It’s been a long time since I’ve written here and this is the first, very personal, post.
On the night of February 14th - both Valentine’s Day and our 5th Wedding Anniversay - our basement caught fire at around 2:30 am.
We all made it out - and this is not without it’s own very long story - except for my awesome orange tabby boy. He’d come to me as a kitten in a way that made me think he was a gift from God himself, that he was destined to grow old with me, read the rest »
For years I’ve been country living with a city paycheck, while working at home in a variety of capacities.
It began with freelancing, then consultation only for a select group of clients (most of them a spillover from my freelancing assignments), then business registration and creating my own mini-empire on the farm.
Yes, there was a spell in there (and secretly it always drove me a little nuts) when I’d work one-on-one with friends helping them to create hobby websites that they had no motivation to turn into a little income generator for themselves.
It’s sad really to see the knowledge inside of them that could have been put online to benefit others or to give them a second income - only to be lost to lack of motivation and discipline. Available time has nothing to do with it either since I know full well how many hours they spent in front of the idiot box every night or fretting about being late for their scrapbook meetings while their husbands slaved in the bush all day!
The relationships I didn’t mind developing website for were the ones built for friends who ‘got it’. They understood what an online presence could do for their offline business, that it was practically free advertising, that, if done correctly, could bring multiple repeat buyers into their stores every week.
I love those who have drive and determination to make a success out of themselves. read the rest »
Chores were done, the garden weeded and we decided it was finally time to take a day off and enjoy the summer day.
Living on a farm doesn’t hold many days like this, especially when you’ve bought and are trying to fix up an old farmhouse before the hard winter winds hit.
There are always animals to attend to and train, firewood to be chopped and piled, windows to prepare, and inside the house - walls to prep and paint.
Country living is a good life, but it’s a busy life.
Such was our day - we’d planned on tuning up the bicycles and packing a lunch and taking off for a ride through our countryside.
Those were the plans anyway…
When we opened the garage door however we were deflated and knew we’d be delayed. Not to mention there was no way we’d get around it - one more sort, organize and renovate, chore was going to be added to our list!
We did make it out to our day (although late) in the country, but as we rode I was distracted by my action plan to clean up that garage!
Since our outside gear has been tossed all over the place in the garage - on the floor, thrown into corners, popped into the old drawers and onto shelves without concern over how to ever find anything again, this was going to present a huge challenge and perhaps a few days work.
My friend Sally had gone through a similar ordeal a few years ago - after a year long illness - and I considered asking for her help in organizing the garage or at least getting some ‘how to start’ tips.
I knew the first step I’d need to take was to purchase some cabinets and shelves and block off some time on a day when we wouldn’t be expecting rain.
Every since item in that garage was going to come out and be sorted into categories, systematically. Then the cabinets and shelves would need to be installed. And finally the categorized objects placed into a garage - followed by a stern talk with all memebers of the family (so we don’t find ourselves in that position again!)
Sporting gear, tools, gardening tools, needed to be hung on peg boards in organized clusters.
The truck would have to be backed up to the garage door opening and all the junk we hadn’t used in years, or were waiting to be repaired (one day) would need to be sent to the dump. (That should rid 1/2 of it!) Go ahead and be ruthless about throwing this stuff away - ’someday’ seldom comes. If you haven’t repaired something in two years chances are good that it won’t ever be repaired.
After organizing, sorting and throwing away those unwanted items you will be surprised to see your garage floor and corners again - and maybe we can start parking the car, truck and tractor in the garage again!
