August Roundup

As the temperatures continue to drop, and leaves are slowly starting to change colour, the end of August approaches.

While July ended with such sadness and the passing of Pollock, we found ourselves a little out of sorts at the beginning of this month. But life must continue, even after loss. And we set ourselves small goals to get our motivation back. One step at a time.

Grass springing up everywhere, a considerable amount of time was spent trimming back grass, but also felling some trees for both construction and firewood. Both tasks are seemingly endless, and the first week or so of the month was a constant cycle of rainy days followed by a sunny day.

The forecast was, however, far more pleasant for the middle two weeks, and, although rain was sometimes forecast, it predicted just a splattering here and there. This was the window of opportunity.

We set to work, focussed on cleaning up around the camper, and slowly moving stuff closer to where the camper would finally land. Plus we widened, cleared and prepared the last distance of the trail to accommodate the truck and camper moving through.

It was a good time to clear out and reorganise items we had stored in and around the camper too. The goal was to get everything in place, including the camper, before the next forecast of prolonged or heavy rain.

This also involved dismantling, and moving, the structure we had so hastily erected at the start of winter for the wood stove, which proved relatively easy, although it felt quite weird to have the camper ‘wide open’ to the elements, as it were.

Finally, we were at the day preceding predicted rain, which, albeit ‘light’ in the forecast, we didn’t want to take any chances. The worst of the muddy patches were dry enough to drive over, but any amount of rain would put paid to that in an instant.

With hardly enough sleep, we hooked up the camper after securing as much as possible Inside to prevent falls and breakages during transit. When all was secure we hooked up the camper to the truck, raised the feet, and started the trek the final 150 meters to the campers final spot.

It was a bumpy pull, and the truck groaned and struggled, but powered on like a trooper. It took only about 20 minutes to actually drive the distance, and positioning the camper properly about another 10. But finally, she was in place, the supports lowered and locked in place. The truck disconnected easily, and driven back over the bumpy trail to the road.

It’s been over a week since that day. And we have had 5 days of rain since. We are so happy that we used that window to move the camper, because barely 2 days later, the wet areas were once again slushy, muddy bogs, that would have sunk the truck and camper with no means of rescue.

Our newest project is building a shed/shelter for our firewood stash. We need a larger more secure and dry place for it than simply piled under tarps. The construction will be simple, using pallets and some felled trees, and should not take very long to construct.

September will bring more challenges and projects, but August has been a productive month, and a huge step getting us back on track to original plans from the beginning. So perhaps this is a new beginning for us.

We truly appreciate you being with us for it!