Weekend Doings

The days and weeks are seeming to melt into each other and pass quickly. At least something is melting. The days are full of phone calls, estimates, emails, decisions, planning, timing and just plain figuring out stuff. I am so very thankful to have a husband who seems to know what to do at every turn. There are a lot of turns. It makes me wonder how other people do this. There are a crazy number of hoops to jump through and a permit must be submitted and paid for for each hoop! I am not complaining about the nature of the hoops though. It is good to have regulations for the safetey of our groundwater! (This is coming from the wife of a ground water guy.)

 

I knew that our dream of living on a little homestead would not be without its share of work. I know it will all be a distant memory when we are all settled in. I can't wait. It is just the living in between that is hard, you know? One foot in one place, one foot in another. Paul is trying so hard to be that one guy who gets in his house earlier, rather than much later, than expected. He may just pull it off. As it stands now, the people who bought our home take possession on July 1st. Paul thinks that we could be in our new house by the third week of June. Wouldn't that be grand? I was thinking we would have to rent a furnished place for the whole summer. I may come back to eat these words but I am really noping not to have to.

 

 

 

We went out to see our house last weekend. It "lives" about 20 minutes down the road from here. We were excited to see the progress since the last time we saw it there was little but the shell completed. We were thinking how funny it was that we liked the house so much when there was nothing really "in" it to like. It is a nice quite drive out there. Our heart rates seem to slow down each time we head into the country. It is a good thing.

The kitchen cabinets were in and the sink Paul picked out was in too. Not all finished up but mostly done. They are waiting on the hardwood to go in before they do the finishing touches. All of the light fixtures were in too. My goodness there are a lot of them. The living room has a ceiling fan, pot lights AND wall sconces.

 

 

 

I had them change this built in glass shelved and doored china cabinet to a book shelf for my cookbooks. I am not the fancy glass china cabinet type of girl, nor do I have fancy china to go into it. :)

 

The ceiling is vaulted throughout so we have these wide open spaces above the walls for plants or maybe nothing. I am thinking plants because that front window is south facing. It will be good to clean the air from all those new building materials. Although we are going as "green" as possible with what we can, I am sure it will have its share of VOCs.

Paul went to the farm, as we like to call it, on Saturday to meet with the surveyor and the basement guy. They measured out and placed the house in just the right spot, or so Paul hopes I think it is just the right spot. He also had to figure out where the well will go, where the septic tank will go, where the mound system will go and where the power box will go. We are getting 200amp farm service so there is no need to have the box mounted on the house. Again, I am so thankful that he knows what he is doing. In fact, he always seems to know exactly what to do, except which buttons to press on the stove to turn which burner on. He has yet to master that.

We also had Athena's dance recital. She worked hard all year and was excited to show us. She had a tap dance and a ballet dance. The costumes cost a stupid amount but she thought they were lovely, of course. There was no makeup required, which is the thing I like about small town dance studios.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I leave you with her tap dance. And as you watch it, I'll be making more phone calls, packing up some boxes, emailing about 100 people and trying to fit some homeschooling in on the sidelines. Phew!

 

(Well I guess that didn't work. I'll try to fix it later. Have a nice day!)

Sold... for five dollars

And now for something completely different... we went to an auction on Sunday and what fun it was. We have been to these auctions before but this one was different. We went on purpose. Not for the purpose of buying something in particular but for the purpose of a family outing. I know, we are kind of weird that way.

 

 (she wore these old glasses of mine, with the lenses removed, all day)

We walked through the tables and tables of items and Paul had us write down which items we were interested in and how much we were willing to pay for them. He registered as a bidder, saved some chairs and away we went.

 

 

Athena spied an Indian Head dress right away. She wanted to bid on that. I found a lovely rocking chair for our new front deck with ample space in case my width broadens in my old age. I found some Medalta bowls but I knew from past experience that they go for much more money that I was willing to pay. I thought I wouldn't mind having a bean pot either. There was a huge hutch that I loved but I already have what I need, and it is so lovely.

(my chair)

 

As soon as the auctioneer began he told us that ALL of this stuff came from one person. I couldn't beleive it. I told Paul that is what would happen to him if I weren't here to control his collections. The whole atmosphere of the place was kind of neat. Mostly the people there were antique dealers. The couple behind me was from Edmonton and we soon found out people were there from all over the place. There was a man who looked like he hadn't bathed in weeks bidding on expensive stuff. I HAD to take his picture so you could see what I mean.

The auctioneers' calling is something to hear. If you haven't heard someone call an auction you would be so surprised how fast they speak. Two men tag teamed it. One man had the habit of saying "What? You don't like it anymore?" and the other said "Ooohhh, looky here folks". The rest of the staff moved items to the front, held things up and controlled the bidding by yelling out "Yup!, Yeah! of Yes!" The auctioneers were good at reading people too. When Paul was bidding on my rocking chair the bid was at $150 and I told him that was high enough. He bid again unti $165 and then I shook my head to him and the auctioneer shouted "She told him to stop and he is listening." Another time the bid was between Paul and someone else and the auctioneer told Paul that I said to bid higher. I don't think I did but anyway...

 

 

Then, to my amazement, Paul starte bidding on two boxes of "hippie beads". Two giant boxes of wood beads. He won them for $15. When I asked him what the heck? He said, "They are biodegradable. Athena can use them for her slingshot on the farm." Of course! Good eye. We just bought her a pack of 75 from Peavy Mart for $3 so this was a great deal.

Lunch was horrible as food at these kind of things tend to be. Hotdogs, beef on a bun, pulled pork and chili. I had a hotdog but not before inquiring as to the brand. Costco all beef.
Athena had a bowl of the most bland chicken noodle soup that ever was made. Paul said it tasted like Hutterite soup. After sitting there with us for 4 hours and being just as good as could be, the head dress came up. Dad gave her the number and as soon as they announced it she stood on her chair and yelled out "Five dollars". Then someone bid against her (how dare they!) for $10 and the guy on the floor who "had the money" came right over to her and said "Fifteen?" and she said "YES!". That is when I not so subtly pulled her back down to sitting. Chuckles from the crowd followed. She won and the man came over and shook her hand to congratulate her. Fun stuff. Paul said she was so good sitting there that he would have let her bid until she won no matter what the cost. And, she actually got two of them plus a 1950's electric morse code toy which could be neat.

 

(a box of old comics from the 50s were thrown in, which Athena loved)

 

 

Athena and I left after that and Paul stayed on until 5, and they were not finished by then. You can imagine how much stuff there was to auction off. Paul came home with some more things he had won. Our total was $157 and we got some good stuff, and some not so good stuff sold as a lot. But oh, how fun it was. I just love the auction. Way better than going to a movie. Try it once, just for fun and you'll see what I mean.
 

(Paul came home with no less than 3 bean pots and these bread bowls.

He also got a toy holster with a Ponyboy colt revolver cap gun.

I have a thing for bowls so I appreciated that a lot.

PS Anyone in need of a bean pot?)

 

What The Heck? (Edited)

If I was reading a blog and someone posted what I am about to post, I would NOT even believe it. I wouldn't. Not for a second.

So... I was sitting in the living room having an after dinner glass of Cabernet when I heard a familiar "thunk" on the window just to my right. A bird. And then I saw Martha leap onto the bird. I saw its large wings flapping as she tried to carry it away. Paul ran out to shoo her away and as he did I saw the bird. Paul saw the bird. We saw it stagger and fly from her grasp.

It was a Boreal Owl. A Boreal Owl. What is going on?

 Three species of owls in a week. Something amazing is going to happen. I can feel it.

Upon further inspection, the first owl we spotted was indeed a Boreal, not a Barred. Still crazy nonetheless. And the one that hit the window was a Saw Whet Owl. The guy pictured above.

I'm Listening

I think the Universe is trying to tell me something. In one of our spruce in the back yard. Right now. Great Horned Owl.
I told you yesterday that I don't think the number 13 or owls are bad luck. This is amazing!!! Now to figure out what it means. :) Lots of squeals of excitement over here, mostly from me. Miss Martha will NOT be allowed outside today. This is significantly bigger than the Barred Owl of last week.
 

Setting Foot

We are tired. Not tired in the physical sense, (well maybe Paul is physically tired too) but in the ohmythereisomuchtodo sense. We knew going into this new terrain that there would be much to do, but we did not know the nitty gritty of it all. You know?

For instance, we took a quick trip to the Battlefords because Paul had some training to do and we tagged along. We went to see the property. It was my first time. Although Google Earth is a swell tool and it is great for the aerial view, there is nothing quite like the lateral 3D view one can only get standing right out in it.

First things first. I was oh so pleasantly surprised by its proximity to the Battlefords. Now we live about 25 minutes from a city. This was about 5, tops. After turning off of the highway just past the town of Battleford we went onto a winding gravel road. We passed a horse farm and a cattle ranch and then before I knew it, we were there. We could see evidence of the road being impassable with snow at some point. This was a very snowy winter. When we pulled up to our lot it was almost surreal to me. I didn't think we would need our snowshoes but little Miss A wanted hers on. After we took her picture near the sign and Paul strapped on her snowshoes, we were off. And about 50 yards later she was on her knees with a bellyache. It seems she had swallowed half of the hotel pool water although she assures me the water level did not drop at all. So, Paul sends me forth and takes her down to the road to sit in the car. I take several steps and stop. There are fresh moose prints in the snow and I imagine being charged by a bull moose.  I was surprised by my fear. Not paralyzing fear but just a cautious anxiety. I waited for Paul right where I stood.

It was so quiet and still except for a scolding squirrel who I never did see. There were animal prints everywhere. Hares, fox, deer and moose. I noted the trees. Mostly aspens. Lots of underbrush. Dogwoods for sure. I spied at least one maple from where I stood. Perhaps we could get enough sap to make a half cup of syrup. I bet there will be more. I also noted some Black Knot. I didn't like that. Not much. Maybe I could cut it away.

(Paul pacing out where the house will go)

 

 

Paul joins me and we continue up the makeshift road. We have to decide where to put the house. I like my bedroom facing south so I can see the moon at night when I sleep. I also like the sun to shine in the windows in the mornings. That is not the easiest way to position the house but sweet Paul wants to please me so he figures it out. We kind of toss ideas back and forth about where Athena's play area will go. Where the gardens will go and where the chicken coop might possibly start out. It was all done in haste because I couldn't see Athena in the car from where we were and it made me a bit nervous so we plodded back down to the road and I just took it all in. We found out there is a creek running down one side of the property. Huge bonus for what little child would not like to spend hours floating sticks down a trickle of water? There was also a sandy ridge for some little lass to play in as well.

(Athena playing in a stream at Waskesiu last year)

 

When we got back to the car we realized that 40 minutes had passed and it was well past supper time. Athena was starving and her belly was still hurting and we joked about calling our new farm Bellyache Acres. But we won't call it that. We will call it something though. We'll have to find a name when we get to know it a little better. To say I was well pleased would be an understatement.
 

(View from the back of the house where the kitchen and my room will be)

 

 (View from the front of the house, which will face north and will afford nights of sitting on the porch

looking at the Northern Lights. I have been wanting this for so long I have even thought of that!)

 

 

(Lot 13 is not unlucky, and nor is this owl who has returned to our spruce.

That is what I tell myself anyway.)