Homesteading To Riches

These were last year's carrots 🌿

They'd been sitting in the fridge since fall. Some of them had already gone soft on one end.

And I was having a bad day. Not a busy day... a bad one. The kind where getting vertical is the whole project ☕

I could have left them. Honestly I nearly did. It would have been easy to shut the fridge and tell myself I'd deal with it when I felt better.

But I got up. With the Lord's help, because that's the honest version, and I stood at that counter and I peeled them 🏡

Seven jars. That's what was in there going soft, and that's what's on the shelf now.

Here's what I want you to hear.

I didn't feel like it. I wasn't at my best. Nothing about that day looked like the version of homesteading anybody puts on the internet 💛

And the carrots still got canned.

You are allowed to do it badly. Slowly. On a bad day, in the ten minutes you can actually stand up for. That still counts. That's still food on a shelf in February 🌿

Waiting until you feel good enough is how last year's carrots end up in the bin.

Comment PANTRY and I'll send you the door to the community, where this is exactly how we work.

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I sat in that truck on Monday and cried. 🌿

The new solar system was in the back. The upgraded one. The one we have waited ten years for. And there it sat, needing to come out before the rain, with me not having the muscle I used to have.

My guys would have been here in a heartbeat if they could. They were working. And rain does not wait on anybody.

Ten years of waiting and it was going to be a sore back that beat me.

So I asked God for strength, and then I got up and went and looked at the problem again.

First thing that came to me... David has a dolly in the shed. I had forgotten all about it. Thank you Lord for that, because I would have stood there another hour trying to do it the hard way. 😄

Then I backed the truck right up to the deck. Now I was not lifting anything down, I was sliding it across. Same weight, different angle. That is the whole trick most days... you stop asking your body to do the impossible version and you go find the possible one. 💛

Out with the old, in with the new. Ten years, and it is sitting inside the house right now, dry, waiting to be wired up.

I am not the strongest woman out here. I am just the one who keeps standing back up and looking for another angle. God gives the strength. I still have to go outside and use it.

If you are staring at something today that feels too heavy for the body you are in... back up. Look at it sideways. There is almost always a way in that does not require you to be someone you are not.

Comment PANTRY and I will send you the door to the group where we build this way, slow and stubborn and together. 🌿

Not a commenter? The link is in the first comment.

Sunday was one of those days I'll remember for a long time. 💛

We loaded up the truck, hit the road early, and headed to Winnipeg with four amazing little road-trip buddies. They were absolute champions all day. We stopped for poutine, pizza, Slurpees, stretched our legs, found some plushies at a yard sale, and laughed our way through hundreds of kilometres.

But the biggest reason for the trip was something we've been working toward for 10 years.

We came home with a brand-new solar system.

Fifteen solar panels.
A new inverter.
A new charge controller.
A complete 48-volt setup.

There was a time when people thought we were crazy for going off-grid. We were told we'd never make it. We learned to live without a toaster, used a generator, started with old truck batteries, and slowly added solar one piece at a time.

It felt like the reward for every sacrifice, every lesson, and every step of the journey.

As I looked in the mirror on the drive home, I couldn't help but smile. The truck and trailer were full of equipment, the kids were happy, and my heart was overflowing with gratitude.

This isn't just a solar system.

It's ten years of faith, perseverance, and refusing to give up. God has carried us through every one of those years.

And now the real work begins. ☀️🏡

Sometimes the biggest victories don't happen overnight... they're built one small step at a time.

A truckload of antiques came home with us on Saturday. And there is even more still to come. 😂🤎

One thing we knew for certain was that we didn't want our new home to look like it came out of a factory, with everything brand-new and matching. That's exactly why we went searching for antique and vintage furniture. We want our home to feel warm, lived-in, and full of character, with pieces that each have their own history and story.

We found a gorgeous dining-room table and chairs, a mahogany china cabinet and buffet, a dresser, a sturdy coffee table, and a few more treasures. That beautiful hallway table won't actually be staying a hallway table... I'm turning it into my bathroom vanity! I already have plans for the sink and faucet, and pictures of that transformation will be coming soon.

Some of these pieces need a little cleaning and love, but that's part of what makes them special. I can already picture every one of them in its new spot.

One of the most special parts of all this is that I've been married for 30 years, and I've waited a long time to finally have a hutch set in my home. Now I have the space for it, and I was able to make the deal happen! We'll be moving into our new home just a few weeks before our 30th anniversary, and honestly, I can't think of a more perfect way to celebrate. God's timing, never mine. These antique pieces feel like they were meant to become part of our story all along. This truly feels like the best anniversary gift I could have asked for.

The four boys came along for the whole adventure, and let me tell you... it was a LONG day of driving, loading, unloading, snacks, bathroom stops, and even more driving. But they did so well, and we came home tired, happy, and loaded down with pieces that will help turn this new house into our home.

I love furniture with history. The scratches, worn edges, and little imperfections don't bother me. They remind me that these pieces have already been part of somebody else's story, and now they get to become part of ours.

Our new home is slowly coming together... one secondhand treasure, one family adventure, and one beautiful memory at a time. I cannot wait to show you everything once it's all set up! 🏡🌿

Which piece is your favourite?

It's been too hot to do anything but sit still. We've been parked by the air conditioner all week and it's still warm.

Nobody around here is getting much done. And the business still moved forward.

Not because I was disciplined. Because the work fits the pockets I already have. Phone in hand. One thing done.

You don't build this on your best day. You build it on the day you actually get. 🌿

Comment DWA and I'll send you the details. 30 spots this month.

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Nothing on this place breaks at a convenient time. 🚜

Truck went down. Hood is up. David has been out there in the dust since this morning with a strap, a set of jumper cables, and whatever he could find in the shop.

No shop appointment. No tow truck coming out this far. Just the two of us and what we already have.

That's most of what building a life out here actually looks like. Something breaks, you look at what you've got, and you start.

It's the same muscle I use at the kitchen table. Not waiting for the perfect setup. Not waiting for a better season. Just working with what's in front of me in the pockets I can find. 🌿

So tell me what your today looks like. 👇

What are you working on right now? A truck, a garden, a room that's half finished, a business you're building in the cracks of your day. I want to hear it.

My day started at 5 o'clock yesterday morning. 🌿

Before we ever left for town, I cleaned my whole kitchen. I know myself... I did not want to walk back into a mess after a long day. I wiped out the fridge to make room, and I took a full inventory of the pantry so I knew exactly what we needed. All of it done before 10, when we loaded up and headed to town.

And when I stock up, I stock up. Three full carts yesterday. 🛒

We feed a lot of people around here. Two little guys, two preteens, and four grown adults at the table. And my pantry stays open to my other boys and their families too, always has. So a grocery run for us is never a few bags. It is three carts, careful math, and every price tag read twice. There is always someone at the till eyeing up just how much we are hauling out. 😊

The two oldest boys were right in it with me the whole time, loading the carts and carrying it all. On the drive in we even hopped on a Facebook and TikTok live together, with my oldest running the camera for me. 📱

And when we pulled in, Chase was already here, ready to help carry it all inside. That kind of help changes a whole evening. The groceries got put away, and I got to sit down and work on my community for a while, because Chase and Reanna took over the kitchen and made us hamburger steak, mashed potatoes and gravy for supper. 💛

I was so tired I forgot to take a picture of the plate they built for us. But I will not forget how it felt to sit down when my feet were hurting so bad I could barely stand, and have my people carry the load for me.

That is what I keep coming back to. Thank God for the people who make this house run. For David, helping with the boys all evening. For chase and Reanna, taking over the cooking when my body had nothing left to give. For boys who help before I even ask. 🙏

Full carts. Full hands. Full heart. This is the life I get to build, and I do not build it alone.

Canning and pantry season is nearly here. If you want to learn how I keep a pantry that feeds this many through a season like this, comment PANTRY and I'll send you the way in. Not a commenter? The link is in the first comment too. 🌿

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That’s the kitchen wall behind it. That’s where we’ll eat.

My day didn’t look like much. The morning went to paperwork — the kind that comes with caring for kids in your home, forms and records that have to be exactly right. Nobody posts about that part. It’s the part that keeps everything else running.

The afternoon I spent building. Adding to my community, and putting together the systems that keep this business moving on the days my body doesn’t.

So I didn’t lay a hand on those floors today.

That was my son Jacques and J & R Contracting. 💛

He’s been at this place while I’ve been buried in forms, and it shows. If you’re local and need work done, he’s the one I’d send you to. And I’m not just saying that because I raised him.

One more step closer to being in. That’s how this has always gone — everybody carrying a piece of it.