A funny thing started happening in the Fall, soon after we arrived in Ontario, people kept telling us about Prince Edward County and it seemed like everywhere we went someone was drinking wine or talking about the cheese from The County. This was a place neither of us had heard of before. But it was starting to feel like the universe was sending us a message.

So we went exploring. We went for a three day weekend, extended it to four then we found a home.
And it is awesome.

The house is 120 years old. It looks like the house version of the first apartment Mark and I lived in at the Holly Lodge in the West End of Vancouver.

It’s on 6.75 acres. There are fruit trees.

It’s a B&B. Remember when I thought, “wouldn’t it be nice to have a second bathroom“? This place has 5.

Oh – and we also have a Carriage House. That building includes:
* Garage space for Mark’s workshop. And the kilns.
* Another guest room with an ensuite.
* A loft which will become the home of the Mena Dragonfly Studio.

My own studio.

Oh – and the whole place is located 5 minutes from Sandbanks Provincial Park, home of the largest fresh water sand dunes in the world. Plus, it’s on the Prince Edward County Arts Trail.

I remember saying to someone in Vancouver, “…. change is good, sometimes you have to start a new chapter and see what opportunities come.” What an opportunity.

We are so incredibly excited. Mark and I have talked about running a B&B for years. We’ve been daydreaming about this for a really long time but we thought it was a plan for the future.

The future is here and this is it.

We’re opening a B&B.
We’re setting up a studio and workshop.
And Molly & Lexy are here with us, having a blast:

When my Grandma passed away last year a big question for my family was what would happen to her house? We’re a very sentimental family and are all attached to that house. It’s where my Mom and her seven siblings grew up, it’s where we had all those kitchen parties, it’s where we sat having a cup of tea, with Grandma eating sweets like Gumdrop Cake.

No one wanted to see the house go, but it didn’t seem like any of us could step in and take it over. For a while it was rented out and the couple who lived there did a lot of damage, which was kind of heartbreaking.

With very heavy hearts the family put the house on the market. One or two offers came in but for whatever reason the sales never went through. We were all feeling down about the prospect of never being able to go back to the house.

Then something wonderful happened. My cousin Cheryl bought the house for her and her growing family. She fixed up the place, she painted a few rooms, even found some of the pictures Grandma had hanging and put them back on the walls. When Uncle Bill passed away it was such a comfort to be able to go back to Grandma’s place.

My Mom and her siblings divided the proceeds from the sale of the house and my Mom gave my brother and I a portion of what she called her inheritance. I told Mom to keep the money for her retirement but she refused, she said, “Your Grandparents didn’t have a lot of money but what they did have they shared with the family and they would have wanted to be able to give you this themselves.” So she asked Jeff and I to spend it on something that would remind us for Grandma and Grandpa.

I bought a kiln. This is Samena:

Samena is a combination of my Grandparents’ names, Samuel and Armena. It’s also the name the town gave to the road that leads to Cheryl’s new house on Samena Lane.

Here’s the Short Version of the story:
Yes, we’re leaving Vancouver. Mark and I have sold our fantastic, lovingly custom designed, dream apartment. We’re going to load up a truck and then take a very long road trip with Molly & Lexy, seeing a few sites and visiting with family and friends along the way. We don’t know when we’re leaving exactly yet, but I’m sure our moving date will come sooner than we think.

If you’re wondering why and how all this came about, then here’s the Long Version of the story:

It all started when Mark began having some trouble with his feet.

It all started when we wanted to move into a bigger place.

It all started when we went back to Newfoundland last year.

It all started when Mark turned to me and said, “How about we take our lives on an adventure and move to Ontario?”

My wonderful, talented husband has been having a painful time, he has a pretty bad case of plantar fasciitis. He’s seen lots of doctors, followed through on lots of advice and has been able to manage the pain but he’s been living it with now for about two years. He’s the Caretaker for the building we live in, it’s a pretty active job. It’s now come to the point when more than one of his doctors has strongly suggested he find a new career.

But what?

While suffering with this problem, life for Mark and I carried on but with a lot less activity. We haven’t gone hiking for a long, long time. Mark doesn’t usually walk the Girls with me, we’ve been to Stanley Park only a hand full of times the last couple of years. Really, we’re not enjoying so many of the things we love about Vancouver.

So why are we here?

We have a stunning apartment. We are living The Vancouver Life. We own a loft Downtown. We have views of the mountains, Stanley Park & Burrard Inlet. Mark is a talented carpenter and designer and together we have created a fantastic place to live. It’s absolutely beautiful and could be found in the pages of Dwell, but it’s only around 800 square feet.

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a bedroom with a door on it? Or a second bathroom?

The last two summers have been a little tough, I’ve had to say good bye to two very dear, wonderful people I love so much, both of them in Newfoundland. Each time I went back it took a day and half to get to my family. This country is so big, the flights are limited (and crazy expensive) and the four and a half time zones really suck. This is the drawback to living on the west coast. I am so very far away from my family. And as I get older it feels like the distance widens.

Time is precious.

When we first started talking about moving to Ontario Uncle Bill was part of our plans. I told him I’d be able to come visit him more often, he said it was a great idea.

Tell me again, why do I live so far away from my family?

Health problems, career contemplations, space issues, a really expensive housing market, home sickness, all of these things were brewing and then suddenly Mark said, “How about we take our lives on an adventure and move to Ontario?”

I said, “Yes!” without hesitation and spent the rest of the night crying tears of joy. Don’t get me wrong, I love Vancouver—we both do. We just realized that we are not living the lives we want to live here, not completely. It’s time for a change.

When we made the decision to move we were in the middle of renovating our kitchen. We’ve been madly working to finish it off to sell the place and I’ve fallen a bit behind on making pottery but I’m now getting back into my throwing routine. I’ll have a special item for the Thanksgiving One Of A Kind Online Pop Up Shop at the end of September. I’m only making 25 and they’ll be available for just a limited time online. The shop opens September 27th and I’m really happy with how these little numbers are turning out.

In the next few weeks while we get ready to leave this wonderful, wonderful place I’ll be making pottery but I won’t be able to take on any more workshops or private lessons. (If you’re one of the people on my wait list watch for an email from me in the next few days.)

I’ve re-opened my BigCartel shop, but I’m going to leave my Etsy shop on hold for the time being, I just need to simplify a few things for the next few weeks.

I’ll also be coming back to Vancouver in December for the One Of A Kind Show & Sale, so it won’t be long before I get to come back to this city I absolutely LOVE.

This has been a very bittersweet time for us but Mark and I are both really excited for what’s ahead.