my birthday toilet

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So, my dad has been working hard at building me a deck and an ‘outhouse’ for my new composting toilet and this past weekend, Chris and my friend Matt (Julie’s brother) installed my toilet for me – on my birthday (talk about a memorable present!).&nb
sp; There are still a few things left to do to complete the outhouse, but the toilet is in and is IN USE.  And so far so good!


Thanks Dad for the ongoing help and big thanks to Chris and Matt for spending their saturday giving me the gift of, umm…well, a shitter.  :)

Completed photos and full description of how a composting toilet works (because I know you’re all experiencing toilet jealousy now) coming soon!

city cats go wild

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Apart from my fear of coyotes snatching up one of my cats when I’m not looking, it’s been pretty fun to watch Fergus and Lola rock their natural animal instincts now that they’re living on a farm.  Lola catches little rodents and grasshoppers like a pro (she is a forest cat after all), but Fergus took a little bit longer to warm up to farm life.  That all changed this weekend though when I witnessed him track, crouch and pounce on a bunch of birds, successfully pinning one down (and killing it) right away.


Although I don’t exactly relish the idea of little birds getting killed, it is pretty neat to watch the cats do what comes natural to them (even if it means them carrying their kills into my trailer to show them off).  And it gives you a pretty clear (and scary!) idea of how NOT FUN it would be to get tracked by a big mountain cat in the wild.  It’s pretty apparent (even in domestic cats) that felines can be pretty deadly and I sure wouldn’t want a big one tracking me.

Now if only I could train them to scare off coyotes…

 

32nd birthday on the farm – mini update

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This past weekend was my birthday weekend and most of it was spent on the farm which was exactly what I wanted.  Full blog posts and photos coming soon, but special thanks to:

  • Chris and Matt C for installing my composting toilet for me…
  • Matt, Chantalle, Chris, Julie, Matt C and Stephy for helping me break in the trailer with candles, birthday medleys, food, wine and games…
  • Julie for hosting her famous sunday morning pancake brunch…
  • Baby Kai and Baby Canaan for the living room dance party (aka bicep workout)…
  • And Tommi and Cary, Tony and Marlene for the excellent farm advice and feasting visit!

It was the perfect weekend and I couldn’t be happier about the fact that I’m spending the next year of my life undertaking this farming adventure with these amazing people on this beautiful piece of property.  I love you all!  xoxo