When we moved to our little piece of land, I had a picture in my head of what my days would look like.
I had binge watched Alaska The Last Frontier, Mountain Men, The Edge of Alaska and really anything I could find that made me feel a little bit closer to the dream I had of living the sunrises and sunsets, smelling the dirt, hearing the sounds of birds, coyotes, roosters crowing, the kids finding their adventures, wild and free, being outside and feeling that amazing exhaustion that puts you to sleep the minute your head hits the pillow.
Well, as you probably already know, life isn’t filled with dream days, but I believe the tough days, the challenging days, the sad days all help make the perfect days perfect.
So, 5 years plus, into this homesteading journey, Sunday was one of those “Perfect Days”.
I was expecting rain in the early afternoon so we got up and going right away, which is not our normal approach. We run late hours and especially on weekends move slowly.
The kids and I had been planning Father’s day, which we thought was Sunday, but really we were a week early! Everyone agreed to celebrate it as we had planned, leaving next Sunday for Summer Solstice which is a big deal in our house.
Baby Bear and Dave got outside and started a fire, I had bacon on and before you knew it we were enjoying our breakfast outside around the fire.
Fires are such an amazing gift. I remember when I lived in Banff, Alberta, I had a smelly candle that smelled like campfire. I’ve heard of people showering off the smell of a campfire, which never occurred to me that you would want to.
So, with the fire going we started our projects. Homesteading sometimes feels like that is all that it is, these projects that never end, don’t get finished, as soon as you finish one you are already behind on the next one. If you aren’t careful you can get sucked in, lose your love for the lifestyle, forget why you are doing it and feel like crying in a corner. Yes, many days, many days.
The longer we are here, the more I have learned about how to manage these projects in a way that serves us.
Mixing big projects with small ones in between for that good feeling you get by completing a project.
Nailing down time lines, list of materials and cost so we know exactly what we are dealing with.
Including projects that are just mine. Mine to learn, create, spend time on and complete. Too many joint projects left me feeling like I do when I do the dishes, or cook the meals.
I needed Homesteading to be satisfying.
Anyway, on this perfect day, a couple of projects that have been in the works for a long, long time were about to get completed, mostly.
Dave went off to finish a basketball hoop.
I went of to work on my Herb Spiral, garden bed that I had been obsessing over for years.
The kids mostly played with few arguments, the rain never came.
Next, I finished a Father’s Day gift for Dave. He loves his garlic and this year we planted it in the spring. Its a new garden bed near the house.
I made him a Dad’s Garlic garden sign. I had learned how to put posts in when we did our Raspberry Plant fence and so let me tell you that post is solid and that sign will be there for the Grand kids to enjoy one day. Everyone signed the back.
I was able to take the first shot at the basket! The kids spent time playing basket ball.
We enjoyed a steak dinner. The kids watched some shows and Dave and I sat outside enjoying the beauty of the garden and watching a thunderstorm roll in. We tucked in the cucumber plants, checked on the baby chicks and called it a day!
A day I will remember forever, but probably not the exact details. I will remember the smell of campfire, the laughter of the kids, the excitement of creating, working, the mud under my feet, the good taste of food, the sense of awe that comes from big skies and falling asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
A perfect day.
What is your perfect day? What makes it perfect?