And so it was....

Now here is a testament as to who we are.
My lovely wife celebrated another birthday milestone in her life and so, as is the custom, there were celebrations to be made.
We headed out in the wagon to the fair city of St Albert and The Enjoy Center which is an elaborate garden / wellness marketing facility and a good way to spend a few hours.
Meeting with the kids there, we had a good time pondering and purchasing all what we needed before a group decision was made that Mother's idea of going to Timmy's for a sandwich was not in keeping with the sentiment of the day.
It was to Montana's that we then headed for a very pleasant supper with the 6 of us together, which, once done eating, led into the highlight of the day..... A trip to Value Village!!!
Make of that what you will.... but now you know.

As I was driving home today I got a call from a young fellow named Freddie, who's family were our farming neighbors for many years before we moved away about 15 years ago,
His Father (Bob) had died after some illness and he was calling to let me know about the funeral arrangements.
It was good to talk with him again and brought back memories of those days gone by.
We have known Freddie since he was a child and shared in many episodes of his life.
After the call, it occurred to me that this was the passing of the torch. Freddie and his brothers were assuming the mantle of responsibility towards their father and taking care of his affairs.
This is a profound measure of life's passage.
We don't see the calendars come and go but events like these mark time in our lives.
Bob's family were the best of neighbors to us and we remember them well.
Good people.
Sylvia and I will go to the funeral next Tuesday.

Wood, Coal & Love.

Despite the uncanny warmth of late, we are of no doubt that winter is about to deal us a blow.
A year ago we were in the -25 C range, today we are +7 C with water running down the yard.
We even sleep with the window open.
In the middle of December, that's never good but we are making the best of it.
It was therefore a pleasant trip we made down to Ryley, Ab today, on the coal run as we call it.
Dodds Coal is one of the few suppliers left these days and they are busy people. Despite the bad rap coal is getting by the media, there are many homes and businesses still burning the black stuff.
We took the truck and trailer for the last run of the winter and hauled home 1 1/2 tons to see us through with a good margin of safety should we get a blizzard or two on the tail end of winter.
Running around $80 / ton (half is the B.S. carbon tax), we still have no issues with the economy of coal. There is no additional monthly charge for administration, transmission, maintenance, etc; as with gas or electricity. It will be interesting to see what we get for the carbon tax dollars, if it's like the tire tax, we won't get anything.
Half the load is already under cover and the trailer is safe and secure from weather, so all is good.
It's amazing how quickly one can move a ton of coal with a grain shovel. Try it once.

The wood pile is doing very well in light of the mild temps and the horses have had their warm coats on only once so far, which is good as they can be a pain to keep putting on and taking off to suit the sun. The hay too is stretching well but again, we know that can change overnight so another load will be hauled early next week to fill the need when it arises. They are still picking in the field and chewing on bull rushes which keep them occupied if nothing else.

It's my lovely wife's birthday tomorrow, she's at that indeterminate age where we're all just people and the numbers don't matter.
We have fun together, we are still each other's best friend and neither passes a day without seeing the beauty in our lives.
Somewhere along the path, we chose to distance ourselves from those who lie, cheat and pursue greed.
Those with darkness in their hearts.
So we're going to have a nice afternoon out with the kids at The Enjoy Center in St Albert and declare the whole day a happy, B.S. free event.
When you surround yourself with those who embrace truth, honesty and love, darkness doesn't stand a chance.

.

The Winter Solar System...

When it's 9 degrees C on December 9th, there's something going on.
Whilst this helps shorten winter, it brings an uneasy comfort.
The lull before the storm kind of thing.
The Saskatchewan runs mentioned in the last post went well, no ills befell us this time and we have also enjoyed a Ritchie Bros auction in Edmonton over the last couple of days. No bargoons were found at this sale but I maintain "If you don't go, you don't know".
We are looking for a 53' refer trailer for our next project and finding one in reasonable shape for a reasonable price is tough.
Just as well we are in no rush.

We have done a little "Winter Reno" on our solar system, mostly to the batteries which were in need of some love, so we are now back up to our full quota of 8 batteries and added two more solar panels.
Our system is everything that it should not.
There are 350 watts of panels charging 1600 amp/hours of  8D batteries with a Honda inverter generator supplying a charger for the days with no sun. A 3000 watt inverter runs the house and despite all the corners we cut to build it, the darned thing has worked well for 2 years. We almost feel like solar outlaws as we have done just about everything that one should never do in building a system.
We even run a full size electric fridge / freezer which is a power hog and a full size front load washing machine as well as an electric dog bed warmer, yet it all works and we manage just fine.
A video is in the works on how we arrived at our present creation and what we learned along the way.
This year is our 8th anniversary of living off grid with solar power.
Some roads you venture down blissfully unaware that you will never come back. The solar road is one.

We hauled 100 gallons of water today for the cabin and the horses, this is a twice a week chore, that would be cut in half without the Naggeroos but they are here, so the water must be too.
Despite having to make the 1/2 hour round trip to town, our water bill is $10 / month so well worth the effort. A larger indoor tank would easily reduce the time commitment. Throughout the summer months we haul 700 gallons at a time (about 2 months worth) for our household use as the naggs drink from the ponds but winter cold renders that operation redundant. Everything must be inside.
We do not drink chlorinated water, we have proven to ourselves the evils of chlorine.
Another trailer load of hay will be coming in this week as well as another trip to the coal mine before Xmas to ensure we will be in good stead on both counts well into march.
We usually make these runs in raging blizzards or on sheet ice and they invariably become day long episodes in winter misery.
To be doing them in an almost leisurely, comfortable and civilized manor really is quite bizarre.
We may even have time for another cup of tea.
How nice.