Our House Plan - Main Floor

It has been requested before that I share the floor plan of our new house.  And it makes sense.  I often wonder about the flow of other people's homes since it is much easier to picture where everything is in relation to everything else.  So, with very little preamble, here it is!  This is the main floor of our house and though we tweaked a tiny bit here and there when we actually built, it is almost exactly like this.

 

This is the floor plan we had in mind for years.  We found a similar version online a number of years ago and started tweaking it to our liking.  No matter how many floor plans we looked at, either online or in books, and we looked at MANY, this was the one we liked best.  And we still love it!  We had contemplated adding the master bedroom to the main floor so that when we are old and decrepit we wouldn't have to climb stairs but nixed that idea for now.  Stairs will be good for our hearts, right?  Actually, if we are too old to climb stairs, we are also too old to take care of 5 acres so that is probably when we would move anyway.

 

The amount of space on this main floor is 1 1/2 times the size of our other main floor.  And you know what?  We love the space.  At supper the other day, the kids were just saying yet again how much they love all the space in our new house.  And I agree completely!  As for cleaning it?  Well, we are still working out the logistics of that.  Kinda hard to keep it dust free when we are still working on it.  But I wouldn't give it up, dust and all, to go back to our town home.  This is our forever home where we will raise our kids, visit our grandkids, and grow really, really old!

 

Next week I will share the upstairs and the week after, the basement.

Day Before the Dig - My Thoughts

Tomorrow is the big day!  Tomorrow is dig day.  A day that we have planned for and waited for and talked about and dreamed about for about 10 years.  Granted, those first 8 years, thoughts of the new house were more in the background but, as I have said before, we always said that we would live in this house 10 years and then move into our country home.  When we said that we had no idea we would be blessed with 5 children nor did we think that God would be calling more children into our hearts and home through adoption or fostering.  When we said 10 years, we only knew that we were country people at heart and a country property was something we wanted with space to move and breathe and play without eyes watching from every side.  I love how God takes those little dreams or little ideas and can turn them into something bigger and better and wilder than you ever imagined.  The last 2 years have been more focused on what this new house will look like and what God's purposes are for this house.  And as we have been thinking and planning and praying and talking, God has taken the dream of this house and is turning it into a reality for His glory and for His honor.  We know that God has big plans for our family and big plans for our hearts and this house is a vitally important step. 

This little place we call home now is a treasure to us, brought to us at just the right time for just the right price.  It was almost exactly what we would have picked for ourselves as a young married couple had we the chance to design the home ourselves.  We love this place.  It will always hold so many memories of love and tears, conversations, the births of all our children, schooling them, teaching them just as they teach us, growing in our marriage and listening to all the things the Lord has taught us and the Lord is continuing to teach us.  This house is a treasure.  But this house is too small.  As long as we live in this house, our 3 year-old will continue to sleep on a crib mattress on the floor and all 3 girls will share a 9x9 bedroom.  The "laundry room" is also the mechanical room and also the "craft room" and is a constant disaster.  Storage space is seriously lacking . . . well, I could go on.  This house was never designed for 7 people.  But we are thankful.  We are so thankful.  We have a home with a roof over our heads, we have beds for our children, we have a washer & dryer and everything else we need to live a rich and full life.  We are beyond blessed and rarely will you hear us complain about our home.  We love it!  But this home was given to us for a season and that season is coming to an end. 

Tomorrow starts the beginning of a new season in our life.  A new chapter is this book we are writing.  Tomorrow the excavator arrives on site and starts digging the hole for the basement.  And tomorrow the hopes and dreams for this new season start to become reality.  I cannot help but wonder how it will go.  How will I be during this season?  Who will I be?  I wonder - will things get chaotic?  I wonder - will we be stressed beyond what we can imagine?  I wonder - how will Jay and I interact with each other over all the details that make a house a reality?  How will each day work itself out practically?  At the end of the building season, will we still be having fun or will we be so tired of the house and of each other?  While there are many questions that remain and will only be answered over the course of the next number of months, of this I am certain - the Lord will walk with us through this time just as He has been so faithfully walking with us these past 10 years in this home and all the years before that.  He has not brought us to this point on this path just to abandon us to our own devices.  He will walk with us every step of the way and when we are challenged and when we are stressed and when we don't know what to do, He will be there providing strength and wisdom and maybe an occasional rain day just so we can rest.  I know that life will be a little messy and unpredictable and schedules will go out the window, but I have this picture in my mind that, in time, I will be standing in a completely gorgeous kitchen crying, overwhelmed by the gracious generosity of an amazing Father who has blessed us with more than we deserve and even more than we imagined.  Just as when we were planning our wedding almost 13 years ago, we will go through this building process the way we try to go through every day, with the intention of honoring God and all those around us with our words and our attitudes so that at the end, we will not regret saying anything or doing anything, knowing God is pleased with our hearts. 

Later on today, Jay and I will spend time in prayer at the building site, dedicating the next days and weeks and months to the Lord, asking for His hand of blessing yet again.  I feel that this is a time when He is asking me, "What do you want Me to do for you?".  I feel humbled and honored that the Lord would use me, use Jay and I, to do a work only He can accomplish.  So, now that we are a little less than 24 hours away from actually starting to build, focus is hard to find.  The boys still have school work to finish, the laundry still needs to be washed, food still needs to be made and life continues on.  I would like to spend all my time at the site, thinking and praying and dreaming and watching God's hand at work.  And yet, He is still at work here in my heart right now, still trying to refine me into the woman He wants me to be, the mother He wants me to be, the teacher He wants me to be, the wife He wants me to be.  I have so far to go in my walk with Him, so much more to learn and I am beyond grateful that He never leaves me even when I mess up.  Though my intention is to honor Him with all my words and actions, I have far to go in perfecting that.  And still, in my brokenness, the Lord uses me.  I know that we will look back on this time and marvel at all we accomplished because of the Lord.  All because of Him.  So, I invite you along for the journey.  I invite you to watch as the Lord moves in marvelous ways to help us build this dream.  I will document as much as I can, not so much for your benefit, but for ours.  So we can look back on this time and remember every detail along the way, every way in which God provided again and again and again.  With that said, let the building begin!

Cutting Down (More) Trees To Make Room for the House

Last year as we talked about where we wanted to put the new house, we thought behind a row of fully mature poplars would be a good idea.  They were about halfway back on the yard and they would provide shade for the house - all good things.  As we have mulled it over more and more and talked with others, we have decided to take down those trees.  Poplars are notorious for falling over in a windstorm and if that were to happen, they would land on the house.  Not something we want.  So, today, Jay spent some time cutting and some time pushing and soon that row was all down.  It looks so bare now without them but I fully intend to plant different trees to take the place of the poplars. 

Since today was not the most ideal day for cutting trees, we made sure to have a tractor on hand to offer a little assistance in prodding the trees to fall in the correct direction.  There was a bit of a breeze today in the wrong direction which would cause some of the trees to fall on one of our storage sheds or on a whole bunch of others things we didn't want crushed.  The chainsaw paired with the tractor caused each tree to fall just as it should. 

First, you position the tractor in the correct spot so that it can push on the tree in the highest position possible.  Then you cut (while wearing ear and eye protection - he did put on the eye protection shortly after).

Once you have cut the tree more than halfway through but before it starts to fall over on its own, you push it some more with the tractor.  And you push.  And it falls just the way you want it to amidst the shouts of "TIMMMMMMBERRRRRRRRRR" from the kids who were watching from a safe distance.

And then if you are a boy, you run over to the fallen tree as fast as you can and climb all over it before dad starts on the next tree and you have to move.

And if you are this boy, you spend the whole morning in -11C weather (with the windchill) watching every move your dad makes while your siblings complain about the cold and hide in the van!

You repeat the whole process for all 13 trees and suddenly, about 2 hours later, you are done!  Jay has just pushed those large trees to the back of the yard where we can deal with them in our own time.  Seeing as we anticipate starting to dig in 6 weeks, just after the May long weekend, we have a bunch of things to get in place before then.  Now we can check this off the list!

{Side note:  Sometimes I wish strongholds in my life were so easily felled and replaced with better things as those trees were.  You know, those bad habits I have that I wish I could break or those sins that don't ever seem to go away.  Wouldn't it be so nice if I could just cut them off at the bottom with a saw and push them over and they would be gone and done with?  Most often, though, it seems as though I chip away at it with a bread knife and it never seems to make much of a difference at all.  The stronghold remains.  The sin still flourishes.  That is, until the Ultimate Woodsman comes over and gives me a hand, felling that stronghold with one push of His mighty right arm!  Oh, how I love that Woodsman!}

Kitchens on My Mind! {Your Opinions, Please!}

Earlier this week we received the working drawings for our country home and it only took 15 months!  Yikes!  Our patience was definitely running thin but we are very pleased at the design of the house even if it did take over a year to get it where we wanted it!  These are not engineer stamped plans yet but we have handed them to a contractor to get a really good estimate on the cost of building it. That way we can make any changes before the plan is stamped plus we will know if we can afford to do this with a contractor or if we will contract it ourselves.  We should be getting some of those numbers next week, which is really exciting and somewhat nerve-wracking!  So, to keep my mind busy with other things, I am thinking of kitchens.  And mudrooms.  And bathrooms.  But for the sake of this post, we will stick with kitchens.  Currently, this is the plan for our kitchen.  It is fairly large at 18 1/2' x 11' but it really is the heart of our home.  I hate having to kick the kids out of our kitchen because there is just no room for them when Jay and I are in it (and, yes, Jay is often in the kitchen.  He may not be a gourmet chef but he is an amazing helper and I am spoiled by his servant-heart!).  I love to have them help but it is just too crowded.  I would have been happy with an even bigger kitchen but really think a kitchen this large will be a blessing.

To the left of the kitchen is the living room, to the right (obviously) is a large walk-in pantry and facing the kitchen (which you don't see) is the dining room.

My dream kitchen is traditional all the way!  I am dreaming of white kitchen cabinets with a dark glaze on the exterior and dark cabinets on the island and the range hood! I am definitely having some sort of mantle-style range hood flanked by two windows (which look out over the backyard)!  Counter top material has not been decided on but we are shying away from granite since it is ridiculously expensive.  We will have the full refrigerator and the full freezer in the kitchen due to the size of our family.  I am so excited about that!  There will be bar stools at the peninsula as well as at the island but on the island, they will be on the outside of the kitchen, not the inside where they are pictured.  I am seriously contemplating building the kitchen cabinets myself to save us some money (plus I think it will be fun . . . well, until it is stressful!).  We won't have many upper cabinets but I am hoping all the lower cabinets will more than make up for it.  Plus the upper cabinets will be ceiling height.  Finally, there will be a prep sink on the island on the corner closest to the fridge/freezer.  Two sinks are a must!

So, with all that said, I would love to know a few things about your kitchens!  Tell me:

1.  What do you love about your kitchen the most?  Is it the size?  A certain feature?  The color?  The layout?  What makes you love your kitchen?

2.  What is one thing you wished you had in your kitchen but don't?  A certain appliance?  Windows?  A different faucet?  Different cabinets?

3.  What is a non-negotiable in your next kitchen, if you were building new like we are?  An island?  More storage?  A walk-in pantry?

I want your opinions and ideas to help me think through this thoroughly!  We intend to be in this house for a VERY long time so the better we can do it now, the happier our future will be!  Thanks, and I look forward to hearing from you!

Depression-Era Sideboard

When I picture the entrance of our new house, I have always envisioned some sort of buffet or sideboard holding a beautiful lamp, a couple of decorative items placed strategically here and there, welcoming our guests to our home.  I have looked on Kijiji every now and then but didn't see anything like I wanted.  Until a couple of weeks ago.  When I saw this, I knew it was the one!  The guy said it was his grandmother's and he thinks it is late 1800's but it looks more depression-era to me, meaning th 1920's-1930's.  Whatever the case, it is perfect.  Well, it will be once I work on it.  The middle two drawers don't open without being pried from below and the doors on the sides don't close.  The stretcher at the bottom is missing as well as the knobs.  Some of the veneer on the sides is chipping as well.  But, if you can just imagine it all prettied up, it is perfect!

I found a similar one for sale on Kijiji in its finished state!  I didn't need the visual but hubs sure does.  Now he can see that it is not, in fact, junk!  Now I just have to figure out if I want it a traditional white color or maybe do something crazy!  Time will tell since I don't intend to work on it for at least a year.  Should give me plenty of time to mull over ideas, wouldn't you say?

Blessings

Do you ever wonder if you are blessed?  Maybe another way to look at it is this: have you been given gifts, undeserved and unmerited?  Every time (well, okay, maybe not EVERY single time but you know what I mean) I look at my children or my husband, that is exactly how I feel.  Overwhelming blessings!  I am rich, very rich indeed!  These past few weeks have been crazy busy with harvest, taking kids and meals to the field and often getting the kids into bed before Jay comes home.  And just as the harvest has been plentiful, in spite of the extreme dry conditions, so have the blessings!  I wanted to share 2 with you! A couple of years ago my dad was part of the construction crew that did a huge addition on a nearby church.  In order to do this reno, they removed all the outer bricks on that area of the church.  No one wanted them so dad took them home.  For what purpose, we still don't know but that is his deal!  Now, that church is expanding again and my dad is part of that construction crew once again.  As soon as I knew he would be doing it, months before they even started, I told him I wanted those bricks.  I would come and collect them myself but I wanted those bricks.  One day a couple of weeks ago my dad calls and asks if I still want them.  Yes, I certainly do.  Then find a hard hat and a couple of pick up trucks and come get them.  So, Jay and I stopped everything, drove 1/2 hour to get a few bricks.  They were heavy and the trucks can only hold so much.  Just as we were putting the last bricks in the second truck, my dad comes over and tells us the head-honcho guy said we could use a trailer they had with electric lift to take the bricks home.  Since Jay was supposed to be on the field, he went back the next day and got 2 trailer loads of bricks.  Mind you, they were so heavy the electric lift didn't work until he had thrown 90% of them off but he was gracious about it all.  So, now we have this huge pile of bricks waiting for some great purpose on our new house.  I am thinking pillars for the porch and landscaping around the back patio.  What ideas do you have?

Secondly,  I don't know if you remember but the back part of our new 5 acre property is a swamp!   About a dozen ducks and other marsh birds make their home there in the spring and well into summer.  The rushes tower over my head and the whole area is mosquito haven.  I am sure we have mosquitos out there long before anyone else does.  This year, due to the extreme dry and high temperatures, all the water was gone by about the middle of July (which should be an indication of how wet it actually was to take that long).  We took the time to laser measure the whole yard, finding out just how high the high spots were and how low the low spots were.  We knew we would have to bring in many, many truckloads of dirt to raise the low-lying areas.  We talked endlessly about ways to deal with the water.  Then, early this week, Jay tells me this: "Your father-in-law is doing an amazing job of filling the hole."  I assume he is talking about the mini-Grand Canyon that now exists at his barn thanks to all the clay required to fix the lagoon (and a bunch brought to our place to build the new driveway.).  He corrects me by telling me dad is raising the low spots on our yard.  WOW!!  As a farmer, every fall, after harvest, they dig the drainage ditches and other ditches to ensure water flows well after spring thaw.  He doesn't want that soil on his field since it is a clay-soil mix with a whole lot of sod and weeds in it.  My FIL is a very particular (and excellent) farmer.  So, all that soil is ending up filling up our swamp!  And it is a TONNE of dirt.  Free dirt.  Can I get a "Thank you, Jesus?" and I really mean that!  I am in awe of the way the Lord provides. 

Since the beginning, the Lord has been telling me that this yard is a gift to us.  It is not for everyone, it is a gift to US.  This yard was specially chosen for us in spite of all the quirks.  The Lord, in his infinite grace and generousity, continues to affirm to me that this is a gift.  And he continues to provide for this gift.  What a great and awesome God I serve!

A New Driveway

Is anyone else in awe that it is August already?  Time keeps slipping away so very quickly!  With a week like last, it is no wonder.  We were so busy, going somewhere every day, which is not the norm for us.  One major event of last week was the building of a new driveway out at the country property.  This is something we had been debating since last year.  The reason we wanted to move it is this:  the original driveway is narrow and if we want to not have to shovel the snow in the winter and would like instead for dad's large tractor mounted snow blower or blade to move it, we needed a wider driveway.   That could have been as simple as adding on.  But the other, greater issue, was where we wanted the house to go.  We have plans for it to be in a certain spot and weaving the old driveway through the yard to get there just didn't really make that much sense.  It made more sense to make a completely new, wider driveway farther down the road.  So last fall, all the trees that would be in the way were cut down.  Then this spring, Jay doubted the wisdom of moving the driveway.  After we cut all the trees.  They were already growing back but still, we cut them all down, moved all the branches, hauled all the wood away.  It was a lot of work.  Then we stopped.   And Jay thought.  And thought.  And thought.  Jason is a thinker, in case you didn't know.  At times it drives me batty and at times I am very thankful for his thought process.  When he makes a choice, he doesn't usually change his mind.  I know that I really wanted the driveway to move even if it meant more work but I thought it would work best for the yard.  I had to give up that desire to allow Jay the freedom to make the best choice all around.  If we left the driveway, I could live with it.  There are many more important things in life to wonder about then a driveway!  If we moved it, that would be fantastic.  So, on his own last week, he came to me and said we are moving the driveway and getting an excavating company to build a new one - we had planned to do this ourselves!  I was so EXCITED! 
    

Spot for new driveway before cutting trees.

Trees are cut and stumps are being removed



Old driveway



Digging up old driveway



Moving dirt to new driveway location





Watching the action



New driveway crosses the ditch



Old driveway removed

So, that all happened on Thursday morning.  Then Thursday afternoon and Friday morning, they hauled clay to form the long driveway to the house.  First they removed the topsoil because a driveway built on topsoil is bound to be a mushy mess once the frost leaves the ground in spring.  Forming a driveway on the clay out of clay ensures a hard driveway unaffected by frost.  So, truck after truck hauled clay.  (The clay was free since we were taking it from the same hole they were making to fix the lagoon at Jay's hog barns.)  The dozer packed it between every load.  It is a good foot higher than the ground around it, 350' long and about 25' wide!  Lots of room to get large equipment in!  Lots of room to drive!  Now, we just need to let it dry out and harden then before winter we will bring in the rocks and the driveway will be done, for now!  What a thrill!

Hauling and packing clay

What I Did Today . . .

This heat (35.5C/95.9F on my thermometer) just saps my energy, I tell you!  I just want to curl up in bed with a good book.  However, that is not likely to happen anytime soon!  So, instead, I headed out to the country property to meet the gas line guy that marked the locations of the gas line on our yard.  We plan to move our driveway in the next couple of weeks and make a new wider one in another location.  Important to know where the gas main is, wouldn't you say?  While there, I hilled our potatoes and felt like someone was watching me.  Well, not really, but these guys had their eyes on me the whole time!

They are so CUTE!  In case you don't recognize them, they are young merlins, a type of falcon.  Their parents made their home in an old crow's nest at the top of one of our evergreen trees right next to the garden.  These babes watch our every move.  I am not completely thrilled that they are making their home on our yard as they are birds of prey and do eat other birds I would rather have on our yard so we will see.  Maybe we will take down the nest in the future or maybe they will be less prone to making a home on that yard once there is more activity.  Right now, it is fairly quiet there.

I came home to see one of my new daylilies blooming - such. a. beauty!  This one is called "Jamaican Me Crazy"!  I love the name and the flower is gorgeous!

Finally, I abandoned all things creative in favor of all things boring and necessary - I was cleaning the house.  I purged -- get this -- 19 pairs of shoes!  19 PAIRS!  WOW!  That is a tonne!  Some went in the garbage, some are going to a friend and a whole pile are going to the thrift store.  It took a bit of time trying on the shoes on the various kids to see if they actually fit anyone, if they were in good shape, and if they were just too cute to part with (those ones are going to a friend).  Yes, a couple pairs were mine.  Yes, I do have a shoe fetish.  Yes, contrary to one of my tank tops, you can have too many shoes!  Hopefully my entrance will be a little easier to maintain now.

Now, I will whip up some to. die. for. hot fudge sauce and lay low with some icecream and that book I mentioned earlier!  I earned it.  Well, maybe not, but the cleaning can always continue tomorrow.  It promises to be even hotter then!  YIKES!

3 Times the Fun

What do you do when you have lovely arching willows, a roll of rope kicking around and far too many tires left on your property from the previous owner? Why, make a tire swing . . or two . . . or three!

(And, yes, I am well aware that there is still garbage standing up against that little shed - some of it was removed right after this photo and the rest will go, too! It is just a small indication of the many random things we have found all over this yard! It is like a treasure hunt except it is not treasure. So, I guess we can call it a garbage hunt!)

Not Bad For Two Hours of Work

BEFORE

Since school was completed rapidly today and the weather was nice and my hubs got the chainsaw ready for me, it was off to the country for just a couple of hours this afternoon. (I would have stayed longer but the 3 older kids all have baseball tonight! Yeah!!) And, I must say, I feel I got a whole lot accomplished! Can you tell the difference? I am so glad to see all those caragana gone and I will be thrilled when all the rest that still remain also disappear! It looks so much tidier!

AFTER

Inspiration Pictures - Kitchen

Yesterday we had our first meeting with our draftsman to start drawing up plans of our next home, our dream home, Project 2012! Do I hear a squeal out there? There is a lot of those happening here. So very exciting! He even told us we will probably have preliminaries in our hand by the weekend! So with all this talk of drawing up plans, the kitchen is front and center in my brain, right where it usually is. There is probably not a day that goes by when I don't think about that part of the home, that kitchen. So much of our time is spent in that place it needs to be well thought out and functioning perfectly. It must be spacious enough for all 7 of us to work and move around without always stepping on someone's toes or squishing each other together. There must be a larger than a 3' piece of unbroken counter. Other priorities are (and I am only mentioning those I don't currently have):

• full fridge/full freezer
• 5 burner (minimum) gas range
• double electric wall oven
• prep sink
• island
• bar counter with seating for 5 (minimum)
• lots of counter space
• upper cabinets to the ceiling
• window in the kitchen
• no deck/patio door in the kitchen
• a pot filler by the stove

With that said, here are some inspiring photos I have found through the last number of years and stored on my computer. I don't know where they all came from but will try to give credit where I can.

I like the color of the cabinets above but would probably lean a little lighter yet. I love the glass doors on the very upper cabinets. Photo from Decor Cabinets

I love this range hood!

This photo above is my favorite as the layout is pretty much identical to what we have in mind. I love the square "box" above the island that sets apart the light fixture and makes it stand out! Really want to do that. And I have the light fixture already! See?

(PS: This was a great clearance deal for $69.93 at Canadian Tire in Steinbach. In Winnipeg, they are still selling them at the regular price of $249.99!)

Same kitchen as last photo. I love how the range is centered behind the island. I wouldn't go with all solid doors or this color but I really like the layout of this kitchen because it feels so right.

These cabinets are closer in color to what I want, complete with black island cabinets. I also love the beadboard.

I like the pillars on the island and by the stove. I like the paneled look on the end of the wall ovens. I like the vent hood. kitchenbathideas.com


I tend to like the French Country look but know that that ornate is not going to happen. But I like the look anyway!

As you can tell, I am a traditional girl when it comes to my kitchen. How about you? What style of kitchen would fit in your dream home?

Progress at the Property

{Let me just preface this by saying that if you own a "diamond in the rough" 5 acre property, who needs a workout??!! With all the cutting and pulling, digging and lifting, my arms are in better shape than they have ever been! And I love it!}

I thought I would show you some of the things we have accomplished in the many weekends we have spent at our eventually-to-be homestead. I find it rather remarkable to think that we have owned this property for one whole year already. Just means we are one year closer to building! Yay!

With a larger property, it only makes sense to break it down into smaller sections. We are starting with the SW corner of the property since it is the first thing you see when you drive on the current driveway (which we are in the process of moving. It requires many large trees to be cut down but it makes much more sense then winding the current driveway through the yard.) In that corner of the property was a long row of Shubert Chokecherries, approximately 75' long with a smaller 25' row of lilacs butting up to them. Now, I love the red color of the shuberts and the berries are great for jam and syrup. I made many jars this past season. However, I did not like the blackknot that was rampant throughout the trees. Blackknot is a fungal disease that leaves large abnormally shaped black chunks on the branches and affects the trees itself leaving the whole think looking a little less than pretty. It is hard to control once established, spreads easily and I knew it would be more work to prune the trees and follow with fungicides for years to come rather than to pull them out. So, we decided to rip them out. It was a rather physical job made much simpler with a little help from John Deere! First, Jay dug into the roots to loosen them a little then we wrapped individual clumps with a large heavy chain and ripped them out of the ground. It worked quite well. Directly behind this row of shuberts/lilacs was another row of lilacs that were a little spindly looking. With the trees out of the way, I am expecting them to fill out nicely, especially if I cut them down a little.

Once the trees were gone, we killed the grass in a large area, tilled it up, brought in some topsoil, and made a new flower bed 100' long and 50' deep, semi-circular in shape. The size of that one bed is larger than my current front yard, I believe! I bought 3 trees in the spring and planted them here, 1 12' Autumn Blaze Maple and 2 smaller Sienna Glen Maples. They will look fantastic as they grow and show off their red leaves each autumn! This winter I will plan the rest of that bed with the landscape design software I bought for $2 at a garage sale many years ago.

As soon as you drive onto our property, you notice the mature spruce trees lining the south side. They are beautiful trees but a little neglected. About the bottom 6' or so of the branches were completely dead. Dead branches do not look nice, especially on an evergreen. So, I took to cutting all those dead branches off the 15 or so spruce that form part of the perimeter of our property. That is a lot of branches! It was so worth the effort since it looks so much tidier. Right behind the spruce are a few more rows of trees/shrubs that need serious tiding but that has been put on hold as we tackle removing the trees where the new driveway will be, about 100' over from where it is now.

A bunch of the branches and trees that were pulled out were piled into the garden and somehow a little den was formed. The kids loved playing in there! Just imagine the big bonfires we will have as this is the smallest of a couple of piles!

Finally, this past Saturday, I made a tire swing for the kids. There were many tires kicking around when we bought the place and we have yet to take them away. So, what does one do with extra tires and perfectly arched willow trees? Create a tire swing, of course! That one event tired me out just trying to throw the rope over the tree. First I tried throwing the whole spool of rope but that was a little heavy and I wasn't getting it high enough. Then I found an old toilet seat lying in the leaves (seriously, the amount of garbage we have discovered is ridiculous!). I used just the bottom portion, tied the rope to it, and threw it like a disc or frisbee. It actually worked! I cleared out a large area below the swing of the stickes, leaves, large iron rods and other junk so that the kids would have a safe place to play. I mowed a path so even baby girl Ari can wander down there with no chance of getting hurt! With the amount of willows and tires on hand, I could make a swing for each of the kids and still have plenty to spare!!

I absolutely love working at the "new country", as the kids still call it. I love the quiet, peaceful feeling that comes over me. I love the possibilities. I love the fact all the kids can play outside with a lot less concern from me. I marvel at the nature God has created and am blessed beyond measure that we get to call this place home. Jay and I have spent many hours together working up a sweat and everytime I remember what a great team we make. I love that we get to make this place ours, together. When you have to put your blood, sweat and tears into it, it becomes even more special. And, I am thankful that it is raining this week so I can actually get some work accomplished here that has been seriously neglected thanks to the unbelievably amazing fall weather we have been experiencing. Seriously, it is October 26 and we still haven't experienced a "hard frost." -2C, -3C, maybe even -4C but that is it. I still have begonias blooming on the north side of my house! Very, very unusual and very appreciated. We don't take that for granted here on the prairies! Now, I just need to get the perennials from here dug up and transplanted over there! All in due time, right?!