Blink and you’ll miss it

Posted on October 21, 2013 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

This is our second fall on the farm, yet I feel like I didn’t notice the leaves changing colour this year. This weekend walking around and actually looking around, I was surprised to notice that most of our trees are nearly bare. The colours are gone, and I didn’t even see them.

It feels like time is moving so fast these days. Friday was my last day at work. I’ve spent 11 years at the same organization, starting as a student intern, moving to different departments, trying different things, meeting different people. It was a great place to begin my career. I’ve been very nostalgic this fall as I prepared to leave my job. I have a new job to go to at a different organization, which I’m very excited about, but first I have a two week break.

I’m hoping over the next two weeks to slow down a bit and savour my time at the farm, with family, friends and Baxter, working on my projects, relaxing here and there.

How do you slow down? Any suggestions for how I should spend my two weeks? Any advice for handling a job change?

Pudding puppy

Posted on October 18, 2013 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Baxter was feeling a bit lonely one day last week while we were at work. To show us how much he really cares, he decided he’d bake something for us.

Okay that’s not it. That’s the birthday cake that he helped Matt with last month.

Check out Bax’s solo effort.

He got as far as getting the flour out of the cupboard. Then, unsure what to do next and still feeling a little lonely, he did what most of us do. He turned to comfort food.

In Baxter’s case, that’s chocolate. (If there was any question about whether he’s meant to be our dog, his chocolate obsession has cleared that up).

Fortunately, there were three boxes of instant chocolate pudding powder in the baking cupboard. Snuggling down in his bed–his favourite place to eat his kong–he eased his lonesome heart with powdered sugar and chocolate crystals.

The good news of the day:

Baxter’s new bed launders very well.
I store the real chocolate–bakers squares, wafers, chips–in large canisters, so the foods that are really truly dangerous for him are not accessible.

That afternoon we arrived home to our usual enthusiastic greeting and an unusually messier house. Matt took our baker for a long walk to work off his sugar high, while I stayed behind to install baby locks on the cupboards.

Baxter seemed to suffer no side effects from his pudding powder binge, although he did have the inevitable sugar crash.

The best news: A week later, the baby locks seem to be working, and Baxter’s baking urges and chocolate cravings seem to be under control.

Does anyone else have a lonely dog? How about a baking dog? Who else’s dog likes foods that are bad for him or eating in bed?

Paintings, pillows, Property Brothers, oh my!

Posted on October 16, 2013 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

My good friend Catherine and I headed into Toronto a few weeks ago for the Fall Homeshow.

Neither of us knew what to expect, but we’re both enthusiastic about our homes, so we decided it would be a fun way to spend a day together. We decided to go on the Saturday so that we could check out the Property Brothers.

As you can see from the photo, the PB presentation was a mob scene. Soooo many people, Catherine and me included.

Apparently, ’tis the season for me to be dazzled by TV personalities. Just like with Sarah Richardson a few weeks ago, I was impressed by Drew and Jonathan. Their presentation was straight-forward, funny and down to earth. They had a lot of good tips for people about everything from renovating to decorating to financing. I actually really like their show because I’m all about seeing the potential in a place and then working to make it live up to my vision. Plus, I think their designs are usually pretty liveable. BTW, there’s also a little known third property brother whom we also got to see.

Away from the main stage, there were lots of booths and lots of vendors. I had expected more exhibits, but pretty much every booth was someone selling something. Nobody was pushy, but I guess I was just looking for more inspiration than actual products.

There was one particularly inspiring exhibit by Habitat for Humanity where bloggers, handymen and women and other people had all upcycled various items from the ReStore. There was lots of creativity from shelving units to furniture to wine fridges and even a light fixture.

And amongst all of the vendors, there were two that I now covet.

The first was textiles from Andrea Hylton home. She had amazing pillows and blankets in beautiful colours and patterns. There were mellow earth tones, saturated jewel tones and sophisticated fabrics that would work upstairs. There were funky patterns and bright colours that would work in the basement. Can’t you just picture this green mohair throw paired with Strandmon in the basement? I could have bought everything in her booth.

The second booth where I again could have bought everything was artist Beverley Jenkins. She does amazing oil paintings. I love original art, and some day I’d love to have a few pieces of my own. I would have started with the birch forest at right below without any hesitation if only it hadn’t been out of my budget.

The really unique thing about her paintings is how highly textured they are. She sculpts the paint on with palette knives making a three-dimensional canvas. I tried to get a picture of the paint, but I’m not sure it really comes through.

Catherine was the perfect partner to go to the Homeshow with because she’s all about embracing whatever comes. So while the vendors may not have been what we came to see, we got into the spirit, trying out crazy chairs that gave full-body massages, watching cooking demonstrations, having detailed conversations about shower heads with a plumbing vendor, filling out surveys, entering contests and getting our pictures taken in our “dream” room at the Scotiabank booth (mine was the kitchen. Catherine chose a great backyard patio).

All in all, it was a fun day, and I did end up coming home with some inspiration. The best part was getting to spend time with one of my best friends. Catherine just bought her first place this summer, and she’s been busy painting, decorating and making it her own. Check out her blog to see her space.

Who else has made it out to a homeshow recently? Is anyone in the process of decorating a new house? Are there any other Property Brothers fans out there?

Thankful

Posted on October 14, 2013 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Today I am thankful for, in no particular order, pizza, nephews, chainsaws, a wiggly-butt dog, furry-purry puddy-cats, an understanding husband, a generous father-in-law whose usual response to his daughter-in-law’s many requests is “that’s doable,” breakfast, Matt’s shop-vac, my drill, my sander, a brother who traveled more than 1,500 km to be home for Thanksgiving, a sister who drove 200 km, family near and far, traditions, leftover turkey, the farm, sleeping in, chocolate, our dishwasher, weekends–three-day weekends even better, my husband’s defensive driving skills during a close encounter with a deer (he wasn’t injured although the car still isn’t feeling too hot), s’mores, surprise lunches at work with my parents, campfires.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

What are you thankful for?

Snapshot

Posted on October 11, 2013 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Fall sunset along the creek.

Tomato trials

Posted on October 9, 2013 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Our first year as tomato farmers is not turning out so well.

We had a bumper crop of green tomatoes, but rather than ripening our tomatoes are rotting.

We’ve had a couple of frosts and tenderly covered the tomatoes with a tarp to protect them, but our care was apparently unnecessary. The plum tomatoes ripened and remained edible, but the big round tomatoes have become pockmarked with big spots of I-don’t-know-what.

So much for my plans for fabulous flavourful homemade tomato meals.

Anyone have any idea what went wrong?

Paving paradise

Posted on October 7, 2013 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

I love the town that I grew up in.

That town doesn’t exist anymore.

It’s not like the economy collapsed and everyone moved away. The opposite happened: everyone moved in.

New housing developments on the north, south, east and west edges of town have caused a population boom. And more houses are being built everyday. In fact the population of my formerly small town is forecast to double to more than 36,000 people over the next 10-20 years.

The result of all of this growth is predictable: traffic gridlock. My parents, who still live in the house I grew up in, make a point of not going out during dinner time because they spend all of their time sitting in the car not moving.

Last week, our local paper reported that plans for a long-debated bypass road have been approved. The road will be constructed on the north edge of town and is designed to funnel people around the town core.

Great in theory. Obviously much needed. However, the north end of town is a wetland.

The article in the paper said that the provincial environment minister “was satisfied the city had developed measures to mitigate the impact on a wetland.” Ummm, you’re building a road through wetland. I don’t think there’s any way you can mitigate the impact of that.

Watching all of the new houses being built in my town was one of the things that solidified my decision to move to the country and to buy the biggest piece of property I could. I didn’t want to be part of suburbia. I wanted to preserve the world and protect it.

Half of our property is wetland. It is restricted by the local conservation authority. So is the land where this new bypass road is going to be built. Governments and municipalities put these protection measures in place and then ignore them in the name of convenience and progress.

Everyday I drive past my childhood town. I see the massive construction developments that are adding thousands of new houses. I see the power centres that have pulled shoppers away from the independent businesses in the town core to the big box stores on the fringes. I see the roads that are paralyzed with more cars than they were meant to handle.

I see little thought to intensification, public transit or (sub)urban planning.

I am disappointed that this road has been approved. But looking back even further, I’m disappointed that so many houses were approved for construction. I realize that nothing stays the same, but this isn’t progress to me.

Bidding war

Posted on October 4, 2013 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Anyone curious how the farm auction turned out? You’ve already heard about the auction on the farm and my good fortune in finding the items I thought I’d lost. But what about the auction of the farm?

Remember I mentioned that the whole property–the stone farmhouse, the big barn and all 17 acres–were going to be sold? The big day was a week ago.

I’ve seen one house sold by auction before, but never a whole farm. Auctioning a property is a bit different than other auctions in my experience. Terms are spelled out very, very carefully before any bidding starts. For this sale, the only thing up for negotiation was the price. The winning bidder was making an unconditional offer to purchase the farm–no home inspection, no financing, no sale of their own house, no negotiation on the closing date. And they had to hand over a $50,000 deposit as soon as the auction was over.

Once the sale got going, things moved much more slowly than a typical auction. The auctioneer of course started high. He got no action and slowly lowered the price until people started bidding. He stopped the bidding a couple of times–he’d given us a heads up that he was going to–giving people a chance to talk things over and hopefully talk themselves into bidding.

Matt was not one of those people. He spent the whole auction trying to stand completely still and not make any motion that could be construed as a bid.

As the numbers climbed, it got down to just two bidders. Finally, the one shook his head. He could go no higher. Having lost a few farms in more traditional bidding wars, I felt badly for him, knowing how painful it is to come so close but still walk away farm-less.

The auctioneer took one more break, but the second bidder truly had reached his limit. When the auctioneer started again, it was to slowly and deliberately say, “I have [magic number] once. I have [magic number] twice. I have [magic number] three times. Fair warning.”

There was no climactic, “SOLD!” I expect that the bid was still under the reserve set by the sellers. Instead, the high bidder went into the farmhouse with the sellers to negotiate a final price–which of course was kept secret. The crowd stuck around until the auctioneer came back out onto the porch to announce that the deal was done.

Have you ever been through a bidding war or seen a whole property auctioned off? Have you ever accidentally bid on something or do you make like a statue like Matt?

What once was lost now is found

Posted on October 1, 2013 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

So remember the other week when I went to an auction and missed out on a couple of items because I was too slow on casting my bid?

Remember how I mentioned the farm itself was going up for auction?

Well, a week ago there was a preview where prospective buyers could tour the house and the property. We’re not prospective buyers, but we are nosy neighbours, so of course we went over to take a look.

The house is beautiful. It’s a great stone house that’s been beautifully restored and updated. Amazing thick walls, stunning wide plank floors, surprisingly big bright rooms. But the house wasn’t the highlight for me.

Browsing through the barn, I saw the metal boxes that I’d wanted to buy at the auction. They’d been bundled into a lot and sold, but obviously the buyer hadn’t wanted the extra items. Seeing them made me wonder what else had been left behind. I wandered over to the other side of the barn where I’d last seen the wagon wheel hub, which I’d also wanted. Under a metal barrel lid and amongst some of the smallest kittens I’ve ever seen was the hub. Score!

I trotted back to the house, found the owner and offered him $5 (the two lots sold for just $2 each at the official auction). After a quick check with the auctioneer to make sure the buyers probably weren’t coming back for their items, the boxes and the hub were mine. And even better, the owner gave them to me for free!

Everything needs a hit with the hose. My plans right now are for the hub to simply be a decoration, perhaps on the fireplace hearth. The metal boxes might hold jewelry or office supplies.

What would you do with them? Have you ever struck gold after you thought you struck out?

Abandonment

Posted on September 30, 2013 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Do you ever see those formerly grand old houses, neglected, abandoned, abused and imagine repairing them? Rebuilding them? Restoring their beauty? Appreciating them?

Every fall, Matt and I spend a weekend at his aunt’s and uncle’s cottage. We follow a two lane road north, driving past large farms that stretch between small towns. The leaves are changing and the trees on either side of the road are shades of gold, red and green.

Coming into the last town before we reach the cottage, the speed limit drops and on our left is an old brick house. It sits on the crest of the hill, plywood squares covering its lower windows. The red brick is solid, while the porch sags. The paint is chipped, the shingles are flaking, the weather vane is bent. However, the charm is still evident.

The beauty and the character and the potential and the tragedy of this house attract me every single time I see it.

But I know a project like this is beyond me. To restore a house like this takes more effort, more money, more time, more energy and more passion than I have.

However, someone else has felt the same attraction, and they have decided that they have the means to truly appreciate this house.

This weekend as we crested the hill, I gasped in delight and surprise as I realized the house was being renovated. The joy I felt in seeing it finally being cared for is hard to explain. I live three hours away from this town. I don’t know anything about this house. I’ve never been in it. I have not met the owners. I have not seen the floor plans. But seeing the new third story, the fresh cedar shakes on the roof, the stripped wood on the turret, the scaffolding stretching up every side, I was very happy.

I find great meaning in houses–even houses that aren’t mine. Caring for my house and its property, creating a home is a special experience for me. And I don’t think I’m the only one that feels this way.

What about you? Do you ever dream of fixing up an old house? Or have you jumped in and done it (or doing it) already? Do you have an abandoned house that you admire?