I have since January lost 100 pounds. It was a great accomplishment for me for many reasons. As you know already probably I have chronic Lyme disease. It is a disease I do not wish on anyone. Last December I ended up falling in our garage and went into a coma for several hours. I was put in ICU as I had also fractured a vertebrae in my neck. Tom tells the story that the doctor was ready to have the talk with him…when Tom started singing to me and I woke up. True story. My Tom who has been with me through thick and thin through everything I have gone through. When I was awake and the doctor came in she told me I was also borderline diabetes and I had to do something about it. It was an awakening for me. I decided there and than that I was going to do something about my weight. You see I do not look at weight as a number but rather what I feel comfortable in carrying. So I thought to myself I need to lose 100 pounds to reach my goal weight. After I had recovered from my hospital stay I started to exercise. I have tried so many diets over the years and nothing worked. So I decided to just make healthy choices. You see sugar is the enemy with Lyme disease. The Lyme wants to invade my sugar in my body instead of converting it to energy for me. Sweets are my downfall. That is funny eh for a women who bakes all these yummy treats…good thing I have my man Tom who is more than willing to be my taste tester..lol. When I eat too many sweets I just feel sick. Really sick, nauseated, more lethargic than usual and just want to stay in bed. I knew I had to do something if I wanted some semblance of a life. I have never given up hope in my darkest moments with my struggles with Lyme disease I would get through and be here to tell you this story today. I also was so busy always trying to accomplish the next thing and was running numerous businesses and when I got sick in bed I could do nothing. I realized I had to be grateful for the day and enjoy what that day brought to me. I ended up in the US for treatment for a period of time and than Germany for 6 weeks.
Than I gained weight. I know I am an emotional eater. I know I had a problem with not knowing my limits on consuming too many bad things for my body. This is what I had to overcome. I feel I have. It is a daily struggle at times I am going to be honest especially when I love to bake. Losing the weight was one thing but realizing why I was eating was another.
Weight is just a number. Whatever you feel healthy at is ok. I though live with a chronic condition that I have to manage my weight in order to be able to do the things I want to do on a daily basis. Diabetes runs in my family. My son has been a type 1 diabetic since he was 8 years old. He has to take insulin to control his blood sugars daily. My mother has type 2 diabetes. So I knew if I continued on the path I was taking I would be there too.
So yes I am happy I have lost the weight. Shopping for some new clothes has been fun. But remember your weight is a number that has to be realistic and never concentrate on the number but where you feel you are most comfortable with.
In the new year if anyone is interested I can share some of my tips on how I lost the weight. With The holidays upon us there is no need to over burden ourselves with weight talk right now..lol ..
Now begins my journey to manage my weight. I exercise everyday. I move everyday. I am filled with gratitude for each and everyday I am here to watch the sun rise and set.
Stay safe and thank you for always supporting our farm!
I have been going through a terrible bout of diverticulitis. I have had it before, so I know the drill. I go on the antibiotics and than I have to stop 2 of my Lyme drugs as they intersect with the antibiotic. Well the struggle was real this past week. You see I get withdrawal from my regular Lyme drugs in having to stop them so quickly. The struggle is real, the pain is real, the frustration is never ending for me. There is so many things I want to do but cannot. I lie in bed waiting for this too shall pass. As I lie there I think about the countless years I had to lie in bed with no ability to do anything …so I am grateful for what I can do today. I was diagnosed almost 7 years ago now. It felt like a war I was fighting, the struggle to stay alive, to be able to walk again, to just have some semblance of my life back. I fought the battle and I am living proof today that you can win. Did I win my life back to what it was…no…but I am grateful I can have some semblance of a life. I was lucky I had a very supportive partner who was with me every step of the way. The pic lines that went in, and then would got blocked and back to the hospital for another one in. The ambulances that would arrive at the farm to once again take me to the hospital. They never knew what to do with me, as there is no treatment for Lyme disease in Canada, but they always did their best. My treatment started in the US, and ultimately needed up 5 weeks in Germany. Germany was the first Lyme literate hospital I have ever been in. I think it helped me a lot. But the struggle continues during a time like now. When is going to be the day I feel well enough to resume some activity, so simply enjoy my gardens or go for a walk. I have to think back to the times I was in bed, unable to function at all to today where I can function at about 70 percent of my previous life as I knew it. This was a blessing in disguise as I probably did too much, was focused on the wrong things, and was not grateful for what I did have. People look at us, we look okay, we seem to function okay…but no one understand the struggle at times just to be able to get out of bed and start the day. The never ending pain. It is a disease I wish I did not have, however I have to deal with what is. I hear the birds singing louder than I did before, I do not take my days for granted and I appreciate being in the moment wherever that maybe. Chronic Lyme disease is a horrible disease, that can rob and suck the life right out of you. But I am not going to let that happen. I will get thru this next dip in the curve and come out the other side…..as I always had hope…..
We hope everyone is staying safe. We have been filling orders, delivering them and preparing our gardens for the summer months. With the snow we have been having and the cold temperatures I am not sure when we will see flowers but hopefully soon. Our seedlings we have planted are doing well. We always have grown some vegetables in the garden, so this year will be no different.
It seems I am always up at 4am and we realized why? Spooker is walking on top of our heads..lol and if it is not him it is Rolls…Bentley is not allowed on the bed as he is a golden retriever so at least we do not have him crawling all over us too..lol ..all our animals are doing well…Tom has been tending to the farm each day..it is a big job as we have 11 black angus cows now..with our new little one this year…we have named the new calf yet…hmmm..suggestions??? The 10 bee hives we have so far seem to be doing well and have wintered over.
I had forgot to mention we have another surrogate grandchild born this year. Llaine is a big help to us around the farm and is part of our extended family. She had a little girl Zabeena. She is doing really well, we have not seen her in person yet but Llaine always sends us pictures so we can keep up on her progress. I guess Gram has another garden to make…lol …I have included a picture of the little cutie…
I wanted to ensure everyone that the whole chickens we have for sale go to a processing plant when they are ready to be packaged. They are federally health inspected before we receive the whole chickens back. This has been standard practice always with our farm. The beef is the same. Our laying hens also come with a registered flock number as well. I know we all want assurances for what we are purchasing especially now.
The two Cotswold sheep we have Dolly and Candy will be ready soon to be sheared. They are so cute right now with all their beautiful wool over their eyes. Someday when we are back to some normalcy this will happen.
We have seen deer on the property as well as some wild turkeys yesterday. We do not shoot anything on our farm or allow anyone in. The wild animals we see are just so beautiful to see.
We have a special on our preserves right now…3 preserves for 12.00…(includes small salsa and excludes our honey) If you go to www.peacefulvalley.wpengine.com/shop you,will see the selection we have.
We also have our whole chickens for preorder. They will be ready the end of May. They are 3.00/pound. We have sold a lot of them already so order early so you will not be disappointed.
Just another note when we are delivering eggs to you:
We do porch delivery only
We are only using new eggs cartons for our orders
Please do not send any used egg cartons back to us at this time
We would prefer e-transfer to pay for all orders.
Please place your egg orders as early as possible as we are selling out each week. We are awaiting more laying hens but they have not come in yet.
I wanted to see how everyone is doing? We are following what the government has mandated and staying inside and enjoying our beautiful farm. Everyone is doing well. How are you doing? It is hard when we have to isolate and social distance as friends we would have dinner with or visit we cannot. Kids are especially impacted as they cannot see their friends and some do not really understand what is going on. But we are all in this together and it is us that can change the outcome of this virus by following what we have been told to do.
We all feel some anxiety as this is something that is so unknown to all of us. I know we will get thru this as we are all going to stay safe.
St. Maarten as we watch from afar, has 6 cases of Coronavirus so far. It does not seem like a lot compared to the rest of the world, but for a small island with limited medical resources it is a lot. They are following the same mandated rules as the government in Canada as businesses are closed and people must stay inside. The people of St. Maarten who just came out of the worst hurricane just two years ago are always in our thoughts. 🙏🏻
At this time, we ask all of our loyal customers 😘 to not return egg cartons to us we are only using new egg cartons to fill our orders. Please place your egg orders early as we have limited amount of eggs and the demand is very high right now.
We just had a baby calf born at PVF. (See picture)
We have been experimenting with our honey and we made a yummy honey Dijon salad dressing. I think the secret ingredient of PVF honey made the dressing…lol ..let me know if anyone would like the recipe.
Thank you too all our loyal customers and please stay safe and inside. We will get through this if we all do what we must together.
As I write this I think of the many who do not have healthy safe environments in which to live during this time of crisis. I am filled with gratitude each day for what we do have and how we can help those in their time of need during this pandemic. Remember those seniors, or people that do not have access to groceries or friends or family that we can help because we are all in this together.
All of you are part of our community of affection.
We have a shop button added to our website at peacefulvalley.wpengine.com or contact me by what’s app, text or by calling (416)271-8440.
Have a great day from our much loved “zoo” at Peaceful Valley farms…lol
It is that time of year again….Christmas is not that far away. The snow is here…and the scents of Christmas are in the air. As a Grandma I am always trying to find that impossible gift for the grandchildren. Grams is doing her best and checking off the list. Our honey has been spun and ready to be included in some Peaceful Valley Christmas baskets. We can customize your baskets to anything you want …perfect for Teachers gifts, housewarming presents for all those Christmas parties coming up and for beloved family and friends. Just let us know you budget and we can create something special for you. Everything is handmade with love. We have in stock our roasted peanuts and almonds now. If you would like any baked goods included in your baskets we can do this …even gluten free options.
Remember to always take some time for you in this busy season. Let us do the work of creating some special gifts for you.
We have been busy at Peaceful Valley farm canning all of the fresh produce available at this time of year. We have added Apple butter, apple sauce, apple jelly, cinnamon apple jelly, red pepper jelly and pizza sauce. Gramp has been busy with all of the preserving. You can check out our website peacefulvalley.wpengine.com and click the shop button to see all of our products for sale. Keep checking back as we are adding new products all the time….we love your feedback too…You can contact me on what’s app , text or by calling (416)271-8440.
AN UPDATE ON OUR BEEF…
The hung weight is approximately 530 pounds. Per quarter that would be approximately 130 pounds. Two quarters left ….we can forward cutting instructions to you. Beef will be ready within a week for pick up. We need your order for Tuesday Oct. 8th for you to have your custom cut. Just a reminder grass fed organic beef. Local grocery stores are selling organic ground beef for 10.00/pound …for less than this , you are getting steaks, roasts, ground beef, stewing beef etc…
Spooker (our cat) is doing well on his asthma medication…unfortunately for now he is on it daily as that is what is controlling his wheezing…he has ventured a little further out of the master bedroom…but still returns to his accommodations in the bedroom to get cuddles from Gram…lol ….
REMINDER ….the deadline for ordering your pumpkin or apple pies is Tuesday Oct. 8th….for Thanksgiving…
Have a great day from our much loved “zoo” at Peaceful Valley farms…lol
A lot has been happening at Peaceful Valley Farm. Gram has been very busy. We have a new edition to our farm and his name is Spooker. He was a rescue from a home that had 350 cats in it. We initially were going to put him in the barn but we found he was a very nervous and shy cat. So Gram brought him to the house. We initially thought we would put him in our bedroom as he was nervous and we thought this would be a better transition for him. Funny thing is he will now not leave the master bedroom. Therefore his name Spooker…we think he may be afraid of his own shadow..lol…we have never had a cat quite like Spooker. He loves to cuddle and loves all the attention he is now receiving. He will sleep beside Gram in the bed with the covers over him so you can only see his head. Have you ever seen a cat play fetch …Spooker does…The bad part is he is now our alarms clock early in the morning when he decides it is playtime. That part is not so fun. We had to take Spooker to the vet because he was wheezing quite a bit. Spooker has asthma so he is on a medication to get this under control. He could have developed this in the house he was in previously. The dogs are adjusting to him….Rolls well he likes to chase him…so we have a showdown every once in awhile. The bedroom, between the dogs and now the cat and poor Gramp who has a little room still on the bed…lol…
This month we have a few new products at Peaceful Valley farm. We have made mango salsa, plum jelly (from the original farmstead plums on our farm) , and hot peppers …the reviews on both our mango salsa and plum jam have been amazing, add some plum jam, some goat cheese and a few crackers and see if you can walk away…mango salsa with chicken or scoops, delicious…
We also have a pie of the month club..this is how it works. You pay a 5.00 deposit on the glass plate for the pie. This is a one time fee as long as you return the plate. For Thanksgiving we are selling two different pies , pumpkin and apple pie. The pies are 12.00 each. In November there will be two different offering etc. you return your pie plate and request another pie out of the offerings for November. Deadline for orders for Thanksgiving is October 8th…The test kitchen has been working overtime in perfecting our pie making skills.
Our beef is available now, been going fast but if you would like to order your black angus steaks, ground beef etc..organic, pure bread grass fed young angus…let Gram know. We have some beef left that we can sell not by the quarter or the half but by what you request and price per pound. Reserve your orders now…
We have a shop button added to our website at peacefulvalley.wpengine.com or contact me by what’s app, text or by calling (416)271-8440.
Have a great day from our much loved “zoo” at Peaceful Valley farms…lol
We have been busy this year making some new products. We have done customized baskets, creamed honey, honey , honey roasted almonds, peanut brittle and an assortment of baking and gluten free baking. We also have 60 hens laying fresh eggs for us everyday. We will be making maple syrup in the Spring. This year we added the cows and sheep. We lost our dear Porsche. This was a very sad time for us.
There is huge marshmallows in the fields waiting to be fed to the animals.
The biggest news that happened on the farm was Tom and I got married. It was a wonderfully magical day that I married the love of my life. Tom built a wedding chapel for us to get married under. It is now officially called the Peaceful Valley wedding chapel.
When we left for our honeymoon, we taped a TV show that will air early next year. Never realized what went in to a 30 minute TV show. We are sworn to secrecy until the time comes when it airs.
We spent a few months traveling. We love new adventures.
We want to wish each and everyone of you a Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year!
As if Gram did not have enough to do around the farm…she is now doing gluten free baking, Christmas baking and gift baskets. If you need a teachers gift, hostess gift or gift basket for any occasion let us know. Everything is handmade with love at Peaceful Valley Farm…now off to more baking…and gift baskets…
Well, I managed to clean 6 flats of strawberries. They are ready now to make some jam. Porsha and Rolls got a good bath today as they were playing in the garden…I think…not sure where the mud came from..lol…Tom raked and Bayled the hay today. In the heat…I took a bee run to get 4 more nukes to add to our hives in the fields. We are going to have a lot of honey this year. I let Billie and Sapphire have the run of our bedroom today as I think I have them litter trained…Bentley, Porsha and Rolls were not sure what to make of them..but they like chasing them around. Than I made asparagus pesto. I have never made it before…looked at some recipes, found one I liked and it turned out pretty good if I do say so myself. Now on to making Tom a Father’s Day meal…he wants pork chops…and he is dirty from head to toe being under Baylers today…so he needs a shower….a lot always going on at Peaceful Valley Farm…next our first…we are going to pickle some eggs…I will let you know how that turns out.
We have been busy this year making some new products. We have done customized baskets, creamed honey, honey , honey roasted almonds, peanut brittle and an assortment of baking and gluten free baking. We also have 60 hens laying fresh eggs for us everyday. We will be making maple syrup in the Spring. This year we added the cows and sheep. We lost our dear Porsche. This was a very sad time for us. 
As if Gram did not have enough to do around the farm…she is now doing gluten free baking, Christmas baking and gift baskets. If you need a teachers gift, hostess gift or gift basket for any occasion let us know. Everything is handmade with love at Peaceful Valley Farm…now off to more baking…and gift baskets…
