All the creatures

I can't decide if it feels like we've been here a short time or a long time.  It's still so new, but there are  evidences of things we've accomplished, so we must have been here for a while.  The beans are poking through the soil, the trees are tidy, the kitchen cupboards are full (and the boxes mostly empty), and there are construction noises (and country music) coming from the basement.

I've not before ever really been forced to think of things from the ground up, from the beginning.  We're only skipping a few steps from the pioneers!  We have to sort out where and how we get water, power is not not to be taken for granted, and nature often seems less like an enjoyable companion and more like a constant foe, a sentiment I've read about but never previously understood.  Our power went out three times last week, every time it rained - inconveniently the time we want heat, and cups of tea and to spend cozy time indoors. Rain here is not like Calgary and I am constantly being disappointing that it doesn't just pass in 20 minutes.  How strange. On the bright side though, I've had less garden watering to do.

We've also been fighting the creatures that have an unwarranted sense of entitlement to our house here; the squirrel and mice, as well as those that are proving to be pests outdoors: gophers and woodpeckers.  Gophers are a threat to the garden, woodpeckers are mercilessly destroying some of our trees.  The mice are an ongoing battle and we have recently had a few conversations with the squirrel that so far have been fairly polite. This may have to change soon.  Our ears are very keen now to household noises, and squirrel noises have us up running around the outside of the house checking for access holes or a glimpse of the creature and stomping on floors or playing predator noises off our phones. It's our new morning and sometimes evening routine; squirrel listening, chasing, and hole plugging.

I shouldn't make it sound like it's all bad, animal-wise. We have a pleasant proliferation of frogs (but they are just similar enough in size to mice to seriously spook me after dark) and today for the first time we saw some hummingbirds at the feeder we put up! Hummingbirds are wonderful! We also have many birds (although I have no idea what they all are) and in the morning they are gloriously jubilant in their song.

In terms of action on the house, our casual pace has been hastened by the anticipation of the arrival of friends in a week. Something I am greatly looking forward to! So there is a push towards a deadline for getting the water all hooked up. It's what Jeff's been focusing on his week and what he's working on with fervour today in the basement.  The pieces just need compiling, but it's more than an ikea project. It will take a couple days and would be made easier by a plumber.

I have been working on some smaller cleaning and organizing tasks and looking longingly at the old pallets in the yard, thinking of shelving for our clothes. That's my new push, and once I'm done with the other things I may just try and tackle building something myself.

The other night we had a particularly calm evening and Jeff and I were out after dark enjoying  the summer stars - peeking from behind the trees, tucked around the house and stretched into the expanse past the road. It was lovely.

By a small town where we found a good deal on a mattress

We also had an enjoyable time at the fair (Jeff's niece and nephew are in the photo on the green blur)