So, it turns out that doing things around the homestead or elsewhere in the province, and writing about said things, both takes time. Who'da thunk it? 2019 has been bustling so far, both in the full time career, a main priority that keeps me occupied for most of the day, and also during the free time I manage to muster outside that aspect of life. I've quickly realized that time management is going to be key to this new existence of mine. Especially if I don't want to ignore this blog space again for a year or more, which I certainly don't want to do. I have a dozen posts already started and I absolutely will complete and post every single one of them... eventually. For now, I just have to blurt out all that's in my head somewhat briefly, in effort to catch up a little.On the homestead things have been very active. Snow management was a big time consumer this past winter, though we were quite lucky this year, so I'm told. They say there was less snow than normal, which is extremely fortuitous for us. Our lane-way is like 700 feet, all of which we have to take care of ourselves. Luckily it's mostly positioned between open fields, and a lot of the snow just blows away, leaving some drifts to deal with. It was mostly all shovel work too as the snowblower broke down half way through the season, which itself was not fun to use when it was working anyway. While we managed totally fine this year, I plan to have a different solution for next winter which will most likely be the availing of some local services who specialize is that kind of thing. That's a future post maybe, as I'm quite tired of the snow and spring is very much in the air!
This past winter was busy beyond snow management though. It was quite cold this year, but it's super sunny most of the time making it easier to tolerate the freezing temperatures. If I bundled up while poking around the property, I was fine, and the same goes for when I was out playing with my pal all over PEI. He's the outdoor type too, and well beyond me; it's his lifestyle. This winter has been more enjoyable than many in recent memories, and a part of the reason for that is this pal is so into all things outdoors, and has all the toys to enjoy - I'm slowly collecting my own of course, as I'm sure we're just getting started on all that adventuring, when time allows, which again I never have enough of. In the short few months I've been here, I've already tagged along with him while grouse hunting, rabbit snaring, eel fishing, and smelt fishing. And we've gone on countless mini trips around the area, in a variety of modes of transportation I might add, him pointing out great places to fish and hunt, as I take in all the beautiful scenery. I'll certainly be leaning on him for lots of advice, as I very much appreciate his knowledge and experience. For reference, for those reading our adventure thus far, Sylvain and Allison - not my Allison; her best friend Allison - are two individuals I'm delighted to be able to call close friends. As I mentioned in an earlier post, they helped us tremendously during our transition to PEI, and we now spend a lot of time together the 4 of us. I love every minute of it. Some of our summer adventures together are already in planning mode, and I can't wait to experience it all. Not that I'm wishing away my time. I can't be at that. Time is valuable, and we all plan to make the most of what little we have.
I'm absolutely loving PEI and the property in particular. Did I happen to mention that already? I will never get as much time as I like - I may have mentioned that too, but any weekends and evenings I'm able to, I pick away at shaping and cleaning around this place. A big focus for me these past couple months has been pruning the fruit and nut trees, and continued clearing of dead debris to make way for new growth. The snow had melted enough for me to start in on that early, so I picked some key areas and got to it. The new chain saw I bought helped tremendously, and having a fire is always fun. There is a lot cleanup needed yet, but that one main section I had focused on should benefit greatly this summer. We shall see! Allison and I are both quite anxious to learn what else is growing here, and to add a bunch of new stuff. We have a lot of planting plans, both for food, and aesthetics. A major reason to have the homestead is farming and foraging after-all, and soon enough we'll be out digging in the dirt non-stop outside of our day jobs. Seeds have recently been planted indoors, and now it's just patience to see what's good to get outside - or in the greenhouse. Oh boy, the greenhouse. Now that's a topic I have yet to post about, and a story that just keeps on developing. It's a big topic, so I definitely have to save that one for another time.
The house itself is being worked on as well, as it will be for a while. Nothing major yet, but the main bathroom has already had a large improvement with a new sink and toilet installed. It looks and feels much better already. Allison has also been picking away at one of the rooms on the main floor, ripping down the wallpaper that was starting to peel away. We're getting rid of most of the wallpaper that exists anyway, so rip away I say! She's now doing an awesome job plastering the exposed cracks in the walls as she readies it for panting. The room is coming together very nicely, and painting will be fun when we get to it. We've also been sprucing up my office, which was mostly a storage room before we got here, but now serves my office purposes beautifully. It will go through a full renovation in the future, but for now some caulk, plaster, and paint has gone a long way. There are many projects we want to do around inside, as we continue to improve and make this place ours, some of it much more work than other tasks, so we'll prioritize as best we can. I'm sure we'll get lots done in 2019, and I'm positive I'll gab about it as we do.
"Hmmm, what else?", I ask myself as I try and pound out this update post... Oh, there is the fact that I have my PEI driver's license - officially a resident I guess. It was totally free too, which is awesome. It's one of the province's ways to try and mitigate the costs of carbon taxes I'm told. Vehicle registrations are cheaper as well I believe, and there could be other things. I haven't had much of a chance to really learn all the ins-and-outs of this place, or the politics at all really. Mostly because I've been happily ignoring basically all things politico - frig that noise. One thing that is interesting, however, is that my first time voting in PEI - and yup, I'm already registered to do so. I had been before today's election was even called - will also include my first ever participation in a referendum. And what's most exciting is that it's regarding something I've been a proponent of for many years now; Proportional Representation. That's right, PEI has included a Yes or No option in the current provincial election, on whether or not the people wish to change their electoral system. I'm actually ecstatic to be able to be part of it, and yes, it's certainly something else I'll post about later. Later, later, later. Nothing but "laters" with me today...
And on that note, I'm going now. I've used up my allotted time for this post - time management nailed! There is clearly a lot of activities going on around here, and I didn't even touch on all of it, not by a long shot. This past 7 months has absolutely cruised on by, and I honestly cannot believe it's been half a year already that I've been living in PEI. Then again, I'm so settled in and content, it kind of feels like it's been home for a lot longer than that.
