Tag Archives: Active living

by | November 13, 2011 · 11:54 pm

Weekend work

It is November and still surprisingly warm, though we get cold blasts here and there. It was entirely warm enough to work outside this weekend, which is exactly what we did. Outdoor tasks become a bit of a race at this time of year.

Tasks completed:
- protecting the trunks of the two willow trees that we planted earlier this year from a bark-defacing deer;
- spreading a layer of biochar (our recently burned brush and branches) over the largest of our garden bends;
- burning another round of brush and a bit more tree pruning;
- continuing with the expansion of our largest vegetable bed (manual digging is always first on this clay – we can’t use the tiller until that top layer has been broken through!)
- completing the roof and associated odds and ends on our tree house (photos coming soon);
- planting two dwarf lilac trees** (a steal at $10 each at our local nursery) and a smattering of tulip bulbs around their bases
- lots of cooking on the woodstove (again, an update coming shortly)

** Note: this activity invovled walking a total of 1km out to one of our fields to an old compost heap for soil and twice up a very steep hill pushing the wheelbarrow as the mini tractor-trailer was in use by the menfolk to carry supplies to the treehouse. I think I should get loads of extra points for this activity, just for the record. My thirteen-year old, however, also gets bonus points for swimming for two straight hours this evening following the day’s work; he’s studying for his Bronze Medallion and couldn’t miss his lesson.

Tonight’s reward was the final Harry Potter movie, which we missed seeing in the cinema, and a yummy fish ‘pie’ in puff pastry that I cooked up. A good weekend.

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by | September 3, 2011 · 7:00 am

Homemade, recycled treehouse, part 2

When I last wrote about the treehouse we are building with the boys out of a mix of reclaimed, recycled and new materials, here is where we stood in terms of outstanding tasks:

Still to do:
- install the roof
- install walls
- “skin” the treehouse walls in scrap metal (the boys are thrilled that the finished treefort will look more like a bunker and it will mean that we don’t have to stain or paint the walls)
- finish installing mesh screen on several window openings
- build and install a door
- find and install a slide on the “exit” side of the entrance porch
- build and install rope-handled stairs on the “entrance” side of the entrance porch
- NEWLY ADDED: install solar powered fence-post light to top of entryway post

We’re planning to make a lot more progress this weekend, but here is how things looked recently (does not reflect above work):

Partially completed homemade treehouse using two live trees and a post

At the framing stage, including windows.

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by | November 12, 2010 · 8:54 am

Trail cutting with children 101 or 7 ways to keep your head around children with sharp tools

Today is a PD day and it also happens to be a gorgeous, sunny November day (how often does that happen?), so we will spend much of the day on our land with the boys. Lately when we’re on the land we are usually doing one thing: cutting trail. The open, previously farmed, part of the land has largely been “reclaimed” by us over the past six months or so. We now have well established pathways where we need them (for the most part), have resited some fencing, have cut back loads of raspberry canes in need of renewal and are getting ready to dig new vegetable beds for the spring. Lots to be done, but it’s feeling more manageable now, and we really feel that we know it.

The other part of our land, beyond our pond, is largely made up of woods and is still a bit of a mystery to us in large part. Woods that are full of thorny shrubs and trees that just love to snag on clothing and jab you as you walk past. Running through the middle of these woods is a stream. The western slope of land that borders the woods is where bees used to be kept and a scraggly, unkempt orchard of crab apple and other apple trees now stands (another project!). Over time we have discovered some natural pathways through these woods, pathways made by deer and other animals, and we’re got a plan for clearing these in a circuit that will describe a wobbly arc around the wooded area of our land. What we want to end up with is a trail, just wide enough for hiking, exploring, cross-country skiing, snow shoeing and even cycling.

We’re about one third into this project, and can actually see progress, which always feels good in something as big as this. We figure we can continue to do trail cutting (or at least trimming back) after it snows, but we’re trying to get as much done as we can before the ground is covered this season. It’s one of the best jobs that we have, according to our boys. A reason to wield clippers, saws and cutters? Sign us up!

That enthusiasm is wonderful, as the boys are usually game to settle in for a session of trail cutting (more to the point: our youngest is ALWAYS game, while the older self described outdoorsman sometimes needs to be convinced, like afterschool when he’d rather chill and read a book; once we get him out there, however, he usually admits that he doesn’t know why he was reluctant to get going!). That enthusiasm also needs to be harnessed, of course, as we’re talking sharp tools and enthusiasm – together, in combination. Did I say sharp tools AND enthusiasm?

Everyone still has their limbs, fingers and important facial features, I’m happy to report, though if you were to find yourself anywhere nearby when we were at this work, you’d hear some dialogue that includes: “whoa, watch it!”, “ouch!” or “keep out of the way!” Our seven year old just absolutely loves to come briskly down the trail brandishing a young tree that has just been cut down, its length easily triple his own, and good luck to you if you’re in the way.

Now, before you get the idea that we take it all on the chin and have scant understanding of safety measures, let me tell you how we approach this shared family task:

1. Hot chocolate and appealing snacks are essential. When we’re back in the woods for this task we are quite a hike from the new house or the berry shack (our only base until the house took form, and essentially a toolshed with an adjacent firepit).

2. Large distances between family members are non-negotiable unless two people need to be sawing something or looking at something together. These distances do fluctuate and require fairly constant monitoring by the parents, but it’s a system that avoids quite a lot of trouble. Not all, but quite a lot.

3. The youngest family members need time to use their tool of choice, even if they don’t use it as handily as some of the more experienced members. Even if someone, like, just say, Dad, is practically at the point of tears because he’d really like to use his best handsaw before it gets dark (oh, I jest)! (May I add that it helps that Mum – that’s me, in case you were wondering – has no particular attachment to any tools or about which task she is assigned on any given day…)

4. Further to point 3, above, multiples of the same tool are really ideal, but as funds are limited, we’re getting there by degrees. Don’t think that isn’t on the agenda, though.

5. At some point, the children will completely deviate from the agreed path and start clearing or exploring somewhere else. They will come back, but this isn’t really a problem. In fact, sometimes it is to be welcomed.

6. We try our very best to stop BEFORE there are signs of fatigue, squabbling, hunger or just general weariness. That’s a “try”, mind you; as with point 2 above, it avoids a lot of trouble, but not quite all trouble. Thankfully, it usually ends quite well, and most of us accept that the youngest will suddenly develop an inability to carry tools back at the end of the session. Still not sure what brings on this strange condition, but we recognize it…

7. Hot chocolate and appealing snacks are essential. (Am I repeating myself? No – this point is so important that it really is two points.)

I’d better go make that hot chocolate…

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by | October 12, 2010 · 1:47 pm

Things I’ve learned about children, or at least my children

Children in general are a constant source of amazement, but it’s always incredible to me how my own kids keep me on my toes (and not just with breaking up sibling battles). In the six or so short weeks since we uprooted our family from our well trodden (and cycled), much loved west Ottawa neighbourhood, I’ve been confounded in mostly good ways by things like:

- having children who want to pull over to the side of the road to properly enjoy a beautiful sunset or watch a flock of wild turkeys going about their business (I’ll never forget to smell a rose with these two around)

- discovering that my 12 year old was actually thrilled to be forced to take up a musical instrument at school; he now regularly brings home his trumpet, by choice, in order to get in ample practise time (the not so surprising downside: he likes to appear around corners and blast unsuspecting souls out of their peace and quiet)

- pondering why it is that this same child had to browbeaten and nearly forcibly restrained by myself and our (new) family doctor in order to receive a small, quick injection when (a) he had a week before received an inoculation at school (also a needle!) with no adult intervention required, indeed no fuss of any kind and (b) he has in the past watched with fascination when he has had to have blood taken

- related to the above point, how it is that this same child is absolutely fearless about taking the controls of a small aircraft himself (I know, fears are weird and intensely personal)

- remembering how quickly family upsets and arguments disappear when you are seven or 12 (and how important, as an adult, it is not to simmer over these things)

- being reminded of how a person can be a wonderful bundle of contradictions and wildly differing interests that somehow coheres because, that is simply who they are. Case in point: the same 12 year old who has read every book our library holds on WWII and loves movies with war themes and indeed any kind of explosion, was transfixed by the wonderful cooking movie/chick flick Julie&Julia and happily joined me in a post-film cooking binge this past weekend

- realizing that our seven year old, who finds the school day long and exhausting, usually has the best solution for unwinding at the end of each day and that this solution doesn’t require help or input from others, including Mum (and it usually involves playing alone for what seems like hours in the sandpit outside)

- noticing that the same seven year old can talk about what he misses about our old house or his old school without it being a big deal…I stiffened the first time he said “sometimes I wish we hadn’t moved” until I realized it was all just a part of a necessary process of disconnecting and remembering and that every other indicator shows just how happy and settled he is in our new community (and our temporary home)

- having the above reinforced when we were walking on our land recently and the same child looked up at our (nearly completed) house on the hill and said (something like, though not exactly – I didn’t have the tape recorder out) “I can really see what it will be like to live in our new house, and I really like it – it wasn’t quite real before, but it is now.”

- noticing that children actually enjoy good physical labour outside, as long as the parents work to keep it sufficently accessible and reasonably fun (okay, so buying a ride-on mower/tractor was one of the better choices we made this year, but the manual tools are surprisingly popular as well)…this one is huge is you want your children to come along with you in rebuilding a small farm or any other big family endeavour requiring work. Reminding ourselves of the long view and the bigger picture has been constantly required this year, but it feels like it’s been worth it and the short term sacrifices that we’ve made (ie like moving more quickly and getting more projects done on the land).

These observations and revelations are all the more heady for me as there were times in this past year when I really thought “what are we doing?” The whole process of disengaging from our old house was long and drawn out and everyone in the family was thoroughly fed up with the business of selling it by the time we did. Moving was and has been stressful, and we’re not done yet. Commuting (which we have to do temporarily until we’re in the new house) sucks and I can’t understand people who choose to do it (for those who have no choice, you have my profound sympathies). Figuring out all of the ins and outs of joining a new community is fairly exhausting. Making decisions about the new house and land have been all consuming. But we’re here and it’s feeling good.

For a while I felt like I was repeatedly checking to make sure that everyone still had their limbs and was breathing (myself included), but we’ve moved beyond that. We’re not even in our new house yet and we have already established some of those much needed routines and rituals. For all of that, I’m thankful.

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by | June 3, 2010 · 7:14 pm

And here are the photos from bike camping

I knew I’d eventually get our photos organized. Just a couple to record how we hauled our gear on our recent bike camping weekend with the boys.

Boy hauling bike trailer with camping gear

Our 12-year old hauling the old bike trailer stuffed with the heavy stuff

Fully loaded with younger son and full-to-the-brim panniers

...and the all important rear view of the trailer

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by | May 28, 2010 · 5:00 pm

Bike camping with kids

Last July I posted on my other blog, Car Free with Kids, about bike camping with our children (now 7 and 12). This past long weekend we decided it was time to do it again.

The distances are not huge (we did about 60km roundtrip over the weekend) and the destinations are not mind blowing (the Ottawa Municipal Campground and Stittsville), but there is something hugely satisfying about getting four people and the stuff needed for camping to a campsite by bicycle. It’s that having-to-work-for-your-fun, for which I am a glutton. Well, it’s more than that, as we truly love cycling, but you get the idea.

This year our now 12-year old decided that he wanted to haul the trailer in both directions (last year he proudly brought it home, my husband having pulled it to the campsite), which he did handily. My husband pulled me out of the lead twice, reminding me that I was setting too fast a pace that our very motivated son would try to match. Oops.

A quick recap on our approach to packing for camping on bikes:

- we packed up an old biking trailer (intended to pull one or two small children) with most of the heavy gear, including tent, thermarests, sleeping bags, small water jug, cooking pots, and food items

- we packed our personal items (essentially a change of clothes, pjs, toothbrush, flashlights, a book or two and some small cars for our youngest to play with) in four panniers, with a few overflow items (sunscreen, water to drink on the way, etc.) going into a much smaller fifth pannier that my older son carries

The ride out to the Ottawa Municipal Campground from where we live is only around an hour, but it was hot and we were lugging things, so it tends to feel a bit longer. My panniers are on the front of my bike as the rear tandem attachment on which my younger son rides won’t accommodate panniers. The steering, when I’m packed that heavily, gets pretty wonky and it all just takes more effort. We crossed the first large intersection near our home only to meet up with a motorist who thought he’d cut across our right-of-way (we were going straight across on a green light, he was supposed to be waiting to turn left across traffic). When I gave him a funny look he shouted out “Hey, I’ve got a green light lady!” Um, you have a green light? A green light just for sweet, innocent old you? And never mind the rules of the road? Oh, pardon me.

Sheesh. Our children have become very used to witnessing the puerile transgressions of adults as we get about on bikes. It never fails. Anyway, we moved on, quickly.

May I say again, as I did last year, what a monster hill faces anyone cycling to the Ottawa Municipal Campground at the end of the ride? It’s gigantic. A breeze in a car or an RV (and frankly, these are the vehicles that tend to frequent this campground, as it’s essentially an affordable form of accommodation for people visiting Ottawa), but on a bike, especially a fully loaded one pulling gear, it’s a trial. Oh, and did I mention how hot and muggy it was? We walked most of it, but our 12-year old son insisted on riding the last bit so that he could truly say that he arrived on his wheels.

Once there, we made our way down to our campsite at the far end of the campground (ie furthest away from the noisy highway) and got busy setting up camp. Our 12-year old quickly ditched the gear in the trailer so that he could make the run up to the camp store for wood, which is probably his favourite part of the whole trip. Just as we finished putting up the tent the skies opened up and we scrambled to put up a makeshift tarp over our cooking/eating area (having jettisoned our large tarp at the last minute!). Suppertime was a bit of a soggy affair, but that rainshower was the only precipitation called for over the weekend and we knew we were in for “hot and sunny” for the rest of the time.

Last year we just stayed for one night, but this year with a long weekend we opted to stay for two. There isn’t really enough to do at this campground for two to three days unless you really do just want to hang out by the climbing structures, play in the splash pad and stretch out the campfire thing for as long as possible (there isn’t a lake or river, no incredible walking trails, etc.). If we were going to stay for two nights, we knew our middle day was going to be spent cycling further. We decided to finally explore some of the Ottawa Carleton Trailway (a relatively flat former railbed that runs between western Ottawa and Carleton Place) and made Stittsville our destination.

It was hot and the ride out felt longer than it really was (we all kept commenting on how short the ride back to the campsite felt), but it was a real eye opener. We loved the cooler ride in the woods between the campground and where the bike path joins up with the Trailway in Bells Corners and spent ages looking at a tree that was completely festooned with tent caterpillars and their webs. The Trailway itself was much hotter being out in the open under the glare of the sun (and we were riding at midday, very cleverly). We stopped for water breaks frequently and just shy of Stittsville we parked under some trees and read a chapter of our current family book together. It’s the little things like that which really make these kinds of outings fun.

Once in Stittsville we searched for somewhere to eat on a Sunday and pulled up outside a wonderful greasy spoon and quickly parked our bikes. Hot and hungry, we sank gratefully into a booth and proceeded to wolf down a late lunch in the form of an all-day breakfast. So good! And we ordered seconds!

While we sat there, we lamented the loss of the railway that used to run between Carleton Place and Ottawa that we’d used to get to Stittsville (which is now really just an extension of Kanata, which is weird). While it’s wonderful that we have this neat bike path that connects us with these more rural spots outside of Ottawa, it’s so crazy that the railway is gone. We need sustainable transport methods now more than ever, and we deep-sixed them long ago. It would be impossible to reclaim this pathway for rail track now; the owners of the hundreds of homes that back onto the Trailway would object loudly and it would never happen.

All of this got us talking about the fact that when you don’t have cars in the picture, when you are using your own steam (whether that’s walking, cycling or even catching public transport), you think much more carefully about what you can do and how far you will go.  Getting to Stittsville by car is laughably easy; on your bike on a hot day from Ottawa with kids in tow, it’s a real outing. It’s commonplace for families to drive out to all sorts of destinations on the weekends and we used to do the same, but it’s harder for us to do that when we think about the impact it has. And I’m not advocating that everyone suddenly stay home…just that we think a bit more about where we’re going and how we get there.

Shouting at our government to bring back trains would be a good  idea too. An entire era of going to the beach or other rural destinations by train or tram died many decades ago, and we lost a lot of our sense of community when that happened. We’re now cocooned in our cars, prone to entertaining our kids electronically and missing out on what’s just outside our windows.

Ranting aside, there is a lot to recommend the kind of weekend that we just enjoyed. It was cheap and simple to do, and everyone pitched in to make it happen. The weather was fine and we loved the time hanging out together, totally unplugged. We arrived home, much as we did last year, feeling good about what we’d accomplished and with some nice memories. Once again the camera didn’t come along due to space and weight restrictions, but we took a few shots of our gear just before setting off which I’ll try to post later.

And a postscript: our older son, who did an even longer bike camping trip with his Scout group the previous weekend (from Fitzroy Harbour Provincial Park west of Ottawa), and who lives for the outdoor life, decided not to go for three-in-a-row and camp with his Scout group this weekend. Even though they are driving this time, I think he’s feeling a bit pooped after two consecutive bike camping weekends!

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