Naturality

The phrase " Naturality" has been going through my head as I work our land.  The garden flourishes with plant and bug, the soil teems with life.  Sometimes when I sprawl out on the grass, basking in the sunshine, I close my eyes and listen intently to every sound.  I hear the buzz, chirp, rustle, and flick, the creak, scurry and squirm of the natural world.

With each sound, I feel linked with creation, linked with the wonder of new seasons, of beginning again. 

Almost every morning, I put my face through a spider web.  It often happens when I lean forward to fill the bird feeder or to water my hanging baskets.  Sometimes it happens when I walk through the tree forest near the wild blackberry bushes. I usually utter a four letter word (tots!, of course) and shake it off. Part of me nearly squirms out of my skin.  And yet, another part of me expands with the wonder of a spider's work overnight. 

These moments are my Naturality, my spirituality lived through the abundance of creation, the flourishing of nature, handcrafted in Divine mystery.

Creating Our Home

My last post has a picture of us on a tree farm.

 What's amazing, is that we own that tree farm now!

In December of 2008, we were on the cusp of change.  Many aspects of our family life were in flux: we were reorganizing, regaining our health, building businesses, figuring out schooling for our children, and resculpting our dream of living on a farm.

For 8 Christmases, we bundled up and ventured out to pick and cut down a tree of our own.  We would walk around a local 5-acre tree farm and say "It would be amazing to have a place like this someday."

In early 2009, I got pregnant with our third child.  It was a difficult pregnancy from the beginning.  I experienced hyperemesis, and was put on bedrest at 26 weeks for preterm labour.  It was a very dark and rainy winter and I was really bummed out, despite being excited to meet our little baby.

Our home at the time was surrounded by tall, Cedar trees and was very dark.  We were getting stir crazy (me especially) and needed a brighter, lighter space.  We had chipped away at renovations over a number of years and felt a need for change. We also liked the idea of paying off some debt and reorganizing our finances. We decided to sell our fixer-upper and rent for two years while saving for a farm.

Thankfully, I was able to carry to term (a little past!) and give birth to our Joy-Child, Maxwell.  He was born just after we moved into a very bright, southfacing rental home.

We worked and saved and "filled up our hearts", by enjoying the simple things.  We worked on lifestyle changes that helped us feel healthier, and we reconnected with our dreams.

December of 2011, we went to get our tree and realized that the 92-year old owner had passed away, leaving his wife behind. She expressed to us, that she would need to sell because the upkeep was too much for her.  We gave her our number and asked if she'd keep us in mind when she was ready to sell.

In the Spring of 2012, she called, and we started the process of crunching numbers and unfolding the possiblities of a dream coming true.

Last summer, we moved onto this beautiful property and began the work of creating our home.