The Rural Voice, 2001-01, Page 26BEFORE AND AFTER: At left, the
abandoned house the young couple
moved into. Below, their hard work
produced results.
Seeking adventure
Looking for a change, a young Bruce County family decided to move to Rainy River
District and an abandoned farm. Sandra Forster, now studying to become an
agricultural journalist, recorded her 1980s adventure that comes close to rivaling that
of the original homesteaders
Story and Photos By Sandra Forster
Sometimes life is one great
adventure after another. I would
have never considered a total
career change to agricultural
journalist from vet clinic receptionist,
if our great northern adventure into
the unknown hadn't proven that
sometimes the best things come from
taking a leap of faith.
Donald and I had started our
marriage fixing up an abandoned
farmhouse and barn near Ripley.
After nine years, the renovation work
was finished, and we recognized the
need for a new challenge.
Meanwhile, Donald's brother
Jamie moved to the Rainy River
district where land was less
expensive than southern Ontario. We
went to visit him and liked the slower
pace, where farmers had time to help
out their neighbours. Farming in the
1980s was competitive, based on who
had the biggest tractor and the most
debt. Donald dreamed of going west,
where he had worked as a young
man. If we moved northwest, that
22 THE RURAL VOICE
dream would be satisfied by the
quiet, open spaces, not so far from
our families in Bruce county.
The Rainy River neighbours
probably thought we were young,
foolish, back -to -nature types. Their
farms had all the modern
conveniences of hydro, phone,
running water, machinery, barns and
neighbours. The only thing our farm
had was potential.
The lack of a phone forced me to
write letters to keep in touch. My
mother kept them all, and now I have
a diary of our life in the north.
May 12, 1984 — After a three-day
drive, we arrive. The house is a
barely -habitable, one and one-half
storey frame, abandoned farmhouse,
with gaping holes in the roof and
weathered siding boards. Some
window panes are missing •or
cracked. I start in with a shovel,
broom and grain bags, cleaning out
the mess. I find an old, steel cream
separator can and set a toilet seat on
top for indoor facilities.
May 16 — Our water source is a 20 -
foot -long, steel culvert sunk in the
front lawn. We tie a pickle jar to a
rope and lower it down to get water.
On an old cast-iron stove outside, I
heat water in two big kettles. The
wringer washing machine is powered
by a gas generator. I string a
clothesline between two trees and
some fence posts.
May 17 — Donald goes to buy
windows. I scrub the kitchen floor
four times, and see a groundhog in
the garden. The mosquitoes arrive.
Two neighbours dynamite the beaver
dams that cause the road into our
place to flood. They think we should
tear down the house and start over,
but we're determined to work
together to make this house a home.
May 18 — We go canoeing on the
river east of the house, and see a
beaver. The kids fish with worms
they call "fish snakes". There are lots
of birds of all kinds — cranes, herons,
geese, blue jays, swallows, and a red-
headed woodpecker. I do the dishes