Our Lifestyle Blog as We Create a Homestead in Northern Ontario
Wow! Two months since my last post – not sure if that’s a record or not. It’s not that things haven’t been happening – it’s just that at this season, and this part of our lives, not much happens out of the routine. I’ll try to fill in a bit though, and as always, pontificate … Read more
We returned from a Christmas break to find the cabin a rather chilly -9. It took two days before we got it back up above 20 (although we did return to the city to spend the night with Mummu and Grandpa). Thankfully J! from next door kept our driveway clear while we were gone, and … Read more
A couple of weeks ago my awesome neighbour J! offered to help me change out the oil in the ATV. I thought that sounded reasonable and much easier than me loading it onto the truck and running it down to KC Auto again as I’ve done every previous year. As well, I imagined that it … Read more
I woke up early this morning, it felt later than it really was, but I decided it was a good time to start the woodstove.
If I recall correctly, last year I only cut two or three beams on the sawmill. I didn’t have any big projects in mind, but did have some large logs on the skidway. One of the largest was a huge birch that had blown down previously, and Grandpa helped me to portion it off and … Read more
Yesterday we attended the NOHE to help us have a better background in the ins and outs of being a small landlord. Afterwards we dropped by on one of our tenants to put up some blinds for them and have a bbq (as well as to enjoy their shower!) They mentioned once or twice that there … Read more
Be it ever so humble, there are no veggies quite like “grown on your own…” Showing off the bounty from our raised beds. Made for amazing fresh salad!
Well I’ll be jiggered! But let me explain – I only used the sawmill a handful of times last summer, culminating in the time Kenny dropped a 6×6 birch beam on his finger and I felt so bad that if someone had offered to just take my sawmill away I likely would have just let … Read more
We’ve been excessively blessed with sunlight the past couple of weeks. I haven’t had to run the generator for at least a week, and everyone just feels a bit more peppy. After canning the chicken last week, I was enthused to replenish our pantry with meals in jars, so I set to work doing up … Read more
Saturday was a clear, cold day, but they were predicting snow for overnight (which did come, although not too much). I decided it would be better to try to get the ATV started sooner, rather than later, so I thought I’d do a quick pass on the driveway just for practise and to warm up/charge … Read more