The Wonderful World of Cisterns

A long time ago people used to think of ways to conserve water, thus helping the environment and the sustainability of the earth.  Groovy huh? 🙂  And we thought recycling was a new concept!!

It’s been interesting finding out about our house.  It was built in the 50’s.  We’ve been able to step back in time and see how people on the prairies lived not that long ago.  In our basement we have a cistern.  Cistern’s have been used for centuries.  We may think we are the guru’s of sustainable living, but our ancestors were pretty up on the ballpoint.

A cistern was used a lot in the prairies to collect rainwater.  Usually it was used for laundry, washing the dishes or flushing the toilet.  Some were built of brick, some of stone.  Ours because of the age was built with cement.  There probably was a trap door or something to access it from the top.  Probably a pretty good place to hide the evidence.  What’s really neat, is I learned that some cisterns from yesteryear actually had partitions for filtering particles.

Our cistern does not look like this 😦

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:El_Jadida_cistern.jpg Description : Portuguese cistern El Jadida in Morocco/ Português: Cisterna manuelina em Mazagão, Marrocos. Date 28 February 2007, 13:46 Source El Jadida : Citerne portugaise Author Axel Rouvin from Bordeaux, France used with persmissions granted from Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic l

Our cistern looks like this

Side view

You can see how people of cut through the stone.

The walls are quite thick.

now used for storage.

Would have been interesting to see what this looked like 60 years ago.

In the 50’s in Toronto, piped water and electricity were the norm.  Here in the prairies – rural (which mean 98%  of the land), those modern conveniences ….. I don’t think they were here actually.  All the museums I’ve been to they show life on the prairies with oil lights and pumping water.  I know my dad in the 40’s on the farm did not have any of this.  You went to the outhouse and were happy with your outhouse.  You pumped water for the sheer exhilaration of pumping water…… I’d die if I ever went back in time.

A teacher I work with was telling me how in the 70’s, there were still party lines for farming communities.  (Party lines are shared lines.  Meaning if you picked up your phone, you might hear your neighbour talking to their sister from another province and you could join in the conversation.  Think the 1950’s movie Pillow talk with Doris Day.  Awesome movie by the way.  You should watch it).

Cisterns are being used all over the world right now.  I was actually surprised to see how many people did not know what a cistern was when I brought it up. Considering how beneficial they are, it’s kind of sad only 200 000 are in use in the US and not enough data is available to let us know about Canada.

Living so far from cities in present day is a pain in the ass.  (The sidekick had a hospital appointment in Regina.  We left at 9am and came back at 6:30.  His appointment lasted 1 1/2 hours. )  I can only imagine that living life out here must of been a pain in the ass back then – (says me who loves her creature comforts).  But living in a small house, downsizing, and learning about all this cool stuff is showing me how far I need to go to truly have a smaller carbon footprint … a simpler life with less “stuff”.

…….I still want a bigger master bedroom….just saying……

 

 

My journey in a small house.

On facebook, I think people were trying to figure out why for the past little while I was posting so much about small houses. They are actually making quite a mark on society right now. People are starting to live in them for different reasons. To be mortgage free, simpler way of life, of loss of income are just a few of the reasons.

We just moved into our small house. 600 sq feet of house. That’s right!! You read that perfectly!! No need for an eye test!! We moved into a 600 sq foot, 2 bedroom house with a washroom that is so tiny I can sit on the throne and brush my teeth at the same time. At least its not a 325 sq foot house!! Theres a family that did that. Crazy!!!

See, I wasn’t lying 🙂

I’ll be honest, we didn’t move into this house for the greater Earth good. Some people move into small houses because it’s better ecologically. We didn’t move into this house for the simpler life – though my cleaning is cut by 93% as it’s so small. That’s a plus.

We moved here for the plain and simple fact, it’s affordable. I’ve written before, when the sidekick lost his sight due to diabetes, our world got turned around. Finances were the biggest thing. Why we moved to Saskatchewan was the affordability. Getting this house – it was the affordability. We can afford life, and don’t use a food bank back home. (Sidenote, there are no food banks in my small town. I had to tell them what it was. There is just an organization that brings you food.) If I told you how much my mortgage is and how big my property is, your head would explode it’s that cheap!!!! It still slays my mind that our house is worth 3x as much back in Ontario in our old neighbourhood.

Is it an ideal situation? Honestly, no. There’s a lot of snow here and we are summer people not winter people, so we probably will be cooped up for a large part of the year. We have begun to let go of things that meant the world to us. We have begun to learn how to really downsize. Our garage sale this May is going to be KICK ASS!! Maybe enough for a moving truck back home LOL 🙂 JOKE…..maybe….. 😉

Maybe if the dimensions of the rooms were different it would be a little better. Forgive the mess but we just moved in 🙂 We also are trying to figure out storage ideas. We do not have a linen closet, so the ottoman in the living room is our towel storage! It’s been interesting coming up with ideas on how to store things.

This is the main bedroom. Our queen size bed is pushed up against the wall in order to have room to move. We only have two cupboards, and a small night table in our room. There is no more room for anything else.

The kids room also is really devoid of furntiure. Her bed is the main feature and she loves her bed 🙂

Our living room is just the right size. We had so much fun getting down to the original floors.

Small space but functional. The family photo was done by my friend Jennifer Gilbert. If you live in the GTA, check her out. She is a wonderful photographer as person. The photo montage was the first thing we put up 🙂

The kitchen is large, but no room for a small table. It’s a functional small kitchen.

That is our house – minus the horror set in the basement. We actually are the proud owners of a cistern. It is cement, and wierd and decidely an awesomeness piece of history of how people lived on the prairies. I shall take a picture of it for a later post 🙂

We are making due to our tiny house. It’s affordable, and I know Gail Vaz Oxlade would probably,hopefully give us accolades for making a move to gain better financial freedom 🙂

Though between you and me, I’m hoping for a miracle to go back home. I miss the convenciences of the GTA. It’s a hard life out here in the rural prairies. My hat is off to those who are living it. Imagine driving 3 hours just to go for a specialists appointment. I have a friend on twitter who has to drive 6. Way different life out here 🙂 But just like our tiny house, we will make it work somehow.

Crossing our fingers for a bigger ‘master’ bedroom though LOL!!!

Bullying – what parents should know

Disclaimer: I am not an expert. I am a parent whose child has been bullied. These are tips I have come up with to help other parents with the same issue.

If you follow the kids blog, you might have seen her latest post. For the past little while she has been bullied. It has been verbal and social bullying. Which is a lot harder to prove. Some people think it’s not a big deal. They haven’t been ‘hit’ or they are to sensitive. It is a big deal. We have had many meetings with the school. Which is interesting as bullying is in the forefront everywhere. You would assume this wouldn’t be such an issue.

This experience has shown me how much I want to advocate for parents who don’t know which way to go when their child comes home saying they are bullied. I wanted to showcase a few points one needs to know on this
horrible journey.

1. Documentation: Document everything. Document phone calls, meetings, outcomes, and what people have said. Remember however, documentation is about facts. It is not about feelings. This documentation will also help you remember times and scenarios of what has happened.

2. Policy: I took for granted when we moved here that a zero bully policy was adhered to as it was at the kids school back in Ontario. The past few days I have read up on the school’s policy. It is not the same as what I took for granted. If you are moving to a new school, or even the school you are in, be aware of what the policies are. If you don’t agree, there maybe trouble down the way.

Be aware as well, because of their policies and procedures they may acting within the parameters of what they are necessitated in doing. You may not agree with it, but they have covered themselves.

3. Be calm: While reading their policies, I came across an irate parent policy. When dealing with school administration, always be sure to be calm, cool and collected. Even if you want to go in swinging because you are not being listened to or consequences of negative behaviour are not dealt with the way they should be, be calm. If you are upset, this can and probably will be used against you.

4. Be educated: Social media is both a great and horrid invention. Sadly, people use their screens as shields for saying negative, hurtful and sometimes threatening things. We went to the RCMP to inquire about cyber-bullying. A lovely RCMP officer sat down with us and educated us on what is criminal behaviour, cyber-bullying and bullying. All information is good. Educate your children as well. Everything they post, even if deleted can be retrieved.

5. Save everything: Save your documentation. Save as well any social messages that have been used as cyberbullying. Instagram, facebook, KIK, twitter, etc… These if need be can be used to help you in the future with your case.

6. It’s not fair. It sucks. Bullying should be dealt with immediately. “We do not accept unacceptable behaviour. Period. The End”. Sometimes it’s not. You shouldn’t have to fight for your child’s safety, and their right to be educated in a safe environment. Yet I can tell you there are many many parents out there who are. This journey has had me talk to many people in my town. The stories they told me made me want to cry.

7. If we are silent, nothing will change.

I’m not going to put a whole bunch of links down. Google bullying. Google bully Canada or whatever country you live in. The resources are abundant. The education is there. Arm yourself with it.

Lastly, tell your child they are awesome. Sitting in the school office I looked over at the kid. “You’re awesome. Never forget that”, I said. “I know,” she smiled.

I am officially a puzzle :) Challenge met.

It started with a rash. A little rash on the side of my neck. No worries, I thought to myself. Allergies. I have environmental spring allerigies. It’s spring. Though here in Saskatchewan, there is still snow on the ground. So I couldn’t figure out what spring allergy it was. Then the people at work told me about snow mold. Yes, I thought they were pulling a fast one on the newbie too. They weren’t. It’s real. I googled it. Beautiful :l

I went out and bought allergy medicine extra strength and allergy lotion. The rash went up my face, my ears swelled up and spread around my neck.

The light is not great, but imagine the whole area red and blotchy with hives. The sidekick and my mother urged me to see a doctor. I said to wait. It’s an allergy. The allergy medicine will help. Three days later…..the allergy medicine was not helping. My face felt like it was on fire, the rash was around my neck and around my face. The tips of my ears were burning and swollen. My neck and face, (did not feel like my throat was swollen, just the neck), were swollen.

Living in a small rural town, we do have a walk-in clinic. The hours however are during the summer equinox between the minutes of 12:06 and 12:08. Okay, I exaggerate it’s not that bad. At least there is one. Living in a small town, the ER is actually used as a walk-in too because with only one walk-in with short hours – well you need to go somewhere for medical help. That is where you found me and the sidekick last night after much debate whether I was going to die from a swollen throat or not.

Walking into the ER, there was only one patient waiting to be registered. (much different then GTA hospitals). Turns out I actually kinda knew them. I know a few people. I have acquaintances here. I don’t have any girlfriends or friends yet after almost a year. Which makes having painting parties at our house that we are doing now, quite difficult. I miss my friends and family back home so much 😦

The patient was waiting with his stepfather, who actually is an ex pat from Ontario like us. It’s insane how many Ontarians are out here for jobs and affordability. Ontario, please take note of this. You are losing so many people. Rant over. He stated he didn’t mind it here. He had only seen his family twice because of the cost. I could definitely understand that. He was happy with his wife and children.

We waited on the seats for the receptionist to register us. (Not so different from GTA hospitals – the waiting) . The boy had a nose bleed that just wouldn’t stop. We of course asked if he had taken the tissue away to see if it had stopped. So he did. It hadn’t. We would like to take credit for him being seen so quickly 🙂 Blood does gush fast from a nose….

Then it was my turn. The doctor looked at me. He couldn’t tell if it was an allergy or rosacea. (I have both). Nonetheless, I have never had a flare up of rosacea so intensely. It never entered my mind it could be from rosacea. The pain fluctuated between 4 and 6. My swollen ears were at a 7.

I was given two shots. One was an inter-muscular allergy injection. The other a steriod. Both given in my gluteus maximus. Thank gosh for butt fat!! Steroids hurts. Steroids burn. Athletes should be fined for stupidity as well as cheating if they use them. Why anyone would subject themselves to that burning on a on-going basis, definitely needs to have therapy about why.  The kid fell over laughing when I told her about the butt shots.  The support I get from family I tell ya …. 😉

I was observed for about 45 minutes to see if the rash and swelling would go down. It didn’t. Or course.

The doctor looked at me. “You’re a puzzle” he said. I smiled. I always knew I was special. The steroid would work for another six hours in my body. Hopefully during the night the rash and swelling would go away.

For the next three days I’m on two types of allergy medicines. Hopefully the swelling and rash go. If not, I was given an antibiotic prescription for a rosacea infection. Which, apparently if this happens you are on the meds for three months.

Sigh…..I woke up to less itching but I think I’m going the rosacea route 😦

My question to you all – what is your story about rosacea and allergy reactions. Did you have an allergy reaction that stayed forever (at least in my mind it’s staying for tooooo long)? Or have you ever had a rosacea reaction that was intense like this? Let me know 🙂