On the farm.

We've been on the farm twelve days now and here's what we've done:

-Loaded and unloaded logs into and out of a truck
-Mucked out the barn
-Weeded
-Planted
-Dug beds
-Picked vegetables
-Cooked meals
-Baked cakes
-Herded cows
-Cleaned the house
-Done 800 loads of laundry
-Gutted sheep (Seamus only)
-Fixed the steps at the barn
-Fed pigs
-Collected rubbish
-Cleaned out the basement
-Scraped paint from the outside of the house
-Engaged in battles with three kids

And as the days get hotter, and I procure more and more insect bites despite wearing long-sleeved tops and trousers (in 28 degrees), a bug net and skin-dissolving repellent, I can at last see the appeal of Toronto. It's too polluted there to have bugs. I am so tired of it! Every day I get ten or twenty new insect bites, some of which look infected. It's so beautiful outdoors but it's just not worth being outside unnecessarily. It's the loveliest weather, and I have to wear a bug net through it!

On top of this, I caught another cold, which is actually ok now - just a sore throat and headache.

But the farm is lovely, and so relaxed. It's very different to the other farm we were on, where we began work at 8.30am and finished at 3pm, ate meals at exactly the same time every day etc. Here, we get up when we want, do whatever we like (they told us on our first day, they don't care what we do or how long it takes us, as long as we make some progress whilst we're here), and finish when we like. Today, the husband is taking us on the Cabot Trail, which is a drive around the island. I am excited for this! Cape Breton is so pretty and green, and we haven't had much of a chance to explore until now.