Odds & sods

Posted on August 25, 2025 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Summer is such a special time. It’s hard to feel it coming to an end.

Ellie and I had a campout on Saturday. Probably our last campout of the year. As I was packing up the tent yesterday, I thought to myself, “I hope Ellie remembers this when she’s older.”

I hope she remembers the things we did and the fun we had. I hope she feels like her Mom put in the effort to make things special for her. I hope she realizes how much I love her and that she’s the most important thing in my life.

The two phrases below came up in one of the books I read this summer. They fit with how I try to live my life and feel especially appropriate now.

Hora pars vitae. Every hour is a part of life.
Serius est quam cogitas. It’s later than you think.
The Clockmaker’s Daughter by Kate Morton

Here are some other things I came across this summer

We are in the midst of our summer tradition of raising monarchs. We’ve released two butterflies so far and our last caterpillar changed into its chrysalis this weekend.

The lifestyle of the world’s oldest chicken.

Ellie’s fascination with Greek mythology continues, and we’ve been “Greeking Out” with this podcast. The Oracle of Wifi is hilarious.

Another summer read that I’ve been thinking of as I prepare to return to the classroom.

“Every young person has the potential to contribute. When we respect, honor, and support that potential through a combination of high standards and high support, then we motivate and inspire young people from all groups to reach higher, accomplish more, and make our society stronger.”
10 to 25: The Science of Motivating Young People by David Yeager

We are continuing to “do” summer through this last week. There will be a park, possibly a beach, and our annual tradition of a “fancy waffle.” The more ice cream and toppings the better.

How are you feeling about the end of summer holidays? Do you have any favourite summer memories?

Goodbye to the turkeys

Posted on August 18, 2025 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

The turkeys went to the “processor” last week. Such a clean term for ending a life. It was hard for me, and definitely hard for Ellie.

Our plan from the beginning was to eat the turkeys. We spent three months with them, from little fluffballs who climbed onto Ellie’s lap to large birds with their own personalities. Ending that was a big responsibility–as it should be.

One of the things I have been thinking about is food should be hard.

Over the years, food has become easy. As we have become distanced from the labour of producing food, we have lost sight of the investment that goes into what we eat. We ignore or are ignorant of what it takes to grow food, whether it’s a turkey or a tomato. The work of raising, sheltering, feeding, watering, harvesting, killing, butchering, storing, cooking is hard.

There is also a cost. That cost comes in the toll we take on our soil by growing monocrops, using synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, draining the water table. It comes in the quality of life for our animals, the diseases that spread, the pathogens and contaminations that arise. It comes in the nutrients and flavour in our food, or lack thereof. It comes in the physical, financial and mental health of farmers.

Food should reflect those investments and costs. It should be something we consider and value more than most of us do. Food is our connection to the land and to each other. It should be nourishment, health, community. It should reflect the quality of the soil, the care of the animals and the labour of the farmers. It should be grown, harvested, bought and eaten with respect and gratitude.

I am grateful to the turkeys. To Strawberry, Medea, Stewart and Tutu. The experience of caring for an animal and growing our own food is powerful.

Bathroom countertop is in

Posted on August 11, 2025 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

I am so excited to be back with a bathroom update. The countertop is in! Our fabricators were here on Friday installing the counter, backsplash and shower ledge.

The counter was making me very nervous. You may recall in the last update, I talked about selecting each element of the bathroom on its own and then hoping they all look good together. The countertop was allllll of that.

I loved the marble in the yard. But would it look good with our tile? Would it look good with the vanity? Would I like it in our bathroom? Would the fabricators lay everything out in the way I liked? Would everything fit?

The answer to all of that is yes. 1000% yes. It is fabulous.

I chose Arctic Ocean marble in a leathered finish. I saw this marble in March on our first visit to the stone yard and immediately fell in love. When we went back in July to finally pick our slab, I still loved it.

The Arctic Ocean is a busy stone with lots of veining and a big range of dark and light. I wanted the counter to be more dramatic, and AO was a perfect fit.

The leathered finish is super cool too. The stone has a texture. It’s smooth, but it’s not perfectly flat. It’s also extremely matte and not shiny at all. I feel like this highlights that it’s a real stone, which is a good fit for the farm.

The other thing I wanted was a fancy backsplash. If you recall my inspiration picture, the counter comes with an ogee edge and some cutouts. I drew a few different designs and then quickly picked one and passed it off to my fabricator. They did a fabulous job of bringing my vision to life.

The backsplash was another source of worry though. I wanted the splash to go up 6 inches behind the sinks. Our faucets are quite tall, so I wanted the splash to look proportionate to them. But our mirrors are also very tall. Would I have room between the top of the backsplash and the bottom of the lights for the mirrors (which were one of the first things I picked for the bathroom)? We do. It’s a perfect fit.

The fabricators made two side splashes as well for either end of the counter. These have the ogee edge, some swoops and perfect corner joints to the backsplash.

The installers had a moment of confusion when they arrived and said, “Um, Miss? This counter is supposed to go wall to wall.” The second “wall” will be the wood storage hutch which is still with the carpenter. The installers left me a tube of silicone and I’ll install the second side splash myself when the hutch arrives.

The one wrinkle with the countertop was the sinks. When our fabricator came to measure a few weeks ago, I showed him the sinks and he said, “Those won’t fit.” The sinks were too wide (front to back) for our vanity. So I quickly went back to my bathroom supplier and ordered the narrowest sinks they had. The sinks are a bit small, but there’s room for the backsplash, faucets and mirrors–and we get to see more of the beautiful marble.

The final bit of marble we have in the bathroom is the ledge in the tub. I love that I decided to do this full-length ledge. It will hold everything we need and the marble is such a beautiful feature in the tub. This ledge highlights what a good match the Arctic Ocean is for the tile and also the colour variation of the AO (see the hint of blue by the taps?).

All of this marble is so special. It’s definitely a major showpiece in the bathroom. Even better, with this installation, we are definitely nearing the end on this bathroom renovation.

Do you have any marble in your house? Do you like dramatic veining or a more quiet pattern?

Adding a ceiling fan to our stairwell

Posted on August 4, 2025 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

More than a year ago I mentioned I was thinking about buying a ceiling fan for our front hall. I was hoping a fan might help regulate the temperature between upstairs and down, particularly in the summer, particularly when we’re using the air conditioner.

The feedback I collected and the brief amount of research I did suggested that the ceiling fan might be more helpful in the winter. The fan would push the warmer air downstairs, more than it would pull the cooler air up.

Shortly after those musings, I was in a local store that was going out of business and I spied a basic ceiling fan on sale. I decided I was done thinking. I bought the fan.

But that’s as far as I got. The prospect of installing the fan over our stairwell was not something I was enthused about. So the fan sat in its box on the mudroom landing. For more than a year.

Then summer returned. Temperatures rose higher than ever. The basement was frigid. I really wanted to give the fan a try.

Finally, I had a brainwave. Our electricians were here for the bathroom. I could ask them to install the fan. Problem solved.

The electricians were happy to take care of the fan for me. And I’m very glad I asked them to do it, as install included switching the electrical box with a fan-rated box, something I wouldn’t have known was needed. (Also, there was the whole hovering over the stairwell while holding a large heavy fan over your head thing.)

So we now have a fan in the front hall. I’ve been running it most days. It does move the air around, though I’m not sure I’ve noticed a huge change in the upstairs and downstairs temperatures. The air currents extend into the kitchen, so I feel a nice breeze sometimes when I’m in there.

I’m curious to see if I notice any difference in the winter.

For now, I’m happy the fan is no longer on the mudroom floor and instead on the foyer ceiling as intended.

Home on 129 Acres

Monthly Archives: August 2025