This Month at the Farm

November 2024 sped by with no surprises, always a plus on a farm, and we headed into winter hoping for an easy one.

October saw most of the gardens done for the year. Herbs did not produce well at all and we don't have enough for the tinctures we need to make to see us through the coming winter. I threw feverfew and calendula seeds along the barnyard fences and hope the come up next spring. Halloween arrived, a bittersweet time here.

September had us agreeing with most of the gardeners we talked with - it was a strange year all around. Only one tomato variety produced any real fruit, the cherry tomato Midnight Snack. Beans were spotty, peas produced pitifully, radishes were slow, spinach barely made an appearance. It was indeed a strange growing year.

August saw some heat but the tomatoes still didn't want to fruit. Blossoms appeared but then seemed to just forget that they were supposed to do more than look pretty.

July was here before we knew what happened, and it flew past. The weather wasn't all that nice, the gardens didn't look happy, but the weeds sure did! (Don't they always!)

June was cool again and the gardens didn't want to start growing. We planted veggies that took an extraordinary length of time to get any real growth on them, and the flower seeds didn't really get growing at all.

May sees us back out to the gardens, planting has begun. It's cool and not very spring like but the robins, swallows, and hummingbirds are back. Quail and chipmunks are playing in the driveway and barnyard and we so enjoy watching them.

January 2024 was definitely different and was followed by February, March and April before things began to return to what passes for normal here.

December started off with hanging Christmas lights outdoors and then we celebrated another Happy Holly-daze season.

November came and went and brought some snow and colder temperatures. We stayed indoors most of the time, Larry working in the shop and Sharron at her keyboard polishing off another book.

October - Halloween month! Such fun. Being growers we lover October because we can see the results of all of our hard work. Of course we don't think of it as work too often because we love gardening.

September was a lovely month, harvest was in full swing and we made notes of which varieties of plants did well. Our weather hasn't been what we've all been used to the past few years so it was important that we made notes.

August 2023 was also hot. Life was a lot quieter here with only the fat little pony in the barnyard.

July was a hotter month, hay was being cut and looking good. We sold our black mare, Summer's Black Diamond and she left here for her new home.

June saw us doing more planting in the gardens. We were busy with the usual farm chores as well as vehicle maintenance, farrier visits, family visits, etc. We had some rain, which was welcome but smoke from a wildfire made the air nasty.

May saw us doing garden preparation and we began planting. Our youngest daughter was married to a wonderful man - the wedding was the most fun we've had in years!

Our son was in town the first week in April. He rode his Harley and learned that if it's going to be nasty in Spring here it will be in April!

The snow melted in March but left a lot of ice around the farm. The first robins arrived, the farrier came and we began to look forward to Spring.

February was a busy month considering it was winter. Sharron tripped while trying to avoid stepping on NovaK9 and ended up with her foot in a cast! Of course Nova was fine. Sharron's physical activity was curtailed but she passed the time working on the next book from Summer Oakes.

January has arrived and because it is always such a dismal month I left the holiday tree up until the 25th. It's now the 31st which means we've made it through another January! Welcome February!

December has brought more of the puppy ordeal, this isn't what we signed on for when we adopted their mother. Our daughter and son in law came down with something so won't be home for Christmas. The highways are so bad that our number one son won't be here either.

November has been all about puppies. We're not getting any sleep!

October, Happy Halloween month! There are still some veggies and flowers to pick but most things are winding down now. Heidi delivered 11 puppies by C-section and the Puppy Ordeal began.

September is quite different than what we usually see here. We're harvesting a few veggies and picking lots of flowers but even the flowers are off this year from our norm. Everything came up late and grew slowly with all this wet weather.

August is still wet. We've got a decent crop of tomatoes because we went with the Manitoba variety, other than that the crops are very different that what we're used to here in our hot climate. We adopted a Lab x dog named Heidi who we soon discovered was going to have puppies.

July came in wet, in fact the whole summer has been wet so far. We had to change our gardening plans and weren't able to get root crops such as potatoes and garlic planted.

June saw the sale of our stallion Renaissance Legacy to Finally Farm NW in Washington state where he is standing at stud. His first foals there will arrive in July 2023 and are excitedly anticipated.

May continued cool but warm enough for the horses to shed out. Nothing like all that hair blowing around in the winds that came at us! Retirement thoughts continued.

April had us planning farm updates at our new location. With plenty of pastureland and good fencing in place we need to decide where to put a multi-family veggie garden and a new barn. Hmm, maybe it's time to slow down a bit.

March 2022 arrived with a lot more snow and unseasonable weather, but by mid month it had warmed up enough for the snow to melt away. It wasn't exactly balmy but at least it wasn't arctic and the horses appreciated it.

February was colder than usual and the snow kept coming.

January 2022 came and went, a lot quicker that usual it seemed. There was plenty of snow, a few short cold snaps but we all began to settle in at our new home.

The first week of November 2021 saw us looking at what farms were for sale in our area. We viewed all of the offerings in our preferred area and found just what we wanted. We moved on December 15th , and Christmas, as our daughter said "will be what it will be this year". Happy Holly-Daze to you all!

September came along and hubby began to see that having our own hay fields would be the way to go. In October we decided to sell our small market garden and buy a property with hay fields. We spoke with our realtor, listed to sell and had a buyer within two weeks. The search for our new home began in earnest.

August 2021 saw us returning home to discover that in our absence our crops had dried up. It doesn't matter how much water you have if no one is there to turn on a tap! Due to this hay became difficult to find and prices jumped by over 125%.

June 2021 saw a heat dome hit the province. We sweltered, the horses hid in the shade and we waited for things to cool off. Things got a bit warmer for BC though, and in July we were evacuated to to wildfires in the area. The horses didn't seem to mind being stabled away from home; we bunked in a motel just minutes from them and saw to their care as if we were still on our own farm.

The snow was gone in May but the cold winds persisted. We planted and hoped for the best. There hasn't been a lot of rain so we are lucky we can irrigate our fields and pastures.

Winter lingered long into April 2021 and the pandemic continued. We stayed close to home, dreaming of the days when we could get out and show again.

March 2021 saw the pandemic continuing. Family and friends were only seen online, those chairs remain empty as we hope for a return to life as we know it sometime in the distant future. Sharron's book The Haunting Season, under the pen name Summer Oakes was just published. The book is available in Kindle or paperback and is a fun read.

February saw winds that caused power outages and damage to some of our fences when a 60 foot+ tree went down. Larry was outside when it happened and said it appeared the horses heard the tree crack before it fell and they all quickly got themselves to safety. We've got the fences repaired but most of the clean up will need to wait for better weather.

February 2021 saw the publishing of Sharron's new book under her pen name of Summer Oakes. Pay the Troll, the first in a fantasy trilogy is now available on amazon and kindle. We have paperback copies here if you are in Canada and would like to save on shipping costs from the US.

January 2021 was another unusual month. COVID lingers and an outbreak broke out at the hospital where our daughter works. We're just staying home, wishing life was back to normal. I keep thinking of the photo I took of a group of empty lawn chairs, drawn up in a circle so people could visit. They seem to be a symbol of our time.

December sped by, bringing with it the end of 2020. We didn't host our annual Holly-Daze Open House and missed seeing all of you in person. Perhaps we can get together next year. Hoping you have the best possible Holiday this year!

November was mild enough but we got more and more snow. This is shaping up to be an interesting winter.

October brought snow at Thanksgiving and it stayed. We had our winter hay in the barn so it wasn't as shocking as it could have been but as usual snow is a serious inconvenience.

September 2020 continued wetter than the norm and good hay became scarce. Luckily we have our winter supply in the barn so we're ready for the cooler months ahead.

June and July 2020 were unusually wet months. Garlic scapes were a good crop and the garlic harvest in August was one of our best yet.

May arrived and with it came the beginning of a "new normal". My plans to continue to show Summer, who had done well in Dressage last year (scores of 6.5 and higher) and who had been winning in Open shows in Hunter/Jumper and English classes were not to be this year. Hopefully we can get out there again soon.

May saw the passing of our dear friend and neighbour Joan Riise of a heart attack. Joan was one of the very best horse trainers we've ever known. And she was the kind of person who if she became her friend you had a friend for life. Her big heart, great sense of humour and enduring kindness will be greatly missed by all who knew her. Happy trails Joan. Joan was predeceased by her husband Ivar in September 2009. Ivar was a big hearted, big man with a mouth that would shock you, but a better friend could seldom be found.

February 2020 saw more and more snow arrive and by March we had all run out of places to put the stuff! April arrived but the snow was slow to melt. We weren't able to get into the gardens until nearly the end of the month.

2020 began with an abundance of snow. January saw the arrival of the wonderful black show horse Summer's Black Diamond by the fine stallion Cedar Creek's Diamond Jewel and out of the Champion producing mare Hero's Black Tie by Haven's Hero. Summer was raised on the west coast of Canada and our snow levels were something she had not experienced before. She soon settled in though.

December brought the Holly-Daze season and horses and humans were happy to host family and guests.

November 2019 finds the weather changing again; the clocks have been changed back and we're all getting ready for the end of another Circle of time. We've done well here this year, lots of changes on the farm, all for the good. Larry and I are still holding up despite getting older, lol.

September rains created a soggy setting for our annual garlic planting. At one point I could actually make water drip from a fist full of dirt! It wasn't until late October when it dried out enough for us to plant. Happily now the garlic is all bedded down and we're hoping for a good crop next year.

Spring 2019 gave way to a different kind of summer for our area. More rain that usual fell in June, July and August which made it easier to keep the grass green but it made for slower growing in the gardens.

April 2019 was another cold month. Bulbs started to slowly emerge from the ground, and trees began to slowly bud out but a surprise snowfall occurred on the 28th and slowed everything down.

Winter 1018/9 was an unusual one. Mild through December and January, it became very cold in February and continued that way through March. At the end of March we had to say goodbye to our sweet Pinto pony Litl Luv's Heartsong aka Buttecup (May 24th, 1996 - March 26, 2019)

Fall 2018 was a good one with plenty of rain in October. In fact there was so much rain that we had mud for the first time here on the farm. November was lovely with just a skiff of snow that quickly disappeared. Warm weather continued into December, with rain rather than snow. Our thoughts now turn towards the Holly Daze season and we wish you and yours all the best.

Fires caused smoke to fill our skies again this year. This has become a way of life for many now; we keep our go bags packed all year just in case.

Summer is garlic harvest time here on the farm but for some unknown reason there was a garlic crop failure. We have heard this story from other growers and we are all scratching our heads over that.

Summer saw the passing of our beloved Fanny (Capitola's Tiffany Diamond by Multi-Fire) on July 24th at the age of 35. She rests now in Legacy's pasture. Her contribution to our lives here and to the breed can not be measured. Rack on Fanny, we hope to see you on the other side when our time comes to pass.

Pastures greened and the horses enjoyed the warmer weather. Our attempts to breed Melody failed again this year as she did not cycle enough to be breakable. Again let me say that you need to get a mare in foal before she is 5 years old if you wish to breed her later in life. Melody was too aged in equine production terms by the time we welcomed her home. She remains a good riding horse but unfortunately will not be able to pass her greatness along.

The balance of the winter was cold but the snow left in February only to return on April 1st for one day!

January 2018 arrived. Last year it was a cold and nasty month but so farm this year it has been mild. We've close to February as I write this and looking forward to Spring and the breeding season.

November and December were mild with minimal amounts of snow. The Holly-Daze was a happy time with family and friends and neighbours stopping in to say hello.

October 2016 the province still burned. Smoke started to let up but it was still not great to be outside.

September was still a nightmare. We really hope for a better summer in 2017. Luckily farmers are "next year' people.

August 2016 was hot and smoky. Our planned breeding for Melody didn't take place due to the horrific smoke here. Two fires broke out near us and caused more than a few scary moments for us. Unfortunately a neighbour lost their home, but no one was injured. These fires were caused by human negligence. We all need to be very very careful out there!

June and July 2016 were lovely until the province started burning. The smoke made it impossible to work outside or spend any time with the horses that wasn't essential. We did get the garlic harvested though.

May 2016 The tomatoes went in the ground! Not much better than fresh tomatoes.

April saw us putting fences around the new garden and planting flower bulbs and seeds.

March 2016 had us out in the gardens. We created a new Kitchen Garden near the house and planted herbs.

February has arrived but the cold snap lingers. The end of the first week has seen a BC wide storm that shut down all the major highways. Luckily we are stocked in with all necessary supplies for livestock and people so are just waiting for the long anticipated warmer weather. In a usual winter our snow would be gone by mid February. This year that remains to be seen. Meanwhile I am looking at more seed catalogues and planning more plantings.

January 2017 has been dreadful. Our usual three cold snaps per winter turned into four, and the snow just kept coming. We plugged in water heaters for horses and chickens and thankfully they all seem to be doing well. The chickens won't go outside in this weather but they have a nice roomy coop to enjoy until they can return to running around outside. Our first seeds have arrived towards our spring plantings and we are looking forward to summer rewards.

December, not a bad one this year. On the clear nights we enjoyed to stars shining above on the first part of what will be a nice big deck to enjoy next year. We got to visit with friends and family and wish all a wonderful season.

November, what can you say about a month that leads up to the Holly-Daze? We unpacked, painted, and shopped.

October has been a lovely month. The weather is great, the days long as we plan new fencing, put up temporary paddocks and get chickens settled in as well. We got our winter supply of hay in and called it good.

Moving day was September 1st. Amazingly the September long weekend is the busiest for moving companies, and with no local companies available we needed to book Bekins from Kelowna. They certainly made the move of our home easier and added some fun to the day as well. Horses were moved safely and we are still unpacking the farm equipment. We planted over 110 garlic cloves for a spring start to our market garden.

August 2016 saw big news on the farm. Wanting a change of pace as we get older we sold our larger property and bought a small market garden on 20+ acres just outside of Kamloops. Of course the horses are coming with us and may soon be joined with a face from the past!

The grand kids came to stay for July and had their usual good time with the horses and pony. The weather was still so cool that we only managed to get to the lake once!

June 2016 continued cool and four legged and two legged family had no complaints about that. Cherries were ready and really delicious.

May 2016 was lovely. Visitors came by to see the horses and and we had a great day. The pansies kept on blooming and everyone enjoyed the cool weather.

April 2016 saw the flowers come! Plums, cherries and apple trees bloomed as well as peonies, tulips and more. The cool nights kept the pansies going and their happy little faces are such a pleasure.

March 2016 saw guest come to see the horses and Legacy in particular. Horses and humans are always happy to visit and talk.

February 2016 saw us getting out to begin yard clean up and planning for the coming year. The snow was gone by the third week of the month and we looked forward to the coming warmer seasons.

January 2016 is zipping by! the weather has been great, some snow, but few days have seen below freezing temperatures. All of us are looking forward to spring flowers and green grass. btw, if you are looking for a Saddlebred horse of your own do get in touch. I know of several nice ones looking for new owners. References required of course.

December brought two birthdays, and Holly-Daze preparations. We always celebrate the Winter Solstice in style as it brings the lengthening of days that takes us into spring and green grass again. We wish all of our friends and clients the Happiest of Seasons and hope to visit with more of you in the coming year. The horses love company too.

November 2015 brought continuing good weather. Flowers and herbs continued to delight us and I made tinctures for future use from feverfew, catnip and thyme. I also dried some catnip for Sally, the new addition to the family here. (Otherwise known as the Crosseyed Cat, Sally is a great mouser and lap warmer.) On November 20th we celebrated 20 years from the day Fanny became ours.

October 2015 was such a lovely month. Great weather, lots of tomatoes from the garden, guests to see the horses - all in all a lovely month topped off with Halloween, our favourite holiday and the end of another farm year.

September 2015 continued gorgeous. The horses enjoyed slightly cooler weather and the quiet but the pony seemed lonely.

August 2015 brought more sunny days and more heat. One of our daughters went off her horse and broke a leg. She's the mother of those grandkids so she had a fun time for the rest of the summer. They all went home this month and the quiet was deafening.

July 2015 brought the grandkids! Hot weather, energetic kiddos, a pony, swing set and wading pool and all were happy here on the farm. We took advantage of the nearby beach as well.
Melody was bred by TS to a fine stallion in the US, but unfortunately is not in foal for 2016. We are currently planning a Live Cover breeding to Legacy for her next spring.

June 2105 has been lovely so far. Day after day of glorious sunshine with one thunderstorm that turned the paddocks to mud instantly! Luckily the sun came out and dried it up almost immediately. Legacy and Melody have been saying hello across their paddocks and seem to be happy to see each other. We're busy planning a 2015 breeding for Melody and hope we get a filly to breed back to Legacy in the future.

May 2015 continued windy, what a change from winter. The trees leaved out, flowers began to bloom; suddenly it was lawn mowing and irrigating season! Melody settled in as we got to know her. She seemed to feel the cold here even though it was a warm spring. Guess that CA weather really is different from ours.

April 2015 has seen the wind continuing to blow with occasional insane gusts! On a calm morning a gift arrived at the farm; the lovely "Banner Baby" Melody's Banndana came home to stay. We are forever grateful to Patricia Hyatt for allowing Banndana to return here. Banndana is by the multi discipline Saddlebred champion Holly Akala Banner x the champion producing Saddlebred Renaissance Evergreen Melody and represents six generations of our breeding.

March 2015 came in like a lion, calmed down and then roared again. Strong winds the middle of the month were followed by two weeks of steady breezes. Well, at least the sun was shining.

February 2015 We can feel that spring is nearly here. Hoo-rah!

January 2015 We are all working to get settled in, quite the job!

mid December 2014 The Holly-daze are upon us! Oh, what fun.
It turned out to be a green Christmas and Yule but oh my! right after that we had a 90 year snow fall!

November 1st 2014 saw us move to our new location to be closer to family. There are not enough words to thank our clients and friends for their support through this difficult time. We appreciate you all so very much.

June 2014 This is "birthday month" around here. All kinds of celebrations are planned and we hope the weather co-operates! Legacy's book is now closed and we are happily accepting bookings for 2015.

May 2014 Wow! the snow melted early this year. Can't wait for lawn and flowers!

April 2014 Milder than usual we have hopes for an early spring.

March has come with some sunshine and melting of snow. Hoorah! Horse hair is everywhere of course, and even the dogs are shedding.

February 2014 was a nasty cold one. We all huddled indoors as much as we could, even the horses didn't want to go outside.

January 2014 Winter has been kind to us this month, with less snow and warmer temperatures. All of us critters here are grateful.

The first week of December has passed and it was a cold one. Frost adorned the horses as we added blankets and hoped it wouldn't last long.

Yule (the shortest day of the year), and Christmas are almost upon us! We wish you and yours a happy happy holiday. If you are thinking of breeding your fine mare next year, do check out the First Time Breeders Program!

mid November 2013
Deer have been coming into the yard. Amazingly they haven't been eating anything we wouldn't want to share.
Snow has fallen and we had to buy a new snow shovel. Photo on our twitter feed.

Last updated December 14th, 2024

The photo above was taken when we were riding up the valley. I call it "Oh, deer".

Sharron presents Renaissance Accolade, full brother to Legacy (Holly Akala Banner x Capitola's Tiffany Diamond)
Accolade was sold to Certified John Lyon's trainer Jennifer Lyle, with breedings retained. If you wish to use one of these breedings we would be happy to discuss an every other foal lease of your mare to do so. (Portrait by Natural Visions Photography)

We thought you would enjoy this picture of Lucky Hi-Ball, sire of Holly Akala Banner. (Photo by S. Barnhart)

Melody's Banndana a granddaughter of Lucky Hi-Ball.
(Holly Akala Banner x Renaissance Evergreen Melody). This beautiful mare is a half sister to our stallion Legacy.
(Photo by S. Wilcox-Oakes)

It was a Pony Birthday Party as Buttercup turned 19 years old in July 2015

Our beautiful mare Fanny. Portrait by Natural Visions Photography.

The lovely filly Renaissance Reflection (Renaissance Legacy x Star's Golden Love)

This mare went missing from a trainer in Kamloops. If you have seen her please let us know. She would be full grown now, has scar tissue in her off back pastern.