Waterfight!

Today, for the first time we took advantage of a local provincial park, only 20 minutes away! It's a gigantic campground, with a huge irrigation reservoir in the middle. Lots of mature trees, swimming area, a small sandy beach. There's a concession stand too, but the guy said it wasn't open, someone broke into it! He actually did let us buy some ice cream though, super nice guy : )

It's officially summer, and it's hot enough to prove it too. Although for us in Alberta, hot isn't really that hot. We just feel hot, and complain a lot, but it's really quite nice. We've had some rain, not a lot, but enough to keep the trees alive for a few more days. For some reason quite a few of my poplars are dying, while other ones are doing quite well. All of the dead ones are in a certain area, so I should probably test that area's soil and see what's wrong. I'll replant them next year, once I've amended the soil or whatever.

I've been brainstorming on behalf of our best friends, who have said that they would like to move out here with us. I really want to see them succeed in that, but I also don't know exactly how serious or dedicated they are. We haven't talked about it for months, and it's the middle of the year. Winter will be upon us in a heartbeat, if we're not careful! Once August rolls around, I should have enough money to build the barn, and hopefully, we'll have enough time as well. It's a huge project, and I'll need lots of help, and I really like to have some extra hands out here for that sort of thing!
The idea that I had, was to build the barn, and put a large 5th wheel trailer right next to it, connected by a temporary "hallway" to the door. We'd have to insulate the crap out the the trailer, since they aren't strictly designed for winter, per se. Have an insulated and frost protected water hose from the barn, into the trailer, and build some temporary bedrooms in the barn (which will have a dirt floor, and a woodstove for heat), for the kids. We can all use the water out of the large tank, and if it's not terribly expensive, I plan to put a well out here, for all of our use. I'm hoping $5000 or less will take care of that. We'll see.
If this works, they could move out here as early as the end of July or August, and we could then put our muscle into the barn-building project! The only cost that they would have to pay for is the trailer itself, and maybe a generator, but I've got a plan for that too. A large diesel genny could run two houses at once, and use waaaaay less fuel as well. We won't need too much in the way of extra electricity, if we can get another turbine set up, and maybe a few solar panels. Just a boost charge here and there will keep us afloat...