Miss

Next year our family will be one sister richer. Mirissa, or Miss as she is affectionately called around our house, is marrying my brother. And thank goodness for it - because we've often joked with Nico that if they didn't work out we would trade Mirissa in for him ;) Jokes aside - it's only because we truly love her. She's one of us in every way. She even gives our Dad a hard time and nags our youngest brother, so as far as anyone can see, she's always been a fixture in our family because she fits in seamlessly. She also happens to be as beautiful on the outside as she is on the inside. Thank you Miss for being my muse one sunny afternoon on the farm.

Laci's Metapmorphosis

They say there is an artist in all of us. Laci's inner artist manifests itself in a number of unexpected ways. Recently, he has taken to the art of canoe restoration. We found two free canoes that we could either pay to dump or bring to life. Laci has never been in a canoe before, but this didn't stop him from learning how to raise one from the dead.

So he scrubbed and sanded, scrubbed and sanded...

...fiberglass and epoxied, scrubbed and sanded.

Every now and then he took a break for coffee and chill time with Gypsy.

Three days passed...

And Laci's metamorphosis was complete. 

Meet Ruby.

Laci decided to try to sell Ruby. It took all of two hours for the calls to come pouring in. Before he even had a chance to give her a paddle, Ruby was strapped to a roof and driven away. 

It was obvious that Laci was feeling a little bit of seller's remorse. After twelve long hours, his inner artist grew restless... 

Meet Ruby's much older sister. She doesn't look like a gem yet, but I think she's in good hands ;)

Laci's metamorphosis inspired me to imagine Ruby floating down a Group of Seven river somewhere in Algonquin. Maybe in the same way that money makes money, art makes art.

Spring's Rebirth

Sunday morning we awoke to a proud mother and her relatives dancing in the yard. 

We ventured out to find a rambunctious new addition in the field. 

This brave little beauty had already taken to her legs by sun up, celebrating her newfound independence and showing off for her older sisters. 

Mama's words of encouragement make her bold and adventurous, but the real mystery runs much deeper. Although each year new calves are born it never ceases to amaze us how they enter into the world so differently than we do. They are barely dry before they are trekking through the mud, falling over themselves, exploring the space that surrounds them.

Welcome to the farm little one! 
What should we name her?