We’re nearly at the end of April and had a rude awakening this morning. I pull the drapes open only to see the wind gusting and snow falling and blowing across the fields. By the looks of social media, many were disappointed by the sight that they witnessed this morning. April has always been an aggravating month for myself. If anything, it’s suppose to be April Showers to bring May flowers. But then again, the old saying never specified the exact form of precipitation. Regardless…I’m tired of snow. I’m sick of grey gloomy skies.. As I know most Mainers are. We all just want to get out from the same four walls we’ve been staring at for months.
As April passed by with a rollercoaster of weather; sun, grey skies, warmth, snow, wind, rain, more cold…all of the above sometimes within a 24 hour period, we are in hopes of true spring. Trees budding, grass growing and life returning to the blah landscapes surrounding us. Wildlife is waking after a long winter and migrating back to their summer homes. It all seems so far away, but every day I notice a forgotten tiny detail, the buds on trees, the animal tracks in the drying mud, the peepers singing from the ponds and bog and the owls chanting their love calls back and forth in the dark (which is quite interesting and harmonized). The birds have returned and our resident ravens are not the only sounds we hear, besides the endless howling winds. These are all signs that we are getting closer to the finish line. Our prize being warm sunny days, windows open to rid of the stale winter air. Bon fires and cookouts resume. Sun kissed skin, dirty hands and feet and countless hours out in the fresh air that we have all ached for.
Over the past few weeks, I have been able to get outside and get all the yard work done and start assessing the winter damage. As the snow melted, I raked and picked up pieces of our roof that blew off during the hellacious windstorm and branches that snapped off of the trees. Let’s just say a new roof is in our near future. As the sod chunks thawed, I pieced our mossy lawn back together the best I could. Puzzles are my thing. I will say I was thankful for the slow snow melt and the breezy days. Our yard and driveway were not half as muddy and bad as last year. Or at Christmas for that matter, when we got multiple inches of rain in a short window of time. Non the less, we still had mud season. Just last week, the Beer Fairy left a package at the door, thanking me for blocking their private road off. Random people, just driving around, deciding dirt roads are a great idea during mud season. This particular road has enough issues from Mother Nature’s Christmas storm already.
A few weeks ago I started taking the winter banking off the main part of the house. With just a crawl space underneath and the wet weather, the house can start smelling musty. The old School house needed to breath before we got to that point. Mid March, I decided to lay linoleum in the kitchen. I love the original hardwood floors, but with animals, they are impossible to keep visually clean. Even after I washed the floor, it looked dirty, throwing my OCD into overdrive. So I bought a flooring that I had used in our old house that replicated old grey wood floors. Not wanting to damage the floors we have, I didn’t glue it down. I cut it to size and used quarter round molding around the edges to hold it and keep it from potentially curling. Last weekend we had another high wind day. I kept hearing this noise. It sounded like wax paper crinkling. I couldn’t figure out for the life of me what the noise was or where it was coming from. Again, I heard it. The cat was in the kitchen with me and began staring down at the floor with a curious twist of the head. This is when I realized how well the banking worked on the house. With every strong gust of wind, the linoleum lifted a smidge, creating waves and then again settled. Gotta love old houses with zero insulation.
As I continue Unwinterizing (my new word) I’m also critter proofing. The main house sits on a foundation, unlike the additions, they are all up on posts. A safe haven for porcupines, skunks and raccoons. All the nuisance animals we don’t want. We’ve been there and done that. No thanks. Every year I would say that I would put up hardware cloth to keep the animals out. I never did. Even after I bought it last spring, it sat perfectly rolled in the corner of the shed. A part of me was afraid that there was already something underneath and I would trap it in. So this time around, as I removed the banking, I put up the hardware cloth. It’s attached to the side of the house and then buried under ground or under large pieces of ledge. Either way, anything gets underneath, it will be obvious. The most we can do is try to deter any unwanted fury visitors.
Within the next few weeks the large sheets of plexiglass will be removed from the windows and we will order the porta potty for the summer season. Both chores are a huge undertaking that can take all day as they both include dealing with two of our storage areas. The windows, once removed are wrapped in blankets to prevent scratching and cracking, while in storage. Everything has to be pulled out of the shed to place them safely against the wall. I take advantage of this time getting rid of anything we don’t use or need and rotating seasonal items such as Christmas decor and snowshoes for gardening tools and outdoor seat cushions or what not. Living in tight spaces means good organizational skills and thinking ahead. The swap from the outhouse to the porta potty is a royal pain in the arse. In the spring I put peat moss down the out house to help decompose the waste. It creates a crust, by drawing all the liquid out and then starts breaking everything down to a fine substance. Well, during the winter months we only use one side and at some point it has to be, what I call “Slung”, I sling the contents to the side we don’t use with a camp shovel….which is more storage. The tiny 7’x7′ room holds a floor to ceiling shelf, clothes rod, a cedar chest and 2 wall shelves. All of our excess stuff that we need; sheets, duvets, luggage, seasonal clothes…the stuff you need and the reason you have closets. We have a makeshift closet. To add the peat moss to the side we don’t use, I have to pull everything out and it fills half the house. It’s a painful job. This time around as we’ve been here for awhile, I’m going to sort through and get rid of the things we haven’t used within the last year. Down sizing. my favorite past time.
As I’ve been anticipating better weather, I keep checking the weather forecast. Fingers are crossed that what I see for the weekend, Saturday at least, holds true and doesn’t change and the weather prediction for the following week sticks. Despite my face looking tan already, I think it’s more wind burn. The sun rarely makes an appearance or even a slight shadow for that matter. I’m ready for a good dose of vitamin D, a camp fire and my flip flops!! What are you looking forward to??
Off-Grid Soul 