From the Beginning-A ReHash

This little blog has garnered a number of steady readers since it's beginning so I thought I would do a little rehashing.  I will try and add a few new bits for those who have been with me since the beginning.
The purpose behind this blog-as it says on the masthead, is to share my love of quilting and my adjustment to country living.  I have always considered myself a city person.  I loved the vibrancy of constant activity and noise.  I loved the convenience of having stores and entertainment nearby.
You will notice that those last two sentences are written in the past tense.
When my husband and I moved to our rural property ten kilometers from the village of Burk's Falls which is located in the heart of the Almaguin Highlands, I expected to experience not only withdrawal symptoms but also a period of adjustment.  Our home is half an hour from a small city, three hours from Toronto.  We don't get mail delivery or garbage pick up.  Despite all this, or perhaps, because of it, I am happier and more at peace than I ever imagined.
Our first days on our property, however, were challenging.  We had to prepare an area in the bush to put in our home and go through a myriad of rules, codes and waiting for inspections before we could bring in our manufactured home.  In the meantime, we were living in a bus.  It had been converted into a camper and had fridge, stove, etc but no toilet.  We spent the first couple of weeks making frantic, early morning runs into the village to use whatever washrooms were available.  We got to know the regulars in a restaurant and enjoyed morning coffee at the welcome center.  Then my husband had a wonderful idea; get a portable toilet delivered.  You have no idea what a difference that made!  At least once a week, we would spend a night in a motel or at my sister-in-laws farm.  We could shower, shop and relax for a bit.
There were some stressful times but also a lot of laughter.  The blackflies were a shock but hearing a loon early in the morning was wonderful.  Washing in a bowl of water served the purpose but showering in the rain (don't visualize) was exhilarating.
Eventually everything was done.  We had arrived on the property the end of May and were in the house in August.  We had all our services but the phone.  It arrived in November.  My mother died in the middle of August, in England, and I had to do all the family stuff on the cell phone which, thankfully, works in this area.
Two  and a half years have passed.  My husband has learnt how to make maple syrup, use a chainsaw and stack wood, I have joined a wonderful quilt group and we both attend a little country church.  I serve on a civic committee and my husband is a volunteer for a local group.  We have made many friends and feel a part of the community.
I have been able to develop my interest in designing quilt patterns and have a small business making custom quilts. 
Two years ago, we aquired a wonderful little dog which has added much humour and love to our family.  In short, we are as happy as any people can be. I do miss the convenience of the city but not the noise.  I love looking out our windows and seeing nothing but trees.  In the city, if you could see the stars, they were pinpricks of light.  Here, in the backwoods, the night sky looks as though it has been pieced by a giant finger.  The stars are huge.
There is a pond near the back of the property and it is home to  beaver, heron, otter, waterfowl and little amphibians.  We have moose, deer and bear as well as weasel and fisher.  Birds fill the trees and butterflies bless the flowers.
This might not be paradise but it is close enough for an earthdweller.
blessings,