Picture Perfect

The sun shone brilliantly in the sky today creating a rich blue backdrop for the snow laden trees. It was a sight to behold. A perfect day. 

I grabbed my camera, pulled on my snow boots and headed out to breathe in the cool and fresh! I was surprised at the amount of snow that had accumulated and as I tromped through our back acre it crossed my mind that snowshoes would have been more appropriate. 

The landscape changes with the seasons and shadows and light and I can't stop taking the same pictures to capture it all. Our attitudes and viewpoints also shift and change, impacted by our relationships, experiences, and choices. Funny how something can look so very different from another vantage point; a subtle shift in perspective can return a fresh result. 

Something to gnaw on as I dive into a brand new year. Sharing some of my captures from our property on this picture perfect day.

A Few Good Reasons

The early morning is my favourite time. My work day starts with a drive into the glorious canvas of the sunrise. Barns and homesteads are silhouettes on the hill against the backdrop of sweeping strokes of grey, blue and orange. I resist the urge to snap a million pictures while I drive and opt to take mental captures of the beauty. There is something sacred or mystical about dawn, and witnessing the world coming slowly to life.

And now the first place I head in the morning is out to our sunroom to gaze at our pond, which is now pretty much completed. I slide open the door to listen to the sound of the waterfall and the birds that are acquainting themselves with the new addition to the property. The chipmunks have made a game of running under the waterfall and Fritz has decided that drinking from the pond is tastier than his water bowl.

Funny - the pond is completed just in time to put it to sleep for the winter. And next spring we'll have the wonderment and joy of witnessing the new plantings take root and bloom. So much to look forward to. So much to be grateful for. We really have created our own little piece of natural paradise; a place of peace.

This weekend is the Canadian Thanksgiving and our village's fall fair. The maples are already a blaze of fiery orange, yellow and red and as I sit here, the leaves lazily flutter to the ground -- living up to the name of season - fall. It's going to be jam packed weekend with two famjams and the fair. I picked apples from our tree yesterday for my apple crisp and the butternut squash sits ready to be converted to delicious soup.

Despite my best efforts to stay healthy I got the flu! It flattened me for two days and today I am finally up and about, feeling exhausted and coughing up a lung. But I am optimistic that the coughing will help clear me, and the family will be good medicine. We're all going to be together and soon our new house will be christened into a home once the laughter and chatter of our loved ones fill these walls and new memories are made.

I really don't have to look far for reasons to be grateful.

Progress

Day four of our pond escapades and it's starting to get real. When it was first dug Hubby seemed disappointed citing that it seemed smaller than he'd imagined. I got him to drop down into the hole and picture himself swimming in it. Low and behold, it seemed larger than he'd expected. Funny what a change of perspective can do.

Meandering home after work on country roads lined with corn fields, haystacks and grazing farm animals to my place of peace is a dream turned reality. The ride home is decompressing time; reflecting time; singing time (tapping rhythmically on the steering wheel and maybe a little head bobbing). And these days my prize at the end of the day is seeing the progress made on the pond, and each day, the progress is astounding.

I find myself settling into our rural life. The house is starting to feel like a comfy worn slipper - familiar and cosy. And we are all adapting to the new rhythms and routines of our family. My one hour commute is time to connect with my dad and sisters (all up before 7 am). Thursdays are reserved for dinner at Dad and Mama T's and on weekends we try to connect with some faction of the fam. We are all looking forward to sharing Thanksgiving together as most of the kids can make it. We'll all be together and the chatter and clatter will ring throughout the house. Hubby's side of the family are also having Thanksgiving with us here. Doubly blessed. Houseful of love. So much to be grateful for. And I am.

Pondering

Summer decided to hang around for a few extra weeks and the weather has been phenomenal. Crisp clean warm air and sunshine - all perfect for pond digging! Hubby has been enamored with the idea of a natural swimming pond ever since he learned about them. When we discussed selling the cottage to move to a country home, one of my requests was to have a water substitute. The natural swimming pond with its regeneration zone that cleans the water without chemicals hits all of our hot buttons. We scoured YouTube, watching every video on natural swimming ponds that we could find. They are a fairly new phenomenon here in Canada and we were lucky enough to find a local eco-landscaper experienced in building them.

After only one day, the outline of the swimming area was defined and a shallow hole was dug. Day two revealed much more progress and we could visualize the final product. Hubby worried that it all looked a little smaller than he expected, but when he ventured down into the hole, he brightened up. We will skate  before we ever swim on it... and we have to trust that our landscapers know what they are doing. I can't wait for the final product... beautiful plants surrounding a luscious swimming pond and me sitting on the end of the dock dangling my feet in the cool water.

The vision is ours to ponder - and ponder it we will; and along the way, we will be grateful for the blessings in our life.

Day 2

Day 2 landscape

Easing into Wonderful

Last summer fling

Three weeks into our life on an unpaved sideroad -- in a century-old schoolhouse - and it is finally feeling like home, and not like I'm waking up in a cosy bed and breakfast. There is still much to explore around the property and endless images to capture. Work on the natural swimming pond will be starting soon and with any luck - we'll be skating on it by Christmas.

But in the meantime we will have to dig out our tall rubber boots and be prepared to navigate the muddy mess that will be ours on the journey to our landscape wonder. No pain - no gain.

This weekend Hubby made some amazing progress on the painting, with the help of his bestie. The livingroom that was shrouded in early dungeonesque decor has been transported from dark and dingy to lightness and bright! There is still much to do, and in the coming months I will remind myself to cherish each and every moment. I am easing into wonderful, and for that - I couldn't be more grateful. 

Some reasons for my happy...

Secret canopy in wait of a hammock.

Snow apple anyone? The yard smells like a cider house.

Wetlands beauty

The edge of the property...into cornfield territory.