New Digs

Posting has been and will continue to be light for the next little while because I just moved! Yep. After 6 years of basement living, I have joined the ranks of above ground dwellers. I now call a lovely, bright two bedroom apartment home. It's in a 6 unit building next to the river, which I can see from every window in the place. The building is still within good biking distance of the garden and even closer to where I work. There is a market about 30 seconds away that carries a decent amount of local produce. I'm closer to my library branch too! Through a lovely coincidence my next door neighbour is the girlfriend of one of my dearest friends. The day I moved in, I ran into a downstairs neighbour, the yoga instructor I did my restorative yoga training with. We gave each other a big hug. The best part of it all is that the ADG has moved with me! It's been a long time since I've lived with someone else and no doubt there will be adjustments to make and bumps to smooth out as we navigate our shared living space, but I'm excited to have his awesomeness around day to day, and not just because I now have someone to share chores with!

Speaking of bumps, there are a few drawbacks to this new place that will require some creative thinking. I no longer have access to a backyard. This means I might not have a space for my sun oven, and composting my urine is no longer an option. Also, there's a smoker in the building which I was not aware of. This is upsetting, because I thought I asked about smoking in the building when I first looked at the place. I do know that strong or offensive smells was on my list of things to watch out for, and all seemed fine the two times I viewed the apartment. I'm disappointed in myself for not being more diligent about this.  What's particularly troublesome about this situation, is that I believe the smoker is trying to mask the smell with a strong, chemical air freshener, so both stairwells are quite heavy with cigarette smoke mixed with a sickly-sweet, perfume-y odor that permeates into our apartment.  Sigh...  Thank goodness the lease is only for one year.

But, thinking like a permaculturalist, I'm going to try and mitigate this surplus of toxic air and my houseplant deficiency, by bringing in a veritable jungle of NASA approved, air purifying houseplants! I'm also going to look at weather stripping around our two access doors and research air filters. Hopefully this will take care of things.

 In the meantime, the epic unpacking will continue. The kitchen is mostly set up now, as is the bedroom. There is some painting and minor repairs for the property manager to take care of. Everything that is still in a box is in the spare room right now. Our plan is to have this room (with the best view of the river) as minimal and open as possible for yoga and meditation, a small desk and a couple of bookshelves and a space for crafting and drying herbs.

 I'll take a break from the unpacking for a couple of hours on Sunday to lead a Jane's Walk on wild edibles and medicinal herbs. And you can bet I'll be talking about garlic mustard among other wonderful plants!  If you're local, I'd love to see you come out.  :)