Wednesday, February 29, 2012

It's Buried In The Yard...

Or... the conversations I get to have because we live here.

Yesterday afternoon was one of those super sunny, non-artic type days that fool you into thinking spring is just around the corner.  Today, on the other hand is one of those days where it is snowing, the wind sounds like we've relocated the house directly under Niagara Falls, and it's cold enough in my house to not want to know what temperature it is outside.  However, back to yesterday! So the littles wanted to go out and play, and the littlest little needs my aid in this department. So out we went.  When Mr. Pretties got home from work we did a walk around outside, in the bush, the barn, the corn field adjacent.... you know, the usual.  So as we were doing our own thing (Mr. Pretties trying to organize the random piles of wood around the property and me complaining because I'm too fat and ackward to be milling about in the brambles) Mr. Pretties and I had the following exchange:

Me: Hey Dave, remember when I said I wanted to replace the kitchen sink with an antique cast iron one?
Mr. Pretties: Uh huh...
Me: Great! Grab a shovel, I just found one buried in the yard!
Mr. Pretties: ......................

Love it.  I think Mr. Pretties thought this was another example of my extreme sarcasm, or off the wall humour.  He did not however, think that we had an old cast iron sink stinking partially out of a bunch of tree remains at the end of our property.  I love that about having sprawling property, you just never know what you're going to find!  So far (you know, in the last month) I've come across an old wagon part, a rusted through trough, numerous rusty oil cans, an enamel pot with a hole in it, an antique javex bottle, and a stack of windows from the original barn.  And we don't spend that much time outside right now, as I said: Artic. Weather. Have I mentioned we still have not received our oil delivery?  And that we're heating this old house with only wood (okay, and two electric oil heaters, I know, bad homesteaders, bad!) which is costing us a small fortune.  Because we're dumb and keeping picking it up at the grocery store until we can find someone willing to deliver the wood here - and that appears to be no small feat around here!  We've been doing a lot of character building around here with these new situations.  So far my character is huddled in a corner beside the woodstove with three pairs of socks, two pairs of pants and four sweaters.  While debating the feasiblilty of puchasing a king sized electric blanket, making a tent out of it, and proceeding to live inside it until we find a more efficient way to heat the house.  Mr. Pretties however, has brought it to my attention that we frequently lose power in the evenings due to the wind and that in the case the heated tent would no long be a heated tent.  On to plan B!  It involves having a woodstove installed in the livingroom so that our one small stove isn't busting it's rear trying to heat the entire house, which is impossible.  It also involves and EcoFan if I can ever locate one.  I got laughed out of two TSCs last week when I went looking for one because I was in the wrong season.  Apparently I thought I was in winter, but I was mistaken because as we all know winter is over and it's time to start buying lawn seed and patio furniture. Duh!

In other news, one of our white silkies is broody again!! Hoohoo!!!

3 comments:

  1. This sounds both so freaking miserable and cool as all get out. I'm probably romanticizing it a bit, yes? But my parents used to live like this when I was a baby in an old farm house in Iowa, and I love hearing stories about it.

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  2. Gosh, sounds cold. But what of the cast iron sink?

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  3. Jenn, if you lived closer I would share our too big but warm farmhouse with you ! Don't be so hard on yourself with the homesteading thing as it is LOTS of work being self sufficient and it does not just happen overnight, Bit by bit you will learn from your successes and your faliures. It takes time !
    Any soap delivery yet?

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