Reality Check

Today it has been two weeks since we departed our old house and moved to my parents' farm to await our new home nearby. In that two weeks:

• our road and the pad for the house were built (pictures to come, I'm having trouble getting on the Internet here so only infrequently borrow the desktop)
• road has now been gravelled
• 3 year old became ill and was soon diagnosed with nephrotic syndrome (under control now, with a 6 month treatment ahead of us)
• Husband returned to work
• 13 month old sick and wheezy, on nebulizers, clearing up now but still coughing
• we planted over 400 trees
• we received over 800 more trees yesterday
• cupboards, counter tops, closet shelving, trim and doors have been installed in our wish house

I knew all along that it would be hard work planting all of these trees. Without a well (we are anxiously waiting for the well digger to return and finish. He did a test hole in February but now his equipment is broke down and I need a well!) we are hauling water from the community well down the road and watering what we can with a short, heavy, stiff and awkward hose. We water the rest of the trees by hand and, with two sick kids and my mom already overburdened, we need to set up a better system. Worried about my kids, I came to the conclusion that we need to concentrate on what we can manage this year. The trees that I paid for are in the ground and need watered. We intend to focus on those and plant as many of the shelter belt trees as possible in our garden area. It is so much easier to water a large area of trees rather than carrying 5 gallon pails to the shelter belt. Next year we will prepare the land and plant out those trees when we are better able to water and care for them. I also plan to give away as many of the trees as possible.

If I had more time I would have tried to contact the shelter belt program to pass the trees on to someone who might not have received any. But I was at the doctor five days in a row last week and a 3 hour drive to a specialist this week, and the trees had already been sent. All I can do now is try to give many of them away and ensure that the rest survive to be planted next year.

Our house looks beautiful. My kids are recovering and we finally have appointments to see the specialist to be tested for asthma and allergies. We love the way our new yard is shaping up, and it will be breathtaking when the trees begin to grow along the road as we have planted them. We are fortunate beyond belief. This past two weeks has reminded me to take nothing for granted. As things fall into place for the house to be moved to our yard in July, we are remembering to savour our time together rather than worry about time frames and deadlines. Have you ever heard of nephrotic syndrome? If so, I'd be very interested to hear about your experience!