babies harvest herbs in the circle of the sun,
circle of the sun on harvest day.
babies harvest herbs in the circle of the sun,
circle of the sun on harvest day.
clouds to the north, clouds to the south,
wind and rain to the east and the west.
babies harvest herbs in the circle of the sun,
circle of the sun on harvest day.
Working on the house has been slow going! Husband-guy put up the little deck that faces the big trees out back. It’s really beautiful but is currently jammed up with scaffolding. Which means the building wrap will go on soon. Also the last windows went in which you can see in that photo. It’s lovely because there’s no wind inside but oddly, they get fogged up on the outside?!
We had a ’slow’ Christmas. It was lovely. Simple and heart felt. We made popcorn and rosehip garlands, lanterns and branch stars for ornaments. We made butter tarts, shortbread, gingerbread and birdseed cookies for giving and eating. We made nutloaf, stuffing and cranberry sauce, mmmm! I made rabbit stuffies, scarves, a needle book, a bread quilt, penguin slippers, felt pockets, and play blocks from our own maple branches. Out of all this making there was only one re-do. I adore the branch wall hooks that my husband-guy made me - they are so precious to me!
It was just the four of us on Christmas day. We really needed that with all the hubbub of Advent and Christmas eve. Then the day after boxing day we packed up for four days in the ‘big smoke’ to visit and it was such sweet visiting! Though as soon as we docked in Tsawwassen, we knew that we were not ‘home’… that where our house is is home… Gabe is truly home now. That was a such a good, sweet feeling.
Life may speed up a bit now that the days are getting longer plus I’m hoping to train for the Sun Run again… but it is / was a lovely slow, hibernating and rich time. Not every day feels lovely and slow but the sense of it is there and I’m cherishing it.
Cheers.
By way of introduction, I am a fisheries biologist and mom living in a motor home with two toddlers (Liam and Aurora) and husband-guy on Gabriola Island. We bought this little piece of paradise last year, moved here last summer and are on the verge of building a small cottage. Stage One is the name I gave the motor home in hopes that Stage Two, a house, wouldn’t be too far behind. Today we received our plans for the cottage!
Almost a year ago, around the end of January, we found out that there was an opening for husband-guy on Gabriola, he’s a minister. We fell in love with Gabriola and this property. After lots of soul searching, husband guy applied for the job (why leave a good full time job that had us living close to family for a part time job away from everyone?). We felt called, that this was a place that required us to be here, to bring our very sensitive little boy for healing, to be at peace for our own healing. We couldn’t walk away from that, so he applied. He got the job, we sold our place, bought this property, bought the motor home and moved here. Yikes what a roller coaster ride!
After taking this leap in coming here, so many things fit. We have sweet neighbors and deeply good friends here already. This property has already proved healing and soothing. Although we’ve had some turbulent times in between, as we figure out how to live in this tiny space together and adjust to the calmness and peacefulness of this place.
Last summer, we (mostly husband guy) built our shed for laundry, power hook-up, and storage. Recently husband guy put deer fence up around our garden area so the makings of our vegetable garden are taking shape, although it’s a little early yet with snow on the ground still. Hope is a seed right? That’s what our cottage plans feel like, a seed that will take these dreams and grow into a home. Stage 2 here we come!