I don’t get to turn my computer on when the sun isn’t shining so I hope you all can read my handwriting!! Where there’s a will there’s a way, right?
WordPress won’t let me add my huge video so here is a link to the YouTube vid
Another day, another 50 boxes to unpack…okay, maybe not 50 but I do hope I am getting to the end of all these infernal boxes! I thought I would move downstairs today because Luke needed help finding some stuff and help getting his desk set up. He goes back to work on Thursday!! Well, I was still stuck in the kitchen today!!! Really? Still? Yes, still in the kitchen but I must say, it is starting to look like my kitchen and that’s something! In fact, it is feeling so much like my own kitchen that I actually cooked and baked today!
So here’s the thing about using my kitchen. If the sun is shining, go for it and use any appliance you want! If the sun is not shining, best be careful what gadget you use! It was overcast today so I couldn’t use a lot of electrical stuff. Coffee! We have decided we may need to invest in a different coffee maker-one that does not need to have the element on to keep the coffee warm; when it was in use this morn it substantially increased out power consumption. We used to have a coffee maker with a thermal carafe, guess that is what we will be looking for. We have also decided that the toaster here is an oldie and there are prolly more energy efficient ones out there.
There was quite a bit of a breeze happening today so the wind turbine boosted our power generation. And then the sun came out in the early arvo. With everything going good I was able to take out the Slow Cooker and get a meal going for this evening. Yay! Good thing too because come 4pm I was in no shape to cook a meal; way too tired from all that unpacking! The sun was shining brightly though so I decided to make some Corn Bread – well, Corn Bread Muffins because I was free to use the hot water on account of the combined power efforts of the wind turbine and the gorgeous sunshine!
I did take a lil break from unpacking today to go and burn some of our card board boxes, the most notable one being the box from my original iMac. That box has been to Australia and back, TWICE! Was I sad to see it go? Yea, a lil bit but I have a flash new iMac box that I can cling to now!
Whilst outside I wandered down to my future orchard and what do you know? My feet just kept walking! Bear, Sam and I did a lil route that took us close down to the field then back up to our disastrous driveway and home. While we were down by the field, Bear and Sam got a lil ahead of me when I stopped to take a photo. I was pretty focused on what I was doing and all of sudden a bush chicken burst out of the bush right in front of me! I screamed!!!! And that set Bear and Sam off….seems they were tracking a whole flock of the darn birds! My screech set the dogs and the birds off! It was chaos. Anyway, I lived to tell the tale. Continuing on up the driveway is the turn off to the boathouse; both Sam and Bear were keen to go down there too but I still, you know, had more unpacking to do.
And now, my dear friends, it is 7:30pm and it is pitch dark outside so I best get off this power hungry iMac! Good night.
After a hearty breakfast of Rolled Oats with a plethora of toppings to choose from it was time to get the day started. I got stuck into unpacking the kitchen, again. So many boxes! Ryan and Tony packed up their gear in preparation of their return to the Fraser Valley. They may have gone for a walk? I don’t know. I was stuck in the kitchen. And was thankful to be stuck in the kitchen when they actually left because, let me tell you, it was difficult to watch them go! I am so thankful that Ryan wanted to help us with our move and extremely thankful that my brother Tony volunteered to come along, lend a hand and help Ryan with all the driving of the rental truck. We could not have made the move as easily without their help.
Luke also left when Ryan and Tony left. He was taking the water bottles to be filled at the Chilko River, had to go into to Tatla Lake to set up a PO Box, and drop into the Health Clinic to find out when the mobile blood unit is there for my bi-monthly tests.
I was home alone. Well, Bear and Sam and Bill and I were home alone. I stayed in the kitchen for about a half hour after everyone left because it was easiest. I really just wanted to have a lil cry. I talked myself out of it and to reward myself I quit with the unpacking and went and got stuck into the greenhouse; so many seedlings to plant!!! I planted an herb garden; some cauliflower, broccolini, kohlrabi, carrots, spinach, green onions, garlic chives, lots and lots of lettuce and I think that’s it. I really wanted some lil tomato plants but the nursery I went to didn’t have any. No worries, I have seed packets and I have organic seed starter stuff so I will see how I go with that.
Unfortunately the greenhouse only took about an hour so I got stuck into unpacking the kitchen again. Bah! Would I ever see the end of the boxes?! After a few hours Luke returned from his errands and he wanted to take the dogs for a lil walk down to the boathouse. He asked if I wanted to come along; I did want to go but at the same time I was so tired. I thought I should stay home and rest. But then, I don’t know, something inside me said I should go, so I did. It was a lovely lil walk with my guys. I’m glad I went.
It was fridge fallout – oh, did I mention that we don’t even use the fridge? There is a cold room just outside the door and that is where everything that needs refrigeration is kept. I haven’t sussed out the frozen stuff yet. I will say that I am super thankful I am a Tupperware fanatic! All my stuff is in Fridgesmarts so I know everything will stay as fresh as possible for as long as possible in those babies! Yay Tupperware!! – oh yea, fridge fallout which was leftover lasagne and leftover pizza.
The other big accomplishment on Monday was getting my iMac set up. Oh, how I have missed having my computer!!! It’s all good to have your phone and an iPad but there’s something about sitting down at your computer and typing up stories! Now I just have to sort out WordPress again and you all can follow along on our journey here in Brittany Lake. In our Earthship. Where the snow DOES fly! Where we haven’t any neighbours, at all. Where the silence is golden.
After a leisurely breakfast of make-shift whole wheat pancakes, WITH Butter, mixed berries and/or syrup we got to the task of unloading the truck. What ceases to amaze me now is the fact that Luke packed the truck all by himself! With Luke, Tony and Ryan stuck into the task it took them 3 hours!!!
The guys were merciless, bringing box after box after box to the kitchen. I said, “Hey, wait a minute! If that huge table is coming into this kitchen it has to come in first!” They were quick to comply and then shoved boxes under the table as well as on top of and every square inch they could find! Now, if you know me at all, you know that I love to cook. And I love to bake. And I have every imaginable gadget and dodad to get the job done! And that, I’m afraid, means a tonne of unpacking! Only one thing to do when presented with a monumental task like that and that is to dig in and slowly chip away at it. I tried to only handle each item once; took it out of its box, gave it a wipe down (horrendous amounts of dust all over everything…you should see the 65km dirt road we had to travel to get here) and put it in its new home. I puttered away ALL day long and got half way through all the boxes.
The guys, on the other hand, finished unloading the truck and then had free time to do as they pleased. To be honest, I don’t even know what they did? They walked about the place; maybe ventured down to the boathouse? They made a great fire which I could see from the kitchen; they looked quite cozy sitting about the fire in the recliners that had been booted out of the lounge room!
For dinner I had had Ryan, (who is a saint and did a grocery shop for me on Friday night) pick up some frozen pizzas. They made the trip up to Brittany Lake in our eskie so they were actually still a lil bit frozen! I baked those in my very weird oven…well, weird to me because it is old and not so attractive; I cut up a bit of fresh veg and that, my friends, was dinner! Trust me, after a day unpacking my kitchen, the guys are lucky they got that!
Really and truly I should have taken a photo of the kitchen with all the boxes in it! Oh, I should also mention that the unpacking medley was further exacerbated by the fact that I had to clean absolutely everything! S’all good, my beautiful shiny new Norwex products helped me tackle that huge task. Oh, and I had a system in which I loaded stuff to take to the Share Shed into boxes as I emptied them; had another box for straight to the rubbish heap stuff, and a box for the packing paper. Billabong loves that box! He nestled himself in there yesterday arvo and stayed there for a good long time; this morn after I let him in after his morning constitution he went straight back into the box of paper! What a guy! Glad he found a place in which he could find comfort after the indignity of having to share the back of the truck with Bear and Sam for 10+ hours of travel on Saturday!
The drive in on Saturday was going smooth as butter but then we forgot a left turn and we ended up on Tuniah Lake’s doorstep! And let me tell you, that road was ROUGH! Right, we found a place to turn around on the goat track…no small feat in that rental truck Tony was driving- which had practically zero clearance. So we back tracked for 10 km and found the turn we had missed and were happy to do so but then we cringed at the condition of the road. Whoa! What a mess! Rutted, muddy, puddles you could call lakes; I think I am glad that soon the winter freeze will settle in and the road will be much nicer to drive on.
I was now worried about what to expect from our driveway because when we were up in September it was rough as! It was going alright but then we came upon a icky, mucky quagmire that was going to be a bit tricky. Meh, I just drove through it; the truck slid all over the place but I kept a steady foot on the gas pedal, went with the slides and we made it through. Tony is a better back road driver than me and he got through there no problems!
Right. We pulled up in front of the Earthship and spilled out of the vehicles; unloaded Bear and Sam and coaxed Billabong out with a promise that his vehicle riding days are over. Devin was introduced to Ryan and Tony; general visiting and chit chat commenced but light was fading fast so Devin, Luke and I went inside for a tutorial on how to start the Earthship up. Please don’t ask me how; I let Luke take control of that and will get a tutorial from him at a later date. As I said, we were losing light fast and I wanted to get what foodstuffs we had packed out of the vehicles and into the ‘fridge’; turns out the fridge is generally shut off in the winter and the cold room is used instead.
Whilst I was unpacking the stuff from the trucks I had the foresight to turn on the oven to cook the now not so frozen lasagnes I had brought along for our first meal in our new place. Once the food was out I moved on to the plants we had brought to start off in the greenhouse; the poor lil things had been thrown about a bit on the drive up. Next came all the bits and bobs that were thrown in; the packed up air mattresses we slept on for the last week at Peach Road. Can’t tell you how glad I was to see the end of that sleeping arrangement!!
When we were driving up I said to Luke that we ought to unload the bare necessities upon arrival and leave the rest for the morrow. Ryan and Tony were able to sit by the fire and rest their jostled bones while dinner was cooking. Bear and Sam were able to tear around to their hearts content while Bill slowly unwound from his arduous journey in the back of the truck with Bear and Sam. Shortly after a very late dinner it was lights out and bedtime. Our first Bed Time in our new home.
And it was good!