Workouts and weekends

So this week has been a complete bust on the workout plan. Turns out I'm much weaker than I had thought.

The first day of the month was a Tuesday so according to the plan, that means 15 min bodyweight training. I did a few push-ups, a few sit-ups, some planking and when I just couldn't handle more without knowing I'd hurt myself... I looked at the timer to find only 5 min had gone by. Holy crud I'm out of shape. The next day I felt like I had bruised a rib somehow and I really wasn't in the mood for 45 min of vigorous dancing. Thursday I was dejected and headache-y. Friday... well Friday I just couldn't be bothered.

This week I took a Saturday shift for someone who wanted it off so Megan and I moved our date-night to Saturday night instead of Friday night. Then I found out that an old friend is in town (well, a few towns over) so we were going to hang out Sunday. Unfortunately his van broke down so he can't get here.

Now I'm sipping some hibiscus and rose-hip tea while I figure out what the new plan for today is. It's tasty hot with honey, but also awesome after it's cooled mixed 1/2 and 1/2 with lemonade. Another busy week but overall I'm happy.

Steeplechase

So sitting with a pen and paper I thought about the course ahead and what sort of hurdles I might encounter. Some were obvious as well as their solutions... others less so. The bold seem to be the best.

• Getting produce to customers may be an issue since I don't have a drivers licence let alone a truck.
1. I could just use a horse, but horses aren't allowed in city limits without circus permits.
2. I could get an electric scooter and cart, but that wouldn't hold much and would only go so fast making delivery a longer, harder process that may endanger fragile items.
3. I could get a business partner who drives.
4. I could get my licence and a vehicle.
• Although I have plenty of book learning, I don't have nearly enough hands on experience to be 100% confidant solo.
1. Go Woofing. 
• I'll need a lot more money then I currently have for land and start up costs. The set-up alone will be a big chunk and then I'll need operating capital for the first year till the food starts coming in.
1. Scrimp and save for the next 3 years. (Probably not enough)
2. Find an investor
3. Get help from the small business centre to apply for government loan and grant options.
• I don't know if I can physically do all the labour required by myself
1. Find a business partner
2. Rope friends and family into joining my on this adventure
3. Hire help (maybe later on when bigger?)

• I am a bit out of shape. I'll need to be fit to work effectively.
1. I'm going to use the No-S diet and a schedule of dancing and body weight exercises to get back into peak condition
• I'm going to need a rifle for wildlife control and emergency use
1. Get licence & train on use

That's about it for now but I'm sure I'll think of more later. Goodnight world and sweet dreams.

Growing Forward

All this must be done before building the actual farm. This is the foundation for the future. Other than the first one that I'm currently working on, these can be done simultaneously.

Take stock. Figure out where I am financially, physically, and mentally.

Get into shape. Commit to exercise , education, and saving plans that will take me where I need to be.

Build bridges. Go to small business networking meetings and make friends in the online farming communities.

Write a business plan. With the help of the small business center, write a proper business plan with the goal of having not only a blueprint for the business, but also a tool that may help get some funding.

Getting Back into the Groove

Got back into the farm frame of mind the past couple days and I've gotta say I missed this enthusiasm in myself. It all started when I stumbled across this podcast about a Quebec market gardener who grows and sells a variety of vegetables on his 1.5 acres. The biggest thing that caught my attention was that he's doing it organically, without tractors, and just with himself, his wife and two employees they make a decent living for everyone involved. You can visit his site HERE and I'm seriously considering buying his book.

Seeing that level of success in a place that is similar to my current location fills me with hope. Every where I looked I saw stories from California, Florida, or British Columbia and they usually had over 10 acres. Knowing that it's possible in this climate, and with so little land is..... very encouraging and opens up so many options. It got me dreaming again and with dreaming I tend to get a bit carried away so I started looking at land available for sale to see what kind of price range I'd be looking at in Ontario. Looks like in northern Ontario I can get 75 acres for the same price as 3 acres down here in SW Ontario.... but who on earth wants to live up in blackfly country.(probably why it's so cheap)

After an evening of land hunting, figuring out that I could afford the payments for a $20,000 mortgage on top of my current rent and have it paid off in 5 years when I'd actually be ready to start the farm........ mom talked some sense into me and suggested I save my money with the highest interest rate I can find and let it grow til I'm ready to actually start the farm.

She's right. I know she's right, so I talked to my bank today to see if there was something sensible I could do to increase my interest for my savings for the next 3-4 years. At that point I'd have not only the down payment set aside but also some starting money to launch the farm full time without worrying about trying to work a job at the same time.

Turns out my TFSA(tax-fee-savings-account) has a fairly good interest rate. Mutual funds are no good for such short term investing and things like GICs and government savings bonds only give decently higher interest rates if I lock them in for 4 or 5 years so that's really not going to mesh with my little bit out of each pay check style of saving.

I'm anxious about how LONG every thing is going to take but I have to say that saving up for 2-5 acres is going to be much faster than saving enough for 10-25 acres like I thought I needed/wanted.  The main reason I want over two acres is to have room for pasturing animals as well as some woods for firewood. If, when I get to that point, I find an amazing 2 acre plot, I'm not going to let it get away on the off chance an equally amazing 4 acre plot will come along.

So all there is for now is for me to get back into the groove of frugality. It will be a bit harder for me this time because it's personally imposed and not forced upon me by outside circumstances but... I can do this. I've already run the numbers and I know what I need to pay in bills monthly, my personal comfortable levels of  pocket money and "buffer" in case a bill is higher than expected, and therefore what I can put in the savings account to never touch for anything not farm related.

The only thing I haven't done yet is send away for my credit report. There may be some things I need to clean up there and the sooner I know about it the better. I just have to wait for my new ID with my new address to arrive and I'll sending for it right away.

The whole point of moving in with mom was living frugally and I need to get back to that idea. I've been negligent with my disposable income and I've been almost literally disposing of it. I'm making a commitment to myself to be better. I deserve it.

Wonder how this will turn out...

Wrote this at work on my breaks. Testing to see if this works or just looks dumb.

I was thinking today...

My decision making process seems to have very distinct steps. 

Step 0:  Hear or conceive of an idea that may be useful.
Step 1:  Mull it over in my head until I (finally) decide I'm missing some key information.
Step 2:  Research, research, research. Get as much info as possible. This may include discussing the idea with friends/family/etc.
Step 3:  Analyse the data. Run the numbers or set up a pro/con chart or whatever. Return to step 2 as needed.
Step 4:  Make a decision which may include a timeline, budget, or even a date to re-evaluate.
Step 5:  Do it.


To be fair... I sometimes have problems with step 5.  :">

Monday's the big day!

I'm moving Monday which means I'm going to have to pack my computer very soon and I'm just writing to let you know I'll have limited access on my phone til the net gets hooked up in a few days.

Don't miss me too much. :)

The Pursuit of Happiness

It's been brought to my attention how people often sabotage their own happiness. I don't want to be like that. I'm going to persue the people, places, and things that bring me the most joy in the long and short term. This means enjoying what I can, when I can, while making sure to attend to physical health/needs cause a hungry and homeless Shannon will not be as happy as a well fed cozy at home Shannon. 

Unfortunately this does mean seeing some people less often or in a different capacity which is a short term uncomfortableness that I feel will contribute to everyone's long term happiness. It also means encouraging some relationships with time and attention. 

I've sent out invites for the housewarming party to friends and co-workers and I'm really looking forward to the move and this new chance to do-it-right when it comes to things like eating healthy and such. 

Working out housemate stuff with mom has made me feel closer to her and the revelation that yet again we have come to the same conclusions separately and therefore wind up agreeing before a question is even asked... Well it feels like home. :) 

Went To Mom's For The Weekend

I decided that I really needed to talk to mom in the same room 'cause texting sucks and we had much to discuss so after making sure she didn't already have plans, I hopped a train last Friday and went to mom's house.

Mom and lil sis are currently in a tiny little place so I knew I'd be sleeping on the futon... I didn't realize how tired that would make me for the next few days.

Anyway, we got a lot of the room-mate stuff settled. We discussed what appliances we would like to buy for the household and looked over different models together. We discussed what we all consider to be healthy for our bodies and our minds (turns out we're all introverts!)

Our electricity rates on London vary by time of day, so we discussed using electricity wisely and leaving un-needed devices off during peak hours, as well as pre-cooking on the weekend to avoid too much cooking in the electric oven during peak times.

The food thing took up a lot of talking and we settled on these ideas:

• Eating only those foods which are good to us, meaning no gluten and no pork.
• Eating beans, quinoa, chickpeas, peanuts, lentils, and other plant sources of protein more often and meats less often.
• Eating a variety of vegetables daily, including "weird" ones.
• Buying dry goods(rice, beans, toilet paper, etc) in bulk and store them carefully.
• Going to the farmers markets every Saturday (or every other Saturday depending on needs) getting deals where they can be found and storing what won't be eaten that week in the freezer or as canned foods.
• Spending Sundays together pre-cooking and doing general prep work for the week ahead. This may involve making a large batch of pasta sauce of which only one jar gets used that week and the rest put away for later, or even just cutting the veggies for snack packs.
• Doing this prep work with a glad heart knowing it will help us eat healthy foods in reasonable amounts.(avoiding traps like popcorn-for-dinner-cause-I-don't-want-to-cook, or wow-I-haven't-eaten-all-day-and-that-whole-12"-cheesecake-looks-snack-sized).

We're also going to have a house warming party the first weekend so we can have everyone over at once and then not have to deal with social calls the next week or two while unpacking. :) No that's not really the reason, but it is a nice side effect. We've found these past few years that we all think fairly similarly and we not only enjoy each other's company, but also enjoy quiet time with the others around (reading, surfing, playing a video game) so I'm certain that living together is an excellent choice for us.

~ ~ ~

We will encourage each other to stretch and grow stronger physically

We will allow each other to grow spiritually in our own ways

We will clean our home enough to be healthy

We will relax in our home enough to be sane

We will honour our commitments

We will cherish each other

We will have fun

~ ~ ~

Nothing left but waiting

We've met with the building manager, filled out all the paperwork, and brought copies of all the important proof things... All that's left it to wait for them to call on Tuesday and tell us which way the wind is blowing.

I like this place and I'm anxious to get the lease signed so I can just relax and pack instead of all this running around.

Rich people just don't get it.

So Tuesday night I got an email from the awesome place saying that they didn't like the fact that mom couldn't sign up for school til summer because there was no way in their mind that I could support everyone if something went wrong. They wanted a co-signer to cover their butts in case mom not only didn't get in her program, but then proceed to sit on her butt and not work or get OW(welfare) or anything.

We flat out told them we don't have a co-signer and thanks for your time and good luck.

Wednesday night after work I found I had a new email from them saying that they really want this to work and would I please look over their numbers to see if they made a mistake somewhere.

Attached was this:

So among the laughable assumptions were:
Cable - $45/month (we don't use cable)
Credit card - $50/month (we don't have credit cards)
Phone/mobile - $150/month (try $60 for both of us on talk/text only)
Misc - $250/month (really? maybe if we had it to spare that month and it was christmas or something)

Also, instead of using the actual net from my pay-stubs they took an estimated gross and used 20% to decide what the net is (my last pay the difference was 10.4%, the one before it was 14.4%). They didn't account for the months that I get an extra pay check due to the long month and didn't include ANY income from mom including child support, tax credits or anything.  So basically, they just don't get how poor people live.

Mom and I decided we were done jumping through hoops for someone who wouldn't understand and are instead persuing the one we saw before it. The manager was much more likeable and we can deal with carpet. Paperwork is getting handed in to them this Friday. 

That Farm Girl Glow

At work we were talking about our dreams. Some wanted to live extravagantly, some wanted to travel. Here's how the conversation went when I was asked to share my dreams.

Me: I want a farm
Zar: like serious or just...
Me: I'm saving for land and in two years I'm going out west to apprentice.
Maj: Go on and tell her how you don't wanna make any profit.
Me: Come on now that's not what I said. I said I don't need to make billions of dollars. What I would like to do is have a farm that's self sustaining and a nice buffer amount in the bank for when things go wrong and I'd like to donate any extra to homeless shelters and food banks because there's no reason for anyone to be hungry.
Zar: What kind of farm? like, for animals?
Me: Cows chickens, fruits, veggies, nuts, a little bit of everything really.
Zar: Well that make sense. You're a farm girl right?
Me: Everyone says that but I was born in Toronto. I didn't grow up on a farm.
Maj: Well you just exude Farm-Girl, doesn't she? Like you were born for it.

I don't know if it was a compliment but I'll take it. :)

Mom Found Something Awesome

So we weren't swept away by the one we were going to apply to but it was definitely do-able...

That may be irrelevant. Mom had posted asking on kijiji about what we were looking for and someone emailed her a link to ad for a place just blocks from where we were looking on Saturday that looks amazing. No carpet, low VOC paint, garden and compost bin in the back yard. All inclusive, even laundry! 

I called at 6pm and left a message asking for a showing this week before work so we won't be putting in paperwork at the other place, at least til we've had a chance to see this one. 

**squee!**

Another Long Day

So Mom's train arrived late, again. So we hustled into a cab and made it to the first appointment on time.

The manager was nice and personable, she had two apartments to show us. The building had 24h key access laundry room that ran off Smartcards. Both apartments were mostly carpeted with in unit storage closets and large-ish living rooms.None of us are fans of carpet because it means buying and using and maintaining a vacuum. The one on the first floor was $15 more because it was recently updated to have new cupboards and a range hood, but because it was literally beside the lobby, part of the living room eaten by that (and it's probably going to be noisy). The un-renovated one on the third floor also had one less lower cupboard which would be a good spot for a small chest freezer. After some discussion with the friendly manager we took an application with us and went for lunch.

A few blocks away is a nice Chinese restaurant. It had a Dim-sum menu and in their normal menu they have the lists of dishes of course but also "meal for #" type orders (like you'd get from any take out place) and a separate list of  "traditional meal for #" that listed some foods I didn't immediately recognise.

We ate slowly but still had tons of time til the next showing because the one between them cancelled so we went to Tim Horton's and relaxed for a bit.

The second showing was the one with the pretty pictures. It was at the top end of our be Online it looked so big and had hardwood floors and gorgeous kitchens and bathrooms.... In person, carpet. This one was definitely larger bedrooms, and a beautiful kitchen and bathroom, but there was really no storage except the single small damp looking "locker" assigned to each apartment in the laundry room. The laundry room was only accessible from 8am-10pm and the machines run on coins. She offered to show us a second unit as well but that was out of our range. That was probably the one they took the pictures from.  The final issue was that there was NO on site management at all. If anything went wrong you had to call a number and wait for someone to drive in from wherever they are. Since this past winter has been awful for so many people with pipes bursting and such, that's not a risk I'm willing to take. We thanked her for her time and left.

Before mom left last night we filled out the paperwork and this morning I called to tell her we want the one that hasn't been renovated and that I'd be bringing the paperwork by tomorrow after work.

**fingers crossed**

Phone-Tag Champion

So after two and a half days of research and phone tag we now have three places to see on Saturday.

First is a high-rise complex that has 3 different buildings. The 2br well be looking at is $750 +hydro (electric to those not in Ontario). It is about 30 min walk to downtown and has card based laundry room (no quarters needed yay!)

The second is the first floor of a house right off the main strip downtown. It's a 2br as well for $850 including all utilities and even including laundry. Ideally placed for me to get to work, and also for mom to easily get to everything downtown as well as all the buses even in the winter. It's in a student neighbourhood so it may be the noisier place but noise isn't a big deal to us.

The third one we're seeing is in a low rise about 30 min walk from downtown. This 2br is $825 +hydro and it has laundry on site but I don't know if it's coin or card. It's on the high end of our budget but the pics were so pretty we put it on the list just to see if it was as awesome as it seemed.

Mom's got the train tickets and Eric's going to join us as an extra set of eyes. Haven't had much time with him lately so that will be nice.

Wish us luck. :)

Arg

So we weren't approved.... and of course they don' t give a reason... Arg. Back to the drawing board.

Spent my whole evening researching with Eric and mom. I now have a list of 5 places I'm gonna try to get appointments with for Saturday and we'll start the whole thing over again. I'm tired.  Found this pretty place though.

Application Submitted

It took a whole day longer than promised but the deposit finally got to the apartment manager.

I texted her to make sure it had actually arrived and she confirmed that as well as letting me know our application was sent to the main office. According to the paperwork, we should hear back "within two business days" so that's by the end of the week. I'm super excited and mom's nervous because if we aren't accepted for any reason then we still have a lot of work ahead of us trying to find something that good and that cheap.

Prayers, thoughts, well wishes, positive vibes all appreciated.

Can the Snow Just... Not?

So when we filled out the application for the apartment on Saturday there were a few bits and pieces we needed to include that we didn't have with us. Mom said she'd send the last month's rent by Priority Post on Monday and I said I'd get my "proof of employment" to them a.s.a.p. this week. The idea was that if they had all the bits by Tuesday, they'd have an answer for us by the end of week

I went after work today to drop off my pay stubs and the manager said the deposit hadn't arrived yet. I texted mom for the tracking number....

Okay, so it's been delayed a day or two due to the nasty weather. Delightful. 

I really am hating this winter.

You're Living With Your Mother!?

Well not yet, and it's not like you think. My mom and little sister are moving to London at the end of April, Megan hasn't decided what she's doing or where she'll be at the end of the year, and Eric's stuck in his lease til at least July. I can't ask mom to get a bigger place on the off chance that Megan moves out west and Eric and I don't move in together and if she only gets a 1br and I DO want to live with her later, I'm out of luck. So instead, the only logical course is to share a place with mom and sis. The best part is that as a side effect, mom pays less rent and her life is a little easier.

They would have split a 1br and those cost $650-800. On the other hand, 2br are only $800-1000 so she pays less, I get to live with people(I don't like living alone, too quiet) and even if Megan decides to stay in London, she's better off than mom and can afford her own place.

So that's it. Logic wins and mom's coming to town this weekend or next to look at apartments with me.

Perspective on Possibilities

Sometimes I feel my farm idea is a long shot; A castle In the sky that isn't actually realistic, and that I'll wind up broke and barely scraping by. I was talking with a co-worker today about mortgages and we got talking about my farm ideas.

It seemed like every time I said a thing I was thinking of doing like having cows or making wine, he'd turn it into something bigger like selling organic milk for $10/litre or running a big winery with my wines in shops all over. I was starting to get annoyed that It seemed wasn't able to get across to him the simplicity I was going for when it kinda hit me. All the things he was talking about... People DO those things.  They're clearly within the realm of possibility even though they're 10-100 times larger in scale than I had in mind. That means, this is possible. My grand designs aren't that grand and are in fact quite humble.

 Thanks for the boost buddy. I owe you a litre of organic milk.