appreciation

Appreciation

/ Re-Farmer / Leave a comment

Today I found myself heading out to the city, and didn’t get to my computer this evening. My usual morning routine on the computer, such as uploading photos, checking the trail cam files and writing a blog post, got completely skipped.

Imagine my surprise when I had a moment to log on and discovered a big spike in visits and views! To those of you popping by from City Steading Brews, welcome! Another welcome to all those who found their way here to check out my posts about doing things crab apples. It’s definitely the season for it! I hope what you’re finding is useful.

Normally, I post at least one photo with my blog posts, but today I hadn’t taken a single photo! Which is very unusual for me. 😁

So, I instead went back a few days and put this together for you to enjoy.

It has nothing at all to do with anything I did today, but it’s cute kittens, so who cares?

They absolutely loved it while I was raking up that pile of grass clippings – and made it a real challenge to not accidentally rake up a kitten, too!

With things working out for my daughter being able to pay the vet bill for Leyendecker, we no longer needed to delay our city trip to continue stocking up. Today is Labour Day weekend, but a lot of places were open for at least short hours. I was not going to do Costco yet, but was going to try one of the other wholesale places I sometimes go to – only do discover it was closed! I still went to the international grocery store that I planned on, making a quick stop at a nearby Dollarama, then hit a Superstore. This time of year, a lot of places have case lot sales that I took advantage of. More stuff for the pantry, as we work on the assumption that we will have at least two months this winter, stuck at home due to weather conditions.

A couple of years back, a daughter and I would make these trips and do all the shopping in one day. Since then, we’ve added a couple more regular stores to shop at, and have split things up into two, sometimes three, trips. Thankfully, gas prices have been slowly going down. We’re currently at 165.9 cents per litre locally, though I did see one place in the city that was at 157.9 It’s still way too high, though. I put $40 of gas in my tank on the way to the city, and it gave me just over a quarter tank. I’m saving the fill for when I get to Costco, where the price will be better.

So, aside from stopping at the gas station, I went to three different stores, with two of them right next to each other.

It still left me totally drained. It doesn’t seem to matter how much I pace myself, whether or not I had an energy drink, or took a break for lunch. These trips just leave me exhausted. Being around so many people sucks the energy right out of me.

How on earth did I manage to keep going, when we were still living in the city? I was so involved in things, too. I now realize I must have been running on fumes for years. My mother often goes on about how we need to get out and around people more. Which makes sense coming from her. My mother spent some 40+ years here on the farm, raising 5 kids, growing a huge garden, and doing all the things that comes with running a “subsistence farm”, as it was called back then. Mind you, I do remember quite a lot of visits from their friends in the city, and attending social events, so it’s not like they were hermits. Still, once my mom moved to where she is living now, she had a lot more social opportunities right in her building, never mind the stuff in walking distance for her. My mother is a social person.

I’m not.

She, of course, thinks I should be. She especially brings it up when she wants me to drive her around all over the place, and/or stay at her place for hours, and I point out I have things to do at home. That’s when I get told how I need to be around people! I am allowed to take a holiday every now and then!

She has no idea just how people’d out I still am. I’ve tried to tell her about all the various things I was involved in before we moved here – things which often included a lot of conflict – but it’s completely beyond her experience, so she doesn’t quite get it.

These trips to the city remind me just how much I am NOT a city person, even after all those decades off the farm. I’m not a people person. It’s not that I don’t like people. I just don’t like being physically around lots of them for too long.

It makes me appreciate being where we are now, that much more. Even if it means dealing with our vandal, or getting snowed in repeatedly, or all the vehicle troubles, or living in a house that needs a top to bottom renovation (but I’ll be happy with just a new roof!), and struggling to keep the garden alive, or cleaning up the place with all the working equipment gone before we got here…

It’s still better than what we left behind. We have quiet. We have space. There is so much less stress. And I love the work that I’m able to do here, even if I have to resort to fairly primitive means to get things done.

There’s a reason I haven’t changed my tag line after being here for almost 5 years.

Sometimes, you really do need to go back, to go forward.

The Re-Farmer

In a state

/ Re-Farmer / 2 Comments

I just found out that, this afternoon, our rural municipality, among many others, was declared in a state of emergency. People were informed where to pick up sand and sand bags, if they need it, and where to muster if they need to evacuate.

Where we are, things are not so dire. One of my neighbours drove the roads in the area, including the one past our place that I’ve been checking. It is nowhere near the worst if them. He drove through all the washed out areas, as he has a truck that can handle it, but I wasn’t sure he would make it through some!

Around our home, however, the water continues to slowly recede. The rain has stopped, though we did see a few snowflakes. The water seeping into the old basement has not increased, though it hasn’t decreased, either. One corner of the new basement is damp, so I put a fan on it. Before we moved here, my brother had found that corner full of water, with mold all up the wall. It was a huge job to clean up. A rain barrel had been left unattended outside that corner, during a rainy summer. It overflowed right at the wall. We now believe the weeping tile, at least near that corner, is filled with sand and soil, which I see washing through the drain to the septic tank, because of this. That corner now still gets damp occasionally, and we need to keep an eye on it.

We are very fortunate where we are. We aren’t much higher than other areas, but it’s enough to make a huge difference. I’ve been seeing other photos people are sharing on Facebook, and it is pretty devastating.

We have much to be thankful for right now!

The Re-Farmer

Christmas in July!

/ Re-Farmer / Leave a comment

It’s a good thing we didn’t have much planned for the day, other than my daughter’s shift!

After dropping my daughter off at work, I was going to take advantage of being in town to play a bit of Pokemon Go and visit the beach before it got hot and the crowds came out.

Just as I was about to park, I got a call from my older brother.

My mother had had a problem with a tire yesterday, and he was worried it was going to be a problem today, when she had plans to drive to our sister’s.  He was willing to drive all the way out from his place (1 1/2 hours!) to check on it, but was I able to do it for him?

Of course!

After double checking that I had a tire gauge in my emergency kit (otherwise, I would have tried to buy one somewhere, first), I headed out.  I checked her tire, which was good, then stopped by to let her know.  Normally, I always call before visiting, so I was prepared to just let her know and go, but I ended up being able to visit for a bit before she headed to church.  She wouldn’t have gone to check her car (visually, only) until she left for church – or after church, since it’s just across the street, and she wouldn’t have gone by her car on the way – so it was much less stressful for my brother and I to do it this way, early! :-D

Once back home, I called my brother and his wife to let them know how it went, and as we were talking, they asked if we could use various things for the farm.  They were going through my SIL’s late mother’s stuff, and wouldn’t be able to keep them.  I happily said yes.

We ended up meeting in town after I picked up my daughter.  I expected a box or two.

Nope.

Five boxes.  Including a size large one!

I gotta say, it was like Christmas in July!

20180729.christmas.in.july

A collection of saws, a circular saw (yay!!!) a drill kit, gardening supplies and more!

There were even LED Christmas lights – with a timer – that we can put outside.  I can use them to replace the old ones at the gate. :-D

I’d already unpacked one of the boxes before I took that photo.  It included…

20180729.jewelry.boxes

Two beautiful jewelry boxes!

I’ve long pined over a really well organized jewelry box, but could never justify the expense.  Now we have two!

My younger daughter took the darker one, as it matches something she already has, and I will finally be able to take what jewelry I have (which isn’t much, really, but still) out of the slide lock baggies that I’ve been keeping them in! LOL

And when we use these, I will always think of my SIL and her late mother, and appreciate them even more.

<3

The Re-Farmer