When we first arrived at our property there was a small stream crossing the trail. It had created a mud pit that was continually traveled over for decades, creating a huge mud hole that the little stream struggled to flow through properly. Well, Mountain Man has his ways and we both practice the "Environmental or Ecological Footprint". Which is the impact of human activities measured in terms of the area of biologically productive land and water required to produce the goods consumed and to assimilate the wastes generated. Using sustainable materials such as all the dead standing/leaning pine & spruce (as there's no end to it out here). We collected…

Usually we have snow on the ground into mid to late April. This year we have to move quickly at getting this last perimeter of the property cleared from dead fall. We are currently working on the East side. Every tree you see that's on the ground either snapped at the base or toppled over with it's giant root ball in the air. All from our frequent wind storms. They are all dead Spruce or Pine from beetle kill. I know you've heard this all from me before. Trust me, I can't wait until we have a good perimeter cleared! But we can't clear the dead trees until the snow…

Figuring out how old a tree is by counting the tree's Rings - or if you want to get Scientific it's called Dendrochronology (or tree-ring dating). This giant lakeside Spruce tree blew down in a windstorm we had a few weeks ago. We recorded our all time high wind since we've lived here, and had the weather station in place at 65km/hr (40m/hr). The tree was dead from the Pine Beetle and on quite a lean, all it took was a good gust to bring it down. Luckily it landed on the lake and not towards the cabins as it was about 80 feet tall. After Mountain Man had cut…

It's been a long Winter getting this website built from scratch all by my lonesome! Now that it's built, I will be free to do what I'm good at - writing and blogging about our wilderness lifestyle. So let's get right to it! This week has been all about getting ready for the Spring that arrived early in these parts. We've had no precipitation in any form (rain or snow) for a month and that means it will be drier than ever. We had the coldest February on record, and the warmest March! We got high's of 21C (70F)! So the few feet of snow pack we had, quickly melted.…

Welcome to my first Journal post on this website. Yes, I've navigated away from FaceBook. I know it made for some bitter-sweet feedback! First the need to explain why I've done that. While FB is the popular daily social media thing to do, (and some people think I'm crazy for moving on)...it's all relevant. FB has changed,...period. Not as appealing as it once was, and not as user friendly and unbiased as it once was. They limit my posts and amount of media/video I can post. I will still use FB to draw people to this website. It may be the only place I can still add short video's. Then…

Herbicide use is changing both the food on your plate and the agriculture industry beyond recognition. Notably, Nautilus writer Miranda Hart calls one herbicide use “the biggest farming practice you’ve never heard of.” Farmers are no longer drying crops out naturally at the end of the season, Hart reveals. Instead, farmers are killing all the plants in the fields with herbicide in a process called desiccation. Farmers are desiccating through herbicide use because it makes the fields easier to clear for planting. However, desiccation is altering crops because it kills every plant in the fields. The Biggest Farming Practice You’ve Never Heard Of “Desiccation may be the most widespread farming…

The first issue of The New York Times was published 168 years ago, and to celebrate we're taking look at a brief history of some of our favorite newspaper words and slang. Before newspapers, there were government bulletins. The Acta Diurna or Daily Acts of ancient Rome were carved in metal or stone and posted in public places. In ancient China, tipao, news sheets produced by the government, were "handwritten on silk and read by government officials." In 16th century Venice, a monthly notice was published and sold for one gazeta, a small copper coin, which may be where we get gazette, another word for newspaper. However, gazeta also means…

The thought of leaving society and everyone around you to escape into the wilderness with the one person whom you want to spend the rest of your life with can seem very attractive, alluring…even romantic, right? Does your relationship have what it takes?