LIVING OFF GRID

This blog is about our travels in our solar powered "Airstream" and living off grid, in our passive solar home, near Bancroft, Ontario, Canada.

If you have any questions send us a comment; we love to hear from our readers.
Click on pictures for larger view

Wednesday, 7 April 2021

THE GIRLS ARRIVE TODAY

 

The girls (chickens) arrive this  afternoon and I think we are ready Yesterday we added these plastic widows to the coop These came from  old greenhouse friends gave us - Prefect   

Inside we have their water bucket suspended from the rafters Their  food  container is the white tube which we fill every other day and  finally in the  corner is their sand bath To the left is their perch (stick) but it is hard to see

In their nesting boxes we placed fresh straw and on the floor we spread wood chips. The black bowl contains fermented food Mary prepared several days ago.

Like I said, I think we are ready

Monday, 5 April 2021

GETTING READY

     

This week we have 6 layers and 20 meat birds arriving. This coop will hold the layers and we have been busy cleaning and rebuilding parts of the coop. In this corner we want to have a dust bath  for the birds They love to cover themselves in sanand it helps to keep them clean.

While I worked on the bath Mary worked on the walls making sure all the fencing was tight and secure.

This was the first time I used my cordless chainsaw and I was pleased with its performance. For small jobs it is prefect.

Stay safe and well everyone and thanks for stopping by.

Friday, 2 April 2021

STARTING SEEDS

 Mary gets stronger every day and last week when we saw the surgeon he was delighted with her progress. With such good  news Mary felt she could get started on her seed planting. She worked on the porch and filled  a few trays with a variety of seeds. 

On the warm days we moved the trays outside to harden off the plants and get them ready for the gardens.

Another few weeks and we hope to transplant them into our raised garden beds. The beds are wrapped in plastic and the plants are very protected. 

Thanks for stopping by and keeping an eye on us

Stay safe everyone

Wednesday, 24 March 2021

GOOD NEIGHBOURS

 

Sometimes you need  good neighbours. 

When the road is blocked and you don't have a chainsaw that is when you call Jake. Fortunately Jake was home and we got the tree cleared in just a few minutes

Life OTG means we depend on your neighbours more than when we lived in the city. Good or bad we are thankful we have friends to call.

Stay safe and well everyone and thanks for stopping by.

Friday, 19 March 2021

PICTURES FROM CELL PHONE

 

I'm learning how to take a picture with my cell phone and then add it to my blog page. This is my first attempt and seems to have gone very well.


Lots of fond memories visiting my aunts and uncles on this farm when I was too young to drive a team of horses.

Hard to believe this was Penny just a few months go.


Today she looks like this.

Thursday, 18 March 2021

MAPLE WATER

 

Maple syrup production has started and most people have buckets or lines out. We aren't doing maple syrup this year but we are collecting maple water. It is simply the sap which we will drink as one would   a glass of  water. 


Everything is the same. We use the same equipment and tap the tree as usual.

The benefits of maple water are manyMaple water is incredibly high in antioxidants and compounds known as phytochemicals, so it is effective in providing a dose of antioxidants. Maple water has been shown to reduce inflammation and stress in the body thanks to the 46 naturally occurring antioxidant compounds in the water. 

This is just what Mary needs to improve the healing in her spine.

Stay safe and well everyone

Thanks for stopping by.

Tuesday, 16 March 2021

MAKING PROGRESS

 

Mary has been home two weeks and is making excellent progress She has been able to reduce her pain  medication considerably and no longer needs her walker to get around the house  

Next week she meets with the surgeon to discuss her progress and we are expecting  positive results

I'll write again  next week to update her progress