Learning new skills... Christmas Wreath making.

Wreath making is serious business. The main type of brush used is balsam fir. November is the beginning of the Christmas tree and wreath business here in Nova Scotia. Wreath wires come in multiple sizes; the main sizes are 14, 16, 24, 36, & 48 inches. The wreaths are made double sided, brush is put back to back on the wreath wire to make the wreath full.

Bailed Brush

Typically you cut the branch off the tree and then bundle it into piles. First the brush gets laid backside down half way; then the brush gets reversed and the brush is piled front first on top of the other brush. After a decent pile of brush is formed it gets bailed together with twine. Once at the wreath site they get broken down into smaller packing pieces. 

Usually you have three people working the wreath workbench, a sniper, a packer, and a wrapper. The wrapper uses a sewing machine type wheel that wraps the baling wire around the brush and wreath wire. This process can also be done by hand, which is how we are doing our wreaths.

We are working on an order of 100 16-inch wreaths; so far we have 49 of them done. At first, we would snipe the brush into a few boxes and then we’d put 4 or 5 wreaths together before we’d run out of brush. Today was a rather warm  day for November and the weather forecast isn’t great for the next day of two with a cold front coming into the province. We decided to cut as much brush as we could for the day, we had the tractor pull a wagon out to the field where we were cutting so that we could place all of the brush into it without having to go back and forth to the workshop.

We have been cutting brush in a different way then usual. We don’t cut the branch off the tree but snipe smaller pieces off the branch that are already prepared for packing eliminating one step in the process. It also helps the tree product more brush for next years season of wreaths. We estimated that the 25 boxes we produced during our day should make roughly 50 16-inch wreaths.

Sniping brush.

I’ve never cut brush before, so this year it’s new for me. While out in the balsam tree field I realized that while I was cutting brush I felt very relaxed and calm. I enjoyed being out in the field surrounded by nature. As the tractor was running a squirrel was sounding the alarm, the occasional moo of a cow in the field across the river, the wind as it pushed the trees, & the river running near me; it all felt serene and comforting.

    

The order we were doing was only a small part of a much larger order. It took us a while to figure out a routine that worked for us and by that time the larger order had already been filled. Later in the month Gordon went to help load the 2nd half of the larger order in the truck for delivery. 

Now that the wreath season is over & we can collectively take a breath, I can look back at the new skills I'm beginning to learn.

Heading to Our Dream

Today is my last day of work at my clinic, with mixed emotions I say farewell to my career family of 14.5 years. I received a beautiful send off dinner with several people showing up that work at different sites of the clinic. A couple of cards with well wishes & we will miss you along with an Amazon gift card.

November 6th is the date we fly from Seattle heading toward our dream, we arrive in Halifax on November 7th. Having a few glitches with flight arrangements; my cats don't have a flight yet. There is always plan B, which we have had to implement regularly throughout this process of moving.

Once we arrive in New Ross we will be working with my husband's Aunt producing christmas wreaths for wholesale. We also will be getting the barn ready, for our Nigerian Dwarf goats that arrive November 30th, as well as making sure the fencing is reenforced.

One more step closer to the dream...

Moving towards a Dream

In just over a month, my husband and I will be moving to his family farm in New Ross, Nova Scotia where we plan to homestead and live a simpler life. Living a simpler life doesn't mean it will be a lazy or easy life, just changing our life's direction. Up until now we've lived in a rural setting, working a 35+ hour work week, and eating convience foods.

When we married just over 2 years ago, he moved from Canada to Washington state. I have children from a previous marriage and I wanted to stay in Washington until my youngest daughter graduated from high school which occurred this past June of 2013.

Throughout the last year or so my husband got me watching the show, Prepper's. Some of the reasons the people became prepper's just seemed unbelievable to me. As I watched the show I began to realize how completely dependent my family was on grocery stores and fast foods. Which caused me to ask myself the question, "How would we survive if for some reason food wasn't available in the grocery store?" That's when I decided to learn how to grow my own food as well as preserve it through canning, dehydration, & freezing. Where to start? Reading, the more I read the more I realized that a change needed to happen.

In January, we started making plans to move. Moving is going to be difficult emotionally, I've lived in Washington state for 18 years. This is the only other place I've lived for more then a couple of years besides my birth state of Michigan. Previously I was a military wife and we moved about every 2 years. Leaving behind my children, ages 28, 25, 21, & 19 along with my 4 month old grand baby will be hard, they are staying here in Washington. My plan is to visit frequently for extended amounts of time. Also I'll be leaving many friends behind that have supported me throughout the years, one of them that I met in 1990 in Hawaii and we ended up living near each other after leaving military life.

So that's how it started... and the adventure begins!