Putting our backs into it

 

I remember vividly the week we spent loading up the pods back in July. It was gruelling work hoisting furniture and heavy boxes laden with our favourite books. It was equally gruelling unloading the pod and carrying everything into our new SEED Home in High River. What was not lost on me was the gift of a plus nine degree day in December to do it. Yesterday felt like a warm day in April. It would have been a completely different experience if it was a normal December day.

As finishing work still needs to happen in the house, anything we put inside had to easily be moved away from walls. So we decided to lay down a big tarp and piled boxes of non-freezable things in the backyard. When that was all done, I went out and bought a second tarp to make sure everything stays dry for the couple of days we'll need them to stay outside. 

"I found them!" yelled Heather, midway through the afternoon. 

We had both been mining boxes trying to find the "3" and the "6", the magnetic numbers that were destined to go by our front door to make our address official. 

For my own piece of mind, I spent some time putting together our elusive living and dining area. It was hard to judge from the floor plans how this section of the house was going to work. While we won't be able to easily host large gatherings, a dinner with two couples will be lovely and comfortable. We are not only downsizing our personal footprint, we are downsizing our hosting capacity. 

We are experiencing the warmest December in memory which has created a bit of a challenge with our mini and temporary dog yard in High River. As our fence won't go in until next spring, we created a little commode compound for our pooches using plastic snow fencing. To mitigate the mud that appears on these warm days, we've spread out straw from three bales that were gifted to us from Rob. This will all get worked into the soil during the landscaping process.

Our days in the loft on Elma Street are dwindling. This has been the perfect refuge for us as we set up the house. We hope to spend our first night in High River on Friday the 29th. That'll give us a full day to make things livable and presentatble for potential guests for New Years.