Guess who's back?

Thanks Julie for the inspiration to actually post something and to broaden the focus of this blog. Look! I'm posting!

Winter seems like it's been dragging on forever so I thought I'd post a picture that makes me happy:

That's Spence planting a maple tree he brought out from the back of the property. Look at all that lush greenery!

Yesterday's temperature hit a high of 8°C which felt amazing. Had a great visit with Julie and we came thisclose to having our inaugural porch sit to enjoy the sunshine at the new house. But we got to talking and didn't manage to make it out before sunset. Soon. It will happen soon.

May 24 and other good times

I think I'm overdue for a post here. I'm going to blame a couple of whirlwind weeks and leave it at that.

Keeping with tradition, we hosted some friends for the May 24 long weekend, and again keeping with tradition we had an awesome time. There was swimming, archery, badminton, baseball, frisbeeing (is that a word?), lots of bon fires and sing-alongs and, of course, fireworks. We were lucky enough to also have a friend perform a fire show which was nothing short of incredible. What an awesome way to start the summer!

In other news, there has been massive progress to our hill clearing project. It looks amazing. Unfortunately it looks like our efforts have displaced a family prickle of porcupines (did you know that's what a group of porcupines is called?) who have decided the best course of action would be to start eating our new shed's foundation. They've since successfully gnawed around the entire base. There is only one solution: they must be annihilated.

As of Sunday night last week, the "successfully eliminated" count was 5. Guess we'll see what this weekend brings. For the record, I really dislike killing things, however we really have no choice in this case. If we want to keep our cabin and shed intact, that is.

I'll leave you with some photos from the long weekend.

Week 26 - Of Birthdays, Friends, and Rain

.: Aug 19-21 2011 :.

This week marked the first time we started doing something that would become our weekly ritual: we drove our neighbours' son up. Since he lives in the city not far from us but does not own a car, he's been making the trip north via public transportation each week. Unfortunately, due to route cutbacks the nearest bus stop is still a 30 minute drive from his parents' place. That means his father had to make an hour+ round trip to pick him up and drop him off each week.  This was not ideal for obvious reasons and it wasn't long before we realized we could easily coordinate our schedule and save them both the trouble.

This week's adventures brought old friends, new friends and lots of games with a side of work. First, our friends Pete and Sarah made their first of many trips up. Pete is quite the chef and prepared fantastic meals throughout the weekend (this, too, has since become a bit of a ritual). The weather decided to be a bit difficult and although we faced on and off showers all weekend I can safely say we all had a great time.

For a few hours on Saturday night we said farewell to Pete and Sarah and joined our neighbours for a birthday party. They'd kindly extended the invite the previous week and it was an excellent opportunity for us to meet their family. From the moment we walked in the door and greeted everyone we felt at home. The warm, festive atmosphere was contagious and before long we were all talking and laughing like old friends.

The evening brought us back to Twin Ponds. We walked into the cabin to find Pete and Sarah enjoying the coziness of the cabin to keep out of the insistent rain. The dull skies didn't dampen our moods, however, and we enjoyed an evening of Gin Rummy. The rain tapered off late in the evening and we took full advantage of the opportunity by building a fire and roasting some marshmallows

On Sunday we opted to take Pete and Sarah to the diner for a great breakfast. With the rain holding off for the majority of the day, we fed the fish, did some barbecuing, and played more games. At one point in the afternoon we walked out our driveway to find that the backhoe had been delivered for the driveway work that was scheduled to begin on Monday. It was time for our dirt driveway to become or gravel driveway.

Land ahoey

Rain can't stop us

Hi

Beautiful night's sky

Yoshi pays us a visit

Week 23: Blood, Sweat, and Tears

.: July 30 - August 1, 2011 :.

Our fish are quickly becoming acclimatized to our presence and are now quick to swim up to us for their weekly feeding. There's something truly peaceful about sharing the pond with them and it's something I look forward to every week.

We spent the weekend continuing our landscaping work, this time turning our attention to the overgrowth down the length of our dirt driveway. We also had a great time swapping stories with the neighbours while enjoying a glass of wine on their deck. Talk about a spectacular view!

Since we'd cut down quite a few branches during our work, we dedicated a bit of time this week to building a makeshift shoe rack. Since the cabin is quite small, we need to optimize the space carefully otherwise it quickly starts looking quite dishevelled. We were quite happy with the final result despite its very rustic appearance. Rustic is good, right? (Note from the future: using freshly cut wood to build anything is a bad idea as it does not age well. Wood should first be professionally kiln dried or seasoned for a couple of years after it's cut in order to be useful in building projects.)

Eating from our hand

Our neighbours' view & ours

Construction

Work cons

Roasted to perfection

Week 22: Slithery roommate

One thing we decided early on was that indoor plumbing would be a high priority. Although we've both grown quite accustomed to our rather primitive current set-up, it's definitely not something we want to continue with indefinitely.

Luckily, our land sits on a gravel bed which makes installing a septic system rather simple, at least as far as septic systems go. After meeting with the local authority and taking the various distance minimums from the well into account, we selected the location for our new holding tank and weeping tile. That was the easy part. Now it was time to clear the area. I have to hand it to Spence. I don't think I've ever met anyone who works harder or enjoys it more.

This weekend also marked a rather unpleasant episode in the form of an unwelcome visitor. I was in that groggy phase of waking up Sunday morning when Spence indicated that he had spotted a slithery roommate. While I'm not repulsed by snakes, I certainly don't fancy sharing my living quarters with them. Luckily Spence was able to quickly snatch it and politely usher it outside. He must have gotten the message, I think, because he hasn't returned in the more than two years that have passed since. Of course, now that I've said that...

The research into pool rafts that we began a few weeks earlier materialized into a new foam mat this week. It works beautifully not only in the pond but as luck would have it, also doubles nicely as a camping sleeping mat. Future visitors need worry not about trying to rest on rocky ground!

Beautiful drive

Clearing for the septic bed

A little R&R 

Week 18: Slytherin

With a lot of the cabin remodelling behind us, it was time to turn our attention to some landscaping. This necessitated a trip into town for one of Spence's favourite things: purchasing a new tool. On this week's menu: a weed whacker.

Happily donning his a bright orange set of earmuffs, Spence went on a weed murder spree as evidenced by the photos below. Not bad for a day's work!

Driveway before & after

Cabin before, during & after

Watch out, Jas! That's a snake!

Week 16: Bye-bye Bushes

Before we completely fell off the blogging wagon (that's a thing, right?) we'd actually created a number of draft posts with photos and point form notes. Instead of letting all that stuff go to waste I've decided to post them before writing about more recent events.

Without further ado, here's week 16.

.: May 21, 2011 - The May Long Weekend :.

This weekend's visit was a bit of a hallmark for a couple of reasons: it was our first two-night stay and we finally finished installing the floor in the main room!

We had dinner with our wonderful neighbours and despite considering leaving early due to heavy rain we decided to tough it out. We were rewarded with a gorgeous Sunday so Spence took the opportunity to have his first swim of the year. It would be the first of many. At this point I was still refusing to swim in the pond because I thought it was murky and, well, kind of gross. It's kind of funny thinking back to this time because swimming in Pond Superior has since become my favourite activity.

We also took some time to do two other things during this weekend that would become staples in our Twin Ponds routine over the next two years: clearing some bush having a bon fire.

Hi! Do you love me?

Bush massacre

Morning web

Week 14: High Spirits

.: May 7-8, 2011 :.

This week's visit to the cabin was fairly low key with few highlights.

Pups with a purpose 

After having already briefly met our neighbour we decided to formally get to know him and his wife, so we dropped by their place and rang their doorbell. We were warmly welcomed in to their home and we spent the afternoon getting to know each other. After chatting for a little which we were given a tour through what we basically characterize as a mansion. It is a beautiful and spacious two-storey house which the neighbors designed themselves and had custom built. It sits on a 50-acre plot of land with a wonderfully manicured yard (including a huge pond that puts Pond Superior to shame).

It became clear that D & B (we won't use their names here) take great pride in their accomplishment and rightfully so. We learned that they "settled" what was nothing but rough, forested land approximately 36 years ago. Like us they had no running water. They didn't even have shelter, so while improving the property in the early years they camped. At least we have a cabin to keep the elements away!

When we arrived D & B were actually watching the pre-race festivities surrounding the Kentucky Derby. Neither of us have ever had much interest in horse racing, but we have to admit that they made it entertaining. So much so that we followed the next two events in the Triple Crown series and even watched the movie Secretariat in the weeks following that visit.

Calm before the storm

After a while our discussion turned to a little of the history of the area and the community. We even learned that there are Mennonites down the road that will clear our driveway/lane for us when the snow gets bad.

Overall it was a very pleasant experience. As it became dark we said goodnight and headed with Jazzle and Bubs back to the chalet. We look forward to socializing more with D & B over the years to come.

The next morning Sim spent some quiet time out by the ponds. She was fortunate enough to see a variety of wildlife, including a beaver, a fox, a hawk, a cormorant, and a flock of geese.

Digging

Spencer was of course cutting wood with his chainsaw. He also paid some attention to an area just before the ponds where water has been "leaking" from a swampy area on the north side to the dry area on the south side. Over time a miniature stream was developing and we wanted to prevent soil erosion, so Spencer laid a piece of weeping tile from one side of the path to the other to facilitate the drainage of water from the swamp (created by beavers). We'll see how that turns out.

And then before you could shake a stick (you have an abundant selection to choose from), it was time to go, so we packed up the pups and hit the road.