After a series of events (I won't call them unfortunate, because its just life happening) but we have decided to relocate closer to the city.
I thought about keeping the blog open, just to share ordinary life, but not only does that seem disingenuous about the new path we're taking, but it will also divert valuable time needed to dedicate to the mammoth task of moving.
Moving from acreage, is no small feat. There are no regrets from our perspective though - not about coming here, nor about leaving. There will be sadness for the things we will be leaving behind (retaining walls and swales, built completely by hand, and the native wildlife too) but if it were possible to stay, we would.
Now is the time to look forward and plan a new direction for our family.
As needs must.
So thank you for reading over the years, as we ambled through our new learning curve of living on acreage. We will be taking all those valuable lessons back to the suburbs with us, and something we look forward to duplicating on a smaller scale. Our experience here has changed us irrevocably.
I will be opening another blog at a later date, once we get settled. That could take a year or so, depending when we move. I will be shutting this blog down in December, but will still visit all my favourite blogs, to catch-up with your life adventures.
So it is a very fond farewell, from us here at Gully Grove.
Our family May 2014
Thank you for visiting for long as you have, and may your days be filled with laughter, good food, and great company.
Chris, I will miss you! I don't remember how I found your blog but it resonated with me because we were both on bush acreages and I looked forward to seeing how you managed it. We must have started writing about the same time, because my blog was 7 years old last month, too.
ReplyDeleteI will remember those magnificent retaining walls...how I envied them, and the floods and hilltop chicken house...I would have loved that! (not the floods!!). And you just put on solar, too. It must have been so hard to make that decision.
I'll look forward to your new blog to see how you're doing in the city...I'm sure you'll garden just as successfully there.
Hope to still catch up via my comments box. All the best for the move.
I can't remember how we touched base either - I think I may have commented on your blog first, but how I found you eludes me right now - google perhaps, or blog-hopping?
DeleteThe recent Hilltop renovation will be finished before we go. I'd like to think someone else's chickens will benefit - plus it doesn't seem right to leave it half finished. And those retaining walls, we just kept building them, didn't we, lol? Once we knew how to, it just became a means to keep the slopes in check.
Had I known we'd be leaving, I wouldn't have invested in the solar, because we might be lucky to see a year's use and it definitely won't translate into improved resale value. If our house was in the suburbs it would, but in the country, people prefer to pay less for houses. But you win some and you lose some. :)
I will definitely keep in touch with your blog, I do enjoy reading about your wicking bed experiments. Happy seventh blogging anniversary, and thanks for stopping in, all these years. :)
Oh Chris! After reading your comment on my blog I rushed right over to see what was up. I'm shocked and dismayed on the one hand, because I always felt like we were kindred spirits on opposite sides of the world. But you seem okay with the changes, so that does my heart good and makes the news quite exciting. Please, please, please be sure to let me know when your new blog is up and running. All the best with the tremendous job of moving!
ReplyDeleteI loved finding your blog too, as we both had 5 acres and a dream. The goats I never got, I will still enjoy reading about through your experience. :)
DeleteWe are finally okay with moving because its for the right reasons. Couldn't do it on a whim, or just because we changed our minds. There's too much we've done and wanted to keep doing. I'll probably talk about it more on my next blog, as I need the time to find the right words. There's so much to do in the meantime. :)
I'm still going to be following your blog, as I've seen the barn demolition and can't wait for the barn raising. I will let you know when I resume blogging about "home" again. Thanks for popping in and for all the well wishes. Keep those dreams of yours alive. :)
A very lovely " goodbye for now". Chris I am very excited for your family. As you know, I see this as an adventure even if it's going to involve a lot of hard work. You, David and Sarah are intelligent and skilled though so I know it's going to go smoothly.
ReplyDeleteThanks for coming along for the ride, my friend, and for all the encouragement over the years. We all have different adventures to find and its wonderful to be able to share them with others. I'm going to learn a lot about quilting through your next adventure! :)
DeleteThanks for visiting all these years.
Big hugs my dear.
DeleteHi Chris, I hope the changes work out for the best, seems like we have to be very flexible these days and not get too settled in one place. I'm glad to read that you will start another blog, because you have so much to share and I love reading your comments on my blog too, Cheers, Liz
ReplyDeleteBeing flexible is exactly it. Sometimes it calls for difficult choices. I know you know what I'm talking about, because you've had to set-up two homes in the interim for job security. It changes the perception of home (somewhat) but it doesn't have to be a bad thing either. :)
DeleteI will continue to visit your blog, as I hope you are able to make your dream of living off the land viable. It's been an especially tough year on farmers this year. Here's hoping for some light at the end of the tunnel.
Thanks for visiting, and for sharing all you do on your blog too. :)
Chris, i was sad to read that you will be closing your blog but i do hope you will be starting a new one with all the new and exciting adventures to come. Please let me know if and when you do.
ReplyDeleteWe are also embarking on a new adventure and i will be writing about it in the weeks to come.
I hope that adjusting to the city life will go smoothly, im sure you will miss the quiet of country life, but new adventures are always full of surprises.
Thank you for sharing your family and your life, it has been entertaining and knowledgeable.
Nicole :o)
Hello Nicole, looking forward to read about your new adventure too. Does it have to do with sewing? I quickly checked your blog to see you're starting a new business. I will have to pop in a comment soon. Good luck with your new journey of discovery.
DeleteI'm actually thinking of starting a moving blog. I wasn't going to start another blog until we relocated, but who knows how long that will take? I'll post the link when I do get it up and running. in the meantime, its back to organising things for moving.
Thanks for staying in touch and I'll be around to visit your blog soon. :)
Oh Chris, a moving blog would be brilliant and we could all continue to enjoy hearing from you!
DeleteI think I've got at least one more post in this old blog, linking to my new one. Stay tuned. :)
DeleteHurray!
DeleteChris, I have just come back from the beach and am doing some blog catching up now. Sorry to hear you are closing your blog down. Are you moving closer to Toowoomba by any chance? If so we might see you at our Simple Living Toowoomba workshops. Wherever you are moving to I hope it all works out for you.
ReplyDeleteThat's the plan at least - to move to Toowoomba. So many unknowns at this stage. I hope you had a good visit to the beach. Lovely weather for a swim, or at least to get your feet wet.
DeleteI would like to get to know some more locals, when we move up that way in the future. Thanks for dropping by. :)