Happy Holidays

Zoe and I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! We hope you all enjoy time with family and friends. May 2019 bring you health and love and peace.

We appreciate you following our adventure. We are excited to see what next year will bring and hope you continue to read about our experiences, mishaps and, hopefully, meet our first farm animals with us!

I'll be back posting in January, so until then, look for, acknowledge, and appreciate the joy in your life everyday!

From our family to yours - Happy Holidays!

The Future

This week Zoe and I have been quietly picking away at getting ready for Christmas. Baking, Creating (I can't say more as I don't want to tip the recipients off on their gifts!) While we have been working we have been talking about the future. In January I will need to get a job. And while I knew I couldn't avoid it forever,  it has reminded us that we had a page and a half full of "how to make money with/on the property" ideas.

We have read about sheep, which we are very interested in. Our community does have coyotes. While I have not seen any, I do understand they are quietly lurking in the background. We have read that llama's will herd and protect sheep while running off, or even killing, coyotes! So a herd of sheep and two or three llama's? Why sheep? I understand they do not need barn space but an outside life with a lean-to is sufficient for them. I have also done some exploring through craft markets, and it appears the wool is quite valuable and sought after. We like this idea of sheep.

Breeding dogs. It is our goal to get a dog in January, and while we were set on getting a rescue from the humane society, we reminded ourselves that dog breeding had been on our "list". So we will be looking into that after the holidays.

I had a long conversation with Kate about fostering children. That is still on our minds, but we have also heard of two families in our community who house Asian high school students for the school term. Once we get the bedrooms renovated, we will have four bedrooms with the option to expand that to six bedrooms, so both fostering and housing students could be options.

In the summer, we had thought of doing Air B'n'B for camping. Set up a compostable toilet and tent platforms in a more private area of the property.

We have started cleaning out our chicken coop. So that's a given. Laying hens to start and possibly expand to broiler chickens or hatching chicks.

We were also talking of pigs and cows. We had always planned on a cow for meat for ourselves, but are thinking about a dairy cow for milk and making cheese?

And of course, we have always wanted our marketplace with "for sale" items. We are thinking everything from our garden produce, to cuttings and seedlings, drop apples we had seen advertised this fall, fire starts, refinished furniture and home crafted woodworking, my knitted items, eggs, really anything we can think to grow or create.

I would love input on this. Anyone have other suggestions? We are obviously not stuck on "farm" only, so any ideas would be appreciated!

One Week To Go

We have been keeping busy. Every morning I spend 1-2 hours out in the forest gathering firewood, we have started putting up a wall in the office, and we have been spending every afternoon getting ready for Christmas. This year we wanted to create homemade gifts and are using materials from our house, our property, and our surrounding area.

One of the things we had not done was unpack any of our decor items, or hang any pictures. We were waiting until a room was finished, and then we planned to decorate it. Zoe got tired of living in a house, and wanted to at least make our bedrooms homey. Over the past two days she first tackled her bedroom then mine. I got to help along the way with her bedroom. She hung lights around her bed, put up her pretty things, her candles and perfume bottles, book ends that she had painted over the summer, pictures, and she made sure to display her cowboy hat! But when it came to decorating my room, she kicked me out and didn't let me in until it was finished! I absolutely love it. Zoe knows me so well! She surrounded me with pictures of my family and my children growing up and finished it off with a reading nook including fireplace

(yet to be hung.) Zoe was right. I hadn't realized the difference between loving my house, and feeling like it was home!

Tonight we went out to try and see the meteoroid shower. Could be that we were out too early or that our bonfire was too big and too bright, but we did not see any!!

Leaving on a pretty note-I get to see these freeze dried roses out my kitchen window every day. I am so lucky for all the beauty that surrounds me.

Family Visits

We had another whirlwind of a work cation as my brother Bill and my sister-in-law Jennifer came for two days of work. They arrived in Nova Scotia on Thursday afternoon but took their time travelling to our house doing some shopping, wine tasting and micro brew exploring. I think they had read my blogs about previous visitors and recognized that once someone arrived, they didn't leave until it was time to catch their flight home!

Zoe cooked us her now famous fresh caught haddock in pesto sauce - yum!! We had a fire in the wood stove -thank you Bill and Jen for showing me not to be afraid of big fires - had some Nova Scotian wine, and called it a night.

Friday morning we set out to do all the small jobs that I was too short for, or needed extra hands for. Bill and Jen secured a light over the garage, changed a fuse in the old lawn tractor, trimmed the "mohawk" I had been unable to reach whiling trimming a hedge, helped me lift two concrete pads to investigate under them. We cut and split some firewood, but the best thing we did was walk the property. Now that so much foliage had fallen and it is possible to make our way through the under growth, we could explore more of the property! I love our land so much!! I have tried to draw a map of the areas we have now been able to identify. (Obviously I am not an artist, but I think you can get an idea of the potential our land has to offer)

While we were on our walk the Reverend at the Baptist church next door came out to introduce herself, offer us a welcome basket and invite us to the church breakfast the next morning. We took her up on this offer and went over Saturday morning for a delicious breakfast and walked away with some goodies from their bake sale! I had only one large job left on the wish list for my brother: change a window. We were afraid that if we didn't have the all the materials we needed, we would be left with a gaping hole in the wall when it was going down to -14 at night. So...we decided not to proceed with that job. Instead we opted to remove the ramp leading up to the back door (which Zoe and I have always felt was an eyesore and restricted the access to our garage) and replace it with three simple steps. This was harder than we expected due to the wood being frozen haha, but we managed. In the end we were left with two intact ramp sections that Zoe and I are hoping to use at the chicken coop and enough recycled wood to build three platform steps. I love the way this opens up the side of the house!

Finally, we got to introduce Bill and Jen to Bistro East and had another delicious meal there. I am so grateful for their visit, their help, their generosity, their conversation, the delicious meal they made, and all the tips they gave me from fire making, nail removal, sump pumps and well submersible pumps for irrigation!

Waiting....

My brother arrives today!! I am very excited to see Bill and my sister-in-law Jennifer, to show them around the house and property and to put them to work (hehe)! It's the waiting that is hard. House is cleaned, groceries are bought, wine is chilling, now what? Seriously, I remind myself, there is always work to do so...

First, I realize the view of St. Mary's Bay through the trees is lovely this time of year with no leaves to block my view. Ahh, nothing like waves to calm me down.

Second, I had mentioned earlier that a tree had fallen down during a wind storm. As I drove into the driveway yesterday I felt that there was not as much as there had been previously. I think maybe someone has been coming and taking a few pieces here and there. So Zoe and I amped up our muscles and lugged them onto the back of the truck and rolled them off at the barn. We seriously felt like He-Women. These were bloody big and heavy! The picture does not do them justice but to describe the size, when laid side by side we could fit only two at a time in the back of the truck! So proud of us!

Third, we have wanted to start on the chicken coop. We cleaned out the little treasures. A child's homemade whip, an exacto knife, a light fixture, a cat carrier and lots of little feed dishes. I have a feeling chickens had not lived here for a while! With shovels in hand we took three wheelbarrow fulls of old soggy sawdust out and lifted the rotted plywood floor. And just like that, it is looking so much better!

All in all, not a bad way to spend our time waiting. We bought more of that fresh caught fish to make for supper tonight because we had loved it so much - so off to the kitchen I go!

Saturday

We had a terrific day on Saturday. Zoe and I ventured out to the neighbouring community for a Christmas craft show. We have always enjoyed the Thanksgiving sale in Vineland and were excited to hear about this one so close to us.

The craft show was held in Annapolis Royal between three locations (that we could find). I had heard there was a fourth location but we couldn't find it so....we started with the indoor farmers market. This does run every Saturday and is a smaller version of the summer market. It was lovely. We have a neighbour with a farm market at their house which we have not been to yet (bad Zoe and Shannon) but they were at the market so we got a peak at what they offered and we will be going to their market! Lovely vegetables, home canned goods, honey, everything looked so good. We also got to purchase our first fresh fish direct from the fisherman. More on that later.

Second we moved to the firehall where there were many many tables displaying crafts from knitting and sewing to soaps and candles to baked goods. We found many unique items that we purchased and  some items that gave us ideas for our own marketplace when we get it up and running. It has been an ongoing struggle for me to decide what calls to me when it comes to art. So when I find a piece that does, I try to afford it!! Luckily for me there was a woman with some beautiful pieces that I loved that were reasonably priced! I now have my third piece of Nova Scotian art for my new Nova Scotian home! (When my parents were here they bought us two Maud Lewis pieces-Maud lived about ten minutes down the road from my house during her married life.)

Our third stop was an elementary school. This seemed to have more professional artists. There is a community between Digby and Annapolis Royal called Bear River which is known for its artisans. I think many of them were displaying their art at the school. I was very happy to find a local farmer here who harvests his seeds. I was able to get a jump start on my garden with seeds that are proven to grow in this climate and this soil! But our favourite, yet to be tested purchase, was tooth soap! I had never heard of it before, but it is a soap that is a substitute for your toothpaste. It is all natural and has "proven effects for the positive health of your teeth and gums". We'll see!

 Then to wrap up the evening, Zoe cooked our fresh fish for us for supper. Not only is Zoe an excellent chef, she does such a beautiful presentation including some fresh herbs from our window sill herb garden! She can cook for us any time-please!!

The New Normal

It has been wonderful having Zoe back here with me. We have quickly settled into a new routine. We are enjoying sleeping in, doing some work before lunch, putting in a few hours of work after lunch, perhaps a nap or some homework or computer work, then supper, a fire and a Netflix movie! I love it!!

Zoe got to take her new vehicle for a spin on Monday (the Cub Cadet tractor I purchased while she was away) and loved the fact that it was reliable and did not break down!! We have brought in more firewood, had a lovely big bonfire and cleaned up an area beside the barn. We used landscape fabric to covered the area I have designated for my vegetable garden to make the spring rototilling easier, and we started some woodworking projects.

One of my biggest concerns has been the stove chimney. I have not been able to get anyone in to clean it yet. Between being too far out of region for some chimney sweeps, one not returning my calls and a final one promising to call to set up a date....? I am very aware of every fire I burn, keeping them small and constantly being aware in case of a chimney fire.  So...two weeks ago we had an intense rain and wind storm. A car slowed down in front of my house, then another, then a line up slowly began forming. In a panic that they had seen something pertaining to my chimney, I threw on a coat and boots and ran out front. Apparently it had nothing to do with my chimney (phew!) but rather the wind had caused one of the trees at the front of my property to fall across the road. I was very impressed that within one hour from the first car stopping the police arrived to direct traffic, the tree company arrived and cut up and moved the tree and the power company arrived to ensure the power line had not been damaged!

This has, however,  added another job to our to do list as the tree company cut up but left most of the tree in the ditch. Zoe and I spent a day hauling it out of the ditch, cutting it up storing all the manageable pieces. There are still hhuuggee pieces of the trunk in the ditch that I will need more muscle to clean up...hello my brother is coming for a visit next weekend. Fingers crossed the weather cooperates for this next visitor who is willing to work!

Snow Today, Gone Tomorrow

We had a wonderful visit with Kate Owen. She could only spend three full days with us but we accomplished a lot and we really enjoyed her company. Unfortunately the snow didn't end the entire time she was here so we were sequestered to indoor work during the day and eating and drinking at night. Our final night we had a wonderful seafood meal at Bistro East preluded with a beautiful sunset that would be the herald of better weather to come.

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The snow put Zoe and I in the mood for Christmas. We did almost all of our Christmas shopping in Halifax yesterday after we dropped Kate off at the airport. Then woke up this morning to decorate the house. And surprise, surprise, now that we are ready to embrace the snow and holiday feel...it has all melted and our world is green again-argh!! In the long run, I am happy to have some more autumn but oh the timing!

The first thing we discovered were about our new ceilings. We had purchased an artificial tree for our previous house which took advantage of its 12 foot ceilings. Our new home has eight foot ceilings and luckily the tree does fit but there is no room for an angel topper. In our previous home we also had numerous tables, shelves and built-ins on which we were able to display our many decorations. In this house we chose not set up our shelves or decor until each room is finished so the display space is limited and we had to pick and choose our favourite items.


All in all though, with a cup of hot chocolate, a fire blazing in our fireplace and some great music playing, Zoe and I managed to transform our living space to a cozy Christmas retreat.

Full House

After being home alone for a month, I picked up both Zoe and our friend Kate Owen from the airport.  I had taken Zoe back to Ontario in October and then returned to spend 28 days alone. I was able to accomplish a lot and visit with new friends, but I missed my people and was so excited to have someone in the house with me again!

Two weeks ago I got a message from a friend Kate asking to visit for a work-cation. It worked out perfectly that her vacation time coincided with Zoe's return so Zoe had someone to accompany her on the flight. That turned out to be very lucky indeed as it was only Zoe's second time ever on an airplane and the flight was delayed for an hour. Then after finally boarding the airplane, a passenger had a medical emergency which delayed their flight another hour.  I can only imagine how stressful this would have been if Zoe didn't have calming company. So thank you very much Kate! To top their eventful arrival off, we were in the middle of an unseasonal snow storm. A drive that should typically only take two and half hours took us four hours to get back to the house. We finally walked through the door at 3:30am! Some welcome!

From there it has been two days of work. We had hoped to get some outside work done, but no such luck thanks to the unexpected snow. So we have focused on the office and have made fantastic progress clearing the floor to reveal thick plank floors and stripping the door and trim to reveal beautiful original wood.

I have this fantastic helper for one more day and we hope to finish the woodwork and maybe even get to painting! We have laughed about this vacation where I shepherded Kate into our home under the cover of night and have not let her leave to see daylight or anything that Nova Scotia has to offer!! I did make sure she enjoyed some Nova Scotian wine and homemade crabapple liquor and I have promised to take her out tomorrow night for dinner at our favourite restaurant in Annapolis Royal, Bistro East.

It has been a wonderful few days getting to know Kate better, having wonderful company and a willing third helper! I can't thank you enough Kate for being there for both me and Zoe! Please come back another time so we can show you some of the local sites!

Workshop

One of the most frequent sentences out of my mouth has been "Where is my..." fill in the blank with "screwdriver" or "drill bit" or "tape measure". You get the point. For three months now my tools have had no official home and therefore, I can never find what I need! There is a three section garage which is attached to the house and I thought it would be perfect to have my workshop in the main section.

This room is not heated so I tried to weatherproof it as much as I could. I laid dri-core on the flooring, increased the insulation, draft sealed the doorway to the wood storage and the doorway to the attic, and put a plastic seal over the window. I wanted it bright and when dad was here in October, we put two more lights in. I have also painted the walls white to reflect all the light I could. I needed more power so I ran wire for an extra outlet. (I don't want to jinx this but that's two electrical jobs I have now done on my own, and gotten it right the first try on both jobs!!)

Then I started organizing. I have my charging station, my hand tool wall, (look closely and you can pick out Zoe's pink tools!) my paint corner, and my old dining room table as my workbench!

There is still lots to do to organize and find homes for everyone of my precious tools. I am hoping final placements will become clearer over the next week.  Zoe will be home and Kate will be here on a work-cation and I have "renovate the office space" on our to do list. With the three of us working back and forth between the workshop and the office, I hope it will become clear where tools are best suited, where its easiest to work and how the workshop flows.

Barton

I will start this blog with the promised photo of the coat room with the finished, blingy, coat rack and a matching painted wooden crate. Except for flooring and trim - one room done!

I thought today I would write about my new town. That being said, it was hard to find any real details! Barton is very small and not included in Census Canada (although it is recorded as part of a dissemination area which I will talk about later.) I cannot find any unique human interest stories, or historical facts, or persons of interest pertaining to Barton, Nova Scotia. But what I could discover is: in the Province of Nova Scotia, in the Tri-Counties, in Annapolis Valley,  in the District of Clare, in Digby County you will find a tiny town named Barton that has a Baptist Church and a Post Office. We are overlooking St. Mary's Bay and can see Digby Neck beyond the Bay. On the other side of Digby Neck is the Bay of Fundy. We experience some of the highest tides in the world so at times, our neighbours backyards are water and at times we can see mudflats for miles!

Blue Dot is Me!!

As I mentioned earlier, Barton is included in a dissemination area as defined by Statistics Canada as an area with 200-400 households. In this area, Statistics Canada has combined Barton, Brighton, Marshalltown, Acaciaville and Jordantown. Our dissemination area has a population of 462 which falls in 203 households. 58% of the houses were built before 1960 with only 1% of all the houses being built after 2011. 96% of my neighbours are english. This would change 30 minutes down the road into Comeauville, Saulnierville and Meteghan which are over 70% french speaking.

I do hope to eventually have a food garden so the soil is important to me. Throughout Annapolis Valley there are a number of wineries and breweries. That sounded a lot like Niagara Peninsula, so I was expecting similar soil types. I have read that it is a good area for mixed farming as it is "fair crop land". The soil is reportedly sandy loam. The only catch to this good growing soil is its "gravelly stoniness"! So while my vegetables may grow well, I may have to spend a season raking out all the stones before I can plant!

Barton was named for a Loyalist Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Barton who commanded the 1st  Battalion of the New Jersey Volunteers and received grants of land here after the war. So the story goes that Joseph Barton was in a a bar in 1788 boasting that he could fell a tree all by himself and better than anyone with experience, even though he had never done it before. The next morning he went to prove this point and felled a birch tree on his property. Unfortunately the tree fell on him and mortally wounded him! As I sit here with a bleeding finger, a blistered palm, a blackened finger nail, and a bruised leg, I wonder if following in this gentleman's footsteps, settling on his lands, boasting that I can do this myself, was actually the wisest decision? Maybe I should have researched this beforehand and taken warning from his story!

Coat Room

Original room with shelving,
wooden coat hooks and
wallpaper

Walls puttied, carpet gone,
step being removed

Well I tried! The coat room is not quite finished yet. The paint on the coat rail is not dry and therefore not mounted yet. But what I did accomplish was...I pulled the carpet up. I pulled down all the shelving, wooden decor and wallpaper.

Back of door and its many
layers of paint and stain

As good as it gets!!

I stripped the paint off the inside of the door. I painted the ceiling and walls.

Framing for the floor.
Overkill perhaps hahaha

Weird angle but trying to
show both the new light switch
and the new light fixture!

The room was recessed down a step and Zoe and I wanted it level with the kitchen floor, so I did that.

I replaced the light switch and the light fixture (had to have girly, sparkly, crystal!). I owe my father for any small amount of knowledge I had to accomplish this task . In August when I was living with my parents, my dad had me go through his house with him and replace many outlets and light switches to give me some electrical understanding. I still had to call him for advice today, but I am very grateful for the basic knowledge he has taught me.


I placed a new shelving unit in the room and filled it. The floor and trim were intensionally not finished. We want to wait until we do the kitchen and have the same flooring run straight through the two rooms. I'll post the final completed image next time, but for today, this is what we have! Phew!

And it's starting to get set up. 

Upswing

Everyone is familial with the ups and downs of daily life. Mine had been pretty down for a few days. Frustrated with a  broken tractor, and a leaky basement and not making much progress on-well-anything! With every down, comes and up. Thank goodness I am now in that upswing!

My new twin cylinder, Kohler engine, 42 inch twin blade, cruise control, shiny yellow Cub Cadet lawn tractor was delivered on Monday! Thank you Gates Power Equipment.  I took this pretty picture before I took it out to the back trail and got it all muddy-sorry Zoe!


I have been successful at getting the wood pile a little higher thanks to the new, working, tractor being able to haul wood out of forest for me!

I am trying to be more active and improve my photographic skills and taking more pictures. I tried to capture this really interesting colour sky which preceded a wild rain and wind storm, It knocked out our power for 5 hours and flooded our basement, but it was a beautiful sky!

And finally on the upswing, I got an email from a friend in Ontario who has booked her flight to come for a workcation! She will be my first visitor who is not family!! I am very excited and lining up jobs since she said she was game to work!

Hopefully Sunday's blog will show start to finish the first room that I have renovated. (I decided to write that sentence to give me incentive to actually complete it!)

Food

I was reminded that I had not talked much about the food since moving here. I have never been one to eat out at restaurants much in the past, but Zoe and I have enjoyed it more often here. It was a goal to introduce Zoe to seafood since it is so readily available and fresh. For those of you who remember in a previous post we discussed that Zoe, in fact, does not like seafood and will no longer even try it. It may have had something to do with beady lobster eyes looking at her, followed by a fried seafood platter that, even in my opinion, was not good.

She has enjoyed fish and chips on many occasions and has stretched out of her normal comfort zone to try different dishes as well.

Lets start with the best scallops I have ever had. Digby is famous for its fresh caught scallops and I took advantage of that at the Shoreline Restaurant. They served the best maple, whiskey, barbecue, bacon wrapped scallops I could ever hope to taste. They were served with fried chips and just enough extra maple, whiskey, barbecue sauce to dip those chips in! This was one of the places I took my parents to when they visited partly because I wanted them to taste the exquisite scallops, but also because I wanted them again!! It was at this restaurant that Zoe moved away from her normal chicken fingers or fish and chips and ordered a pineapple curry. It was also a really good choice. Unfortunately this restaurant is one of the seasonal ones and has closed for the winter.

My son Brandon works for China Dynasty in Beamsville and he used to bring home delicious food for the three of us. We had been living here almost two months and we had not had any Chinese food and we were craving it. We had seen Wok By the Bay on Water Street in downtown Digby so thought to give it a try. They have a nice selection of Chinese food but also a wide variety of seafood and Canadian food to satisfy all family members. We stuck with the Chinese side of the menu and really enjoyed the food we ordered. I was also incredibly grateful to the staff. When I got home and realized I had left my phone there, they offered to stay late so I could return that evening and retrieve it. Thank you, thank you, thank you. A second restaurant we will definitely be revisiting.


Our third favourite place is Kalen's Takeout. It is a food truck parked on Highway 303 as you drive through town. They take cash only, have a huge menu (including deep fried oreos which we have not tried...yet) and delicious fish and chips. I am not a food truck person, but after driving past it so often and Zoe continuously asking to try it, I am so glad we finally stopped. We will need to take Brandon there on his next visit for the foot long hot dog!





Eating out has meant we have had to change the way our day proceeds. We have been a family that for one reason or another, typically does not stop for supper until after 7pm. In Digby, actually from our summer experience as well, through much of Nova Scotia, many restaurants close at 7pm. It has felt strange to be like normal people and go out to eat between 5-5:30pm! I know I have a few Nova Scotian's reading my blog-any recommendations from the locals on restaurants to try?