It's late, almost my bedtime late; the house is dark, the dogs are asleep, and I can hear sawing downstairs. Yes, Cameron is in the basement sawing some handcut boards (made from trees on the property) to make a bench/shoe rack since the boots seems to be falling all over each other and driving him bonkers. Evenings now are so different from a year ago, when Cam would be coming home from a long day of work and we would have a few moments to chat before going to bed exhausted from the work days we had just had, now we have made it down to the property, we had so long dreamed about living on full time, and our evenings are relaxing and quiet, with the exception of the sound of a saw or a baby crying... right, yep, I said a baby...
The Big News and the Big Move
So rewind to February of 2015 when we found out that we would have a new little one joining our family in roughly forty weeks. With the good news, we didn't hesitate to decide to take the plunge and move down to the homestead for a year after the baby was born. So on October 1st, we packed the truck and moved down to our dream home in Vavenby. Roughly a month later, our little babe was born.
We hiked up to Moul Falls in the park. It was an epic four hour snowshoe with our baby in tow.
Life now moves at a different pace. I think that is the right word. Of course we still have to rush to do some things, like get out the door as soon as the baby wakes up if we want to go anywhere, since we need to take advantage of the "happiness" window (ie. when they baby has a full belly and is well rested.) But we also have time to go for walks every day to look at the tree and mountains, and talk about our plans out here. Cam has had time to work on projects and learn new skills. He has taken up using hand tools since power tools are too loud and will wake the baby during one of his many naps. And we also get to visit with our neighbours and have like minded conversations. I'm not gonna lie, it's pretty great. I'm so glad we were both able to take some time off (yay mat leave in Canada) so that we could both watch our little man grown and be there to enjoy this time in his life.
Of course life isn't all rainbows and unicorns; raising a newborn is probably the hardest thing I have ever done. And this is the first time I think I have had a chance to sit at the computer to type something in ages. Sooo don't be fooled in to thinking I have some sort of dream baby and I have loads of free time. I mean, I still have a newborn here people. Ha ha.
But yeah, life is good. We are here and we are going to try to give this thing a shot. We have a year and we are still going to live like we would if we were going to be here forever, with the exception of buying a cow (even though that would be awesome, but probably unwise.) So our plans include planting an epic garden, possibly getting some chickens, we will get some honey bees (my gift to Cam this year), and Cam will build a shop so he doesn't have to only use hand tools in a small room in the basement. Oh, and we may or make not get some guinea fowl... (because ticks!)
On the Homestead
Here is Cam putting in a new window. So handy,
So far living the "homesteading" life hasn't been as easy as I thought. Being nine months pregnant when we moved here, and then having a baby shortly after, didn't leave me with a lot of energy to start anything new. I had pictured our time here chock full of time for making things and living a sustainable life. And I still do things like make our own bread and cook our meals from scratch, but I haven't canned anything or taken on any homesteading projects. That is one thing that is disappointing me slightly since I have wanted this life for so long and I haven't done all the things I set out to do like make soap or sew baby clothes. It's just that sometimes you plan to do one thing and then real life happens. Am I right? Our baby just takes up a bit more time than I had thought, so I am learning to let go of big plans and to just go with it. For instance, maybe I didn't sew his cloth diapers, but he is still wearing cloth diapers, and sure I had planned on making diaper cream, but they had it at the health food store instead. Cam on the other hand has really come in to his own; he has learned about sharpening saws, building timber frame homes, making handtools, and more. And that is on top of the countless hours he spends playing with the baby each day. He is really taking advantage of his time here and is certainly happy to have the energy to be creative and work hard on building our life here. He really is making up for me by learning all these new things and putting them to practice. And it is so nice to see him come in from outside with a big grin on his face after collecting firewood. That guy.
What's next
Our adventure today included visiting some horses at a friend's. Can you see them in the back? And that is my baby's cute hat.
I'm looking forward to the next few weeks when I get to start planning the garden and figuring out how much food we will need to grow for next year and how to make it all work. That will be my big project for the year, followed by the canning and preserving of our harvest. I'm pumped, and also scared for everything involved. I get giddy thinking about it. It's also a lot of pressure to be in charge of growing the food for the family for the year; I just hope my gardening skills from back in Grande Prairie pay off.
I better sign off and get some sleep as well while I can.
Sweet dreams my friends.