Country Living
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It’s been 18 months.
We’ve been living “in the country” - well let’s be honest we’re just outside of the city limits - for about 18 months now and while we’ve spent a lot of the time in renovation/chaos mode, I feel like I’ve spent enough time in the new living situation to appreciate some of the differences from living within walking distance of the city centre. I thought I’d write about what it’s been like - the good the bad and the unexpected.
Our cozy home in winter. (EXIF data multiple exposure 3 exposures combined - f14, 124mm, 1/8s, ISO200)
There are a number of things that we got right with this move and for the most part I would say that we did a good job anticipating the differences/challenges that we’d face, but there were still a few surprises that neither one of us saw coming.
Nature on our doorstep
Mama and 2 male yearlings pruning our dogwood shrubs - they did a good job tidying them up actually. (EXIF data f7.1, 1/250s, 400mm, ISO800)
One of the big drivers for this move was to be closer to nature and be able to spend time enjoying the peace and quiet away from the hustle and bustle of inner city living. I would say that we’ve lucked into an amazing location for connection with the natural world. We often have pheasants and jackrabbits and deer wandering through our yard as there are no fences between properties. We’ve even had the opportunity to rescue a fawn (read Lucky’s story) and the amount and variety of birds we see spending time in our garden and forested area far exceeds what I expected - we feel incredibly fortunate to have these experiences daily.
The less frequent visitors include the coyotes, moose and bear which make for exciting stories and photo opportunities - thankfully not a daily occurrence. There is nothing quite like watching two moose pull up your bergenia plants by the roots and then wander off to nap under an evergreen tree for the afternoon. I’ve definitely learned to look both ways before heading out into the yard in the early morning.
I’ve got trail cameras set up and bird boxes established in strategic locations - unfortunately only one yielded a nest with eggs from a house wren - he filled all the other boxes with twigs to prevent competition from other nesters. I might have to intervene next year and see if we can attract different birds.
One of the many deer that visit us daily. (EXIF data f8, 1/80s, 400mm, ISO100)
The less amazing - more frustrating part of the local wildlife has to be the squirrels - most particularly squirrels in the attic space. I’m sure our neighbours thought we were obsessed with spending time on our roof last fall as we came home one Sunday to the sound of a squirrel scurrying around in our attic space. Kory did a great job of closing off their access point once we got them out of the attic and our 2025 renovations which included replacing the roof and soffits should ensure many years of not cohabiting with these critters.
We’ll have to see how active the voles are this winter as we may need to take action against them setting up residence in our driveway culvert. It’s possible we may also just need to learn to share the space with them if there aren’t significant negative consequences to them burrowing under the grass (I’m not holding my breath on this one - it may be vole wars in the spring).
Logistics and planning
One thing that we expected was the need for intentional planning around grocery shopping and running errands - especially when it involves going across town (1/2 hour drive minimum. We do have a good shopping centre about 10 minutes drive away and I've become much better at optimizing errand loops. For example Thursday mornings are strength training which is across town and I couple this with doing a grocery shopping circuit and any other errands.
Sometimes it feels like we’re in the middle of nowhere (this is actually outside of Weyburn Saskatchewan). (EXIF data f8, 1/60s, 24mm, ISO1600)
I really have come to hate driving in rush hour traffic, so appointments and errand runs have to be coordinated with off traffic time or else it can easily turn into double or triple the driving time. There is something quite amazing about making the turn off the main freeway and feeling the traffic fall away and the view of the mountains open up in front of me. I can feel my breathing calm and my sense of wonder expand. That view never seems to get old.
I have noticed that we don’t tend to do spontaneous dinners out or ice cream runs like we used to do as there are no locations nearby - these kinds of outings can seem more effort than they’re worth.
Conservation and Creative Cardio
As we live outside of city limits there is no garbage collection, so we’ve opted to hire a company to pick up our garbage and we’re limited to one bin per week. This makes us even more particular about not purchasing things with excess packaging and we’re even more diligent about recycling.
There is no recycling pick up either, but there is a recycle drop off centre nearby - this has become a weekly activity to drop off our items and is interestingly a rather social activity as we chat with the site manager and other recyclers during our visit. Friends of ours who live nearby have what they call a dump date which means they drop off recycling and then go for dinner or ice cream. Hmmmmm maybe we should be rethinking date night.
One of the biggest challenges we’ve faced is grass cutting/tree trimming and snow removal. We were fully aware that with 2 acres and a long driveway this would not look the same as it did in our small city lot with a sidewalk and no driveway.
Our first year we hired someone to cut the lawn and do snow removal as we were consumed with renovation projects, but this second year we bought a riding lawn mower and snow blower to get the job done ourselves. Cutting the grass is no problem - though we are seriously looking to re-wild some of the grassy areas to cut down on the need for mowing.
What has been a surprise and challenge is the snow removal. Calgary has an interesting climate which makes for interesting snow conditions. We often get very light fluffy snow and we thought that this would be easily removed with a leaf blower - not so! To be honest between the noise and the snow flying every which way but off the driveway - I find it faster and easier to just shovel it. When the snow is deeper or more moist and heavy we use the snow blower. It still requires some shovelling, so I’m getting a cardio workout regardless.
Speaking of workout - every time we cut the grass (I do the edging and around the trees with a weed whacker and a small lawn mower), I end up walking over 5 miles (10,000 steps) - so it’s definitely good exercise - coupled with my weed digging efforts I can put in the miles during the summer which is something I really hadn’t expected to enjoy so much. The time outdoors being active is actually very enjoyable.
Lots of grass to cut in the summer months. (EXIF data iPhone image)
The other big learning area for me was the septic system as I’ve never had one living in the city. It’s not a big deal, but we do need to watch what goes down the drain as this can potentially plug up the system or mess up the septic field which would mean a costly service call or replacement. Oil down the drain is a definite no/no as are harsh chemicals such as bleach as it will actually kill the septic field. This has led to me changing up my cleaning routine and I now use baking soda and vinegar mixtures (I buy concentrated vinegar and make up my own diluted cleaning mixtures). This works well and is far less harsh on the pipes, septic system and grocery bills.
Has it been worth it?
Well after 18 months of witnessing some of the most amazing sunrises and sunsets (we have views that we never did living close to the city centre) I would have to say that this alone has made it worthwhile. We take time in the summer and fall (post renovations I’m hoping the frequency will increase) to sit on the front porch with a cup of tea and just watch the colours in the sky. This is time that nourishes our souls and reconnects us in our relationship.
The quiet and slower pace (we see 2 maybe 3 cars a day) is wonderful and encourages us to spend more time outside without the hustle and noise of the city (helicopters, planes, cars or people). The starlit skies (I’m still in awe of the night skies) are pretty special to view although I’ve still not stayed up late enough to see the Northern Lights.
I would have to say that for me the move has definitely been worth it and I’m looking forward to finding even more joy living here as we settle into life “in the country”.
Are you a city dweller or a rural resident? I’d love to hear about what you love most about your living situation in the comments below or drop me a note directly by clicking on the Connect With Me button.
American goldfinch fluffed up keeping warm in the shrubs during a winter cold snap. (EXIF data f6.3, 1/1250s, 600mm, ISO2500).
I hope you’ll come back soon, share a cuppa, relax and enjoy more of my musings.
