is my second title with this amazing company, I am selling the books for $15.00 each (no tax). Normally, I would be selling them for $16.95( no tax), but everyone has been so supportive of my writing, that I would like to show my appreciation by selling my books at a lower price.

As a side note- this book is Canadian. Shop local and thank you for supporting Canadian writers.

Caroline Sealey aka The Overalled Story Teller

Keepers of the Land-Book Review

                                                  Keepers of the Land-Book Review

My grandkids gave me a copy of this book for a birthday gift this year. They know me too well.

Keepers of the Land is written by Carl Hiebert & Deb Cripps. The sub title of the book is A Celebration of Canadian Farmers. Published locally in 2007 by Gifts of Wings Publishing, Linwood, Ontario.

Inside the front cover is an animated map of Canada with farm related drawings, scattered from the east coast to the west coast.  Written on the front flap is," If you farm, you'll love this book. If you eat, you will be amazed by this book. If you care about the future, you must read this book."

The 168 pages of the book contain stunning photos of farms and farm families all across Canada. A short story about each farm accompanies the photos. Hiebert and Cripps begin their journey with Story #1  in Barriere, BC. The final story Cows and Quota, comes from Vermilion Bay, Ontario.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will display it proudly on my book shelf.

Thank you to Xaiden and Aria (my grandkids) for allowing me to enjoy Canadian farming across this vast country  I call home.

The Brink

My passion seems odd
Bank barns get my nod

A camera's swift click
Seems to do the trick

A perfect shot,  I think
Brings me to the brink

The thrill of the find
History on my mind

What happened?

What happened to the days when everyone knew the words to Old McDonald Had
A Farm? Children learned the names of all farm animals and what noises they made.
The days when milk came fresh from a cow and eggs were gathered  every morning.
 There was pride in meals, where everything on the table was produced on the farm.
Shop local wasn't a trend, it was the norm. Foodstuffs from other countries were
rare and a treat on special occasions.

Then things changed drastically. Children were taught that milk and eggs came from
 the grocery store. Most had never seen a cow or a chicken. A few learned that brown
cows gave chocolate milk and brown eggs were healthier than white eggs. Imported
foods came to grocery stores cheaper than locally grown or raised.

A revival has been seen in shopping locally. Education of non farm children and adults
 on where their food comes from, is on the rise. Consumers want to know where the
 food they are buying is grown or raised. Demand for  more locally grown products
is now the trend.

Will the trend continue? I hope its not a trend and shop local becomes the norm again.
Where neighbours support each other and people take pride in what they do.

Canada Day Eh!

I AM SO PROUD TO BE A CANADIAN! I AM SO PROUD TO BE A CANADIAN! IAM SO


Today is Canada Day and Canada is 147 years old. A local radio station has posted 147 reasons to like Canada. My photo shows a few of the reasons why I LOVE CANADA! There are so many, many, many more. I have so much to be thankful for living in this GREAT COUNTRY that I call HOME. Not just today but every day BE PROUD to be CANADIAN.