Ten years ago this month, we "moved" here. I write "moved" as at the time, we were more or less trying things out for the summer, with no clear idea of how things would go. We had spent the previous two months in a flurry of activity. We were still trying to deal with the contents of the warehouse that we had used for our business. Rob had taken two one-week timber framing courses; one in nearby Perth and one in the eastern USA . We still weren't sure if we were going to build a new house, or simply put an addition on the log cabin. I was busy going through the contents of the dome that had been our home for over 35+ years, trying to pack, sort and purge. We had purchased a second hand tractor, mower, box blade and snow thrower in preparation for living in our new location. We had a new trailer to haul things with. Rob had spent a week at the cabin, doing his best to prepare it for our arrival, and trying to make some room for us all.
And so, on one hot July morning (which also happened to be my birthday) we loaded up the trailer with some of what we thought we would need for the next few months, loaded 4 cats into crates, (no small feat) and strapped them safely in the rear seat of the truck and drove off. Rob would return in a few hours to pick up the dog, and another load for the trailer. The cats instantly voiced their disapproval of the whole plan, yelling in unison. We had a scheduled stop at the vet for a quick consultation, as our senior cat Leon had been undergoing tests for an undiagnosed illness, and our youngest cat Axle still had his rear leg in a cast due to an unfortunate run in with our German Shepherd. When we arrived at the vet office, they suggested we should have given them all some catnip to quiet them down for the trip!
Somewhat frazzled, and more than a little bit tired, we arrived a few hours later, and somehow remembered to take a photo or two.
We emptied the truck and trailer, and then Rob left me to sort things out, while he drove back to Navan (stopping off in Ottawa as I recall for a take-out birthday dinner and sweet treats for us to enjoy later) . He arrived back late in the evening and so our adventure began. We still laugh when we think what a crazy day and birthday that was!
And of course, within a very short time, we both agreed that we would simply stay where we were in the cabin, and figure out over the winter what we could build. We then began the process of driving back and forth to Navan as we emptied our dome and prepared to sell it. By mid November the dome had a new owner, and we were officially "moved".
I certainly have had fun these last few days as I prepared to write this; looking back at some of the photos and blog postings from that time. Ten years have passed; that's hard to believe. Especially as every day here still feels fresh, new and full of possibilities. I think that's a good thing. After all, that was the point of moving here!
And here we are now, in 2022. We are working on what we hope is the last "major" building job. The month of June was probably not the best month for getting outside work done. The first two weeks of June were particularly rainy, with numerous storm warnings and tornado watches. Rob was anxious to get working on the siding, but instead spent much of his time working on the inside of his workshop, getting drywall up and trying to re-organize the space within.
I was happy to see some of the incoming rain as it was good for my small raised bed garden and all the seeds I had carefully planted.
It was June 22 before Rob had a chance to start back on the siding. It was great to see that he wouldn't be climbing up so much scaffolding this year as these sides are so much lower than the ones he did last year.
And the work on this side definitely went a lot faster than previous ones!
After completing the front, Rob continued working around the right hand corner, (which did require a bit more scaffolding) and of course then a blast of summer heat arrived. He had been enjoying the unusually cool temperatures as it made it easier to work.
We took a brief break for my birthday (which prompted this posting about reflection) and celebrated with local cupcakes and a delicious homemade meal.
And then we got back at it. While Rob was working on the siding, I was over at the cabin doing a bit of a clean and scrub after a red squirrel broke in one afternoon and had a wee bit of a party in the cabin. Luckily we discovered it fairly early (after Rob sent me in to investigate the noise in the cabin!) and we were able to safely help it find it's way out. Rob had to prop up a board to allow it to get back up to the window it had entered through, where it clung to the frame for a few minutes before tumbling down to the ground with a rather disconcerting thump. I was a bit concerned when it didn't move, but it picked itself up after a few seconds and high tailed it back into the woods.
This isn't the same squirrel, but it certainly has the same attitude. I think maybe it is related to the one we turfed out of the cabin.
With part of the east side of the workshop complete, Rob began to prepare to do the front (south facing) side of the house. Unfortunately the phoebes that had only just finished nesting at the front door decided to begin their second brood in the same location, so we had to change plans as we didn't want to disturb them. We opted to move to working on the back (north facing) side of the house instead, but this proved to be a bit of a challenge. We know we want to build a screened in porch on that side, so before we began, we had to take time to make sure whatever it needs was in place. There is already a door opening for it, which is great!
When a few more rainy days arrived, Rob moved back into working in his workshop, devising a fancy home made jig that would allow him to trim the ends of the siding in an even line. When the rain stopped he had a chance to try it out.
We both agreed that trimming those ends made a huge difference to making it look more finished!
We have been keeping a close eye on the phoebe nest progress. As soon as the babies leave the nest, we will switch back to working on the front of the house. This is a rather blurry photo of the nest as I don't want to linger and worry the parents.
We can hear them all chirping for food from early dawn to late evening. It's an amazing sound to hear, but I must say the parents are looking a bit worn out.
Earlier this week, one of the babies left the nest (intentionally or not) and is now being cared for on the ground by the parents. The rest seem reluctant to leave, or perhaps they are simply enjoying having a bit more space to move around. It looked pretty crowded in there.
Although Rob was busy working on the siding he did find some time to add a temporary frame to my garden as my tomatillos have taken off. I had put in stakes and tied the plants up but in no time they had grown feet above my stakes. It looks like we will have a great crop, if the chipmunks don't steal them. They stole quite a few last year, but all in all seemed to prefer my tomatoes. I didn't plant tomatoes this year, so am just hoping that the tomatillos don't make it to the top of the chipmunk hit list.
In an effort not to have to throw two of our plastic chairs into the landfill site just yet, I have been trying to restore them from their worn and chalky appearance. Last year I scrubbed them with baking soda and vinegar, and then applied coats of car wax as suggested on numerous sites. The wax didn't hold up all that well, plus it made the chairs super slippery to sit in, so this year I scrubbed and sanded them and tried applying a spray paint for plastic.
Before:
After:
They could use another coat but the can ran out of paint before I finished. I waited 7 days as suggested to allow the paint to "cure", before deciding whether to continue. I wanted to make sure it was sticking properly before I purchased another can. It seems to me that some of the paint comes off with a powdery residue, so now I am trying to figure out if a clear coat will improve things. At some point I should perhaps just give up, but I think it is important to try to fix things rather than just throwing them out. I still have plans to paint and reupholster six dining chairs and a drafting chair. We have an old metal futon frame to repurpose as well. Rob may turn it into an outside bench that we can use on one of our paths.
While I was out working on the chairs I noticed a young rabbit was hanging around. It seems to like the vegetation around my garden, and sometimes I will find it in the shade under the car keeping the weeds down for us ! It can suck a leaf back in no time, so I am glad my garden is raised as high as it is, or we would perhaps have no lettuce left at all.
This July has certainly been somewhat of a reflective month for me. So much has happened in the last 10 years, and going through some of the older postings in this blog have reminded me of a lot. We still have our one remaining little cat; sweet Axle, now over 19 years old. We lost our oldest cat Leon when he was 20, and we think Axle is perhaps trying to beat that record. Looking back, it doesn't seem all that long ago that we were driving up here with the four cats meowing away in the truck.
Somehow, looking back always seems to also make us look forward. Once the siding is completed (hopefully this summer) we are looking forward to not having any "major" projects on the go. That said, we would like to build a screened in porch overlooking our wetland, and maybe a small gazebo closer to the river. Although last year we arranged scaffolding and platforms to make a temporary wood shed, and will have to do the same again this year, we really would like to build a permanent shed for the firewood. We need to add fill around the house to bring everything up to the proper grade. And of course, the cabin is in need of some work, both inside and out. Rob calls these "small" jobs, and I guess they are compared to what we've done over the past 10 years.
One thing is for certain, we never regret for one minute our choice to come here, and to call this place home.
