Our Lifestyle Blog as We Create a Homestead in Northern Ontario
Well, “road” is perhaps an embellishment. It’s really a trail created mainly by Grandpa’s snowshoes as he kept a pathway defined for the tractor (initially) and then the ATV (secondly) to get into the bush to retrieve some of the logs we had cut in the fall. It was reasonably warm (about fifteen or sixteen … Read more
Just in case anyone is curious about how much snow can build up on a yurt roof – here is the current load that our Yurta yurt has been laughing off for a month or two.
Three sauna sessions ago, I noted with not a little discouragement that the drains had frozen up again. This seemed impossibly horrifying to me, considering the amount of work I had put into ensuring that they would remain open. I was at my wit’s end. Heating the drain lines was out of the question. I … Read more
Last week it was with great excitement that I picked up a truck load of v-joint white pine panelling from Howie’s Saw and got it unloaded into the cabin. Now we had a good excuse to begin work on our interior walls! Up until now, we had been living in a VERY open concept cabin. We … Read more
With the ongoing “Polar Vortex” dropping even more -30 degree weather on us for days and days at a time, it was clear that the Yanmar was NOT up to the task of ploughing out our driveway or skidding logs. I can confirm that it was getting more and more difficult to use it as … Read more
I did not really relish the thought of heading under the sauna floor in winter to pour boiling water on the drain lines to thaw them. I had purchased two different heat cables to wrap around the lines and plug in to see if that would work, temporarily, but each of the cables insisted that … Read more
In as much as we are choosing simplicity (or at least, professing to), we are part of a generation that would find life without internet access to be a bit too primitive and limiting to stomach. Like any other tool, the internet has the capability to do as much harm as benefit. One can easily … Read more
It’s hard to define exactly why we are doing what we are doing. Our motivations and expectations can change from month to month and year to year. I’m not sure if this is true for everyone, but I suspect it is part of the human condition. As far as being in nature, and close to … Read more
Here’s my own version of these videos… Fun and weird! Boiling Water vs. Thunder Bay Winter.
This has been quite a Christmas and New Year’s period here on the homestead. Just before we were to leave for the sunny south, we realized that not only were the drain lines in the sauna frozen, so too were the water line from the well, as well as the drain line in the cabin. … Read more