Brittany Medeiros: country girl in training

I think it would be fair to say that at home I am an individual who is pretty connected to the world. I try my best to be a positive global citizen through choices like what I eat and wear, how I transport myself from point A to B, what forms of literature and media I chose to inform myself with and what resources I consume. Unfortunately, however much I love the wilderness, most these efforts don't really transfer over to a 'country' way of life... which for some reason I thought they would. So as a result I am constantly being learning about a different way of living, which is often at odds with the obvious city girl in me. The only skill I really have to transfer over is my love for cooking real, whole, unproccessed foods.

One morning Rosemary asked me if I wanted to go with her to take the dogs for a walk. I put on my sneakers, peacoat, was wearing jeans and started to look for leashes and poopy bags. She opened the back door, let the dogs loose, looked at my shoes and asked me if I brought hiking boots. I have never owned hiking boots in my life! She let me borrow a pretty pair of cherry red kicks and we were off (for some reason at this point I was still oblivious to the fact that walking the dog meant 'hike with the dog' so i didnt tie my laces...) We begin trekking through the forest poopy bag free, up, down and around hills, while the dogs were running, chasing wildlife and having the time of their lives. It was a pretty cold morning, but the skies were clear and the view was beautiful.
She asked me many questions such as, "do you have this kind of tree/bird/flower/animal in Canada?" I had to admit that I really dont know anything about Canadian wildlife aside from the obvious. She asked if I had a family dog that we took for walks, I said yes, but 'walk' in oakville has a very different meaning. Then I realized that the walk we were on was the first time I had really walked a dog.
We got back to the house, my untied laces, uncovered pant leg and socks (from not knowing how to properly take off muddy shoes) covered in mud, but it felt great.

Other notable 'country' things I have done so far? Turning off every source of heat in the house during the night (except for small space heaters), as opposed to the 3 degrees that is advertised at home. Feeding the chickens and ducks. Tending to your own compost heap (though I did learn some of that from becca!) and making cake with goats butter from the farm down the road and duck eggs from our ducks.

Oh and ive also rediscovered my love for the water and swimming, I can stay in the pool for hours! Though that is not really a country practice at all, yesterday the chickens watched me while I swam... does that count?

love!

p.s. I dont think i'll be posting pictures for a while, I may have forgotten the connecter cable thing at home...