Having just got in from chopping wood in the forest (hence the wild woman look complete with twigs and moss in the hair), I decided to pick some vegetables from the garden to make a good lumberjack stew, and pulled up this beauty.
Category: Homesteading
Our Adventures
Something Dead This Way Came
We’ve been away from home for two weeks, and sometimes things happen when you’ve been away. This time, it was a dreadful smell associated with the sinks.
Adventures with Awen
Well, the time finally came. We had sold the old Moody Blue, so we now had a little bit of money to deal with boat problems. We had bought the Draiocht, so that we had a reliable runabout while we were sorting out the Awen‘s engine problems. We had bought a new motor for the Awen, and that was now waiting for us in Campbell River. Ken had created an amazing jury-rigged contraption on the back of the Awen to hold the little 9.9 hp outboard that was going to help us get to Campbell River. The westerlies had calmed down at last. We were now ready to take the Awen to Campbell River and get her “repowered”.
A Bit of History
On the top of a bookshelf, not too far from where I am sitting now, is a wooden model, made by my father 20 or more years ago, of a boat named the Oliver Clark. That model was made far from the ocean, in the dry interior town of Keremeos where my father had been an orchardist. It has come a long way to return to the sea.
Meeting with a Friend
Another first for us here – we just met with an old friend from Prince Rupert who was traveling down to Victoria. Being so far off grid, it can be hard to schedule meetings with people, particularly as the Johnstone Strait crossing can be so weather dependent. It’s also rare that any of our friends from Prince Rupert are coming down to the Island. So we were “doubly blessed” by this meeting.
On the Grid
It must have been a really good summer for barnacles. When we put the Draiocht in the water this spring, she was freshly cleaned. Now, only four months later, she has multiple layers of barnacles on her bottom and leg. Looks like it’s time for another haul out and copper painting.
A Family Visit
We had our first family members visit our new home this week! What a wonderful and crazy week it was. We were both happy and exhausted when it was over, but I think the family mostly approves of our eccentric way of life.
Trail Clearing
We have family coming next week, so we really wanted to finish a project that we have been working on for some months now. We wanted to complete clearing the trail from our cabin up to the main logging road that runs above our site.
Well Digging Again!
Our well ran dry this week. Not terribly surprising, given the lack of rain. In fact, it was quite amazing how long it did last.
Making Contact
I’ve recently learned that people like us are referred to as “OTG” – for Off The Grid. Good to know that you can apply a simple abbreviation to our peculiar type of eccentricity. Almost sanitizes us!