Off The Beaten Path

Today was the warmest it is supposed to be all week, therefore, today was Well Day. We needed to entirely disassemble the well pump until we could find the cause of its failure two days ago. The pump we have is called SimplePump. And it is – simple, I mean. They are designed to be…

We didn’t get anything done today. We PLANNED to, but things happened. Goal #1 – get the driveway plowed. Because of the extreme amount of cold on the weekend, the tractor needed a good long time on the generator to warm up enough to start. It was after lunch by that point. But then it…

The roads were good today, so we came home. That sounds very simple and carefree, but nothing is ever that simple in this circus of ours. Up early, coffee, feed the kids, clean up after the dog whose stomach apparently had spent an unsettled night, pack 2 baskets of laundry. 1 kerosene heater, 1 bag…

We had planned to go home today. But I got up late, and then it took longer to gather our stuff than one could hope, and then when mom and I walked the dogs, we found the road to be snowpacked and slippery underfoot, so I called “nope” on travelling today. The bus is already…

It has been an absolutely brutal 24 hours, and it is supposed to continue another 12 yet. The wind has me next thing to squirrelly (I hate high wind), and it is dangerously cold out. None of the livestock were allowed out today. They were fed and watered, but inside out of the wind is…

I lived in northern Saskatchewan once upon a time, almost to the Canadian Shield, so I can’t say I have never experienced cold this cold before. But there is a lot of difference between the bone dry arctic cold of North Central Canada and the damp-laden cold of the coast. This is the kind of…

We have a VERY cold weekend ahead of us. Like, it hasn’t been this cold in this part of the country since 1982. The heater in the bus just cannot compete with nearly -50 windchills. So, we can’t stay. We will be seeking warm refuge until it is over and the arctic weather is finished…

Today was one of the days where, despite being busy, there is little enough to show for it. It is very cold right now – more than twice as cold as it has been up to this point – so we stayed inside until after lunch, hoping it would warm up a little bit. It…

I met the local Homeschool Moms group last week. I’m not fond of groups in general and ladies groups in particular, but I am new here and it is a way to find some community. It helps that I know one of them fairly well and have met another a few times over the last…

We lost yesterday. We prioritized personal cleanliness over progress and headed off for laundry and showers. Those things matter a lot It wasn’t a huge loss. The hardware store isn’t open Sundays, so I couldn’t get more insulation, which is what we would truly need to continue. There are little jobs we could have done,…