Ben's Barge -Nov 2012

Decided to take Liam to Ons Tweede Huis in November 2012. First time I had every been here in November. We hitched a ride on buddy Ben's Barge. Took us 5hrs. Liam loved it. Until he fell asleep. We took a floatplane home. We spent 5 days in the cabin. Man is it dark here this time of year. Only light from 9-4. Some very big tides also. My lasting memory was one night when me and Liam were going to sleep. It was about 8pm. It had been pitch black dark for 3.5hrs already. We are in the loft..in our sleeping bags. It is raining soo hard and the wind is shaking the cabin. Pitch black. Nearest phone or help is at least a 30min walk through wet westcoast bush. Liam is sleeping right beside me. He says "dad I'm a little bit scared". Dad answers "I'm a little bit scared too". Hopefully trips like this build character..good character.
We spent a bunch of time prepping the cabin for a Spring 2013 trip. We cleared the front area and started on foundation work for big deck.
 We also two wolves. Quite close..sorry no pictures..so i guess it didn't really happen then.

Fishing With Mike- June 2012

I spent a week out exploring with my friend Mike. We caught lots of fish. Well not lots of bigs ones. But at least one of every type possible. Salmon,Halibut, Crab, Prawns, Red Snapper, Lingcod and Rock Fish. mmmm

Spring 2012 One Week Trip

This was our only trip as a whole family this year. It's a lot of work to be here with three little kids. Especially a new born with a serious heart condtion. We are long ways from anywhere. Lots of work to keep the place warm and the kids fed. But we still had lots of fun. And as the kids get older..it only gets better. :)
Yes.. some people may question my parenting techniques. My daughter did slide down a barnacle covered rock on her belly. Plus I left my son on a tiny little rock on our canoe trip..just for the picture. I'm just thankfully to have children that are so much fun. They seem to be enjoying themselves now ......I will probally get payed back when they are teenagers.

Guys Trip

It's been a long time since I updated this blog. Some how it hasn't been a real priority the last year. But now that our son Sawyer is doing so well. I hope to update it a bunch. Sawyer  charged through heart surgery like a champ He  is quickly growing up to be quite the character. Lots of big smiles and mischievous grins. He is just learning to walk now so he is already to start exploring the beach. Hopefully we can get him potty trained so there isn't anymore cloth diapers to scrub in the surf :).
I will give little summary of the past year comings and going's at Ons Tweede Huis

Somehow I convinced a bunch of guys..trip to the cabin would be a good way to spend a long weekend. Well I ended up with quite the group  of us. Ages 10- Grandpa. Lots of  great energy. Pretty Much the worst possible weather. But everyone still seemed to have a good time. Not much for fishing. Too Much rain and wind. I love taking people to the ocean for their first time..especially kids. They are so curious and there is so much to discover.

Tiny Homes pg 40

Well I feel a blog update is well over due. Today I got some exciting mail. A contributors copy of Lloyd Kahn's new book TINY HOMES. I can't count the hours I spent pouring over his previous book BUILDER"S of the Pacific Coast. It was a great source of inspiration for our little cabin. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought to be part of his next book. But here we are...just check out pg 40. This new book is just as captivating too...full of all kinds of ideas and kindred spirits. I have only had my copy for a few hours...and already my head is gonna burst trying to absorb all the images and details. I am gonna spend a lot of time pouring over these photos now. Wishing this book was a 1000 pages long.

Most of those following progress on our blog/cabin building experience know that we slow down alot in the winter. We spend the winters living in the interior of BC. Working like dogs...dreaming about the spring time and our next adventure. As much as we want to be living year round at Ons Tweede Huis. We know that isn't possible. First of all we aren't quite old enough or free enough from life's obligations to retire. This cabin has been another piece of the puzzle which makes up our life. I am so thankful for my heavenly Father who has my whole life planned out. I am excited to see the final picture. Right now I can only imagine what these individual puzzles pieces will make. As much as we want to be adventuring on the wild wet coast of BC. We are on an adventure of another kind. This one involving our newborn son Sawyer and a complex congential heart defect. A busy inner city childrens hospital is about as far from our cabin as I could imagine being. But this is the opportunity we have been blessed with and Lord willing we will been able to introduce Sawyer to Ons Tweede Huis by the summer.

I am expecting to a bit more volume on this blog after having it listed in the new book. (Tiny Homes) I would be thrilled to answer any question or been involved in some new opportunity. I am not sure what that means..but my whole life is just made up of the most random puzzles pieces. So I am excited to what happens next.

-jon

final days

Well we are back home. Safe and sound. A little more snow here than we would like but what do you do? Thanks to Ben for the ride to Rupert today. Sorry Liam puked on your bunk. I guess it was a little rough. We hitched a ride on Ben's tug. Took us about 3 hours to get from Oona to Rupert..a little rough leaving the harbour but other's wise a fine trip. Kinda wet and foggy though. Not worth taking any pictures. Now that we are home I got the camera working and have included a few photos from the past few days. Jana was busy in the sunshine stitching together some curtains for Eric's room. Also spending some quality time with her daughter in the most comfortable spot around. We had a big crab feast on the beach the last night. Sun was shinning and no wind. The kids collected all the crabs that they could, they also painted driftwood. Sydney mostly painted herself. The crab was delicious. There was a little concern that the crabs were "soft" Apperently crabs occassionally molt out of their shells. They grow a new shell with in the old shell. But the new shell is bigger and "soft" Meaning they haven't filled it all out with meat. So we did throw some big ones back. But still had lots to eat...mmmmm.

In case you are wondering we only caught one mouse on the final night and the squirrels live on. Looking forward to May Long weekend and some more fun...this time I am not bringing tools..just a fishing trip!!!

war on mice

So I feel I need to write a little on our furry little friends around here. The squirrels have been a lot of entertainment. They are quite friendly and not scared of people at all. Twice I hit one with a broom today. Also sent one flying about ten feet by slamming down the other end of a long board. But they don't seem to get the message. The kids love watching them out the windows as they climb in and out of jana's compost bucket. They actually chewed through the plastic to get in. Other than the one early morning where they ran around on the roof they haven't been too much of a bother. Not quite ready to borrow a gun from the neighbors. But the mice on the other hand.

Well we have seen two in the cabin. One running along on an overhead beam. The second surprising jana when she opened the cutlery drawer. Last year we would watch them in the evening skitter around on the porch outside quite regularly..but not this year. So it was kinda of surprising to set the traps two nights ago and catch two mice. So I figured I better set the traps again...then I caught one more mouse. We did hear some crawling on the roof..though and I found a spot where the mice had chewed through some styrofoam to gain access. Well last night I decided to make a bucket trap..you know the kinda of one that is resetting..a can on a wire in a bucket of water with peanut butter smeared on it. I could not believe that i caught nine mice last night. nine yes nine..thats alot. how many can there be around here..nine. Anyways we will try again to night...hopefully make a dent in the local population.

Sorry no photos our camera it's out of batteries and we have exhausted all the ones around here. Took them out of my gps and dad's radio. We did have some fun today though. Cleaned-up the cabin. Getting Eric's room all ready..put up a couple shelves..jana finished the curtians..hung the door. built the bed. Looks pretty sweet. Then to start packing. Tomorrow morning we are heading home. By four everything was shipshape and time to party. The Vanderhiedes came over for one last meal. Fresh crab on the beach....mmmm. A great evening around the fire on the beach. Dead calm clear and sunny. Kids painted driftwood, paper, jana's garden and each other. They also taught Sydney how to put crabs in her pockets. Because thats what all kids do when beach combing. Lots of fun and laughs. Once again we wonder why we are leaving.