Category Archives: Country life

Odds & sods

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Summer is underway here, and it’s been so much fun already. Ellie is finished school. We’ve had ice cream, a heatwave, water fights and a campout. We’ve gone swimming, strawberry picking and to the zoo. We’ve also done some work on the coop, mowed the grass and tackled the usual household chores. In all, it’s been just what we like–a good mix.

I wrote an article for our community newsletter about my summer philosophy. I’m going to share part of it here in the hopes that it encourages you to “do” summer.

“A few years ago, I made the decision to “do” summer. That meant saying yes to opportunities that came along, soaking up the great weather, being a bit flexible on the schedule, and spending time outside. Nothing was overly complicated or expensive, yet we had the best time.

How to “do” summer

Summer should be relaxing and fun, and our activities should help to achieve that. Eat meals outside instead of in the house. If a friend invites you to go swimming, say yes. Notice the animals, insects, birds, flowers that share our environment. Maybe have a campout in the backyard or stay at the park a bit later. Enjoy some farm fresh or homegrown food. Find simple moments to experience the fun of the season.”

As we begin summer, here are some of the things that I have my eye on.

The transformation of Bluestone Cottage has been incredible to watch. Daniel’s style is one of a kind.

I had a terrible crick in my neck last week. I’m hoping this pillow will help.

I love a furniture makeover. Repurposing a hutch into a gardening station is something I never considered, but I love the idea. And my Mom has the perfect hutch in her basement…

Can we improve our physical health by changing our mind?

Why women should get outside and embrace adventure.

“To save wild places and wildlife in Canada’s North, we must also save them in Canada’s south… Natural areas on our doorsteps remind us of our connection to those vast, untrodden wild places that lie beyond the horizon.”

Where The Falcon Flies by Adam Shoalts

We’re ending the month with our first summer getaway this week. I’m also anticipating at least two ice cream cones. I hope that you will consider “doing” summer, whatever that means for your family. Have fun and embrace the season.

How have you celebrated summer so far?

Firewood and a father

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Firewood is Matt’s Dad’s thing. He heats their house with wood and has a huge, carefully constructed, diligently managed, well-sheltered woodpile. He also has all of the saws, axes, sledgehammers, wedges, and a wood splitter to prepare that firewood–and the experience to use them.

Man in coveralls and earmuffs cutting a tree with a chainsaw

When we ran out of firewood this spring, he immediately committed to restocking us. (He might have been a bit horrified.)

All of the firewood we have ever had at the farm has come from Matt’s Dad’s efforts (and ours). In fact, on our second day of owning the farm he cut his first tree here and one month into the farm we had our first woodpile. There have been lots and lots of trees and cutting and splitting and piling since then.

A few weeks ago, Matt’s Dad and I had a big firewood restocking day. I have always been the gopher when it comes to cutting wood. He saws. I carry, hold, split and stack. He’s offered at various points to teach me to chainsaw, but I haven’t taken him up on it. I finally did.

At first I was uncomfortable. I am very conscious of how dangerous chainsaws are. The saw was also super heavy and felt awkward for me. (Side note: He is much stronger than I realized.) But Matt’s Dad was patient and thorough, and he set me up and gave me the confidence to stick with it.

We started with three smaller trees that had died or blown down. Then he spotted a huge dead ash tree. As I kept cutting the smaller trees, stopping now and then to load the trailer, he went for the big one.

It ended up being a full day of cutting–for both of us. Three trailer loads and some very, very big pieces of wood. It was one of the best days I’ve ever had with Matt’s Dad.

Man with a wheelbarrow looking at a large fallen tree
Man and woman smiling while standing behind a pile of large logs

Last weekend, he came back and finished the job, splitting all of the big pieces while I stacked the logs in the woodpile. We are now fully restocked with enough firewood to last for probably two years.

Man splitting logs with a wood splitter in front of a pile of firewood
Man splitting a large log in half on a wood splitter
Stacked firewood

For Father’s Day, I want to celebrate Matt’s Dad. He does so much for us. Just like Dad’s are supposed to. He watches out for us, considers us, helps us, makes sure we have what we need, teaches us and spends time with us. I am very grateful to have him in our lives.

Odds & sods

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Working on my laptop in the barn

I feel like I’ve been going full speed ahead this month. My main focus has been the barn cleanout I mentioned last month (hence my office, above). It’s not been the most fun project. It’s a bunch of stuff Matt had that he enjoyed, but it’s not something I’m interested in.

There’s baggage because it’s Matt’s and he should still be enjoying this. There’s also baggage because it’s a tonne of stuff (and some it is a pretty big mess).

But one of Matt’s friends whom I’ve not heard from since Matt died and that I had no idea how to contact reached out to me just as I started to sort through things. He immediately offered to help, so while I’m counting and organizing, he’s cold calling and trying to find people who might be interested in this stuff.

I feel like Matt had some influence on his friend, so it’s nice to know he’s with me, doing as much as he can for us.

The cleanout has felt all consuming, but I am making progress. I’ve also had some time to get lumber for the coop, work with Matt’s Dad to continue to rebuild our firewood, celebrate Matt’s Dad’s birthday, chip up a whole tonne of brush, plant some trees with Ellie, join a community clean-up to pick litter out of ditches, do a bit of gardening, have a few work meetings, and do a bunch of other things. I won’t say there’s balance this month, but there’s productivity.

Here’s some other things I’ve been up to.

We had our best asparagus harvest yet! This tart and this pizza were excellent ways to enjoy it (Smitten Kitchen never lets me down).

I bought these nesting boxes for the coop (influenced by the Elliott Homestead)

Detach, discover, delight, determine–the steps of a digital detox (via Darren Whitehead on the 1,000 Hours Outside podcast)

50 things I hope you know (1,000 Hours Outside again)

“A book of relationships: with the animals, with the land, and with a calling” (quote via the book’s editor)

I’m considering buying a ceiling fan for our front hall to help regulate the temperature between upstairs and down, but I’m not sure how much of a difference it will make. Any advice?

I’m finishing off the month with… you guessed it… more time in the barn. I’m hoping to make some really good progress this week. I also have a special project for one of my clients, lunch with one of Matt’s Mom’s friends and Cigo’s annual vet check-up. I also really need to mow the grass. It’s getting hard to distinguish between our lawns and the hayfields.

Who else is going full speed ahead? Has anyone achieved “balance” this month? Any other asparagus fans out there? What was the highlight of May for you?

Ten years of solar panels

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At the end of April, our solar panels turned 10. We celebrated the occasion with a sunny day and the inverters humming along (they actually hum as they convert the power). We also celebrated because over the course of the last year, the solar panels finally earned as much money as it cost to install them.

Here is my annual review of how much we’ve earned and how it compares to previous years.

If you need to get caught up, here are all of the previous updates and other details:

Let’s start with the big number. Ten years ago, we paid $40,727.46 to install our 40 panels. Since then, the government has paid us a grand total of $44,515.57 for the electricity the panels have produced (our rate with the province is $0.396 per kWh). So we are now $3,788.11 ahead. It took us 9 years and 2 months to fully “pay off” the panels, a bit longer than my original estimate of 8 1/2 years.

This past year the panels generated $4,311.71. This is a slight increase over last year, but I made an accounting change this year to reinstate HST on our payments, so the total reflects that more than any change in electricity generation. We’re just under our annual average of $4,451.56.

As usual, we made more than we consumed. We spent $2,661.31 on electricity over the same time period, giving us a profit of $1,650.40. (It always feels good to cover our hydro bills.)

Ten years also marks the halfway point of our 20 year contract.

For now, I’m content to let the panels hum along and see how this all plays out. Hopefully someday we can upgrade the panels, generate our own power and disconnect from the grid.

Regardless, I am proud of what we’ve accomplished so far and the choice that we made to go solar.

Odds & sods

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As I look back over April, I feel like it was a full, good month for us. Seeing the eclipse at the farm was a super cool experience. We also had our first patio dinner of the year, five family birthdays, some progress in the gardens, some progress on the coop, a little project in the house, an Earth Day double tree planting, and watched (virtually) my sister run the Boston Marathon.

Oh, and I also wrapped up my first year teaching. Teaching has been a great experience, and I’m looking forward to going back in the fall. But for now, I’m savouring a bit of time off before Ellie finishes school and we’re fully into summer.

As long time readers know, I often gauge the progress of spring by when (and whether) our forsythia blooms. This year, the forsythia was loaded with blooms by mid-April. This is in line with last year, but still later than our first year at the farm when it bloomed by April 2. I’m attributing the blossoms to the mild winter, as I assume temperatures weren’t cold enough to kill the flowers. The timing I’ll attribute to spring, which has been a bit cool so far. The handsomes I’ll attribute to Cigo.

Here are some more links from April.

The perils and puzzle of income taxes

I managed to sew this sweater while it’s still cold enough to wear it (I had hoped it would be ready for Christmas… then Valentine’s Day. It turned out spring was the deadline.)

April is our first 100+ hour month for the 1,000 Hours Outside.

Lessons in Chemistry… and patriarchy, cooking, parenting, rowing, love and life

Simple rain barrel idea

Eight ways to measure wealth – only one is money

“Life moves pretty fast. But it’s gonna be okay if you don’t move fast with it. Slow down. Stop and look around. Don’t miss it.”

Stephen Miller

I’m finishing off the month by reconnecting with a long-time friend and some more progress on the coop. I’m also going to kick off a big barn cleanout project that I am not excited about. Though it will be nice when it’s done.

What was the highlight of April for you? Did you watch the eclipse? Or the Boston Marathon? What projects are you working on at your house? What signs of spring do you watch for?

Not doing enough

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I’ve been trying to think of something philosophical and profound to say about Earth Day, but this year the words aren’t coming (so forgive what may be a disjointed post). This year, my world feels small. I don’t know how to save the world, so I focus on my own family and my own home. I want to say I’m doing what I can or doing my best, but I don’t feel like I am.

Living on a farm brings me closer to the environment and I’m learning more about how much potential this land has to help. We have our wetlands, grasslands and forests, but what should we be doing with them to make them healthier?

The need is urgent. Our potential to help, given this property, is larger than many people. I want to regenerate our land, diversify our grasses, rebuild our soil, dig out invasive species, plant native species, grow our own food. Though I think about tackling one field or one stand of trees or one section of phragmites along the creek or the pond, I don’t.

Not doing enough.

So I think even smaller. I should be eating locally grown produce, free range eggs, pasture-raised chickens, grass fed meat. The farmers are all around us, and they need support. We should be zero waste, palm oil free, off-grid. But we’re not.

Not doing enough.

Yes, we recycle, compost, reuse, try not to buy too many things, thrift when we need things, have geothermal and solar panels, vote for (hopefully) progressive politicians. But none of it feels like enough given the scale of the disaster we are in.

But I keep trying.

Sometimes, my not enough looks like picking up a battery charger someone dumped at the side of the hiking trail and carry it out of the woods.

Not doing enough. But doing something.

Firewood restock

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Our fieldstone fireplace is a huge feature in our home. Often through the winter, I would set up in the living room for the day and work in front of the fire. Ellie has come to love the fire as much as me. If it wasn’t going when she came home from school, she would usually want to start one (and she’s become very good at lighting it herself–with supervision).

(Flashback to fluffy baby hair. She still loves to line her toys up on the hearth.)

Our fireplace is just for atmosphere. It puts out a bit of warmth, but our geothermal heats the house. We usually only have fires in the winter. Fire season for me is November to Easter.

This year we didn’t quite make it to Easter because we ran out of wood. I didn’t think this would ever happen. Before we redid the fireplace we had a huge stockpile of firewood (starting just one month into owning the farm and added to again and again).

Moving the wood pile so we could build the garage took two days. Restacking it was also a big job. I think that made me cautious about adding to the woodpile, so I haven’t for the last few years. Matt’s Dad would come out, cut trees, ask if I wanted any wood, and I always said we had enough.

Well, we could have used one extra trailer load this spring.

As of a few weeks ago, we had a small pile of apple wood too fresh to burn and a bunch of punky logs. So this year’s fire season ended for us.

Now we are onto rebuild-the-woodpile season. Matt’s Dad came out last weekend to start spring clean up–trees always come down over the winter, and I want to clear them out of the fields before the grass starts to grow. The first trailer load stayed at the farm. The second went to his house.

When Matt’s Dad came for Easter lunch, he brought his splitter with him and he chopped all of our new firewood with an assist from my nephew. Isn’t he a great person to have around?

(In my journey through the archives as I was writing this post it appears that previous Easters have also been about firewood.)

We’ll need to do this a few more times–I estimate we’ll need three or four more trailer loads to get to my ideal state of three rows–but tree maintenance on the farm is ongoing. We’re on our way to a new fire season later this fall.

How did you spend your Easter? Anyone else maintain a woodpile? Have you started spring clean up yet? Who loves a wood burning fire? Who are your helpful family members?

Odds & sods

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Anyone know where March went? I don’t know whether it was March Break, the time change, spring coming (and then going), being in a fog because I had a cold most of the month, looking ahead to Easter, or what happened, but this month seemed to disappear.

March Break was a lot of fun. We did small little things around home. Went out for a few meals. Saw some family. Our usual lowkey, fun time together.

Being sick is obviously not as much. But it’s been an opportunity for me to practice rest and go to bed early.

In the blur that was March, here are a few things that caught my attention…

Kit without words has some beautiful words

Ellie is deep into Greek myths (this book is still a favourite, so much so that I bought Ellie her own copy for her birthday so the library could have theirs back). This podcast retells kid friendly versions of many classic stories including numerous myths, which has been a huge hit.

We’re also deep into BBC nature documentaries. This one was our gateway and this one has been the best so far. We’re working through the first Planet Earth series currently.

When do you feel a glimmer?

I really want to do these adult Easter games

A simple Easter craft (Ellie added a chocolate egg to the bunny’s paws)

This week I have a field trip with my students, a trade show with one of my clients and then Easter. Easter is my favourite holiday, so we will be rounding out the month with egg hunts, dinners, lunches and family.

How was March for you? Anyone else feel time flying by? How are you celebrating Easter?

Odds & sods

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The highlight of this month (as in every February) is Ellie’s birthday. Our girl is six. I am so proud of what a smart, kind, enthusiastic, giving, curious person she is. It’s amazing to watch her grow and learn and see who she is becoming.

We celebrated with treats at school, a trip to a butterfly conservatory, a party with friends here at the farm and dinners (yes, plural) with cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents. It’s been a big birthday month.

Online, it’s easy to present a “highlight reel.” Only those moments that are shiny and idyllic. We have lots of those in our life. But there’s also reality. A sixth birthday is exciting. It’s also exhausting, and there are lots of big feelings to go with that.

Baking cakes, finding the right presents, planning special outings, designing an epic scavenger hunt, and coordinating everything all take a lot of energy too. (Though it’s worth it for all of the fun things I was able to do with our girl.) While my mood swings have been less than Ellie’s, I’m ending this month pretty tired.

But it’s winter break for the college, so I will be taking advantage of not teaching to regroup this week. My to-do list is a bit ambitious, but hopefully I can find some rest too.

Amongst the busy birthday-ness of the month, here are some things that caught my attention.

This historic mansion is for sale. I can’t decide if my favourite feature is the porch or the staircase.

Beyonce’s new song has been stuck in my head since the Super Bowl. It’s certainly catchy, but I wouldn’t mind some peace and quiet. (Anyone want to learn the dance with me?)

Anything can be listified. Ellie got this book for Christmas and it’s been so interesting to read together. (It is great for “stumble upon” learning.)

My book of the month. (I’ve ordered book two in the hopes that I’ve found a new mystery series to read.)

Inspiration for my next trip with Ellie. (Matt’s Mom’s family is Swiss, so that gives us a great excuse to go, right?)

“Rest is not the absence of activity but the presence of peace.”

Jo Saxton

I will be finishing February with marking, lesson planning, catching up with some clients, income tax prep, sap boiling, a trip to the dentist, lunch with my Mom and hopefully meeting up with another friend. My big hope is that I’ll have time to work on the finishing touches for Ellie’s room, so I can share a reveal of that soon. It’s a leap year. Maybe that extra day will do the trick.

Have you had any special celebrations in February? How are you spending your leap year?

On goals, targets, tracking

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In case it’s not clear, I like having plans and goals. The blog is a great way to hold myself accountable. Whether it’s home goals or the One Room Challenge, saying publicly, “I’m going to do something” gives me extra motivation to follow through.

(BTW, if productivity, discipline, focus and motivation are among your goals for 2024, this podcast has some good tips.)

Tracking progress is also motivating. As I was setting new home goals for 2024 and looking back at how I did in 2023, I started thinking about some other things I tracked last year. So in the spirit of motivation and accountability, I’m going to share them here.

Walking

Hiking with Cigo is one of my favourite things to do. Last year, we hiked 466.3km. (I use the Map My Walk app.) This is about 39km a month. I’d like to see if we can make it 42km a month this year (the distance of a marathon). To be honest, we’re probably already there, as I don’t track walks we do around the farm or hikes with Ellie. But I’ll continue to skip those and try to find an extra 3km in my month. Hiking is pretty much my only exercise (aside from working around the farm), so increasing this would not be a bad thing.

Monkey Bars

I have one “workout” that I added to my routine last summer. The route I walk on Sundays includes a small set of monkey bars. So since the summer (after hearing on the 1,000 Hours Outside podcast about the benefits of different types of movement and hanging), I have been trying to do the monkey bars. At first, I fell off every time. But by December, I made it to the end–eight monkey bars. Yesterday, I turned around and did them twice. What else should I try? A chin up?

Reading

Last year I tracked the books I read for the first time. Reading is a huge part of my life (and I’m still a paper-reading, library-visiting bibliophile). In 2023, I read 63 books (plus 2 that I didn’t finish). Finishing Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache series accounted for a 13 of those books. Another 15 were non-fiction. To Speak For The Trees by Diana Beresford-Kroeger (please consider reading any of her books–she is amazing on nature and climate change) and Outlive by Peter Attia were standouts. I’m hoping I’ll make it to 50 books in 2024.

1,000 Hours Outside

This will be our fourth year doing the 1,000 Hours Outside challenge. I love this movement and have come to believe strongly in the value of free play, unstructured time, and time outside. Last year, we spent 1,108 hours outside and made it to 1,000 on Nov. 3. I’m curious how we’ll do this year. This is a challenge that even when you lose, you win.

Family Albums

I started making a yearly family photobook when Ellie was born, but I’ve missed a few years. I recently made our 2023 album, and it’s so lovely to have all of those memories in one convenient place. (I use Blurb.) I’m motivated to go back and make the missing books.

Rest

My word of the year. Rest is truly a challenge for me. My goal in January (and continuing) was to be in bed around 11 two nights a week. Coming up with a strategy (finish work at 10, take Cigo out, brush teeth, read for a few minutes to try to turn off my brain) and a target (2 nights a week) is very helpful. I also instituted a rule that I can’t start anything new after 11, so on those nights I don’t shut down by 11, I’m trying to be not too many hours beyond it. I’ve also started plugging my phone in to charge in the mudroom by 10, which helps to remove one source of distraction and delay. So far I’m doing not too bad. I also downloaded a habit tracking sheet from Passion Planner so I can note the nights that I achieve my goal.

Speaking of Passion Planner, it is a really good goal setting, task prioritizing tool. I’ve used this planner for more than 5 years. I also tried “time boxing” recently, a technique recommended by Nir Eyal on the podcast I mentioned above, and it’s helped me to plan my time and feel more focused.

Writing this post, I found it interesting that so many of my goals are about well-being. Making good use of my time, getting outside, spending time together, relaxing, being healthier, and holding onto memories are all part of the overall quality of our life. It’s worthwhile to spend some time thinking–and writing–about them.

What activities do you track? Do you have any goals that are more personal this year?