Feels like fall today as it is the first day since spring where wool socks, slippers and a light sweater are needed. The overnight temperature last night was 12C, a far cry from the 30C+ we had been enjoying/hating. I dislike hot and humid sooooo much, and loved having the duvet quilt on the bed last night.

Heard Canada geese flying overhead this morning, and the loons are still on the lake, but won’t be long before the only birds here are the ravens, chickadees and gray/blue jays.

We’ve had a very busy summer tweaking a few things. For starters, our former propane fridge went kaput and replaced with a brand new solar fridge. What’s great, the old propane fridge used about one pound of propane per day while the solar fridge uses zero. The only thing using propane now is the stove. Happy that our propane fill up will only occur once maybe every second year.

Another big step for us is that we get our water to the house in a more efficient way. We have submerged a pump in the middle of the lake. No longer will we have to auger a hole in the ice, drag a pump and hose and connect in winter. Nope, now we just have to plug in a cord to the generator to melt any snow within the new hose, and within minutes, water can run from the lake directly the house.

Disappointing that this year, I didn’t get the greenhouse up. It was to be setup to the right of the house. We cleared some trees, got the ground prepared for the greenhouse, but then one thing led to another and it just didn’t happen. Next year lol.

We did clear a lot of trees this year…trees that had the potential to fall on our solar panels. Unfortunate we had to cut down 60 foot trees, but we learned that lesson last year when a tree crashed down on our panels and caused $2,000 damage. We depend on solar for electricity…so it’s a big deal. And, big benefit of clearing a few dozen trees is we get more sunlight hitting our panels.

We’re coming up on our third winter and still loving it. I’d love to be more remote, and continue to look at other properties, but for the time being this feels like home. Last year we were lucky to put in a low bid on another property 600 metres north of us. I heard the previous owner accidentally burned his house down, and had just built a huge garage. Garage is about 1000 square feet, and has been the perfect getaway for John from me (haha) and storage.

John loves to tinker with stuff, repair & maintenance of vehicles, atv’s and tools. Garage will be perfect for storing our camper. The property also has another shed and lots of storage for firewood.

Now that the temperatures are cooling, I can get some canning done over the next month or two. Hunting season is coming up as well, and I have a lot of practice hikes. Before long, winter will be here, and I’ll need to make the drive to the closest town to use the treadmill at the local gym to keep in shape.

John and I will begin the drive to Georgia early March so I give the Appalachian Trail another try. We’re booked for a couple nights at a lodge at Amicalola State Park, then I’ll head out and John will begin the 1500 mile drive home. Fingers crossed no injuries this time.