Off The Beaten Path

There are days, of course, when we do not work. Storm days or sick days, sabbaths and days when we are too sore or tired to carry on. In one way, those days are difficult: we lose time. But everyone needs rest sometimes. And the children need days when we are available to them. Today…

Yesterday was gross and we didnt leave the bus unless we had no other option. The wind was very high accompanied by over an inch of rain. Yuck yuck yuck. No good for getting work done. This morning, very early, I headed to the hardware store a few towns away, as they were the only…

From blizzard to torrential rain in two days. This is the winter we’ve been having. In the clear time in between, the priority was to clear as much of the snow back as possible, because after the rain comes freeze and thus what is not cleared will be frozen solid. Also, we wanted to tighten…

We got a ‘wee dusting’ in the blizzard yesterday and last night. The wind howled and threw things for more than 8 hours. This is the most snow we’ve had all season so far. Definitely a ‘shovel your way’ sort of day. Snow straight over the tops of the boots otherwise. The doors did indeed…

I serve a King of Exquisite Timing. We finished closing in the door holes yesterday. Today, we are having a blizzard. This is the first major snowstorm of the season. The weather has held more or less in abeyance until we finished. The doors don’t have latches yet, just heavy diagonal props, so I suppose…

With the breaks for bad weather, Sabbath and supply runs, it took us 17 days from first sheet of steel to last. In the middle of such a job, it feels like you’ve been at it forever and you’re never going to finish. But looking back on the job, while it took longer than we…

A homestead is a journey. Usually quite a long one. Even in the pioneer days, one didn’t generally move onto the land, build a house and stay in it for all of time. It was usually a progression – first, live in your wagon or tent while you build SOMETHING to live in. As time…

I bathed today. For someone who doesn’t live in a water-limited off-grid situation, that may seem trivial or an odd thing to start a conversation with. But, see…I live in a bus…without bathing facilities…and it is the middle of winter so outdoor bathing would require a more robust constitution than I possess. So once a…

We’ve been very blessed in the weather so far this winter. It has been unseasonably mild most of the time. The temperature has only a time or two dipped lower than -10 (°C), and usually in the middle of the night. The kerosene heater has by and large been sufficient. A couple of days, though,…

The front wall was so much more complicated than the back. The back wall, we finished in two days. The front wall took us four. Partially, it is the difference in height. Five feet may not seem an immense distance, but a 17’4″ sheet of steel is much heavier and harder to handle than a…