So I owe everyone who was following me in my personal blog…..a huge apology……I have been absent for so long you must have forgotten who I am and what I am writing about…..well the good news is I am back and this will be a letter packed full.

My last entry was in May 2014 and a lot has happened so……..

A year + 2 weeks later in review or memory or thoughts however you want to call it, I am going to share with you what we have been up to the last year.  Its so hard to believe that its been one whole year plus a couple weeks and really we have accomplished so much and i am so proud of us and all we have done.

So lets take a trip down memory lane…….

November 13, 2014, we finished packing the u-haul loaded the mini van with the dog and cats and we started on a new adventure, one that we had no idea would be so fulfilling and with so many unknown things we stepped out in faith trusted God 100% and allowed Him to lead us in the next chapter of our lives.

We always get asked why PEI…..well first off …this is where God has lead us…imagine going somewhere to live and start a new life that you have never really been before, have no family and don’t know anyone except the real estate agent that helped you buy your house in a neighborhood you have never lived in and in the middle of farming country……This is where God lead us to.  He guided every step and every mile and every new friend and neighbor that we have met… second off….we had enough of the crazy day in and day out rat race.  We wanted more out of life and were looking for the happiness that comes from having less possessions and things that lead you to a lifetime of debt living pay cheque to pay cheque and actually to being with each other, having a more simplistic life enjoying the simple pleasures of smelling fresh farm air, seeing the veggies growing in our garden, watchoing the chickens coo and cluck and chase bugs…..taking a deep breath of fresh air looking around and realizing that this is an awesome life:)

So we arrived on the island on November 14th after 10pm settled into the motel room that would be our home for the next couple of weeks and settled in for a well deserved sleep:)

The next day Friday November 15th we went over to the house to meet Patty to do our final house inspection then over to the bank and then the lawyers office to sign the papers and officially take full possesion of our old island home.

We stood outside the house with keys in hand and started a new life here in PEI:)  We met Carl from Thompson well and discussed the best place to drill our new well and they were then set to drill on monday…so we went to Canadian Tire got a bunch of supplies and started to clean up the house….once i was satisfied the floors and windows were clean to our liking we started to unload the u-haul truck ……that took two days but we did it…

 and I think that Murdoch is going to absolutely love his new home…….he has so much yard to play and run around in:)

 and of course the farmer across from us owns the land around our property and his horse pasture is right behind the house and we have met with James and Jill’s approval…..they kep a good watch on us as we moved in.  As well Orville came across in his blue tractor and I think was checking us out too!

I couldn’t help but stop take a few deep breaths look at the view and shake my head and say to myself “wow we live here”.  We own our very first country farm house and I absolutely love it.

So its monday and Thompson Well is here its so exciting to watch….

 So while stuff was happening on the outside we worked on the inside we put in a temporary bathroom painted the kitchen cabinets and started to unpack some boxes …..trying to set up a temporary living set-up

It took us about week and half to two weeks until we actually checked out of the motel and moved into our old island home and it wasn’t to soon as it started to snow the Wednesday after the well was completed and the worst winter in 50 years set in….

 
It was so beautiful but we were in for winter blizzards that I had never experienced before and by the time the last bad storm pushed through I wasn’t really sure why I was here…..that one was so bad i was scared…. I had never felt the wind so strong and powerful…..after a few hours in the dark…thank God for our wood stove it was clean up time again and i was trully wishing for spring to finally come…..but in the meantime I did embrace the season and built a few snowmen….and we played in the snow:)

We spent our very first Christmas away from family, but we skyped so it didn’t feel so far away….

In January we started the demo on the upper floor and so began the journey of restoring this old island home.  We removed a lot of old, rotted, damaged walls and ceilings etc but what a beautiful start to what is going to be a beautiful home.  Sometimes I think about how far we have gotten and that I wish we were further along but in a way I am glad we don’t rush through either…..on our walks with the dog down on the trail I find that Russ and I talk a lot about what we hope to see in the reno’s and what we hope for in this journey.  Its funny, I know that maybe not everyone will understand this but some of you will….but we get a lot of inspiration, dreams and ideas from God and we recognize as it happens and we chat about that often….He gives us the desires of our hearts when it is his timing and plan for our lives.  a few weeks ago after work one day we were down on the trail talking about one of our dreams…a tree lot, for firewood and as we were talking about it we mused about how cool it would be to set up a tiny house cabin and trails and a few other dreams too.  We both stopped and Rusty said…….do you remember when we would walk the dog in Oshawa we would go through the forest and talk about how cool it would be to have trails to walk on with the dog on our own land and have a retreat away from the hustle and bustle……and here we are realizing that it is within our grasps to purchase a wooded lot and have those dreams as well as make a living from it:)  So its so cool that we are here seeing the dreams become reality.

So we finally had all the snow melt  and in june…..quiet a few weeks behind schedule the house was up in the air and our new foundation was going into place and the new roof too!  now we can finally start working on the inside…..but we did not have a lot of time before we had to make our way to Ontario for a special wedding.  But of course while we were in limbo with the house we started our garden…..did some fishing had a few really good jigs dinners and enjoyed a new most stress less life and what a task it was to put in the garden but we did it and we have reaped a lot from it which of course still blows my mind:)

 The following book Letters from the Manse was my inspiration to do this letter blog, especially since our home once was a manse to the church at the bottom of the hill:)

 So we got the house in as good of shape as we could and we left for Ontario…a well deserved break away and visit with family and close friends…..

 Zuly and Marco it was such a nice visit….it was so nice to catch up and I hope that you are able to come and visit us here on the island:)

The wedding……and pre-wedding celebrations…..

The drive back to our old island home for a family visit……

 We had a great visit with family and are looking forward to our next visit:)

So this city girl turn country girl has 6 absolutely beautiful laying hens…….Dorothy, Blanch, Sophia, Rose, Georgia and Henrietta:) that have an awesome recycled chicken coop that we built and should start laying egg soon…..next year i hope to have some more chickens…..heritage breeds and maybe work on some other animals and maybe a beehive…time will tell….

It is fall going into the beginning of winter and we are working at new jobs….working on projects around the house ……getting new loads of firewood and settling into our new old island home.  I am looking forward to new experiences and seeing the plan of God unfolding in our lives and we hope that we can inspire other couples, friends and family to embrace a new life one that is more satisfying, self-sufficient if they dare but back to the basics….I am looking forward to having less material things but more life……

if there is anything i can say is let the inner kid out no matter your age…..embrace some change…..say I love you to that special one and dare to take a step of faith and see what God will have you do.

I will try very hard to be more regular with the letters so that you don’t have to wait and guess what we are up too….love you all

hope that you have enjoyed a bit of a year in memory and review:)

So we are making our living simple but you say how can growing a garden and canning food be simple…….well its easy…..you plan your crops so that they mature in batches.  So at this point its easy to can, dehydrate, freeze, cold storage etc in large batches.  Really gardening is not hard like most people think……initially putting in a garden can be hard work depending on the size and detail you choose…. Generally speaking its not that hard once the growing beds are in place and you have the seeds or seedlings you need.  If you have never gardened before I suggest you go simple container gardening can be real easy.

With a little bit of planning and a bit of a green thumb we should be able to have mostly all the produce and canned foods that we need for the upcoming year.  This must sound crazy but if you pace yourself and plan everything out making stuff in batches makes it less intimidating:).

Now you may think “they are crazy why would they give up instant food from the grocery store”  well not everything you buy there is good for you and prices of produce etc are going up and to take the simple pleasure in knowing you grew your own food is rather satisfying.

So here we go….. we are starting on a say simple lifestyle almost like a new diet but of course without weight loss in mind:)

asparagus

Our growing beds are huge about 2000 square feet, we will have produce to freeze like corn and green beans ……and tomatoes for tomato sauces, salsas, stewing tomatoes and whole tomatoes for canning.  We are going to dehydrate veggies as well…..dried mushrooms, herbs, fruit leathers, stuff to bottle for cooking different meals.  We are going to prepare a cold storage room as well so that we can store our onions, garlic, potatoes, cabbages, winter squashes, carrots etc…….

I look forward to seeing how long and how well our produce store……

So how do these canned items sound:)

pickled radishes
pickled butternut squash
habanero mint jelly
juniper maple cocktail onions
dill pickles
roasted tomato and garlic sauces
salsa verde
jerky
fermented sauerkraut
sweet hot caramelized onions
apple sauce
jams



These are just some of the items we plan on making  …… not to mention the canned soups, stews and pie fillings as well

I might make mini pies that I will freeze and can be baked like fresh……..

mmmmmm sounds good and the best part is that there will not be any chemicals in our foods that we can’t pronounce or say……all down home tasty ingredients:)

So if you have any pickling or preserving ideas let me know I will see if I can use them:)

So yes simple living…..simple ingredients and simple pleasures that make this farm girl very content and in her happy place in life:)

I have wanted to write about this topic for a while now but I didn’t quite know how I wanted to approach the topic….as it was one of the influences on our decision to make the big change that we did to pick up and move to our old farm house in PEI.

Imagine with me a more satisfying way to live with time to enjoy life’s simple pleasures, relaxed family dinners, flavorful meals made from home grown foods, curling up with a good book in your comfy chair by a crackling fire after a long day working in the garden, less stress in your life and no huge worries about what deadlines you have to meet tomorrow.

You ask……could this be possible…..a reality in today’s crazy world……the answer is yes it is possible.

In today’s world almost all of us pay other people to provide the things that we need which of course means that we usually need one or two jobs outside the home to bring in the extra cash we need to buy these things.

If we learn to be more self-sufficient we will also learn to save more money and live on less of an income and enjoy move personal freedom and satisfaction from daily life.

So making some changes to your daily living will make a difference in how much you need to bring home in cash to pay the bills and buy the food.

Some changes you can make are easy they may take some getting use to but in the end they will be worthwhile.  Try your hand at making meals from scratch, you will be surprised how much money you can save here, if you incorporate homegrown fruits and veggies…. they will taste better too.  Try a holiday from cable, computers and smart devices etc…..you will be amazed at how many meaningful conversations you can have with friends and family in person….how about reading a good book…..playing games…..there are lots and lots of stuff you can do instead of sitting in front of the tv for hours or playing games on your smart device for hours……imagine the amount of dollars you will save making a few changes……

For us we started with growing stuff in our garden quite a few years ago growing a few veggies in our garden just as a hobby….and I always said the tomatoes taste way better from my garden…..and most will agree.


This past year we really got motivated and grew stuff we knew we would enjoy….we cut spinach leaves every couple of days, picked radishes, tomatoes and peppers for our salads.  We even had the biggest crop of peaches that we made into peach jam and peach salsa that everyone enjoyed.

This year since we live now on an acre our goal for growing fruit and veggies is very impressive. this is a big step in simple living for us…….we figure we are going to save a bunch of money not having to buy the produce that we are starting to grow for our garden……we will be preserving, canning, freezing and dehydrating the produce we grow, so this means we will have food all winter.  We are also going to build a root cellar to store our onions, carrots, potatoes, cabbage, squashes etc., well into the winter and hopefully in spring when we start growing our new produce.

Living on less and loving it means making choice that will affect your future from today on.  It means you want more from life then you are getting from it now.  It means you are willing to be different from your neighbors and friends and maybe they won’t understand you or may even thing your crazy…..it may mean going hardcore and really living off the grid.  However you do it, I think starting slow one step at a time makes it easier to do and more successful.

I think our next steps after the growing of produce is getting chickens for eggs and maybe goats????  Also, I would like to look into alternative methods of electricity…..solar and wind, again cutting these costs means more money in your pocket and less dependability in the system…..wouldn’t it be nice if the next ice storm that took out the power in your neighborhood did not affect you because you have your own source of power:) Or just the fact that you don’t have a water bill, an oil bill or an electrical bill……but it would take a sacrifice there might be some appliances that you give up.  But then again simple living is less of those conveniences, microwaves, dishwashers, etc…..and more personal living

Anyways my point of starting this topic is not to convince you to do it my way …… it is to say guess what you can make changes to your life that will make a huge impact and that the changes are possible.

I dream of living a little more like a pioneer homesteader…..without the harshness of living it a  century ago, with all our modernization it makes being self-sufficient much easier.  I want to spend more time with my hubby now while we are young……so re-evaluating what is important and making those changes to me are more meaningful simple living at its best.   We are a generation that is not passing on some of the basic skills of homesteading ……cooking, sewing, woodworking, general home repairs, knitting etc…..its sad that some day soon our kids kids will have no idea how to sew on a loose button or cook a boiled egg…..

So take a chance……one step try something new…..you never know where it will lead you.


Loving our simple life with my hubby…. 🙂

Its been a while since I last wrote, I wish that I could have written sooner but we have been so busy with the reno demos that all I want to do is go to sleep after we eat.

Well as some of you are aware from our official blog, we have the back addition off, the porch off, the chimney gone and we are patiently awaiting the foundation contractor.

Well it shouldn’t be long and the house will be up the new foundation in place and I am sure lots of conversations with neighborhood folks and friends as we all marvel the house up on stilts:)

Its funny how many honks, looks and slow-down-rubber-necking cars as we are outside throwing the old mess into the dumpster.  So now that we almost have a chance to breathe we wait for mother nature to let the good warm sunny weather come…..we are about 2-3 weeks behind with the cold start to spring and today is no different….it feels cold enough to snow….oh sorry – rain! the ‘s’ word is prohibited!

I knew that country life would be exciting and challenging and interesting with all three being very true.

I love the fresh air, especially when the cow poop flinger is throwing out decomposing and fresh decomposing cow poop.  It usually only smells interesting the first day.  Its really not bad, I can’t complain because all I smell on a regular basis is fresh air and that is part of the fresh air and farmland:)

Challenging in that…..we have different wild animals to deal with and have Murdoch obsess over when he gets wind of their scent (i.e the weasel and the raccoon and her babies).

Now weasels are a great animal to have around to help take care of small nuisance animals such as mice, voles, moles and shrews………but I draw the line at the weasel going after the song birds…..such was the case last night – one of the beautiful American Gold Finches was attacked and we (Murdoch) found the injured bird under the bush by the bird feeder.  It wing has been badly hurt and I an not sure how it will heal.  I have the wild life conservation guys approval to care for the bird since the regular place they take hurt wild life to is no longer operating…..and only because the bird is eating.  So it is protected nice and warm with water and a soft place to sleep and has food.  Far from the reaches from the two cats:)

The only problem now is the weasel and her babies which are at the back of the house and the raccoon and her babies.  We thought the mother raccoon had moved on, but not so……they are in the barn and when I went in and spotted one of the babies in the corner I heard momma above me and straw came down and I promptly left the barn.

So poopie time with Murdoch is a challenge getting him to leave the barn alone and the corner of the house alone……cheesewiz!

So all that makes it interesting and I would not change it one bit as it is as close to nature as we can get and we love it.  Oh yes I forgot to mention the song sparrow nest she had 3 eggs in her nest but now she is down to 2!  Can’t wait to see the babies:)

So I am getting excited about the outside stuff that we are gonna get down next week…..The Veggie beds.

We will be working on putting the 8 veggie beds in place so that our seedlings that we have been growing and our direct sow seeds can go in.  WE NEED WARM WEATHER!

Its amazing how nice the lot looks now that we cut the grass, awesome i’d say and when the flower beds go in and they start growing that will look awesome too:)  I have some wild flower garden seed mixes to go in and It will be so nice to have pretty flowers growing too.

The exciting part about spring here at the house is the mystery plants growing.  We have some elderberry bushes growing and some flowering bushes as well….exactly what they are we will see when the flowers come out.  we also have some perennials coming up too….some I recognize some I don’t but it is fun to watch and see what they are turning into:)  The lilac bushes are coming along really well….don’t know the colour yet…..soon.

So I went to the co-op to order my chickens today they don’t arrive until Aug 12th so Carrie and Ry you won’t be able to see them in person – only in picture.  I may try my hand at meat chickens next spring after I get the hang of my first flock:) So next year if you want some free range chickens I may sell some of the chickens I raise:)

So we are looking forward to doing the reno improvements and getting the house up  and back down on its new base.  We are going to stay in the house during the process and actually had Thompson Well come by and move our pressure tank to the main floor of the house and extend the hose and power so now it’s ready…yahooooooooo!

So Helena, you would be proud of me……your little city girl was shoveling fresh cow poop into our new composter in the back yard and I have a picture to prove it!  I never thought I would see the day I would be wear rubber boots, gloves and have a pitch fork full of cow poopie…..but times have changed and I am a farmer girl now and enjoying every moment:)  We are looking forward to seeing you and Aarno and showing you our diamond in the rough which will be in the air when you come by:)

For the rest of you, it means looking at pictures or that visit later this summer:)

Well everyone….all that fresh farm air and hard work has made me sleepy and I think I may need to crawl under the blankies……but wait Russ says I can’t hit the sack until it is dark:(

See ya for now…….write again soon.

Love you all
Hugs
Vanessa (and Russ, Murdoch, Cletus, Daisy and the little finchie, too)

P.S. the horses are back in the pasture behind us:)

James and Jill and they love carrots:)

Don’t forget to like our face book page, our pinterest page and our blog site

 https://www.facebook.com/ouroldislandhome
 http://www.pinterest.com/nessaanthony/
 http://ouroldislandhome.com/

hello family and friends,

Well even though it’s a bit colder today spring is definitely here.  It’s amazing in just a couple days of the massive snow melts how the grass is already starting to turn green.  We drove to Charlottetown today and you can see snipits of green in the fileds…..oh how it does the souls good…the sun and the warmth and the new life:)

So we decided to take a well deserved adventure day on Sunday so we packed up us and the dog and we drove to the east side of the island.  This was a nice drive since we have not been out the way yet.  What a beautiful day for a drive, one that was so needed.

We did start the reno on the back addition…..the nastiness is now gone and the original walls are now exposed…..and guess what – its an addition original to the house……we thought the addition was done in the 70’s but it is actually the original wood shed and storage shed that had access to the “indoor” outhouse.  We were surprised to see the the same studs and siding as in the house on the second floor:) but of course sad it is going…..

We have been discussing what we want to do in the house and its exciting to think that it won’t be long til the house is up …. new foundation in place and we start on the renewing of the house.  We will still have demo on the main floor but it will be so nice to make the house look nice:)

We go out now with the dog in the yard and discuss the changes we are going to make in the yard and to the outside of the house….since we have had a rough winter the house will need to be painted so that it wont look so (as we call it) hideous……we will make it less hideous…..this has become our new saying…to make it “less hideous”. he he he he

so anyways the paint has been flaking and blown off by those wicked sea air winds and the shingles are continuing to take a beating but on a good note God is allowing the spring rains to hold off….thank you God:)

Fishing season opened on tuesday but it has not been good to fish…..with all the warm weather the snow has had a fast melt and all the stream, rivers etc are so flooded that in some cases its not safe to be at the edge of the river beds.  the water is rushing down stream so fast and so hard that the red waters are so full of mud the fish wouldn’t be able to see the bait in the water even if the bait was on their mouth.  We have heard stories of avid (or maybe stupid) fishermen dragging their boats up the Morrel River trying to get through the ice so they can get to open water with their little boats…….

Fishing fever has hit hard this winter……

So we did wet our lines without any success…..but will try again later in the week once things calm down a little.

Well I cannot tell you how good it feels being out on the back of the house these past couple warm days and man oh man its been so hot back there……the warm weather is bringing more and more different birds to our feeder as well.  We have had robins as well so spring must be here, the pair of kestrels has scared away the finches and song birds as well the grackles have been bullies at the bird feeder so we changed the feed over to a niger/song bird feed.  With this change we should get rid of the grackles and starlings……so they say.

So we have reclaimed some of the pine boards from the ceiling of the addition and we intend to use it for our chicken coop…. We also went to the local country coop store in Kensington and i can order my day old chicks there……white egg and brown egg layers…..I can’t wait til we start that new chapter it should be really cool have our own free-range chicken eggs……

So it won’t be long til we will be spending a lot more time outside in the garden.  We have 8-10 trays of seedlings growing in our grow shelves with more to come.  Its exciting to be growing our fruits and veggies for year round consumption, so planning our to preserve these foods will be important, so canning, dehydrating, freezing etc will be a big part of the plan:)  Cool to know i will be making my own sauces, jams, pickled items and soups etc….we will have direct control of what ingredients go into our foods to….kinda neat:)

Well I  better go for now but will have some more exciting stuff to write about in the next couple of weeks…

see ya for now:) love ya all hugs and kisses

Hi Guys,

Boy am I ever bad….I start off doing a blog that is supposed to be weekly and bam…..its every couple weeks…..

Well I am going to try to get back here every week….its is what I enjoy, so look out – here I (try) to come:)

So in the past couple of weeks a lot has gone on.  We have met new people, got to know others better and have been stuck at home with the continued battering of snow storms.  For the most part I believe that the snow storms are past now and that spring is on its way…..the daily temps are now starting to be anywhere from +2 to +5 so the snow should melt and the ground soften up.

I have to tell you about a neat conversation Russ and I have with the fish guy at Atlantic Superstore in Summerside.  We were checking out the fresh fish at the fish counter and struck up a conversation with Jamie, most people start off asking what do you do…so that of course open the doors to talk about our adventure…so we talked about the house and our renos……he said “I hope that I am not being to forward but in the few minutes that we have been talking you two seem to be the perfect couple to be renewing and renovating and giving new life to that old house”:)  how neat he came around the counter and officially intro introduced himself  shook our hands and we talked about fishing….turns out he is an avid fisherman….and said he would have to blindfold Russ and take him to his secret fishing holes:)

It may not mean much to others but to us that was a very neat conversation that really resonated with us it kind of backed up our decision to come here and do this very large project that not everyone can do:)

So like I said we have had a quite a few snow storms…..we had one about a week and a half ago…..i sincerely wasn’t sure how we were gonna fair…..it was definitely the worst storm I personally have ever been through the wind made the house jump and shake.  I wasn’t sure if the roof was going to stay intact and the power went out and there was not sign of life, no plows, no cars and dark.  Seriously there was a point when I thought to myself holy cow what have we done.  Having said that and then going through another storm 3 days later……..meh its not bad now:) lol.  I got through it and now I can weather more storms without it feeling like the end of the world…..So I guess I am a seasoned islander now.

We have been forever grateful to our neighbors Orville and Charlotte, without fail after these storms when its clear enough….Orville clears our driveway with his big tractor…..I brought over some fresh baked chocolate chip cookies and I think he really enjoyed them:)  He will never know just how much we appreciate that kindness….I pray a blessing over him all the time:)

So we are trying to move forward and get the rest of the renos done before May so when the foundation guy Eddy comes we are ready to lift the house:)  He came by to see our progress and is happy with how it looks….so mid May looks to be the start of getting it started…..i personally am praying that it would happen sooner….so my prayers are that the snow melts and the temps get a lot warmer so the ground will thaw:)

So we’ve started some seeds for our veggie beds…..its so cool this is the first year all our pepper plants have come up and we have asparagus:)  So we will be starting some new seeds again today and get our order into Veseys for the remainder of our plants:)

The whole idea of living simple is kind of exciting and sometimes with all the focus on the house gets the back seat….but when we start to turn our attention to the spring stuff we are refocused and it gets exciting to think about the food we grow for ourselves….the canning we will be into and the preserving and the cold cellar we will build.

Because of course, not only was it our dream to reno and old house but also to have the property to increase our food growing abilities.  I am so excited about the veggies we are going to grow this year, the variety is bigger then any year we have gardened:)  the hoop house we will build and of course the chickens we will get for eggs.

So all in all we have been busy and stir crazy at the same time….we really want to spring forward and get going on building the rooms upstairs:)

We did get a chance to tear down some of the front porch now whats left will be easy to take down the day before the house gets lifted:)  The back addition is  being worked on and it won’t  be long before we have it down:)

So my thoughts travel back and forth in time to what life would be like in the past how they did things and how we do stuff now.  So I am going to try along the lines of a more simipler lifestyle get into making some quilts and rugs etc.  So I am collecting jeans that family has grown out of as well as flannel jammies and cotton shirts etc.  Why throw that stuff in the garbage….why not recycle those items into stuff for the house.

So if you have any of those items let me know and I will make plans to get those items from you.

Rusty has been talking about canoe-making once again…..a while back when we were first dating and married he spoke of his dream to make a cedar canoe….so this dream has renewed in his heart and I can’t wait to see his first canoe:)

Its really cool to see God renewing things in our lives…..it of course is because we are focused on life now ……. not the rat race.

Well the cats continue to be so friendly and sooky….its so funny….they are affectionate and want so much attention…..now the last couple of days they have been spending time in the windows watching all the birdies come and go from the feeder.  Oh yes i was outside the other day and the eagle flew by overhead…..it was incredible…..it was low enough to see it so closely….wow……i know we have a fox…we yet have seen it in person but we see its foot prints….one of these days we will see it…..:)

Well I better get back to seed planting ….. I will try to be in touch again shortly.

Love you all:)

P.S.  this was a really cute picture of man and his best friend

Hi everyone,

I again have been a little swamped with house renos and I think we need a second computer as since Rusty started blogging its been a little hard to get onto the computer.

Nevertheless I need to write to you all and let you know what we are up to. 

So lets see what have we been up to? lots  and lots. 

We are enjoying the new church getting to know our new island family is great, its so neat to look forward to seeing familiar faces at church on Sundays.  It nice to have everyday conversations with people there.  We are in a special 6 week course with Pastor Andrew and Shirley with 6 other new couples.  Its a base place to start new relationships and build a foundation in the new church.  We look forward to Sunday nights.

Its still pretty cold here…at least the snow storms have stopped ……. but we did build a very coolio snowman that is about 8ft tall……I was hoping for some more light packing snow so that we can build another one next to it….I can’t tell you how many people have stopped on the side of the road to take pictures of our gigantic snowman….its kind of cool:)

So with the work upstairs we have now completed the gutting of the main cape and we start on the “L” cape next week then outside getting ready for the new foundation by removing the front porch and the back addition.

Its so hard to believe that in a couple of days we are going to be here 4 months and we have our first visitors booked for June 5:) I am so excited.  This of course is going to start the visitation of friends and family and i look forward to it so much……everyone that comes here will find that peaceful solitude and beauty for a true inner rest.

So we took a break today to do something fun…..we went ice fishing on the ocean….we caught some smelt…..we are going back to fish for more…it was so much…..we didn’t have to go very far out on the ice either not like our past ice fishing trips in Ontario on lake simcoe…..it was so nice not having to lug everything too far…..can’t wait to do it again.

So after ice fishing we had to rush home and then back to Summerside to do my followup apt with the optical store for my contacts…i decided that i would need to do my regular distance prescription and get reading glasses for the up close stuff….I got a couple pairs of readers one for my purse and one for home ….. it makes me feel so “mature”.   I guess we all have to grow up a little….he he he:)

I forgot to mention that last week on one of our walks on the confederation trail with the dog we saw a fox and then a bald eagle on our way back home.  It blows me away that we are 5-10 mins from the house and we have nature like that so close:)  I watch now out the window in hopes of spotting the fox in our yard….his paw prints are there…..I think he wants to catch a birdie since that seems to be a common place to see its tracks.

I so look forward to spring in so many ways…..warmth, new life and the beauty this island beholds.  We are gonna have an amazing garden and I look forward to the home grown fruit and veggies.  not sure how long it will be before I plant some flower gardens but i don’t imagine that it will be long.

We haven’t talked much about the dehydrator……but I have to say its getting a good work out….we love the dried fruit and the homemade sweet potato and quinoa dog treats…..we make bananas, apples, pineapple and other fruit depending on the price at the grocery store.  Its funny because Murdoch has now taken a real liking to the banana chips and apples chips….. he sits in front of you and takes them from you so gently.

So if you have not been following our blog be sure to  look it  up http://www.ouroldislandhome.com we are gonna have a contest soon….the giveaway item is gonna be part of our house:)

Well i better go for now, oh yes…..I got a couple pieces of mail in the mail box….it was so exciting, i love it.  I would like to be known as the lady who gets lots of mail in her box….so if you can spare 0.63 cents a bit of paper and a few words…..I would love to hear from you….I will respond back:)  so thanks so much to the special friends who have made my day by writing …… I love it:)

A word or activity of thought …. I have been invited to check out a women’s roller derby……any thoughts on that? I might be good at it yes…no…..hmmmmmmm

Have a terrific week-end….love and prayers to you all:)

Nessie and Russie

Hi Everyone,

Well its been over 2 weeks since my last letter….sorry about that everyone….we’ve been a little busy.

A bunch of stuff has happened since my letter and I will try to update you with whats up.

So anyone that knows me agrees….raw fish etc is yuk but I do like sushi…..just not the raw stuff.  So back in September when we where here for our first visit, we saw a sushi restaurant in Charlottetown…so we thought since we we having a hankering for shush we would try it out….. 😦 This was such a huge disappointment…..so I guess we will have to get all our sushi cravings out when we come back to Ontario or go to Moncton, Halifax or something like that…..

Another disappointment was the so called “dog park”…..really…you call that a dog park……don’t know what to say about it…….. We thought we might be able to meet other dogs there….nope….it was funny…..I miss the dog park in Whitby.  We get out with Murdoch but its just us and the Confederation Trail … he loves it but he doesn’t get much interaction with other dogs.  So I guess we will try the dog park in Summerside ….or just visit the pet store and hope that tonnes of dogs are there when we visit:)  On a positive note we have met some people at church that have dogs so maybe when the weather is better there could be another opportunity to meet their doggies with murdoch:).

We have been really busy taking apart the top floor…its dirty, itchy, nasty, but fun.  I am so bagged at the end of the day…..the gutting and cleaning……… I find myself exhausted after my hot shower…..we eat dinner and all I want to do some nights is crawl into bed:), and I do.  All in all it is hard work hauling around my crow bar…its heavy….and breathing through the respirator is, well interesting…… but as we are up there I can see in my mind what its all gonna look like.  I can picture the changes and it is exciting.  We have come across some critter leftovers which really creep me out … I pray that nothing alive will come out of the walls or ceiling.  so since we are into taking the ceiling apart it is wild to see all the tunnels of the creatures that freely roam……well they have been evicted now and i look forward tightening up the house so that the critters wont roam so freely anymore.  The look of the second floor is so different.  the exposed roof and the chimney looks so different….

We recently found out that 2 owners ago….Brian and Rena an older couple in there 70’s had a fire in the flue in the beginning of winter and didn’t know what to do with the house and the unusable chimney and wood stove….so they went back to Nova Scotia and stayed with family until spring with the intent of returning and figuring out the problem……Brian got sick and passed away.  So only Rena returned to collect some stuff and put the house up for sale.   So this story explains the water damage and mold in the the one bedroom upstairs.  Well all that is gone now and the rebuilding starts.  Its kind of neat hearing about the stories of the people who lived in the house before us.  It was a sad story though ….. but now we have the house and its gonna look amazing when we are done with it. 

We had a chance to meet one on one with our new pastor from Summerside Community Church, really nice guy….got to show him our house as rough as it may look…..when we were chatting we found out that he knew Gene MacLellan and his family and that his wife and family attend the church…..what a small world……

So we have been helping out at the new church building on Saturdays with painting, getting to know people from the church better….it feels like home…..I am so happy that God led us here to the island and to the sweet people of the church…..we are going to enjoy being apart of this new family.  Exactly what we were looking for plus so much more.

Its about one month until spring and I think I am ready for it……. today I actually felt like “really, when is the cold gonna end”…..I don’t normally get this way but we have had such an early and long winter….spring will be a nice welcome:)

We have a lot of demo work to do for when the foundation people come in the spring but it will be so nice to have a new basement and more even floors:)  we have the rest of the second floor plus the front porch and back nasty room has to come off so we will be very busy getting it all done.  Its so funny….when we get our gear on for the demolition upstairs….poor Daisy she freaks out and slinks off under the bed….she says there until we come back down and then for about an hour or so she won’t leave us alone…..she purrs, meows, cuddles into us..parades all over us and in general desperate for attention…..she cracks us up. 

I think the storm that blew in last night and all day today was the worse one yet….the freezing rain, ice pellets and tonnes of snow and the wind…wow the wind….I woke up and prayed that the trees would not fall on the house…. I have never seen the trees move that way……I felt so bad for the little birdies they were hiding in the bushes by the bird feeder and the cedar by the house, they were hiding in the tree….when they were on the ground trying to eat the bird seeds they could barely stay on the ground…….Well the moon is out now and the heavy snow has stopped and here’s to warmer days coming……

A hot cruise or beach holiday would be so nice right now…sighhhhhh.

Well I better go for now and can’t wait to get mail in my mail box…hint, hint:) and write to you all next week.

Love you all:)
Vanessa and Russ
from The Old Manse

Hi Everyone,

Well its been an exciting week here at the old manse, we starting our new official blog http://www.ouroldislandhome.com which I am sure that most of you having been following.  Can I say we absolutely love receiving and reading your comments.  So don’t forget to comment there and here:)

So back to this week…we had a snow storm on wednesday wasn’t heavy with snow but the blizzard conditions were just wild.  So of course what do i do when it is a snow day…..I bake, and bake I did a batch of biscotti cookies cranberry and almond and two loaves of wholewheat bread that turned out absolutely awesome.

So we had our new replacement bin dropped off wednesday morning just before it started to get really bad out there and we started the demo on the second floor friday.

We also ordered a very coolio dehydrator and we can’t wait til it comes…..its gonna be so much fun dehydrating food:)  So get ready for some blogs and letters talking about our trials with drying food. Food for us and food for the dog as well.  Its gonna be nice getting something in the mail…..I like going to the mail box and there is something fun in it:)

We were in Charlottetown on thursday, it was nice going for the drive…..we had to get pet food for Murdoch, Cletus and Daisy.  We also got some more bird seed for the feeder as the blue jays, golden finches, chickadees and juncos are really enjoying them:)  While we were in town we decided to go for a treat…..Russ read about a place called Boom Burgers so we went on the hunt to find it…….and it was no disappointment at all, in fact its one of the best homemade burgers we have tasted.  they buy everything local including cheese from Cows Creamery……yum!  The cut fries were good, the burger, delicious, we will be taking friends and family there when they visit.  Its in the same plaza as Cows Creamery so we went in for an ice cream…..during the winter months they rotate 6 flavours each week so we got the vanilla made with real vanilla beans….it was so good….a very nice change for us:)

So get ready when you come for a visit it will be a lobster and crab place to visit and Boom Burgers and Cows Creamery:)

We also received half of our firewood order on tuesday…..all nicely loaded in the backroom, when Ralph is back from Costa Rica we will get the other half:) and just in time as we had some cold days again and the warmth from the wood stove is just so nice:)

Oh yes and I did my nails….to some of you this must seem silly but to me it was awesome….it felt really nice to have pretty nails to go with my dress up clothes I wear for church on sunday…..besides it will help my natural nails grow out some more:)

Church was so awesome this morning the worship was beautiful thanks to Lindsay and the team that lead today, and the word was really good.  We were introduced at church today by Pastors Andrew which was really nice as well…..its a really good fit….we love the church….I cant wait to see what God has for us there and what we can offer God:).

Daisy has been having fun with Cletus at night chasing each other and playing with their toys…its like they wake up around 10pm and start playing…..you can hear them trying to get a grip on the slippery floor chasing toys and each other…..priceless.  Sometimes I think Murdoch wants to get involved be he just watches them and sighs. 

Wells its been a really good week and I can’t wait to see what this week has in-store for us.  More demo upstairs and more winter fun i suppose as well, and cooking i am sure too.  Have a great week everyone…..if you get a chance send us a note we would love to receive some mail in the mail box:)

Good night everyone, love you all

Howdy everyone,

Its amazing how quickly the week has gone by…..no snow storms…just a little dusting today…..but I just don’t know where the week went.

So its been busy and we have had some very mild and muddy weather.  We finally had the old excuvator removed from the driveway back to its home down the road…..I think I may have mentioned that last week.  As well we had the dumpster dropped off and we are starting to fill it with junk from around the house, barn and yard.

You wouldn’t believe what people discard in their backyards…….an upright piano…..but it took us about 20 minutes to figure out what it was as it was behind the barn in the backyard……rotting……the board that holds all the wires had bent flingy wires all over the place…..unbelievable…but believable as we found it……. and piece by pieces in a bucket I discarded the pieces of the past musical item in the dumpster……

Going through the crap the previous owners left behind is well….in some cases interesting and head shaking at the same time.  We have come across just about everything you can imagine….old deeds to other property’s  death notices…..menu plans….budgets…..recipes…..who gets what when one dies lists….junk….old kids toys….tacky Christmas decorations that could scare you have to death….nuts, bolts, screws, nails….car stuff…..even an old engine block…..seriously stuff  that you stand there look at and say to yourself…..why did you leave this stuff behind and what on earth could you possibly use that for….lol.

On the other side its been nice to be out for hours on end getting fresh air and cleaning up…..and planning what we are going to do.

Well, I have become rather good at building fires these days as you have your early morning fire, your toasty fires……hot coals fire and goodnight fires…..I never thought I would be doing that like those who pioneered before us…..its refreshing and kind of a beautiful change from what we have been used to.  This simpler lifestyle is very desirable.  I sometimes sit or stand and think about the people that preceded us here in this house, what was there daily life and routine like…..everything from who got up first to stoke the fire in the morning…..how early was the lady of the house up and making bread….muffins…cakes whatever they ate.  But anyways I like building fires….cletus and daisy will often lay down on the blankie mat in front of the wood-stove….enjoying the heat…..its very cute.

Often when we get up in the morning this week….we find the cats sitting on the chairs in the bathroom watching the birds at the feeder.  Speaking of the feeder….we had a pair of american golden finches…..I am so happy the different birdies are coming.  We found one bird feeder in the barn that is usable and a huge bucket of bird seed….I put it out and the birds, the chick-a-dees found it.

I was looking forward to attending Summerside Community Church today……I really enjoyed the worship, testimonies and the word.  We got to know Jim and Connie they specialize in new comers….they even invited us over for lunch today….I love the friendliness.  It makes going to a new church not feel that way at all, that is new and awkward….NOT .  The church service is set up different from what we are use to but I love it…..I feel like we have been there for a long time:)

I have so enjoyed watch Russ getting back into drafting….I see the enjoyment he gets from being creative….the new floor plans are turning out really nice…..I can’t wait….I feel the same way about entertaining new people we are meeting as well…can’t wait to have them over:)

I have really missed doing nails…..I can’t wait til i can start seeing clients again and being creative with designs…..i will probably have to dig my stuff out and do my nails some time this week.

We have been busy working on our blog site….we have the bones together for it set up and we are just updating it with some stuff we are working on…..I am very excited about getting it published so that you can all read about our old island home and life:)  This blog will be linked to the main log…..its gonna be really coolio site:)

This afternoon we went for a drive to Tyne Valley ……. it is beautiful!  Its just a small little town, Rusty tells me the oyster pub is recognized as an amazing place to go and eat……which showed for the cars outside the establishment….for such a “out of the way” place.  I look forward to see what the dam and the streets and houses look like in the spring and summer.

So with the new snow, we are looking forward to see what footprints will be out and around the house…..Murdoch has been sniffing out the yard like crazy….he cracks me up…..he chewed an old soft ball that we found in the barn….tail wagging hard and smiling I am sure.

We ll I look forward to you comments and replies….love you guys…..hope to hear from you soon

Love
Rusty & Vanessa
xoxoxo