prairieoxdrovers.com

Prairie Ox drovers
Our oxen website:
Home Oxen Overview Harnessing Ox Power Choosing Animals Getting Started Ox Health A Work in Progress
Oxen in Scripture Oxen Questions Ox Stories Talking Oxen Oxen Resources Related Links Animals and Training for Sale

Our other websites:
Our Farm Cozy Country Cabin Mural Mural on the Wall Drawing Lessons More Art by Gloria About the Artist
Contact Us

COME VISIT US
On our Little Rural Farm in Central Alberta

Meet Our Family
Barry Gloria

Ben Sam

Joe Tim

Visit Our Cosy Home:
Our house began as a 20X28 foot log cabin in 1980. Over the years, it has grown to include many additions and renovations.

Additions include, a 24 foot square addition, with a walk-out basement, on the west side of our log home, and the addition was built with a south-facing veranda on the lower level. The veranda was eventually closed in to create another downstairs bedroom. Also added were a balcony on the north side of our log home, with a lean-to beneath it, and a Tea Room off the southeast corner. The latest addition is a porch, on the south side of our home, that joins the Tea Rooom with the kitchen.

Renovations have taken place in nearly all parts of our home, both log and otherwise.

The Nesbitt Home

Explore the Medieval Decor in our home:
Walls painted to look like moss-covered stones and rugged timbers, along with many medieval accents, create an atmosphere that pleases the romantic at heart. Wander through our "castle" and enjoy the knights and ladies and dragons that reside here.

The Great Room
The Castle's Greatroom The Drawbridge
A Game of Chess The Castle's Library A Chest, complete with iron hardware.
A treasure found a garage sale.
Thanks to the Lady of the Lake.
The Magic Looking Glass A dragon outside the castle
Flagstone in the Great Room ...and in the Servery

The Castle's Servery
Enjoy a meal with the family in the Servery; warmed by a fire in the winter and cooled by breezes in the summer.
The Round Table One of our resident Dragons
The Tower Stairs Passage into the Great Room
Looking out to the neighbors A picture of the neighbor's castle

The Lord and Lady's Bedchamber
The Lord and Lady's Chamber The Knight ...and his Lady

Enjoy the Sights:
Visit the Tea Room's flock of budgies, when at certain times of the year, young add to the sound and sights of the adults. Or cuddle up in the Living Room's window seat; a well-used observatory. With the windows open and the sun shining in, this is the place for watching the menagerie in the yard: watch and listen to the geese, ducks, chickens, turkeys, and sheep; enjoy the view across the river; feel the breeze coming in through the windows; and relax in the sun. The Window Seat is also a great place to sit, safe and cozy, while lightning flashes across the sky, laying bare the yard and the valley beyond, or a blizzard rages across the valley.

The Tea Room The Window Seat

Use our 17th Century Spanish Ship Washroom:
Our washroom is decorated like a ship from the 1600's. Pirates and buccaneers, canons, lanterns, a ship's helm, and a book on the Man-of-War decorate the walls. Aargg!
Ship's Ahoy! To battle, me hearties Pirate Loot

Ship's Head Lighting the way Artifacts

Enjoy Our Animals:
Get to know the animals, the cows, mules, donkeys, oxen, sheep, chickens, turkeys, and geese. Perhaps milk a cow, pick the eggs, feed the chickens, pet a mule, hold the farm cat and hear its deep purr, cuddle a chick, or watch a newborn calf. Perhaps help with moving the cows to the next pasture, pulling weeds in the garden, or doing the morning chores. Our animals are more than just our breed and butter, for we have many who are here for the sheer pleasure of their presence.

Our beef cows in the summer Our beef cows in the winter Our freeloading mules

Molly and her two lambs,
Mandy and Beans		 This white turkey hen incubated and
raised these two chicken babies.
It was great fun to hear her call in her
turkey language and see little chickens
come running.		 Goose, goose, gander

Barry with Pete and Tom,
our first team of oxen,
getting ready to give a hay ride		 Neb, our Brown Swiss Ox Blossom, one of our dairy cows

Walk Through Our Land:
Feel free to sit by the river, enjoy the view, read a book, feel the breeze, hear the silence, experience the peace, and enjoy the wildlife; perhaps ducks, geese, swallows, bluebirds, hawks, killdeers, coyotes, deer, or beavers. Enjoy the sun, and perhaps the rain. Cross the river, walk through the land, across hills, through trees and fields, and perhaps visit the Pond. Maybe go for a walk down the country road, enjoying the solitude, the fresh air, the beauty of the surrounding farmland, and the river that runs alongside the road. The Blindman River runs through our farm, and therefore, our land is not flat, but varied. We enjoy low marshy flood plains, which keep moist even in dry years, and high, rolling hills, from which we gain a fine view of the river valley.

Looking across the river at The Ridge. This long, tree-covered hill becomes an island in the floods
that occasionally invade our land. At this time of year, the land is rich and green.

Walk through our Floral and Herbal Gardens:
When you walk through the arched gate that is the entrance to our yard, you walk into our gardens. To the right, the Flower Garden's winding path leads you past a lattice-covered bench, bird houses, a bird bath, and beds filled with blossoms. The path's end is a hidden vine-entwined arbor, complete with a tiny table and two chairs: just right for a peaceful retreat with a good book.

To the left, the medieval theme in the house has leaked out into the yard. The Apathecary Garden includes paths, arbors, and statutary. A large variety of herbs fill the rock-bordered, raised beds, and their exotic and spicy perfumes fill the air.

Walk through the gardens, enjoy the flowers, see their beauty, and pick a bouquet. Smell the sweet scent of the Flower Garden and the spicy scent of the Apothecary Garden. Sit in the sun by the fishpond, or sit in the arbour with a book and something to drink; feel the coolness of the breeze as it blows through the vines, maybe alone, or perhaps with a friend. Listen to the birds, and watch them, as they are busy about the garden or with their nests.

The Apothecary Herball Garden

A cobbled walk invites you in A fish pond calls you to pause for
a moment		 The Flower Garden's welcoming display
at the gate

The lure of the shady recesses

Join us by the fire, roast a wiener and perhaps a marshmallow, watch the sparks floating above the flames, hear wood crackling, smell the smoke, laugh, visit, joke, and watch the stars come out. As dusk descends, listen to the frogs, ducks, and coyotes lifting up their voices in song.

A Wiener Roast

Spend a night in our Guestroom, Guesthouse, or Cabin:
Settle down for the night in your bed, maybe in our Guestroom, or maybe out in the Guesthouse, or in the Cabin. Pull the blankets up around your neck and drift off into pleasant dreams, as night holds you close, readying you for another day on a little rural farm in Central Alberta.

Relax in Our Greek Guestroom:
A short walk around the back of the wood cookstove will lead you to our guestroom. There, in the back corner of our log home, lies a cozy little room for two. A seaside mural, and a plaster-look wall lend an air of the mediterranian to the room.
A rustic log room, with a mediterranian flavor.

Enjoy Your Retreat in our Spanish Adobe Guesthouse:
The mud covered walls and rounded window and door frames give the Guesthouse the air of an adobe home. It is set in an enclosed area in the back side of our yard, and has a covered deck on its south side. On the west side there is a large fenced area, with a gazebo, picnic table and fireplace, which are perfect for hosting a weiner roast or a quiet evening sitting around the fire.

The guesthouse is plumbed with running water to the kitchen sink, and there is a pail under the sink for carrying the dirty water out. There is an outhouse to the east. And, for those who like the modern conveniences, there are plans in the works for a future addition to the nearby shop, that will reach to within a few feet of the guesthouse, and which will include a bathroom, with a shower, and a mini-kitchen, complete with sink, stove, and fridge. Until the shop addition is completed, guests are welcome to use the facilities in our home.

On the south side of the guesthouse, there is a covererd cement pad: an excellent place for barbequeing or just sitting and enjoying the outdoors.

Almost finished

Adobe-look window Bedroom door under construction Finished Bedroom door

Kitchen seen from the Bedroom Kitchen seen from the Livingroom Livingroom seen from the Kitchen

View from Kitchen window

Or Relax for a Weekend in our Cozy Country Cabin:

For more pictures and information about this wonderful little cabin
that looks out onto the Blindman River, click here.

Our oxen website:
Home Oxen Overview Harnessing Ox Power Choosing Animals Getting Started Ox Health A Work in Progress
Oxen in Scripture Oxen Questions Ox Stories Talking Oxen Oxen Resources Related Links Animals and Training for Sale

Our other websites:
Our Farm Cozy Country Cabin Mural Mural on the Wall Drawing Lessons More Art by Gloria About the Artist
Contact Us