Big Adventures in Small-Scale Farming...

The view from where I sit? From my current location at the dining table of a 29’ travel trailer parked on a small hill – I see tall cedar and pine trees and beyond that, a lush green pasture backed by a small mountain. There are several such mountains on all sides of Ranfurly Farm, nestled in Turtle Valley, near Chase, British Columbia - our new home for the next 5 months. We (Derek and I) arrived here from Calgary AB around 5:30 pm on Thursday, May 3rd, following a marathon 4-day road trip across the country to get here (Day 1 – Thunder Bay, ON to Winnipeg, MB; Day 2 – Winnipeg, MB to Saskatoon, SK; Day 3 – Saskatoon, SK to Calgary AB; Day 4 – Calgary, AB to Chase BC). After a whirlwind month of moving, packing and preparing for this farming adventure, the trip was actually a nice break in a way. When we would reach out destination in the evening, we could actually relax a little, not run down another “to do” list or complete a few hours of chores. We had the pleasure of staying with Derek’s relatives in Saskatoon and Calgary, who fed us wonderful meals and gave us a comfy place to lay our weary bodies down for the night. Even Mokah, my finicky cat, seemed grateful and at ease in their homes. On Day 4 of the trip, Derek let me be a passenger most of the day so that I could enjoy seeing the Rockies for the first time without crashing the car because I couldn’t keep my eyes on the road. We’d had gray, rainy weather for most of the trip, but thankfully it cleared up enough for us to have some great views of the snowy peaks and rushing rivers of western Canada. We saw mountain goats, deer and a large black bear on our way to our final destination. Words could not express the relief we felt when we arrived. Mostly, because we were shocked that we had actually arrived. We could hardly think at all except to unpack our bags and know that we did not have to get up and drive anywhere the next day. We probably looked and seemed like zombies but our hosts warmly greeted us and fed us a delicious dinner of beef curry /w chick peas and homemade cheese. It was the perfect meal for the end of a long journey. Derek and I have decided to jointly blog about our new adventure on a new blog. You can follow our journey at: http://woeaydt.blogspot.ca/ I may periodically post here still, but the majority of our new farming adventure will be there. :)