Rainy Thursday

Hello all,

Lauren has been doing a lot of the blogging lately so I was thinking that i better get back into it before I get rusty.

First off, our little house in the woods is everything we had been dreaming of. The quiet is unreal. At any given time the only things you can hear is the trees being moved by the wind, a few birds calling and maybe a few too many bugs looking for a meal. It hasn't been so bad that I have had to put on bug spray or a bug jacket, i guess my thinking is similar to the way i approach putting on my winter clothes - I don't to do it too early, so that when it really gets bad I have something to resort to.



We still have no idea where our neighbours live, you can't see our hear them, we know where their driveways are but the houses are different. Here is a link that shows our house on a map (http://maps.google.ca/maps/ms?), if you look to the right of the blue marker that is Mount Lorne. We are very close to it and therefore can only see the tips of the nearest part of the mountain range, it is our goal in the very near future to hike from our house to the top of it, we're told it is about a 9 hour round trip. To the left and up a bit from the marker where it says Cowley Lake that is where we visited my co-worker's house on our way home tonight. It was beautiful, so beautiful  that if we were living there, I could categorically say with full confidence that you would never see us again unless you came for a visit or to live in one of the many shacks on the property. They over look the lake, and behind the lake in full view is nothing but snow-topped mountains. My co-worker Amanda has invited me to join her homeschool group tomorrow (at their house/piece of paradise) to join in dandelion jelly making and lunch (i have to bring an empty mason jar and one fruit and one vegetable for lunch). I think i will be waking up early to work on fixing up my new bike so that i can make the journey.

Being a house husband is awesome! Especially when there are no children in the equation. I have found a peacefulness that i think only comes with not having to worry about a million things a once. My day is slowly paced but full. I have got the two small garden beds finished (planted with veggies) and the house is well on it's way to be settled (most of the boxes are away - we are looking for a new more storage options, a visit to the free store should solve all our problems). And listen to this.... I got a lead on some help for the big garden. The story is that in our yard there is a fair size garden plot fenced off and with great soils. However, this garden has not been used in years and years and therefore is grown over with grasses and trees and much more that i can not identify that is just starting to sprout. Clearing this garden is a very important job that will help us reach our goal of growing all our own veggies and berries, but a HUGE job, many days just to get to the stage of getting seeds in the ground. But here come the lead on some help. Today it was suggested to me that I should borrow Jake. Who or what is Jake i asked our new farmhand friend/neighbor from the farmers market. Well Jake is a huge pig that loves nothing more then to eat grass and make big pig foot prints while leaving his digested vegetation behind him. Yes my friends, there is a neighbourhood  pig that can be borrowed to break in new garden plots. I LOVE THIS PLACE.

Today is Thursday, which is farmers market day. That is my one paying job right now,  10 hours a week to make the farmers market happen. I have also written a proposal to facilitate workshops series during the market to help people grow, use and preserve locally grown food (produce, as well as farmed and wild meats and fish). This week we had our very first workshop. The owner of the natural products store and herbalist was hosting a Swedish native Elder who teaches about traditional food and medicine. Here is an article about her and the workshop series (http://www.yukon-news.com/life/23263/). The workshop was a huge success.

Well I'm getting tired now so I will stop here. Oh yes, it was raining here today, good for the plants and not too bad for the market, people still came out in good numbers but i felt sorry for my friend who sells homemade fruitsicles and quilts. The weather was too cold today (for most people) to enjoy those great treats, but her 10ish year old son did well selling his cookies.

Hope all is well in your neck of the woods.

Colin