Month: July 2013

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Preparing For a Time Machine Journey

“Some people say that there are no more frontiers left for us to conquer. But then again, some people still go out into the wilderness in search of their dream.”

I think that anyone who’s read this blog since the beginning knows I have a serious fixation on the late 19th century. There are two things I’ve always wanted to do that tie in to that era.

One was accomplished on 17th July, 2010, when I summitted the Chilkoot Pass.

The other will unfold in the next week. Tomorrow, I am traveling deep into the Saskatchewan grasslands, into the very heart of the prairies, and am joining a wagon train!

We will be setting up a base camp, traveling during the day, and returning to camp in the evening. This wagon train happens every year in different areas and sometimes they move camp each day, but this year the style is more that of multiple scouting expeditions. I don’t care how we do it. I am going to get to ride a horse and travel alongside wagons through the prairies!

When Charles and Caroline invited me to join them for their yearly gathering, it was planned that I would travel in their wagon or walk beside it. But a friend of theirs got wind that I know how to ride and has arranged for a part-time horse for me. So I will get to try all three modes of transportation.

This will be my first true vacation since the Chilkoot where I will have to disconnect completely. I’m not even bringing my iPad. The only concession to technology will be my digital camera. So check back Monday the 15th for news about my adventure!

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Energy

It’s been a very full and active day under yet another broiling Saskatchewan summer sun. Once I had water, it was time to do laundry, mounds and mounds of it (and I’m not done yet). I got into a routine of getting hot water from the exterior shower and carrying it in a bucket to the WonderWash and then filling my new water jug with cold water while I spun the clothes. The outdoor shower is very slow, so having water in the jug made rinsing quicker. It sounds like a lot of work but, really, it’s less than traipsing across town to borrow someone’s washing machine.

During the day, I also worked a little more on the genset and reattacked my weeds.

Last night, I went over to Laura’s to drop off some internet research I did for her and asked her about a trash barrel she had promised me. She said that she needed to find a guy with a truck to haul away the branches in and covering it and then I could have the barrel. The branches would go to the ‘pit’ somewhere near the community hall.

Truck? Waitaminute, don’t I have one of those?

(When I got home, I was holding a flower pot with soil in it for transplanting my tomatoes and was just finishing that up when Isaiah and Grace stopped in for a quick chat. My “I’m a real homesteader now that I’m growing my own food!” quip as I held my tiny tomato plant was good for a laugh. Isaiah says that I’m fitting right in, ie. that my yard is starting to look cluttered (and yet, it’s very neat. I just need a shed!).)

Late afternoon today, I emptied out the truck and headed to Laura’s where I filled the bed with as many branches as possible. Then, I had to find the pit. I suspected that it would be near the vehicle graveyard and I was right! Just before the graveyard, there is a rutty track that leads straight down to a pit where everyone throws their branches. I backed down there and unloaded the branches, then almost spun out trying to get back up. Note to self, you do not have a 4×4.

I repeated the exercise twice (learning to jam the gas pedal and then quickly clutch into second), clearing away all the branches, then I went back for my well-earned trash barrel! A truck is so perfect for life out here, gas mileage be damned, and the property was definitely a factor in getting Moya.

I was just about to go take my shower (hallelujah) when I remembered that I had to put stuff back in the truck. So I went back out to sweep it, then put in the mats and made up the bed in preparation for leaving on Sunday.

What’s interesting about all this is that I had the energy to do it. Since I arrived on the beach early this year, the heavy shroud of fatigue that has plagued me for years, well before I started RVing, began to lift. Even though I’m still sleeping like crap, that doesn’t stop me from having an active day. Just a year ago, there is no way I would have gotten the truck cleaned today. I would have been glued to my lounge chair and even taking a shower would have seemed like an insurmountable chore. I’m not sure what’s changed except that I started to cut back on sugar as a new year’s resolution….

Life is so much easier to live when you’re not experiencing it as though swimming through a sea of molasses!

Needless to say, I earned myself a hearty dinner tonight and my body demanded some rice after all that exercise. Dang it was tasty! 🙂

The earth is dry and dusty here… but where we’ll live there’s a winding stream and the grass on the gentle hills around it grows high and rich and green. It’s the plot of land you’ve dreamed of.

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Haven With Water! (Sort Of)

The city worker came out really this morning, about 9AM, and was very nice! He told me that while there are utility maps floating around, they have been proven inaccurate and there is no way to know for sure that I have access to the water main without digging deep. He thinks it could be thousands of dollars to get a water tap! I think it could be cheaper than that if I find someone with a digger, but anyway, the point was he didn’t think I could have a tap in the near future unless I wanted to shell out big bucks. Bummer.

That said, he had been informed by the gals at the RM that I am now on the garbage route and that I will be billed for water, so he came prepared. He opened up a public tap about 300′ from the rig. It spewed out thick orange water for about five minutes, then it ran clear and cold. We strung out my super long green hose then added the sections Laura had given me. It was just enough! I also had a length of white hose I could have used, but I prefer to only use that when I’m hooked up to truly potable water.

The low water pressure coupled with the distance meant it took a full hour to fill the on board tank. Moreover, the hose crosses a couple of properties, so I need to move it when I’m done so that the mowers don’t get at it. Therefore, this is not super convenient, but it’s better than hauling jugs! My water heater is running and I am going to have a wonderful shower tonight! 🙂

I’m using the rest of the hauled water to start on my laundry today. I’ll see how far I get. I have MOUNTAINS to do and no pressing work today, so I might as well get at it. I definitely have work tomorrow.

It’s nice to know just how efficient the RM staff is! And here is another example. Tuesday morning, I opened the front door and noticed that the garbage bag that had been on the stoop the night before was gone. Tuesday is garbage day. The holiday had messed me up a tad and I forgot to bring my bag up to C&C’s on Monday night and figured that it was no big deal as I could put the trash next to my curb as of next Tuesday.

I was deeply curious about who grabbed the bag seeing as you really have to be looking at my stoop, ideally with binoculars, to see what’s on it, I’m that far from the roads. Anyway, the water guy said that he had spied it and snatched it! Wow! Talk about service!

Being able to have a shower tonight made me want to get down and dirty with my genset again today (I am now completely filthy and look like a heathen).

I am getting really close to isolating the non-start and it’s near the spark plug. So even though the spark plug looks good, I’d be best to replace it. Wish me luck finding one. Figuring out how to install will likely be easier. 🙂 It’s so frustrating that it sparked the other day and I’m cursing myself for attempting to start it without enough gas on board. I might have missed my only chance. 🙁

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Baked Under a Prairie Sky

aSummer is in full force in southern Saskatchewan!

This morning, I heard some commotion at the front door and found this cheeky little fellow taunting my boy:

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He was not timid! I opened the door and he just hopped down a step. I had to grab Neelix by the scruff of his neck as he was ready to bound out after his prize!

After finishing my work for the day, I headed to Willow Bunch to get some produce, more gas for Miranda’s tank, and also to check in with the RM office about getting garbage pickup and a water tap.

It was a bad day to be on the road east since they were grading. Thank goodness I have a truck!

The gals at the RM office recognized me quickly from my emails. They will bill me for garbage and water until November 15th. As long as I can find a trash barrel, I can put my trash at the curb for pickup next week!

As for water, they said that they will send someone over tomorrow to talk to me about it. *all appendages crossed that he shows up*

The Willow Bunch Co-Op had some really nice produce, so I was quite pleased and filled my basket to the brim with the best of summer’s bounty.

I stopped at C&C’s on the way home to pick up some lettuce and green onions from their garden, and then went to work on the generator.

It would not spark again as it did the other day. I am so frustrated with manufacturers who don’t consider maintenance work. I went through the troubleshooting guidebook I got from Onan at the seminar and traced the non-spark to a section that is not accessible without pulling the entire genset unit. It has a two-part cover that is bolted and screwed in areas that you can’t get out with standard sized tools.

I am so irked to have gotten that far: oil good, fuel line clean, carb spic and span, air filter clean, 12V power getting to the unit and to not be able to clean and tighten some leads near the brushes!

I may tackle that bolts and such again tomorrow. By the time I realised how much elbow grease was going to be needed, it was way past dinnertime and I was getting the shakes.

When I saw a doctor in Lethbridge way back in the summer of 2012, I got the first full workup of my life and still the doctor could not figure out why I was just plain exhausted all the time and had been for years, which meant stress wasn’t the answer. He suggested that as soon as I had a two-week window of time with no social commitments, I should go on an elimination diet of no wheat, soy, dairy, yeast, and eggs to rule out a potential allergy that could be sapping my energy.

Well, the summer of 2012 at my mother’s was no place to try such a diet. Nor was fall and early winter in Hampton Roads, what with the holiday season. And neither was later winter and early spring of 2013, what with all my social commitments! I finally got a window of time after my Kelowna expedition.

So birthday cake on Friday notwithstanding (and this wasn’t a gooey sort of cake, but rather a lemon bundt), I have been off not only wheat, dairy, soy, eggs, and yeast for a solid week, but also all carbs except fruit, and no caffeine either. And I haven’t felt this good EVER. I’ve had no bad days at all and no withdrawal symptoms, and I haven’t had this much energy in all my life! I never ever thought I would get on the low-carb bandwagon, but something in my diet had to change and apparently that was it.

All that to say, I was thinking the other night about what to put in a tuna salad to make it creamy without using dairy and the answer came to me quickly: avocado. So tonight I whipped up some guacamole (with a Willow Bunch-purchased avocado), mixed in a can of tuna, and served a scoop of this over C&C’s lettuce and some delicious cherry tomatoes:

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Dinner was as tasty as it looks! I make my guac with lots of lime juice and garlic, so it is very flavourful and a perfect complement to the bland tuna.

Later, I will treat myself to a bowl of fresh local raspberries!