Archive for January 2013
Well Done
We had a good day yesterday, on the ranch. Cyndie and I were lounging in the recliners in the sunroom, contemplating a plan for our day, weighing many optional tasks we have in mind. We’ve been meaning to finish cutting a trail in the southwest corner of our woods, but leaning back in our chairs, it was almost too easy to save that work for another time. We set that one aside and put thought toward other errands.
Luckily, we are flexible in our planning, and the activity in the woods came up for second review and won our favor. It gave me my first opportunity to try out the chainsaw that Mary and Tim loaned me to allow me to have some experience from which to make a more informed purchasing decision. Mary, tell Tim it worked great for me! I think it is just the right size for our needs.
It was warm enough that we worked without jackets which helped to allow us to get a trail cleared just as the predicted afternoon winds started to pick up. The arctic blast was on its way. That allowed us to snug in and build a fire in the fireplace. I got creative and found a way to listen to the broadcast of the Gopher hockey game against North Dakota. This morning, the temperature is -2°F. We will probably work on indoor projects today.
I didn’t get any pictures of our work on the trail, but on the way up the hill to the house, I turned around and captured Cyndie walking up behind me. She got me back by pulling the camera out when I was celebrating a goal by the Minnesota hockey team.
Melting Winter
Yesterday, the temperature in the region soared. Driving home from the day-job in the Cities provided a view of the changing landscape as the snow cover peeled back to expose the earth beneath. I got a hint of what spring must be like around here. It is invigorating. At the same time, the warmth makes me wonder if I am living in a time when the climate will shift dramatically enough to alter what lives and dies here.
Will we be able to grow things that previously couldn’t survive the long, harsh winter? Will it become so warm and dry that we will no longer be unable to grow things that used to thrive here? It’s hard to imagine, but with the last year being the warmest since records have been kept, I find myself closer to accepting the possibility.
I suppose that our plan to take on the responsibility of feeding and watering horses might be contributing to my thoughts on the subject. Are we trying to create a life here at a time when “here” is changing to the point of making that life more difficult to support? Well, maybe the changes will make things easier in ways that balance the things that get harder. We’ll take advantage of that.
Today, they are predicting that our current warm spell is to be short-lived. Temps are expected to dive tomorrow, and by Monday become the coldest of the season. The problem that this scenario unleashes is that our insulating snow cover disappears with the high temperatures, and then the frigid blast sends the hard freeze ever deeper into the ground. This kind of weather pattern does not bode well for dreams of being able to grow warmer zone plants here any time soon.
I don’t think there is much hope that we will be able to grow camellias like Ian has in his forest garden, even though there are hybrids that have been released in the U.S. that are expanding the range into warmer zones. When the arctic region stays above freezing, then maybe our growing zone will become the 7-9 that supports these hybrids. We currently show up as being zone 4b. We are too close to those blasts of polar air that bash us like someone left the door open to Canada every so often.
I’ll keep my hopes on the local farmers being able to successfully grow healthy crops of horse-hay, and our pastures staying green, no matter how hot and dry our region becomes. I probably won’t be building many igloos, but I might want to look into a way to collect any snow that does fall, to save the moisture content in a cistern for summertime droughts.
Perfectly Special
Cyndie and our Realtor, Patti, walking the property on our very first visit here.
When Cyndie and I were on the hunt for horse property late last summer, our priorities became evident after walking just the first two showings our realtor took us to see. It wasn’t the house that mattered the most. By the third property, as the realtor headed to unlock the front door, Cyndie and I were headed the other way, in opposite directions. She would be looking at the barn and I would be surveying the land.
We wanted enough acreage to support 4 horses, and facilities already in place to shelter them. A house for us was something we both already had history managing, and felt we could take care of, or fix up, whatever building was on our perfect choice of property. This land in Wisconsin was in our sights from the first moment we began watching properties. It was just the right size and had a barn that was ready to go. The fact that the house was an incredibly beautiful log home was well beyond our dreams and wishes.
Since the time when snowy cold and darkness of winter settled upon us, we have been spending more and more time snuggled inside the house. In fact, just the other day we were talking about the fact that we have yet to make any strides toward organizing and setting up the barn in preparation for its future residents. Meanwhile, we continue to tweak things around the house. It is, quite simply, an incredible, charming, invigorating, inspiring, comforting domicile that is somehow both energizing and calming at the same time.
As special as this house is, we find it even more so, because of the fact we were not looking for anything along these lines, during our hunt for horse property.
Enjoying ourselves immensely here, I think I’m still in a little bit of shock over the dwelling, and will look up at a door or other small feature and just feel overwhelmed at how perfectly special it really is. It is humbling. And, it is a joy to behold.
Unknown Outcomes
I used to live in the suburbs. I don’t live there anymore. Now I live on a hill overlooking 20 acres of woods and pasture, surrounded by more woods and some farm fields. I used to live in a house with one cat, but I didn’t really want to have a cat in the house.
Now I live with two cats, and reveal how fond of them I am by my feeble attempts to complain about them.
I successfully convinced my family that we shouldn’t have a dog in a place where it would always be on a leash and we would be required to pick up its excrement, not to mention that our lifestyle didn’t align with the time and availability demands of properly caring for such a pet. Now we are pondering getting two dogs. I still don’t see how we will be fitting that time requirement into our plans to be getting horses, while still working day-jobs, off-site.
Of course, the long-term plan is to grow into a system of generating income from Cyndie’s training and consulting expertise, using the horses as guides in lessons. I have no guess how long it will take to reach that goal, and even less of an idea how we will acquire and care for dogs and horses in preparation toward getting there.
Isn’t this a great adventure! If you had asked me 27-years ago, how I was going to raise two children, in the suburbs, while we both worked, and keep our marriage together, I wouldn’t have had a clue. But we did so, and are healthier and happier on the back side of that stage of our lives.
Imagine what we have in store for the next stage.
Everything Serves
We were out for our half-hour therapeutic exercise walk yesterday afternoon, when a car went past that we didn’t recognize. We could see the driver wave, and then heard a toot of the horn, expressing a friendly hello. It was pretty convincing that this was a neighbor to whom we had probably introduced ourselves in the last couple of months.
It provided a pleasant feeling of belonging. That’s valuable to us, because we still feel a bit unsettled into our life here.
Other than the walk, we weren’t outside for anything more than filling one bird feeder, and the day disappeared into a couple of computing projects we each found ourselves buried under. The reward for each of our efforts was frustratingly lacking. I accept that there will be days like this. We are each doing our best to frame it in a positive mindset, and recognize that even the struggles of the day serve a greater good of informing us. What we choose to do with the information is essential to the success of achieving our ongoing goals.
Here’s to continuing progress of health, happiness, and Wintervale projects, even after a day of not so much!
Big Accomplishment
The big accomplishment achieved yesterday is the removal of two windows from the wall between the kitchen/dining room and the sun room. Early in our days of settling in here, we felt there was potential for having those spaces opened up.
The front sun room is an add-on to what was once an outside wall. That wall had very nice windows that were meant to keep the elements out. They were the style that crank out to open. With our little breakfast table under the window, it wasn’t conducive to having the windows open, but we both were wishing the space between the kitchen sink and our breakfast table was open for passing things through, or just chatting back and forth.
Yesterday, with the help of our friends Greg and Mel, the window over the sink was removed. The result was pleasing enough that we just kept on going and pulled out the bigger window by the dining table, as well.
I feel like we haven’t been here that long, and we are making some dramatic changes, even though we were thrilled with the place just as it was when we bought it. Each step is creating an increasing feeling of the place becoming more ‘ours.’
In this shot from Thanksgiving, you can see how it looked when the windows were in place:
Latest Minutia
Today dawns with a change in weather, with the rain and fog of the previous few days ended. Overnight, it became windy and this morning we are enjoying some bursts of beautiful sno-globe snow falling. We live where winter usually means snow country, and there is nothing worse for snow-related activities than rain. There is a certain exciting drama to rain events during winter, and I admit to appreciating the thrill of that, but it really wreaks havoc on any sport or adventure that depends on the snow. Lucky for me, I don’t have any plan to be out playing in the snow cover that we have remaining.
I am saddled with the aftermath of my little cold and fever, which for me commonly means lung congestion. I end up wheezing and coughing for weeks afterward, to clear up what accumulated during the illness. I am not inspired to start an outdoor project with any gusto. I do have plenty of firewood that needs to be moved and stacked. We have a trail to finish cutting through the woods. I had hoped to try making a ski trail, and there is always the allure of building an igloo. Pretty much not gonna happen in the immediate future.
Cyndie is reviewing dog breeds again, and checking local providers, perusing what is available. We are still waiting for the arrival of materials that have been ordered for construction of the paddock fencing. This afternoon we will again be hosting visitors, who have offered to provide some labor and expertise toward chores on our list. We welcome the help.
When I was starting to come down with my recent illness, Cyndie decided we should restrict the cats from having access to our bedroom. That turned out to be easier said than done. I learned that our bedroom door doesn’t latch. They quickly learned it was easy to push the door open. Overall, I would say that they were doing pretty well at respecting our wishes, but it was proving to be an unwelcome inconvenience to us to have that door closed all the time. Last night we gave in and opened up the room to them again.
They paid us back by being total nuisances this morning, licking Cyndie’s eyelid, pushing a cold, wet nose against mine, and picking at the bed cover with their claws. Well, that’s not totally accurate: I should not be using “they” here, as these behaviors are almost exclusively attributable to the wee female, Pequenita. I think she was just so happy to be back in our bedroom, she couldn’t help herself from showing it.
That’s the latest news from Wintervale. Stay tuned to see what the weekend brings!
Relative Something 
