An Amazing Life

We have purchased 4 acres of trees and bush. Not just a little bit of trees but thick rows of tall trees. The work we have ahead of us is tremendous.  The first thing that J did was make paths from this house to our property. It's a short walk but across a hay field and through some brush... its a walk that you wouldn't do without long pants, sturdy shoes and bug spray - lots of bug spray. This past week J has been gathering Intel... where water pools and runs, how far and long the cut lines the surveyors created are, what the vegetation looks like, and what garbage and refuse we have to dig out from where.  I set to work gathering clippings to try and identify what we have growing on our property. The more we know the better off we will be. We sure found some interesting things... Time to roll up the old sleeves and get to it... there is a lot of work ahead of us.

We have been spending our days as lazy of days as possible for the first little while. We all need to reset and get our systems back on track. Our sleep was impacted from the time change, our eating was impacted from living in hotels for almost a month and we were all a little weary from being nomads. We can now all recalibrate and settle in for a while. We have to quarantine for 14 days - 5 days in and we are relaxing, taking our time and not putting pressure on ourselves to do too much.  It's weird not seeing people, but almost everyone has stopped by to at least say Hi and drop off some groceries, beers or presents for the girls. It will be nice to deliver hugs and have good visits once we are done with this quarantine.  Slowly, slowly, the house is gaining order and our things are finding a home. We are trying to be practical with how much stuff we are purchasing before we have a house of our own, but we will need to get some things like bookshelves and shoe racks and some...

On a previous blog, I always did a "10 things" list after a trip of any magnitude. I thought it would be fun to continue the tradition with this blog.  Ten things about travelling across Canada 1. Road signs that aid in where to go and how to get there, varies from province to province. Ontario gets a big fat F - no signs for road side turn offs or if there's a sign, it doesn't tell you how far it is or any real information. New Brunswick gets an A+. 2. New Brunswick also gets an A+ for the type of road side turn offs. There are gas stations, coffee houses, hotels and resturants a plenty. Again, Ontario gets an F for this. 3. Manitoba has the most roadkill I have ever seen. We saw everything from skunks, porcupines, deer and even a baby bear cub. The deer was bloated and stiff as if it had been there for days. GROSS Manitoba, just gross. 4. Road conditions very a lot, not only from province to province, but within the province. Worst roads, Mon...

We started out this morning super early. Neither Justin nor I could sleep, Ruby was stirring and Sally was sort of awake. We decided to just get up, get caffinated and get going. We were on the road by 6am. A quick stop for fuel and coffee and we were off.  The New Brunswick border was a non-event. We drove up and were asked where we came from, where we are going and to have a nice day. Smooth sailing.  New Brunswick is very forest dense. We stopped a few times for the kiddos and for fuel, but mainly drove straight through eating sandwiches made from the cooler, fruit and snacks. We did have coffee, lots of coffee today. The roads were smooth and not as rough as 90% of the roads in Canada - thank God for that! Its been a bumpy ride and I am thankful that we are in a luxury vehicle with AC and not a covered wagon. I spent quite a bit of time imagining folks in the olden days bumping along a Dusty trail on a wooden bench in 35 degree heat for months on end. Our journey seems pos...

We had a light driving day today, only getting 250kms down the road. We stopped in Degelis, just West of the New Brunswick border. We will need to do New Brunswick and Nova Scotia in one shot due to border restrictions right now, and that is just over 800kms. Tomorrow will be a long day so because of this, we took it easy today and tried to have a good family day outside. We got to Degelis shortly after 3 after we slept in a bit and took our time getting going. With the time change, it's been hard to get to sleep early and so we all were happy for the later sleep in. Once here, we went for a delicious late lunch and then went for walk to see some sights. There is a beautiful church from early 1900s here, St. Rose, that was beautiful but not opened. We then went and walked down their path system and found an amazing splash park and play park. We spent an hour here cooling down from the 27 degree heat (with humidity). A stop at Tim Hortons for a frozen lemonade and cold b...

We started out in Ontario this morning and by 1pm we were past Ottawa and heading into Quebec. Bienvienue à Quebec! We decided not to hit Montreal at rush hour so we pulled off the highway in Kirkland at a play park. We made sandwiches and had snacks and played for a good 2.5, almost 3 full hours. It was nice to be in the sunshine and a lovely and manageable 24 degrees. Sally had the biggest smile and she could have played all day there.  One stop before hitting the road for gas and an icecream and we were back on the road shortly after 6pm. We planned on missing the rush hour traffic and were pretty successful. Once through Montreal, I understood why J wanted to skip the bumper to bumper traffic - the roads are awful! I dont know that I've been to a place that had such awful roads in such a major city. Before we were through the Montreal nightmare, both girls were konked out - thank God, because it was so nerve wracking that both of us needed to concentrate. On to Quebec City, we ...

For Justins Birthday, he got to drive 540kms. The bonuses? He only had to stop for 3 "emergency" potty breaks and Ruby didn't cry for an hour straight. I would consider that success??  We drove to Pembroke today, it was a stunning drive. I know why my friend Kara dreams of living in Ontario - it is beautiful. One thing we have noticed is the humidity has ramped up. AC in the hotel is a welcomed relief and the AC in the car is imperative.  We have noticed the time change in a different way. Even after driving all day, we are still up at 1:30am. It could also be the coffees at 430pm- those new Tim's cold brews are delish!!! Either way, crossing two time zones has thrown our internal clocks off a bit. Tonight we have a Comfort Inn booked in Pembroke. We are going to stop a little early tonight to play and get a good rest. Maybe find somewhere nice and eat supper off plates - not a bed or our laps. Feeeeeelin' faaaancy!!! Happy Birthday J! 1697...