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Hillis Vassilas
Hillis Vassilas

Hillis Vassilas

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  • There and Back Again
    'Sea to Sky' waterfall
    Viewpoint from 'sea to sky'Cool rock on cable bay trailPacific estuaryBlue heron!Farmship doggyEllie loves dat mossDesire path tree crossing1Found a stick: named it 'Ogg'1

    From sky to sea to island

    Jun 17–Jul 1, 2024 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    We woke up very early on the 16th with barely any sleep from our shared night in Donnie and begun our trip down the mountains and to the Pacific.

    Other than our overnight stay in Kamloops the first half of the ride was uneventful; the second half took us through incredible forested mountains until we reached whistler and from there we stopped at two waterfalls that were sensational. Reaching the Pacific was so cathartic; I couldn't believe we were looking at an ocean and not a lake. We had finally made it all the way WEST!!!

    We stayed a night at our family friend Anna Kalfa's home in Vancouver and got the ferry to Vancouver island the next day and arrived at Isabelle's farmship co-op exhausted and really glad we were done travelling for a while.

    Madeleine was still feeling under the weather from our time in Jasper but me and Ellie got started the next day farming our little hearts out. Isabelle's farm was by far the most efficient and industrious of all the farms we had been: there were around 8 fields and 5 greenhouses filled with every vegetable you could imagine. We harvested, weeded, transplanted alongside a crew of 8 wonderful full time employees. The schedule was great: 4 days on, 3 days off.

    So on our day offs we went for walks: one was the cable bay trail which took us through some beautiful old growth forest and ended on a coast that faced Gabriola island. We saw a hilarious interaction between a big dog named Jasper who just wanted to play with a sea lion who was hanging out on the shoreline.

    Another was a wild bushwhacking hike we improvised from an estuary to a waterfall. We felt like we were in a video game, trying to find the right path that would move us forward. Eventually, after much plank moving and generic video game shouting, we found an old desire path and followed it up to a small waterfall; we saw incredible foliage along the way and we're proud that we powered through the muddy and muddled start.    Read more

  • There and Back Again
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    Jasper

    Jun 13–16, 2024 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

    Next up we arrived at our campsite in Jasper- just as beautiful and less touristy. Usually when we went driving, there would be a lineup of parked cars, watching some animal do it's thing at the side of the road! This is where I FINALLY saw bears which was a Canadian bucket list item ticked off! 

    Activities included some free tours of Maligne Lake and the Columbia Icefields that were gifted to us by a friend of ours previous WWOOF host. We walked the through the Maligne canyons, and pretty much spent our time walking around and marvelling at the natural splendor around us. 

    However after the heat of our previous WWOOF we were humbled by the cold of being so far above sea level and so far north. We had nights of camping in -5 which we were pretty unprepared for because we didn't have internet to check the weather. The next night all 3 of us bundled up in Donny with every layer we had and newly purchased hot water bottles  and huddled up like penguins.    Read more

  • There and Back Again
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    BANFF

    Jun 12–13, 2024 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    Ok ok so I know it's been an age since we last posted- if you don't know why already, the reason will become clear in a later post. So after leaving our second WWOOF and their gorj lake house, we drove to pick up Mad and a friend she made while WWOOFing (Nele) and drove to Banff. 

    Banff is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Canada/ the world and for good reason; it's a town surrounded by mountains, lakes and forests of the most picturesque variety. 

    The first thing we did when we arrived (after getting acquainted with our hostel) was do a short hike. Turns out it was a short hike IF you drove to the trailhead, but seeing as we walked all the way there too, it was a bit longer than expected. Luckily the views made up for it (we even found the Canadian lawn chairs that I love so much!) 

    After the hike we had dinner out, found the place serving the cheapest wine (a bottle of 'Gemma de Luna' definitely qualified!) and danced the night away! 

    The next day with slightly sore heads, we hiked up Sulphur Mt which I thought would be the thing that finally humbled me by legit killing me (8,041 ft climb!) but I lived to see some of the best views of my life AND baby mountain goats. Yay!

    After essentially floating back down to Donny, we started the journey to Jaspar which was an incredible drive, weaving between mountains and lakes at golden hour. GOOD SHIT ALL ROUND.
    Xoxo- Ellie    Read more

  • There and Back Again
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    The laziest lake you've ever laked at...

    Jun 8–11, 2024 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    If you are ever in the kootenays; visit lazy lake. It is serene; and we were lucky enough to stay at the most beautiful property on the lake, the iconic forest green A frame.

    Our day began with a sunrise hike that brimmed with potential. We drove down to pick up Madeleine from her wwoof and headed straight for the lake. We were open mouthed when we walked out onto the patio.

    We stayed on a tent on a tiny island right across from the house and canoed and kayaked everyday across the lake to a small beach that became our little cove. We ate hot dogs and bison burgers and listened to old cassettes that the previous owner had collected and Steve and ally had added to over the years (special shout-out to 'collection of acid jazz volume 2').

    The serenity spoke to Ellie and I and it was the most beautiful place we had been to thus far. Thank you ally and Steve for sharing your amazing space with us and the hundreds of other wwoofers before us. We'll be back...    Read more

  • There and Back Again
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    123Us with Ally!111312

    Getting to work in Wycliff

    May 26–Jun 5, 2024 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    Our days with Steve and Ally at our second WWOOF were never dull- filled with hard work in the garden, games of Sorry and bocce balls (bowls for the British among you), live music and beer. Lots of beer.

    Jobs and activities included:
    - staining the railings of their deck
    - removing invasive species from the property
    - weeding the vegeteble beds
    - brushing the dogs
    - digging up soil and building a raised bed for a hugel mound
    - planting the year's veggies
    - cleaning windows, inside and out
    - baking bread and muffins
    - LOTS of washing up

    We were rewarded for this work with delicious meals, hikes, mountain bike rides and picnics in the wild flowers!

    The closest town- Kimberley has been voted the best small town in BC and is surrounded by beautiful mountains and populated by lovely, warm people. How lucky we are to spend 3 weeks as part of the community!    Read more

  • There and Back Again
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    111Madeleine excited to be at the gas station!Postcard perfect2Hot springs!!!

    Into the Rockies...

    May 23–26, 2024 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C

    We awoke early on the 23rd, eager to begin what everyone had told us is the most beautiful part of the cross-canada drive.

    It was ... Gorgeous. We just passed Banff when I realised we needed to fill up on gas and I had no idea when the next gas station was. Coincidentally, it happened to be at the lake Louise exit (a lake I had literally been recommended by every human in canada) and we impromptu realised we had time to kill so we decided to go see it!
    I had thought that it would be expensive but I was suprised to see the day pass was only $22 for the three of us! So we parked by the entrance and were feeling bless until we found out the parking was $36.5!!! That's where the bastards get ya. But it was a lovely lake and I thoroughly enjoyed the hour visit we had.

    It was cloudy at first, but the sun soon burst through and the valley that the lake was nestled in-between was truly gorgeous. We sat and chatted and enjoyed the view for as long as we could, before heading onwards to our respective homesteads: we dropped off Madeleine just beyond Golden and drove through the kootenays all the way to Kimberley and found our hosts, celebrating at a local brewery.

    Our hosts are a lovely couple: Ally and Steve who have lived on their land for coming on to 12 years now. It was Steve's 40th birthday the day we arrived so the festivities were already in full swing and upon arrival we found out that the whole weekend would be celebration vibez!
    Friday we went for a hike up to some hot springs with Leo, a Wwoofer who had already been here for a month and who was leaving the next day. The hike was gorgeous and the hot springs divine: a perfect 38-45°C so you could stay in there for hours (which we did)!
    Saturday was Steve's 'party' where we helped prep hummus, salad, bread and the lot for his family and friends who were lovely, funny and very chatty! Ally plays the fiddle and her band performed just two doors down at a neighbours home. We all migrated there for a great show of folk and country tunes. We returned for a big bonfire and spent the night sitting around the fire drinking and chatting with everyone. It was truly a fantastic introduction to the kootenays and ended the weekend feeling blessed to be in this beautiful area of BC.    Read more

  • There and Back Again
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    2We played darts to ward off the creepy vibes (Ellie won)

    Calgary and Madeleine!

    May 21–23, 2024 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    After visiting the conservation site, we rushed over to a local bar in a small town to watch the Vancouver vs Edmunton ice hockey game (we have truly gone native) in the dingiest and creepiest bar we've ever been to (good fried chicken though!). Then we found our free campsite and settled down in Donnie for the night.

    The next morning was straight out of a low budget horror film. THOUSANDS of bugs covered every inch of the grass surrounding us, the car and the stuff we had foolishly left outside for the night. It took us over an hour to get as many as we could off and get the hell outta there. (We still have no idea what they were; they could fly but didnt sting. Any ideas?)

    Our moods very quickly improved after a Timmie's breakfast and a visit to Dinosaur Provincial Park- it had amazing views and we were sad not to hike around but we had to be on our way to meet mt sister Madeleine, who'se joining us for the rest of our time in Canada! We picked her up from the the Calgary airport and took her to our hostel in the city. Hillis sat very patiently while Mad and I spoke approx 10,000 mph catching up.

    The next day we explored Calgary. Its my viee that your opinion of a new place is completely dependent on the weather when you visit- Calgary was very grey and rainy. But as we found the right side of town that suited us (bookshop, plant shop, spice shop and local brewery), the sun came out and we ended the day with beer and cards.

    We're so happy to have a new addition to the travel team (or Donnie and the Darlings as we know it).

    -Ellie    Read more

  • There and Back Again
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    Bye bye Manitoba - Hello Saskatchewan!

    May 19–21, 2024 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C

    With Donnie all packed and ready to go, we left Roseisle, and began our journey through the Prairies.

    The first day of driving was completely uneventful, but we were once again dazzled by the kindness of strangers when the park managers, Brian and Louise in Ceylon provincial park, invited us to have dinner with them, and join them for breakfast the next morning! We graciously accepted and were warmed by their hospitality.

    The next day, Donnie informed us he needed an oil change, so we swung by moose jaw to change our oil and just so happened to pass by a giant moose, with whom we had to get our pictures taken.

    Once we got back on the road we pushed on westwards. We were hoping to visit the 'Old man on his back prairie' which is a nature conservancy of Canada heritage site which is home to a herd of plains bison. Back in Toronto I fundraised for the NCC and specifically told people about this heritage site as a success story of protecting endangered species in Canada. We almost turned back because the road to get there was pretty muddy but I'm so glad we pushed on because it was so rewarding and fascinating to see the place in person!

    We walked 10 or so minutes to the top of a hill where we could see the entire horizon for as far as you can imagine. We sighted three bison just on the other side of the hill and holy shit are they massive! They trotted and jumped around the land, grazing as they went. It was wonderful to see them in their natural environment and to see this place that I was working towards in the flesh!

    We learnt a lot from the land manager who we were lucky enough to drive past and gave us a tour of the visitors centre. The ranchers in the 1900's had brought a lot of invasive grass species over and it was only with lots of work that the next generation of ranchers were able to revert the damage done and return wild prairie grass to the land and eventually, a herd of bison.

    Thank you Nature Conservancy of Canada for protecting this land and before that, to all the ranchers and land managers who worked to bring wild prairie grass species and bison back to it.

    - Hillis    Read more

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    11A better photo of the owl we saw!12

    Roseisle Sauna 14-19th May

    May 14–18, 2024 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C

    The second half of our WWOOF passed peacefully: we were properly settled and working away to help the family maintain their property. Some highlights include:

    - once the hosts got to know me better, they suggested that we destroy a small shed that they no longer needed. A bump on the head later, we conquered the beast

    - A new WWOOFer unexpectedly joined us! Thea was a german student that we immediately got on well with. The tasks became that much more fun with someome new to chat to and that much simpler with her German problem solving skills.

    - On a day off, the three of us attended an Indiginous Pow-Wow in Winnipeg which was a beautiful celebration of Native dancing and art work

    - After working all day to take apart pallets to salvage the wood, we threw most of it on a bonfire because the wood was, as it turned out, unusable

    - Luke, the smallest of the two dogs fell head over heels in love with Ellie (and it was definitely reciprocated)

    - we watched spring properly arrive on their beautiful property; the leaves finally populating the barren tree branches. Canada really knows how to build anticipation for spring and then deliver something spectacular as the forest bursts into life.    Read more

  • There and Back Again
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    Such Silence

    May 10, 2024 in Canada ⋅ 🌙 8 °C

    As deep as I ever went into the forest
    I came upon an old stone bench, very, very old,
    And around it a clearing, and beyond that
    Trees taller and older than I had ever seen.

    Such silence!
    It really wasn't so far from a town, but it seemed
    All the clocks in the world had stopped counting.
    So it was hard to suppose the usual rules applied.

    Sometimes there's only a hint, a possibility.
    What's magical, sometimes, has deeper roots than reason.
    I hope everyone knows that.

    I sat on the bench, waiting for something.
    An angel, perhaps.
    Or dancers with the legs of goats.

    No, I didn't see either. But only, I think, because
    I didn't stay long enough.

    Such Silence - Mary Oliver    Read more

  • There and Back Again
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    Roseisle Sauna 8-13th May

    May 8–14, 2024 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    Foreword: for the adventures at our Wwoof's we will be posting once every 3-4 days because our location isn't changing and we just aren't taking as many pictures.

    For the entirety of our first day we were tasked with harvesting and cleaning fiddleheads so we could have them as a side for dinner. We were guided in this task by Drew, one of Gerri's lovely sons, who taught us to cut 3/4 of the stalks and leave some so that the population can be sustained. Ellie also dug up burdock roots to make a broth that can be used to cook rice and in stews. Having our hands in the soil was a fantastic feeling and one we were about to get very used to. We ended the day with a lovely campfire with smores by the beach.

    The next day we harvested more fiddleheads and created a vegetable bed for squash and I made Briam and chicken for dinner! We also tried some lovely local beers that claimed to save a wolf every time you bought a beer.

    The following day we visited a cidery operated by one of their cousin's and boy do they make good cider. They had a rose variety and a lemon shandy cider which were my two favourites. We also caught the northern lights (pictures of which will follow in our next post)!

    Saturday we gave Donnie a big ol' clean and found a perfect piece of foam at the thrift store (is comfort a crime?) and had the whole day to ourselves as the family here had a gathering in Steinbeck. We made stuffed peppers when they returned with leftover Briam and rice which was yum.

    Sunday was sauna day, and I think I fed the fire a bit too much (Gerry said it was like an incinerator in there!). So after a lovely roast dinner made by Gerry we spent maybe 5-10 mins in there and then went for an ice bath in the nearby creek which was a real soup of sensations! All in all it was pretty fantastic and we have been really enjoying our stay here so far.    Read more

  • There and Back Again
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    Day 6- Goodbye Ontario, Hello Manitoba!

    May 7, 2024 in Canada ⋅ 🌬 11 °C

    We woke up in Thunder Bay and followed Barbra's advice and went to a sauna at the Finnish baths and had Finnish pancakes for breakfast! This was a perfect way to start the day and the sauna soothed the aches of camping for a week!

    Then we drove for maybe half an hour to Kakabeka Falls, a beautiful waterfall and landscape. We had a long drive ahead so couldnt hike around but we got the general idea.

    Then we said goodbye to beautiful Ontario that we have come to love and appreciate much, and crossed the border into a new province and time zone: we're Manitoba people now!

    A few hours of driving through very flat and sprawling prarie landscapes, we arrived at Roseisle Sauna (our first WWOOF) at around 8pm and gratefully collapsed into a bed that will be ours for the next 2 weeks.    Read more

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    Day 5 - Driving to Thunder Bay

    May 6, 2024 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    After a distinctly cold and uncomfortable night in Donnie Dodges belly, we decided to take the morning easy: we did sun salutations towards the sun and had lunch on the beach, before re-packing Donnie and heading out to Thunder bay.

    Before heading out, we got in touch with Barb; a friend of a friend who could potentially house us in the area. She told us she'd be happy to, but she recommended we don't rush the drive because it is a beautiful one- and boy was she right! The next 7 hours were filled with winding roads that went uphill and downhill; cliffs towered to our right and Lake Superior dazzled to our left. We stopped to get a picture with the world's largest goose🦆 but mostly did the 480km drive in one fell swoop.

    Barb turned out to be a delight, and brought so much excited energy to our trip. We pulled out the maps and showed her our route, and ended the night watching an episode of 'Midsummer Murders' as we fell asleep on her comfy couches. Thanks Barb!!

    -Hillis    Read more

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    Day 4- Driving to Pancake Bay

    May 5, 2024 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C

    After yet another delicious meal we packed up and said goodbye to Barb, Curtis, Randy, Nancy and beautiful Manitoulin Island.
    We drove 4 and a half hours to the 'city' of Sault St Marie and the vibes were seriously off. Maybe because it was a Sunday, maybe because it wasnt pedestrian friendly as we were expecting, maybe its just a weird place but we stocked up on groceries and got the hell outta there.
    It was another hour to Pancake Bay where we had a campsite booked for the night. We squealed when we saw our first glimpse of Lake Superior- Ontario is GAWGUS you guys.
    We set up camp (I.e moved all our crap from the back seat to the front and laying out our foam thats about as thick as a tissue), Hillis made us some dinner and we spent the final moments of sunlight drinking local beers at Pancake Bay and reading Mary Oliver to each other.
    Campfire, cups of tea, then bed.

    -Ellie    Read more

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    Day 3 - Manitoulin Island

    May 4, 2024 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    We started our day with a hearty breakfast with our new friends and ventured out into the island. Within minutes the fog cleared and it was like we had travelled to a different manitoulin! Our two hikes for the day were:
    - A short trail that led to a roaring waterfall called 'bridal veil falls' (we ended the hike with an almond mocha fudge root beer float that blew our minds!).
    - Next, the cup and saucer trail! It was a short 2 hour hike, but we made it an adventure by taking the the 'adventure trail' which was a lot of climbing through rocks and boy did it make the view all that much better. From the viewpoint we could see the north and east side of the island all the way to the mainland and we sat up there for as long as we could.

    Once we had soaked it all in we returned back to our lovely hosts who had prepared a delicious dinner of pulled pork, mashed potatoes and Caesar salad! Randy even treated us to a ride on his ATV which was a real thrill and something we never would have done if we hadn't met them. We even saw 2 groups of 3 deer (they didnt enjoy the sound of the ATV!) We ended the day watching the hockey which was a good game, but disappointing as the toronto maple leafs lost in overtime. I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow 😊😊.    Read more

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    Day 2- Manitoulin Island

    May 3–4, 2024 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C

    Ok buckle up, because day 2 was a day of miracles. It started completely unassumimgly; we were up and packed in time for the 8:30 ferry to Manatoulin Island. We bought ourselves breakfast and got to chatting to the couple sitting next to us, Barb and Curtis ... 2 hour ferry ride later and theyve invited us to stay at their friends house during our time on the Island! After quite a cold and stiff night in the tent we didnt need much convincing and gratefully accepted.

    We spent the first few hours on the Island visiting the Ojibwe Cultural centre (shoutout Darlene for the tour and examples of Indigenous crafts!)- I dragged Hillis for a small walk in the rain and he stuck it out for as long as he could (10 minutues) before driving us to visit our home for the night.

    After seeing deer and porcupine crossing the road (!!) on our journey we arrived at Randy and Nancy's place to see the lovely side house they had made up for us. We spent the rest of the day getting to know our lovely hosts, hearing stories of their adventures in Canada and getting recommendations for our next day on the Island.

    We cant believe our luck at meeting such warm and generous people- biggest shoutout ever to our new friends Barb, Curtis, Nancy and Randy!!! (photos to follow tomorrow of the whole gang together)
    - Ellie    Read more

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    Day 1 - Bruce Peninsula

    May 2, 2024 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C

    Hello hello to everyone near and far! Here's your one stop shop for everything Hillis and Ellie for the next four months. Here goes:

    We awoke to a lovely sunny Toronto bidding us farewell and with giddy and nervous energy we packed the rest of our things and headed up the 400 north. Our first stop ended up being Timmy's, which did not disappoint. As we began our drive up to Bruce Peninsula National Park, we popped in a CD we picked up from the Toronto Island Bridge Boutique called 'Q Magazine's Essential Drive'
    It turned out to be the perfect starting music: a cool collection of alternative rock that felt like the kind of music our dads would have played in the car when we were young.
    We made a couple stops along the way: -Walmart for a charger and groceries
    -a dodge dealer to check if they had a spare spare tire (ours is a little old, and we don't know if it will hold up if we have to use it)
    -a junkyard who said they had a spare in alright condition (turned out to be in even worse condition than ours)

    By 14:30 we arrived at the park and began setting up camp. We did it as fast as we could so we could fit in a walk around the lake and to the bay before dark. And we are so grateful we did: it was one of the most beautiful walks I've ever been on. We walked the perimeter of Cyprus lake which was through lovely woodland area literally right on the shore. Then on our way to the bay we saw some crazy rocks that had these really distinct holes in them (does anyone know what this is???). We arrived at the grotto during golden hour and holy cow, the water was soooo beautiful and transparent. Georgian bay really giving Greece a run for it's money! The naturally occuring overhang was also pretty amazing and we sat on the beach wishing it was hotter and we could jump into the water. We made our way back to our campsite and the water on Cyprus lake was like glass. We watched the sun go down and paint the sky a ray of reds.

    We chose beauty over practicality because then we had to make dinner (luckily it was just salad) and a fire in the dark (lesson learnt!). We ended the day feeling excited for manitoulin and grateful that something we had worked so hard for was finally a reality (and, a little cold!).

    -Hillis    Read more

  • Clearing the Crap!
    Our final storage masterpiece
    Can'tBelieve2They'reEmpty

    The Crap has been officialy Cleared!

    March 2, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 8 °C

    We did it! Hooray!!! We emptied and consolidated the 5 metroself storage units into just one! Task complete ✅.

    We began our final day of clearing with a home visit, as mum had filled the house with stuff to go through. She was diligent with this material and was working outside of work hours to complete her sorting.

    We made our final drop off at the repeat boutique/world relief donation centre who have truly been lifesavers this entire trip. Volunteers who have been going through and sorting everything we donate to make sure it goes to the right place and the right people. Thank you Repeat Boutique!

    We then brought the things we wanted to keep to the storage units and on the last day mum forgot the keys!!! So we got postponed a bit because mum had to drive back to the house to go get them; I did a yoga and got warmed up while I waited.

    We were able to fit almost everything from 2011 (which was the unit we originally thought we would keep) into 2033 in this first hour and then went out for lunch to our favourite local mexican slow cooked meat spot called 'La Birria Loca' (google translate tells us this means 'the crazy beer', but they don't serve beer, so if anyone can translate it better, please do!).

    After lunch we began our game of Tetris: we had to basically fit everything from every unit in to 2033. We took it slow and smart and after an hour and a half we had god damn done the thing.

    The first image is 2033 completed.
    The rest is our victory lap through the beautifully empty 2011, 1054, 1064 and 1038. So with this post, I declare our project a massive success! We were able to complete double what we expected: we brought her units down from 8, to only 2! As of yesterday she is now saving somewhere close to a full $1000 a month on storage units, and no longer has to complete the gargantuan task of going through her own shit 🙃.

    We arrived back at Evanston today. Mum will be here another week before she flies back to Greece, and I'm flying back to Toronto on Monday. Thank you all for following our progress and sending your support through great comments and lovely personal messages. We really appreciated everyone who reached out to us and allowed us to vent to them. We love you all very much!

    And with that, we have cleared the crap, and the penguins have been found.

    Keep your eyes peeled for my Canadian adventure in May, coming to a findpenguins app near you!

    Love,
    H & H    Read more

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    All that's left is trash...

    February 29, 2024 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 1 °C

    Today is the penultimate day of clearing the units!

    We started by going through the final boxes that we thought might have things to donate and we found some real treats (see owl, old rusty sheep shears, Motorola phone and letter above).

    The rest, was decidedly, trash. We have accumulated so much trash during this process: empty boxes, bags full of papers, old medicine and even some bits of food. Most of it was not smelly, but it still had to be put somewhere and it sure as hell wasn't going back into the units!

    We are lucky that grandma Anne has dumpsters in her building that get emptied on Thursday and Monday mornings and so we filled them up on Wednesday night and then refilled them up in the evening today with the trash from both the Wheaton units and the downers grove units.

    With the trash emptied we were able to successfully close the downers grove account and she will finally be able to stop paying the $190 a month she has been paying for 10 years! Hooray!

    Tomorrow we shuffle things around and try and fit it all into 2033, so we can reduce the number of units from 6 to 2 in Wheaton. Wish us luck on our final day of this exciting adventure!

    Love,
    H & H    Read more

  • Clearing the Crap!
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    The day we saw the back of 2033

    February 28, 2024 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 -4 °C

    Well, today was actually a good day moodwise. We managed to keep our morale high throughout the day, and I put it down to water intake, which was more purposefull today and regulated.

    Our goal today was to keep sorting through unit 2033 and by golly we did exactly that. We also dealt with our massive pile of trash that was building up in unit 1054. Basically, most of what is in 2033 has been labelled 'desk, misc, to sort' with some also adding ' not screened' which makes us think it was just tossed in there. The majority of these boxes are filled with papers: magazines, opened envelopes, guides, advice, printed webpages, invitations, and requests to join their insurance or banking institution as a member. It's so fatiguing go through this shit that should have been thrown away years ago.

    Nevertheless we were able to fill two car loads with materials for donations, so we filled the car ready for a drop off tonight.

    The temperature has also been super erratic: yesterday it was 26; today it got down to -6. So we had a 30 degree drop in a matter of 24 hours which seems so fucked.

    Tomorrow we want to have fully donated everything that can be donated from 2033 so that we can dedicate Friday (our final day) to shuffling stuff around so that everything we still have kept can fit in just one unit.

    Love,
    H & H    Read more

  • Clearing the Crap!

    Jeez its been a while.

    February 28, 2024 in the United States ⋅ 🌬 7 °C

    Hey squad, sorry for the radio silence, it's been a rough first two days back and I seriously have taken very few pictures for y'all.

    Yesterday (Monday) we cleared out the 2nd downers grove unit, and made a mountain of trash which we kept in the empty 1st one. We tried to put it in grandma Anne's skip by her apartment but we basically filled the entire thing, and decided we should keep some trash for when they empty it on thursday.
    But with the 2nd downers grove unit done, we basically had finished everything we thought we'd get done by the end of the two weeks.

    So with a few more days of work left we, of course, decided to add more to our workload.

    Today we began tackling unit 2033 which is the unit she has had the longest and is the mega full one we thought we wouldn't even get to. And let me tell you, it is mega full.
    Unfortunately it's much less satisfying to go through as most of it is full of old shit, and almost 2/3 of what we have gone through so far is trash, so we are not filling the car with stuff to donate nearly as fast as last week. In fact we have now almost filled a separate unit with a pile of trash bags that we are not sure how we are gonna get rid of.

    The work is getting really fatiguing at this point, but we only have three more days, so we are gonna push through and deal with this shit the best way we know how: by venting to eachother, taking breaks every hour and treating ourselves to delicious lunches.

    Love,
    H & H    Read more

  • Clearing the Crap!
    1

    Mister is alive!!

    February 24, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ -1 °C

    Dear readers,

    I am happy to inform you that mister has not been put down today! The vet said his condition had significantly increased since she last saw him and yes, he will still have bad days, but that he is not in the condition she usually finds cats when they are put down. So he will hopefully still be around when I return to Toronto on the 4th of May! YAYY! kelli you can stop crying in the gym now 😂😂.

    Today we went to half priced books to sell the two boxes we had accumulated over the course of our clearing. As much as it was nice to get some money for them, they had a very obvious tactic with which to still turn a profit: they told us it would take 10-15 minutes to process the books and price them, and that we were free to browse in the meantime...
    So of course we ended up buying 4 books which were double the amount we got from the sale! However they were still very cheap, and I had been looking for a road atlas for months and was happy to spend 4 dollars on one. Their travel section was extensive and it was hard not to buy 2 or 3 guidebooks that looked like they might have info I could use in my travels!

    Next, we headed to a gallery space in which Stephanie and her studio partner Amber had pieces being exhibited! Their pieces speak for themselves and Stephanie's adaptation of hers -post the horrible fire that wreaked havoc on her studio- is a testament to her artistic ingenuity and ability to find wonder in the worst of things.

    We will be driving back tomorrow after dinner and getting started on our clearing at 10am sharp on Monday morning.

    Thanks for keeping up with the H's!

    Love,
    H & H    Read more

  • Clearing the Crap!
    1

    The weekend off

    February 23, 2024 in the United States ⋅ 🌬 -2 °C

    It bloody started snowing today out of no where!

    It honestly started off as a pretty normal sunny warm day, and we thought my weather app was dead wrong when it said it would be snowing by 4pm. But lo and behold, by the time we arrived in Evanston, fluffy flakes had begun to flurry into the drive. We drove to Pita Inn to pick up some delicious dinner through a bloody snowstorm!

    Grandpa is physically progressing well (he's moving around pretty well with his walker) but impatient that he has not reached his full capacity, and feels rather depressed at his lack of physical ability. I empathise with him; I was really impatient to get back on my feet too after my surgerys but the body needs time to recover fully and I told him just that.

    The first cat I ever loved, 'Mister' is being put down tomorrow because he has been struggling with kidney failure for the last few weeks. He loved sun beams in the morning, sitting on my lap (more than anyone's), and crossing his arms in the cutest way. Most of the pictures are a tribute to Mister.

    As a consequence, I have been thinking a lot about death today. I am glad to be sleeping next to the picture I put last, showing so much family I love and their warm faces all squeezed together.    Read more

  • Clearing the Crap!
    2
    3

    1 downers grove unit down; 1 more to go!

    February 22, 2024 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 7 °C

    Having sorted the three units closest to us, we made the journey all the way to the distant land of downers grove, to work on the two much older units over yonder.

    This one was far dustier, yet was still filled with mostly useless crap. However we found lots of nice family photos as displayed below! Also a DVD of my year 2 performance of Aladdin in which I played Aladdin! (The still is a shot of me and my four best friends at the time).
    Also we found a pair of sunglasses (what y'all think?)

    After three drop offs and lots and lots of boxes filled with random paperwork that mums wants to look through just in case we find anything important or some cash, we were done!

    4 units down, just one more to go! At this rate, we are planning on also tackling the one that is mega full next week.

    The part that is probably the most aggravating though is that now, haven't gone through the units, the amount she is paying seems like an even bigger waste of money. She has had these ones since 2013 and pays approx 100 a month. So all in all she has payed 12,000 over the past ten years, to store stuff that we got rid of in a day that was mostly useless crap or completely unused. Such a waste of money and space, and honestly, our energy and time too. But someone had to do, and she does not have the capacity unfortunately.

    Love,
    H & H    Read more

  • Clearing the Crap!
    1

    Finishing off 54-64-38

    February 21, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

    So today we cleared the three units nearest to us; these are the three units that I thought it would take us the whole 2 weeks to finish! And we did it in just 4 days! Yay us!

    We arrived at the units at 10:30 and were ready for a drop off by 11:30 so we drove to our fancy thrift shop and emptied the boot. We were right by a lovely brewery that mum had been to with grandma Anne, so we stopped there for a beer and it just so happened that they served hot dogs! So we got ourselves a little something to eat and then headed back to the storage spaces.

    Within an hour we had filled the car and cleared every single space of crap that needed donating. 14:30 was the time when we finished sorting out the three units and I was just flabbergasted that we had done so much work so fast.

    We spent the rest of the day trying to find a spot that would take curtains, and we were recommended a women's shelter donation centre called 'WINGS'. it's on our way to evanston so we will drop off the stuff on Friday afternoon on our way down to grandpa and Margaret.

    We ended the day with a tuna tomatoes sauce made by yours truly and are now relaxing and enjoying the rest of our evening.

    Tomorrow we will tackle the two spaces in downers grove, which are absolutely filthy and where most of the stuff will probably go straight to goodwill cause it's useless crap 🙃🙃.

    Love,
    H & H    Read more

  • Clearing the Crap!
    1
    1113

    A day of great success

    February 20, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 6 °C

    Oh lordie today was a good day.

    It started with us finishing the clean out of unit 54 and doing a bit of 64 too and sorting through some things. (We found our mascot!)
    We then dropped it off and got to chatting with one of the volunteers and had a long chat about multiculturalism and a lot of really random topics.

    Anyway we ended up getting home at 2:30pm and had a lovely salad medley made by heather Howie. Furthermore having collected a good few boxes of jewelry in the Airbnb that needed sorting, we decided to take the afternoon off and spend it sorting! Heather did all of this work and she dwindled it down to just one box from 6 separate boxes.

    In the evening I had a call with a potential host! For those that don't know I'm planning a road trip across Canada in which I plan to work on different organic farms as I cross the country with my partner Ellie, and today we had a call with a potential host in BC, right at the base of the Rockies (pictures attached). They seemed lovely and accepted us for the dates we requested, so I was on cloud 9! And to celebrate we drove down to our nearest five guys and gobbled down some well deserved burgers.

    Tomorrow we go back to the grind and keep working on clearing 64 which we will hopefully be done with by Friday.

    Much love,
    H & H    Read more

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