Whimfield

More Adventurous

Posted on 03. Mar, 2008 by Laura-Jane - Whimfield in House, Life Dream

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Well, this has been a much more emotionally draining week than anticipated!

We took possession of our new house about a week ago, and there was a honeymoon period of, say, three hours, after which point we realized that we have purchased a dilapidated, drafty, bug-fraught farmhouse that has been sitting empty for two to three years and has zero insulation.

Much worrisome discussion ensued, including the words, “I think we may have made a big mistake.” and “Whose idea was this anyway?”

By far the biggest morale-crusher has been the temperature, which has been in the -16 degree celcius range. For those of you non-numbers people, that is run-really-fast-from-the-car-into-the-house weather.

We had always assumed that once the woodstove was lit that the house would warm up, but with no insulation, exterior doors that don’t close, and cracked windows, the house is a frozen mass. On cold days, all liquids everywhere (including this bowl of vegetable soup) in the house are frozen–even with the woodstove roaring.

After taking possession, we stayed in the house for a week—braving the sub-zero temperatures (that’s inside the house, friends) and lack of running water. I experimented with melting snow on the wood-stove, and I learned that a large bucket of snow reduces to barely a cup of grainy water.

To produce enough water to wash a few dishes was a massive undertaking.

The novelty of all this quickly wore off and we found that functioning productively in such an environment was not practical. Not only were we trying to survive, but we were trying to work on the house as well. Keeping ourselves warm (or should I say keeping ourselves from freezing) and melting enough snow for us to use for daily living took the better part of the day. This was problematic because we knew that we had to get to work on the house–not spend our days just surviving.

In Sickness and In Health

Furthermore, Cameron had a terrible flu when we moved in. I have never seen him look so ill, and he wasn’t getting any better. Sitting right in front of the woodstove wrapped in quilts, he would just shiver. We measured the temperature right in front of the stove, and we could never get anywhere in the house higher than 6 degrees celcius because of the bitter draft that whipped through the house.

Big Decisions

It was a tough decision, but we have now rented a hotel room at the Lobster Shanty hotel (!) for a month, so we are now in much higher spirits and able to work super hard at the house during the day and warm up at night. Thank you, heat! Thank you, running water!

The first project on our to-do list has always been to insulate the crawlspace where the water pump and pipes are located, because until we insulate this area the water in the pipes will freeze (and burst). We quickly realized that our plans to insulate this area were far too simplistic and will not keep the pipes from freezing. After hours of brain-racking and some hysterics, we have decided to relocate the water pump and pressure tank into the house, and move the pipes directly under the floorboards.

Project Creep

We fear that this over-simplification of the water situation may be the tip of the ice-berg, as all the small projects that we knew had to be done are, in fact, not small but very gargantuan projects. At this point, our spirits fluctuate greatly: from elation to utter terror at the amount of work to be done.

Fear not, our inspiration has not left us completely. We have been gob-smacked by the friendliness and generosity of our neighbours who have taken us under their wing. Another neighbour’s dog keeps us company. The snow is beautiful. The house has so much potential. I still feel right about what we are doing and am not afraid to share our insecurities and troubles that may arise along the way. Even though it’s cold the sun shines daily. I love looking out our kitchen windows. Painted floorboards make me smile!

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