I go for a walk most days.

An hour of walking is great for the body, mind & spirit.

Depending on the weather – and my mood – my route takes me on various roads in the neighbourhood and sometimes through farms. There is so much to take in …

• Lots of farms – fruit orchards mostly, several vineyards, a strawberry farm, nut grove, corn/soybean fields and many greenhouses.
• A farm up the road has a flock of poultry – running loose in their front yard and scratching in the beds around the house. I see chickens, guinea hens and several peacocks (do you know how loud peacocks can be!) Not sure how they survive with coyotes and foxes around.
• I am watching a new barn being built on the next road, which will house a peach packing line and a cold storage.
• Vineland Growers Co-op where we purchase our farm supplies is putting up an enormous new facility at a new location – quite close to our farm which will be convenient.
• Around the corner a neighbour converted an old shed into an amazing bakery (blossombakery.com). Unfortunately it’s too far from the road to smell what’s coming out of the oven when I pass by!
• But I can smell the homes that burn wood for heat. I love the aroma of woodsmoke.
• In the middle of a nearby farm is a sleek, black barn. Surrounded by vineyards, vegetable gardens and a few grazing cattle, it happens to be one of the highest rated restaurants in the country,(restaurantpearlmorissette.com) but you would never know by looking at it.
• Visible from the rear of our farm is the Upper Canada Cheese Company (uppercanadacheese.com) which I often walk past. (there’s a reason I never bring my wallet with me on a walk!)

• I even walk beside the QEW highway. Hundreds, or likely thousands of vehicles pass by during the 10 minutes or so that I’m on the service road. It’s loud and not at all relaxing – but makes me appreciate the peacefulness of the farm.

• My favourite path takes me down & up 2 ravines with creeks running through them. I love the sound of the water spilling through the culverts and rushing over rocks.

I love walking (& checking out my neighbourhood) and am fortunate to have the time to do it in winter.

Of course today there was no walking! A massive snow storm made the roads impassable and kept me busy plowing driveways.

But maybe tomorrow or the next day …

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Around the farm this week …