Coe Hill Ontario

So my new house is in Coe Hill, Ontario. I thought you all might like to learn a little about the area I'm moving to. :)

Here are so interesting tidbits about the area I am moving to:

Coe Hill is a community in Wollaston township in Hastings County, Ontario

The Wollaston township had a population of 708 in the Canada 2011 Census.

Coe Hill has restaurants, gas station, Royal Canadian Legion branch, beer store, post office, grocery store, bakery, fishing supplies store, library, and a doctor's office.

Coe Hill is about a ten minute drive away from my new home.

Wollaston township covers an area that is 220.19 km2 (85.02 sq mi)

Wollaston township has a population density of 3.2/km2 (8.3/sq mi); which mean there is 1 person per every 8.3 square miles (I LOVE that!)

The nearest hospital is in Bancroft; it is about a twenty minute drive away.

Coe Hill Agricultural Fair is annually from Friday August 28th and Saturday August 29th, 2015

Ducks

I've been researching livestock for the new homestead. As most of you know, I'm a bit of a tender hearted wuss and am not comfortable killing things, so I'm looking for livestock that can be profitable without the killing.

I have egg laying hens already and they are awesome, so I will definitely be increasing my flock of hens. I was also thinking about adding a flock of ducks.

I learned some interesting things about ducks lately:

-There are some breeds of ducks that lay as well as hens

- Most domestic duck breeds don't fly

- Male ducks are notorious rapists. they have huge penises (up to 17 inches long!!)  that are spiraled.

- In an attempt to stop duck rape, female ducks evolved a spiral vagina (that spiral opposite the male's penis) to make it harder to impregnate them. Only about 2% of duck rape ends in pregnancy!

- Ducks are better at insect control than hens are

I think (assuming I can find some in the area for sale. I am going to get Indian Runners. they are the best laying breed of ducks. Here's a YouTube video if them :)

Moving to Coe Hill

I'm very excited to announce I am moving in just five weeks! I am moving to 42 acres in Coe Hill, Ontario. Coe Hill is about 20-30 minutes south of Bancroft and about an hour north of Peterborough.

Since my very first trip to Algonquin Park I have dreamed of living somewhere that had moose and bears, deer and wolves. I have dreamed of living deep in the forest, surrounded by Mother Nature. Dreams really can come true!

It is going to be quite the exciting adventure. I have never lived somewhere like this before. The house is off-grid (it has solar panels and a propane generator for back-up). I hope it doesn't give me too many problems with running my electronics! It has a nice wood stove, so I'm certainly going to be warmer come winter than where I am now!

 There is a lot more animals there, which is super cool, but also a little scary. I am a little worried about my hens. I hope they all don't end up dead in the first week there! We plan on adding more hens to our flock and getting two female goats! We may also get some other livestock!

Below are some pics of the new homestead :)

My First Children's Book!

I have published my first children book!

It can be purchased on Amazon for Kindle for $2.99

Animal ABCs on Amazon for Kindle

it can also be purchased in physical book form on LuLu for $17.89

Animal ABCs on LuLu

Please help a single mom of three pay off student loans so she can go back to school!

A friend of mine has started an Indiegogo campaign to help pay off her student loans and go back to school.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/going-back-to-university

Rural Internet in Southwestern Ontario Canada

I live in the country, about 20 minutes from the city of Sarnia, about five minutes from the town of Wyoming. Getting internet where I live has been a nonstop battle. You'd think I lived in the middle of no where, but seriously civilization is not the far away! It drives me crazy!!

When I first went to rent the place I live now, I called Bell Canada to confirm they had high speed internet there and they assured me that they did. They lied! The Bell guy shows up to hook it up and nope, sorry,m the best they can do is dial up! As that's not bad enough they actually tried to charge me $250 for breaking my high sped internet contract with them (as I had a contract with them from my last place). Excuse me?! They should be paying me $250! They couldn't uphold their end of the contract not me!

I gave Bell the boot after the high speed contract BS and decided to give a Telus wireless stick a try. Oh boy! That was a mistake. It was fast and reliable, but they charge $60 for 5 GB, and $30 for every GB you went over! Ouch! When you work online that's nasty!

Finally EBTech came to our area and offered internet off a radio tower. It was unlimited for $60 a month! I was so happy!! I thought my internet woes was finally over! Boy, was I wrong!! I was lucky if it worked 70% of the time and it worked well 50% of the time. It was basically as slow as dial up and sites timed up when I tried to put art on them that was 5MB and over (and that's when it was working well!!). It went out for hours and even days, and if we called EBTech to complain we got nothing but a run around. I complained four times on their Facebook wall in the two and a half years we had EBTech. I never once swore or threatened them, yet after the 4^th time they actually cut us off. Middle of the months, I'm paid up in full, been a customer for two and a half years, and they actually cut us off from paid for service because I complained that their internet sucked. Yep, I'm serious! They did the same thing to a couple down the street from me; the wife was mad because they had been out for three days, she called and complained, and they cut them off!.

Obviously after getting cut off for complaining about their poor internet, I wanted nothing more to do with EBTech so am now trying Xplornet. It's only be a week and a half, but so far so good! I haven't lost internet once so far!

So, for rural dwellers, here's the break down:

Bell Canada:

$30 for unlimited dial up plus $35 for a phone you really cannot use. Works great, but obviously very slow and only one computer can run at a time (so my son and I cannot work online at the same time). Way too slow for streaming and downloading a single hour long TV show takes about half a day or so.

Telus Wireless Stick:

$60 for 5GB and $30for each GB you go over. Works great, very fast, but staying under 5GB is extremely hard. Prepare for big bills. Only one computer at a time can use it.

EBTech Rural Wireless (off a radio tower): $60 unlimited. Almost as slow as dial up, very unreliable (Goes out several times a week,sometimes for hours). Poor customer service. Will cut you off if you complain. Works on multiple computers (just goes slower)

Xplornet (Satellite)

$90 for 40GB (They don't charge you more if you go over, they slow you down to dial up speed). Very fast and very reliable. Works well during bad weather. Fast enugh to stream and downloads/uploads very quickly). Works on multiple computers.

What's the lesser of the evils. I think Xplornet. I work online and reliable beats unlimited and cheaper.  

My Online Stores

I sell my art and photos on numerous sites. Most sites I have two stores on; Imphavok Impressions and PugWiggles. Imphavopk Impressions has Pagan, Faerie, adult and controversial designs, and PugWiggles has animals, love, peace and other family friendly designs

Imphavok Impressions Zazzle Store

PugWiggles Zazzle Store

Imphavok Impressions Cafe Press Store

PugWiggles Cafe Press Store

Imphavok Impressions Wordans Store

Imphavok Impressions Greeting Card Universe Store

Imphavok Impressions Skreened Store

PugWiggles Skreened Store

Imphavok Impressions RedBubble Store

Imphavok Impressions CowCow Store

Imphavok Impressions Galloree Store

Art of Where Site (I don't have my own store for this site, but sell stuff on the site)

PugWiggles CowCow Store