≡ Menu

rural living

November is here

annaepp_farmhouse_web-1

November is here and with it brings a challenge for me. Can I do it? Is NaNoWriMo still a thing? Or was that just for novels? Somewhere along the way I lost my blogging mojo, but I realized recently that I missed writing. I think it has to do with the kiddos growing up and their desire not to have me write about every little moment. I definitely has to do with work and life getting in the way.

Let’s pave the way for the BeachMama 2.0.

I am still and will always be BeachMama, however, with our move to the Farmhouse I have also become something in between. I have found that country living is a really good thing. With our neighbours being so much farther away from us, not so far that you can’t see them just far enough that you rarely hear them or interfere in each others lives, our lives have become so much simpler. I have become much simpler. I have found my love of baking again, making jams and jellies, canning and sitting on the front porch with a glass of lemonade or wine, depending on the day.

Rural living is not for the faint of heart. Going for a long walk requires carefully walking along part of the old highway in front of our house. No more quick walks to the store or the coffee shop. The kiddos take buses to school and we don’t have public transportation, which means we drive a bit more. On the other hand we don’t deal with much traffic so our drives are more enjoyable and we knew what we were getting into living out here. It also means we can get snowed in and when the power goes out so does our well pump so we have no water, thankfully it has only happened a couple of times in our three and a half years here.

The bonus for living out here are the beautiful, unobstructed sunrises. No matter if we see it every day, each new one is a gift, the sunsets are also unbelievable and a great reminder that each day comes full circle. The views are spectacular and depending on the time of year, it is always different. If there is corn in the fields, they start small and green, then grow tall, move on to a golden colour and make lots of noise in the wind. Wheat was the most beautiful, swaying in the wind, it was like watching water flowing in a river. Soy is lovely, changing from green to gold.

As November brings the colder weather and possibility of snow, I will do my best to reintroduce you to myself and see if I can find my blogging mojo somewhere in there.

0 comments
Categories: About Me

Life at the Farmhouse

As you can imagine, life gets pretty busy when you move your family from suburbia to the country. I had all sorts of crazy ideas in my head that I would blog our way through the renovations of a 130 year old farmhouse and move and yet.. here we are, 7 months later (almost to the day) and I haven’t said a word, let me try my best to lay it out there for you.

We got our keys to the farmhouse on the beautiful first day of Spring, we went straight to work. The kids and I ripped out carpets that had to go and Hubby got working on a few electrical and plumbing things that needed to be done before we could rip out the kitchen and bathroom.  Our first night ended in exhaustion but the carpets were gone and we were ready for demolition.

IMG_7767

Our Saturday started off with a team of three guys doing some great demo on the kitchen and bathroom. It was tough as both were installed as though they would last a lifetime. And although the kitchen and bathroom served the previous owners well with their five (or six) children we couldn’t imagine working in the space that they had used. The kids and I continued our carpet ripping and then got started on painting the flooring underneath. We wanted to seal in any odors or whatever may have been in the plywood from the previous owners before we got to work on installing our own floors. Our work continued into the Sunday, getting as much done as possible before the teams arrived.

IMG_7773

Monday morning dawned bringing us a chilly -25C, the flooring was delivered and the painting team were on site. Things got moving pretty fast, which was good because we were under a deadline of two weeks until we moved out of our old house and into our new house.

IMG_7772

Over the next week, we painted and the upstairs carpet was installed and we decided to go with move in day #1. We moved everything from our upstairs bedrooms and downstairs tv rooom into their new home.

IMG_7776

Our second week at the farmhouse saw the installation of the hardwood flooring, painting of the downstairs studio and living room, laundry and coat room. As the flooring guys were rolling out we were rolling in with the remainder of our belongings.

IMG_7777

I am not going to lie, moving at 44 is a lot different than moving at 33. Every single box is heavier and each stair is harder to climb. I swore I would never move myself again, but silly me listened to Hubby when he said it would be easy. Well, it wasn’t. With both of us exhausted from the farmhouse renos and final packing of the old house, it was a sheer miracle (and a little help from Mom, Dad and Sarah J) that we were able to get it done. Thankfully the truck rental company called and told us to keep the truck overnight as our last load was left in the truck while we collapsed from exhaustion for a few hours of sleep.

As our first dawn at the farmhouse rose over the back fields, we knew in our hearts we were home.

0 comments
Categories: Farmhouse