October came and went.

Most of it was so brilliant and warm. On the 3^rd we celebrated Branch’s 9^th birthday with a trip to a lovely park in Moose Jaw. It’s an oasis of green in a largely golden landscape. This summer was especially dry in the prairies. Our grass was brown and didn’t once need to be mowed. Crescent Park’s built in sprinklers kept everything green and all the flowers blooming. When we first found the place in September, I instantly fell in love, as did Branch. He immensely enjoyed watching the ducks swim in the stream that travels through the park. So that’s where he wanted to go.

The boys are eleven months apart. October is the unique month when they’re the same age. It’s sometimes hard to convince people they aren’t actually twins.

This month, we planted 250 tulip and 100 daffodil bulbs. You might think that’s a lot but it hardly took up any space at all. I still have loads of room for more flowers. Since buying flowers is quite possibly my favourite thing to do, I’m very happy about this. In anticipation, I made a planter out of an old fence we took down which turned out beautifully.

Our pigs are growing and continually escaping. Thankfully they refrain from grand adventures. They just come trotting over to the house to let us know they want some more feed or have dumped their water. They love being pet and given belly rubs. The children can usually get them back into their area easily. One day, they were especially exuberant and tried to run into the house when we were coming out to deal with them. Athena thought it would be memorable to let them in. Thankfully the others disagreed and kept the pigs out of the house.

Near the end of the October, the temperatures began dropping. We decided to make a smaller chicken coop to house our little flock. The coop that came with the property is quite nice but very large. I’m afraid it’ll be too big for the seventeen remaining chickens (we started with twenty-two but have lost some along the way). So much time was spent searching for wood in the piles left around the farm. Then we pieced it all together. The finished product isn’t impressive. I couldn’t get it all painted before the snow came. A level couldn’t be found. That and the somewhat warped boards resulted in a rather crooked creation. Unfortunately, the roof of salvaged tin failed to keep out the falling flakes. Thankfully the chickens hadn’t moved over yet.

“That’s a fail,” the children declared upon surveying our final product.

The sheep and alpacas were moved from the field across from the house down to the barn. I miss looking out the kitchen window and seeing them frolicking. They’re keeping warm in the barn and enjoying the outdoor pen. The pigs were especially happy to have some company. They got out and refused to return to their pasture and shelter across from the barn. After a few nights of sleeping in the barn with the sheep and alpacas, the pigs agreed to go back across the lane to their own spot.

October 24 brought a little snow storm. We headed out to get boots and snowpants. I’ve never been so ill prepared. That chicken coop really did have my complete attention. I kept thinking, “Just a little more and it’ll be done.” That kept me from getting out before the storm. In the city, I got something else for the roof of the chicken coop but haven’t yet put it on yet. Despite the intense efforts to get it done, the coop remains incomplete and unoccupied. It’s on the list of projects for next week. So far the chickens are managing the cold just fine.

We’ve started going to church in town. The congregation is small but friendly. All the families there are homeschoolers. In stead of being the exception, it’s nice for the kids to feel like they’re the norm.

Aside from the chicken coop, it’s been a slower paced month. We’ve spent lots of time enjoying the outdoors – in the wide range of weather that graced October.

My favourite part has been the tumble weeds. Small and big ones have been rolling across the fields and onto the roads. I’ve not improved in my picture taking so you’ll have to just imagine the scene. Most days it’s more common to encounter tumble weeds than another car on the road. I don’t know why it makes me laugh so much.

“Now you know where your daughter’s move to,” my neighbour said to my mom when she came to visit. “The middle of nowhere.”

I guess that’s what the tumble weeds remind me of. Here in the middle of nowhere, we’re carving out a wonderfully unusual life.