What a ride! I will say that the best thing to come from the Covid 19 "Great Pause" is that Forest and Tin lived with us for 3 plus months. They are now set up in their apartment in Vancouver and every day I miss them, but am grateful for their time they gave us. 

Now, we are pruning back our chore list so that Kevin and I can handle most of it on our own. Not an easy task, when we designed all of this for a big family with many visitors.  Resilience is our strength though and the cows and goats at least got the message and are happily feeding their babies without needing us to take any extra milk these days. Well unless we really neeeed it of course. They are truly generous!

We trimmed back the classes as well and are only offering a once a week Friday class; outside all day, chores in morning and a wonderful variety of guest presenters for each of the afternoons. I am truly blessed to know so may talented people willing to share their skills. Just Mushrooms, Cheese, Compost and Cattail baskets left. But the Wilderness skills, Metis culture, Mason Bee, soap making and wool felting have been great so far!

I continue to share the garden produce, asking for weeding help in exchange for Garlic, Rhubarb, Asparagus and Raspberries.  There have been some wonderful folks come through and I know they received less than they gave.  Even the excessive amounts of Comfrey were appreciated by one enterprising couple, starting their own large market garden and wanting to make compost tea.  Thank you Kiera and Tibo!

I have one weekly outdoor Violin student, Kieran, and he makes a gorgeous bouquet every Tuesday with grasses, hay field flowers and special knots and either presents it to me so genuinely, or places it in the teeth of our moose skull, decorating the front deck (since we haven't wanted to go out to through mosquito land to mount it on the tiny house just yet!).
 
We are slowly working away at the garage loft apartment and hope that there will be heat in there by October.  Perhaps our first tenant can finish the interior while they live there. I love this slow building process!

We had a wonderful session of Basketry and Burden unloading with Elder Taz Bouchier. Here are the details with a photo of my finished basket at the end. 

​Burden Basket for Beginners - ​Join Elder Taz Bouchier and weaver Maryann Borch as we learn about traditional basketry and create a burden basket. " Too often we carry burdens that hold us back from experiencing the joyfulness of living.And in this workshop you will be invited to fill your Burden Basket to start this New Year with a Ceremony to let go resulting in an increased sense of Joy as you walk into 2019. " Elder Taz Bouchier
Your basket will incorporate many spirits from many raw materials, pliable and not so. We will learn a basic base weave and add as many natural Fibres as can be gathered for the walls of this beauty. Please feel free to bring any items you wish to weave into your burden basket . Shells, feathers, bells, fibres of all sorts. Functional and spiritual art!
Please indicate your commitment by sending payment of $60 to borchfam@hotmail.com
Maximum class size: 10

Woven into this Willow skeleton are Grasses, Bullrushes, Grapevines, unknown woody shrub, yellow, and red willows, Red osier Dogwood, Hemp, Horsetail, clay, bell, , Turkey Boy Feather, Elliott tailbone, rock, wool, clay, horse fiddle bow hair and a piece of leather.  All these Spirits here to help with your burdens when you come visit Good Note Community Farm .

It has been a very long time. I have been leaning of other social media to promote and teach the farm/music/food/basket passions of my life. But, at the moment I am feeling rather tied and addicted. So here I go with bit of the last years endeavours. Starting with the best! The Borch Brothers busking at the Christmas Market, 

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