4 Weeks In Beamsville

August 8th we packed the truck and started the drive back to Beamsville. Zoe wanted to be
back for her birthday on the 10th so she could celebrate with friends and family. We decided to try the power trip and did not rent a hotel room. We chose to nap in service centres as needed and thus arrived at my parents house 25 hours after leaving Paradise, Nova Scotia. (Both a place and a state of mind). It was not as horrible as I had thought, in fact I was very happy to have the drive over with.

We celebrated Zoe's 17th birthday (starting with breakfast in bed and ending with a tour around Niagara Falls), and then settled down to business. I wrote many letters and emails informing friends of our good fortune and new address. I changed our address with all interested companies and set up internet and electricity for our new home. This was fun and eye-opening. If anyone has dealt with Cogeco in the past you will be very envious of my polite, respectful conversation with an internet provider which started with an actual person answering the phone and saying "Hello, how can I help you today honey?". And ending 10 minutes later with "That's everything we need, I hope you enjoy your new home dear." I had been told that when calling in the eastern provinces I would get to speak with a person and not have to go through a multitude of "press 1 for...now press 2 for...now hold...". I have not tried any government agencies yet but are told that experience will be similar and painless. Another great perk to this move!

We spent a week making appointments and getting names of professionals we could transfer to in the Digby area. We visited friends and family. Went to cemetery's to leave flowers on loved ones graves and felt like we were wrapping up the Beamsville portion of our lives.

Naked Acres Farmstead - By Zoe Van Den Hurk

I took advantage of the downtime and did a lot of reading on farming. Both vegetable and animal farming and learned enough to know I need to ask more questions. I was very grateful to be allowed the opportunity to visit Naked Acres Farmstead on Fly Road in Beamsville and sit and talk to Laura and Martin Van Den Hurk. Laura and I went to high school and university together and she made me feel very comfortable asking all and any (code word for stupid) questions that I had. They shared their experiences and passed on some advise. When I left, hours later, I was in love with their animals, ideas, and ideals. Please visit their facebook page or contact them (289) 650-5233 to purchase their grass-fed and pasture raised beef, pork, goat and eggs.

It was wonderful to be able to spend some time visiting (and eating and drinking) with friends during this period of time. One of my favourite people, Sandi Risi, and I had realized that although we have known each other, and supported each other for 13 years, we had rarely spend any time together outside of work. So it was wonderful to enjoy her company in a social setting! To be able to spend so much time with my parents and my son was wonderful and I soaked up every moment I could with them.

Finally our waiting was over. Labour Day Monday Zoe and I picked up a 26' U-Haul truck. With the help of Brandon, we loaded up the truck and at 11am Tuesday morning we were back on the highway driving toward our new future (melodramatic but true!)