On September 15, 2025, we moved into our Manhattan at Lot 7. We hired movers, but did the packing and unpacking ourselves (including dismantling the Ikea beds). It went very smoothly. We celebrated the big day by going for a meal at the Lost Anchor – a great place for retired sailors. We do not admit to losing any anchors, although Darrel did find a couple over the years.
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| The fall colours were beautiful. |
We had initially thought that we would spend
just the summers at our new place. After lots of consideration, we figured that
it would work best if we tried to live here year-round. There were three things
that we needed to do if that new plan was going to work:
1.
Buy a better vehicle for winter driving in the
country.
2.
Build a garage.
3.
Buy a generator.
So, we did those three things and now we are year-round
residents of Hi5.
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| The essentials. |
When we submitted our request for an address, we discovered that we were #5. And we are pretty high up the hill. So the name Hi5 just came naturally.
We created a little YouTube of the planting of our mini home. Here’s the link:
We were impressed by the site work. There were delays, not
surprising for this little island where trades are in demand during the summer,
but the movers were agreeable whenever we asked to change the move-in date, and
the lease on our apartment hadn’t expired. A lot of work was required to get a
level spot for the mini home, dig a well, put in a septic system, and build a
driveway, so we had to be patient.
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| Very red dirt, and a lot of it. |
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| They did a good job on the driveway. |
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| So much digging. |
Once we moved in, construction moved forward on the garage
and two decks. We kept busy with clearing a path through the woods. The weather
was perfect for that job: not too hot, no bugs, and very little precipitation.
Unfortunately, without rain, our ground was too try to plant a ground cover, so
we are surrounded by red dirt. Clearing a path in the woods created a lot of “waste”
– twigs, logs and branches – so we created a dead hedge to act as a property
fence as well as a habitat for a variety of critters.
We had two sets of visitors after our move-in, so we did get out to do some sightseeing around our lovely little island, but other than that, we have been totally focused on getting settled in.
By the end of October, we were making preparations for winter: we put tall markers along both sides of the driveway to guide the snow plow, removed the screens from the widows so snow wouldn’t collect, covered the crawl space vents with plastic, put stabilizer in the generator fuel, tied down all the outdoor furniture, changed over to winter tires, built a wind-proof dead hedge containment for our waste bins, gathered bags of salt and sand, and bought ourselves crampons. We didn’t even really know that crampons were a thing. We now know that they are essential on an icy winter day.
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| The dead hedge along the eastern property line. |
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| The completed back deck. |
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| Two new chairs for our front deck. |
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| A clearing in our woods. |
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| The start of a chicken coup, with a dead hedge. |
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| The dead hedge protecting our bins. |
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| A country road before the plows are out. |
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| After a snowy night. |
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| The security camera caught us clearing snow. |
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| A wintry sunrise. |
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| A snowshoe trail up our hill. |
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| A snowshoe trail down to the dead hedge. |
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| A snowshoe trail into our woods. |
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| Crampons are ideal on an icy day. |
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| Snowshoes. |
On December 9, we had to have our driveway cleared by the
snow plow for the first time. Darrel still had lots of snow clearing to do – along the edges, the
walkway and the decks – so we were appreciative of the plow service. The local
roads were cleared and sanded early, so we were able to make it into Charlottetown
for a lunch engagement. So far, we aren’t regretting our decision to live here
year-round.
At Christmas time we stayed close to home and enjoyed the
snow and good weather by sledding and snowshoeing. We have some gentle slopes
in the yard which made for good “bunny” runs, and some steeper slopes for a bit
more of a challenge. Here are a couple of short videos:
https://youtube.com/shorts/L3cV1v7Ke40?feature=share
https://youtube.com/shorts/9Qs-hbKliWM?feature=share
We were happy we created a path through our woods, because
it resulted in a winter wonderland. Words can’t describe it properly, so here
are a couple more videos to give you an idea:
https://youtube.com/shorts/WRJcJAMMdBQ?feature=share
https://youtube.com/shorts/O50m7rEnbo8?feature=share
January and February 2026 were filled mostly with snow clearing and snowshoeing. We also took up a new indoor activity – jigsaw puzzles – and now have an exchange program going with friends. It’s proving to be an addictive activity for Loretta, and since it requires the take-over of the dining table, we’re careful with the number of puzzles that come into the house.
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| Rummy tiles sometime take over our dining table. |
We’re happy
to report that we never had to use our generator (just having it provided us
with peace of mind). We’re very happy that we had a capable vehicle with
winter tires, and that the road maintenance around here is superb.
It's quite lovely out here in the winter. Here’s a drone
video to show off a bit:
March is here, and we can feel spring around the corner. The
days are longer, the sun is warmer, and soon we will be switching to daylight savings
time. We have been in touch with a landscaper to talk about our spring projects.
Our priority is ground cover, but first we want to build a dry creek bed (Darrel
calls it a French drain) to manage water runoff. Darrel has ordered egg-laying
chickens so is now busy planning the chicken coup.
But there is still lots of snow, and more on the way, so our
crampons and shovels are still within reach.
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| A freshly-plowed driveway. |
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| The plow at work. |
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| Cleaning up the edges. |
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| A very comfortable winter home. |
