Some monumental changes have occurred in the month of November. We said goodbye to our dear Athena. She’s gone back to Calgary for a while. My mom had eye surgery on the final day of November. Since she’s now living alone, after four years of being with us, she asked if Athena wanted to come keep her company and help out a bit. The invitation wasn’t a complete surprise. My mom was planning to visit us the first weekend of November, before she found out about the surgery. Athena kept joking that she was going to go back with my mom to spend the winter in Calgary. That, somewhat, prepared me for the possibility. It was a decision that felt right. Athena’s settling in fine here in Saskatchewan, but she misses the city. This seemed like a good opportunity for her.

My brother, Matt, and his family came to visit the second weekend in November. It was my sister-in-law’s interest that led to us getting alpacas. Back when a farm remained a distant dream, she asked if we would get some since she loves them so much. Wanting to be as optimistic about our future as possible, I said, “Yes, of course we’ll get alpacas.” That’s what we did – the second animal we added to the farm was our two alpacas, Spark and Roseation. Then there was the surprise cria born on my niece’s birthday. Needless to say, they were excited to finally visit and meet the animals.

Because of my mother’s issues with her eyes, she didn’t end up coming to visit us. My brother took Athena back to Calgary. We’re all missing her immensely. But she’s enjoying herself.

Before her departure, Athena climbed nearly to the top of the pine trees. Raine didn’t want to be out done, so she joined in the fun as well.

Adley, Branch, and Cora love feeding the alpacas during our morning chores.

The chickens still aren’t laying any eggs. Nearly half of them have turned out to be roosters. Our coop is done. We started transferring the chickens over but then gave up as the temperatures warmed up. It’s been a very mild month with hardly any snow. Locals say this is quite unusual.

November began with the celebration of Adley’s 10^th birthday. He wanted to go to the dollar store in Swift Current to spend his birthday money then out for lunch a A&W. It was there that he spontaneously counted to three for the first time. Adley’s genetic micro-deletion and micro-duplication cause him to struggle significantly with academics. Normally his counting goes something like, “1 – 2 – 5” or “3 – 9 – 8”. Even when I try to get him to repeat after me, the sequence is lost. But while we were out for lunch, he lined up three things from his kid’s meal and announced, “I have three things. 1 – 2 – 3.” Thinking it was a fluke, I had him repeat it a few times. He kept getting it right. We were all overjoyed. Not a typical celebration on a ten year old’s birthday but it was deeply significant for our family.

On Remembrance Day, November 11, Raine and Athena helped to make pancakes for a brunch after the service in town. They worked with other volunteers from the local churches. The two of them flipped nearly two hundred pancakes and had a great time.

The pigs are growing quickly and remain our biggest challenge. They keep running right through the electric fencing. Sometimes they come out because they want to be fed or have knocked over their water. Other times, the come out for no good reason. Mostly they will return to their pasture quickly, following Raine or Branch who carry a bucket of feed for them. However, there are times they don’t want to return at all.

On November 25, another dream of mine came true. For a long time my dream has been to create an intentional community and to be surrounded by family. I’ve not been sure how it would all come together and am still waiting in many ways. But we do now have family on the property with us. My girls’ biological grandmother, step-grandfather, and 14yr old cousin, have moved onto the farm with us. They were the first visitors in our guest house and have now taken up permanent residence there. After coming for a week in August, they decided to pack up and leave Ontario. They drove for five days to get to Saskatchewan. The pigs were there to greet them – and refused to return to their pasture for quite some time.

I posted in the local facebook group asking to hire some help in unloading the truck. One man responded. Then someone from church text me to say her husband saw my post. He’d be there with their two oldest children and a friend. They didn’t want to be paid at all. The pastor from church sent me a message saying he would be there with his wife, elderly father, and another gentleman.

The 26’ long uhaul was unloaded in less than an hour. It was unbelievable. I’d expected a lengthy ordeal and had prepared lunch for the crew but most were gone before the meat pies were even warm. The pastor, his wife, and father stayed to eat with us. They talked of gardening and hunting. It was a lovely time.

We’re settling into a new rhythm as our community expands with family on site and connections nearby. It’s been a good month.