the small house experiment

Yes, again I am still here. We are full swing into our small home experiment and everything is going well...except for our internet connection. I think I have been able to access the internet from home three times. I am still working on that and will have lots of pictures to post as soon as the problem is solved.

In the meantime, I thought I would post a quick note.

When we moved to Nova Scotia two and a half years ago I was in a small shop and purchased a christmas tree ornament with a picture of a small (folk art style) home and it said "Love grows in small houses". I don't know why I picked that ornament considering we had just moved into a large Victorian home, but I liked it. I now have it prominently placed on our front door to remind us on those days we feel a little crowded.

I am constantly amazed at how well the project is going. Again, we have six people in approximately six hundred square feet. I have however finished a craft room/play room in my mother's basement for extra space and it is nice to have that space to go to for a change of scenery. But, I am learning that a family can exist and be happy in a relatively small space! I have been reading some interesting books lately that are happily confirming some of my lifestyle choices and making me feel a little more secure about pushing against the norms of society. I am apparently not the only one out there! I will write more about that subject soon.

I am very happy to have put up over 250 jars of canning and we have purchased a side of grass finished beef from a local farm as well as a lamb and some pork. So, our freezer is full and I have a wall of beautifully filled jars. It's amazing how happy food put up for the winter makes me...we are all longing for the day we can grow our own instead of buying...but that may have to wait a year or two. In the meantime I am happy to support our local farmers and I am enjoying learning about becoming more self reliant. The weather has been beautiful here this fall and for once I am looking forward to winter...I feel very cozy and comfortable with my family around me, my walls filled with books and good food and a craft room all ready for christmas projects!

Life is good.

unpacking and canning an interesting combination

Just thought I would post a quick note...I am still here...but I still have no internet in the house
and I am trying to repack and sort and fit everything into the cottage.

It will be good when it is done, but it is also nearing the end of canning season and so I had
to get some canning in which has meant slow going on the unpacking front!

I am still living in boxes, but I have canned dill pickles, bread and butter pickles, peaches,
peach jam, peach butter, peach butterscotch jam, peach barbeque sauce, stampede barbeque sauce,
sweet and sour barbeque sauce, ketchup (yes - I made my own ketchup and it is yummy!),
grape juice, fruit cocktail (peaches, pears, grapes and cherries), three kinds of salsa, I have also oven dried tomatoes, and frozen tomato sauce, peaches, cherries, blueberries ( I was lucky and caught the very end of the blueberries and cherries), nectarines, a few apricots (again the end of the season), watermelon (for a nice mid winter slushie), cubed tomatoes, and I think that is it so far....

today I am canning the rest of the tomatoes and drying the last few romas and then tonight and tomorrow I will tackle dilly beans and pepper jellies and then I am taking a week off to finish unpacking and then comes the apples....Fall is looking busy for me but the cottage is looking good and smelling great and I am so excited to be all cozied up for winter!

I have also ordered a side of beef and a lamb and am working on my dried fruit and nut order with a local wholesaler who brings in amazing fresh products every fall! I can't wait to find my little house on the prairie books - I think they will make great winter reading with the kids this year!

As I have been enjoying the harvest, I have been looking at farmland around me and wishing it was mine so next year I could grow my own....but I think that dream will still have to wait. In the meantime, I am LOVING the local farmers markets and orchards! I have missed the okanagan!

Can't wait to get my computer up and running so I can post some photos!

small house experiment

I am still here!

we made it across the country safely and are settling into our new home...pictures soon!

Just a quick note as we are still internetless and I am just borrowing for a few minutes.

My family and I are embarking on a new adventure.

My husband is busy working on his portfolio to apply to architecture schools in hopes of fulfilling his lifelong dream of becoming an architect. In the meantime in order to save a few dollars we have accepted an offer from my parents of their garden cottage for one year of free rent...of course this has its pros and cons as you can imagine!

Cute cottage, on my parents property (of 32 acres)....approximately 600 square feet...family of six!

So - are we crazy?

We have decided to make an experiment out of it! As previously stated my husband has always wanted to be an architect and we have both been very interested in sustainability. We decided this would be the perfect time to test: how much space does one family actually need??? Do we need mcmansions?

On our way through Canada I noticed a lot of older subdivisions, particularly in Winnipeg that had rows of tiny houses that I am sure housed large families post-war. I think we can do it. I found a christmas ornament two years ago (not long after moving into our 3000 sq. foot home in Nova Scotia) that said "Love grows in small houses"....we shall see...

Relax...

I have a few things to share today:

The first is I have finished my classes!!! I feel so relieved. This batch has been really difficult, especially with my hubby finishing off his master's degree at the same time. I ended up cramming six classes into three months, lots of work but I am finished (until October anyway)! I can almost stop and take a breath.....

The second is I have four days left in Nova Scotia. We hit our favourite beach for probably the last time yesterday and feasted on lobster for dinner. So yesterday was a great day (and it was the day I celebrated my birthday as I spent my real birthday writing an essay...not too much fun!)

And third I thought I would share a strange interest of mine. I did take one day off last week as my hubby had to head into Halifax to put up his last (for now) Halifax gallery show (he is an abstract painter). I decided to take the kids on a little adventure and clear my head a bit.

Now as I said my husband is an abstract painter, he enjoys the modern (as well as the old, but he focuses on the modern). I love the old (I am majoring in history after all - and English, but even there my love is the 19th century). My children have been to more art galleries and museums in their young lives than I had been to by the time I was thirty. Anyway, last week my boys wanted to visit the natural history museum and take in the new Venom show, which my daughter agreed to go and see (having a pre-teen girl and three young boys can make choosing where we go a little difficult sometimes!) When we arrived, it wasn't opened yet, so I decided to share my strange fascination with my children.

While we were waiting we headed across the street to one of Halifax's graveyards...

Yes, I love graveyards. Particularly really old ones. (Later in the day we discovered the even older grave yard in Halifax that closed to burials in 1844, but unfortunately by that time the battery on my camera had died...)

The graveyard we did get to photograph was pretty cool too. My kids were not too excited to begin with, but since there really wasn't anything else to do they agreed to come along without complaint. Before long though, they were as interested as I was.

They were amazed at how old some of the graves were...

and how elaborate some of the tombstones were...

Before long, they were off exploring on their own and calling each other over so we could all view their discoveries...

My boys were particularly interested in this tall stone, my seven year old called me over, telling me I wouldn't believe this one...

My sons names are William and James and they are 7 and 5. Finding a William James who died at 6 was a little bit spooky for them...which they thought was very cool.

They all also thought this one was pretty cool...

and they wondered when Harry Potter became a captain.

They also learned that some peoples lives can be very sad, like this poor mother who looks like she lost five children the same year...there were actually a lot of tombstones that listed many children. One family had eight or nine all die within about ten years.

Wandering around a graveyard may be a very strange thing to do with little kids, but I am really glad I took them. They all felt pretty good about their lives upon leaving seeing how sad some peoples lives are, they also saw many stones that had been rudely knocked over by somebody having "fun" and we had a chance to talk about respect and reverence. They also had a bit of fun learning about history and looking around and doing some detective work trying to put families together. And we all had an art appreciation lesson looking at the beautiful stonework. It was one of the most enjoyable hours we have spent together all summer and when we found out that there was an even older graveyard...they all asked if we could pleeeeeease go and see it. I think I may be passing along a strange interest...

We also went and saw my hubby's show...

 a little more modern, but enjoyable as well...although the kids were ready to go home after the first ten minutes. There is just something about history....