My husband and I have been catching up with "Letters from Wingfield Farms" on T.V. It is a one-man show. Ron Beattie does all the characters. And yet there is no mistaking which one has taken the stage. We enjoy watching because it is almost as if there is a video camera hidden on our farm and they are using us as material.
The show is about a stockbroker named Walt Wingfield who scales back his job in the big city to do some part-time farming on a hundred acres in mythical Persephone Township, an hour north of Toronto. Walt gets to know his neighbours - all of whom have lived in the county for most of their lives. They endear themselves to Walt with their quirky ways and perspectives on life. These are the kind of people who have your back, in spite of their sometimes unconventional ideas on how to go about it. It is great entertainment, and making us want to be the kind of neighbours Walt enjoys.
In many ways, it feels like we have landed in such a neighbourhood. Last year when we were not around much, we relied heavily on neighbours that we didn't even know, to keep an eye on our place. They were very kind to us. Two in particular chased our sheep back into the pasture more times than we could count. It got rather tiresome. Especially when the sheep disovered how tasty the blueberry bushes were at the neighbour's to the west of us. In fact one night these two neighbours passed each other on the road and one of them noticed something sticking out of the other's trunk. He commented to his wife "Do you think that's sheep feet in there?"
One night we arrived to check on things and saw broken glass where a window had been in the barn. Our neighbour to the east saw us drive in, and came by to tell us what had happened. She and another neighbour had seen a coyote taking off with one of the lambs.
They came over and locked up the rest of the sheep for safety. While they were doing this, they spooked a stray cat who had made it's home in the barn. The cat tried to jump through the window. The window didn't budge. So it backed up and tried again. This time, the window gave, and the cat broke through the glass.
After a topsy-turvy year, it feels good to be able to be on site, and repay some of the favours. I looked out the window the other day to see my husband and two other neigbours standing at the fence, talking about the best way to take out the cherry tree roots. Next thing I knew, my husband brought out our excavator, which was lumbering down the driveway towards the dig-site. An hour later, he returned happy, and muddy. It was obvious he had thoroughly enjoyed the payback. I said a little thank you to God for bringing us to a place that rivals Persephone Township, with one distinct advantage. Our story is not fiction.
The show is about a stockbroker named Walt Wingfield who scales back his job in the big city to do some part-time farming on a hundred acres in mythical Persephone Township, an hour north of Toronto. Walt gets to know his neighbours - all of whom have lived in the county for most of their lives. They endear themselves to Walt with their quirky ways and perspectives on life. These are the kind of people who have your back, in spite of their sometimes unconventional ideas on how to go about it. It is great entertainment, and making us want to be the kind of neighbours Walt enjoys.
In many ways, it feels like we have landed in such a neighbourhood. Last year when we were not around much, we relied heavily on neighbours that we didn't even know, to keep an eye on our place. They were very kind to us. Two in particular chased our sheep back into the pasture more times than we could count. It got rather tiresome. Especially when the sheep disovered how tasty the blueberry bushes were at the neighbour's to the west of us. In fact one night these two neighbours passed each other on the road and one of them noticed something sticking out of the other's trunk. He commented to his wife "Do you think that's sheep feet in there?"
One night we arrived to check on things and saw broken glass where a window had been in the barn. Our neighbour to the east saw us drive in, and came by to tell us what had happened. She and another neighbour had seen a coyote taking off with one of the lambs.
They came over and locked up the rest of the sheep for safety. While they were doing this, they spooked a stray cat who had made it's home in the barn. The cat tried to jump through the window. The window didn't budge. So it backed up and tried again. This time, the window gave, and the cat broke through the glass.
After a topsy-turvy year, it feels good to be able to be on site, and repay some of the favours. I looked out the window the other day to see my husband and two other neigbours standing at the fence, talking about the best way to take out the cherry tree roots. Next thing I knew, my husband brought out our excavator, which was lumbering down the driveway towards the dig-site. An hour later, he returned happy, and muddy. It was obvious he had thoroughly enjoyed the payback. I said a little thank you to God for bringing us to a place that rivals Persephone Township, with one distinct advantage. Our story is not fiction.
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