Well, it’s been a while since I’ve written a blog post.
I had every intention of keeping up with these when I started the website, but apparently starting a new business takes up a little more time than I thought it would. Who knew?
Rainy River Homestead has been keeping me extremely busy lately. Between making maps, filling orders, talking with customers, working on new designs, figuring out better ways to do things in the shop, and the hundred other little things that come with running a business, the days seem to disappear pretty quickly.
It’s definitely been a learning experience.
When I first started making the layered lake maps, I don’t think I realized just how much work would go into everything outside of actually making them. Building the website, taking pictures, shipping, advertising, answering messages, ordering supplies, keeping the shop running—and somehow finding time to actually make the orders!
But I can’t complain. Being busy means people are ordering my work, and it’s pretty cool seeing something that started as an idea in my shop turning into an actual business.
Grouse Season Is Here
Of course, fall has also arrived here in Northwestern Ontario, which means grouse hunting has kicked off.
This is one of my favourite times of year. The temperatures start cooling down, the leaves are changing, and it’s finally time to get back out in the bush.
The problem this year has been finding the time to actually do it.
It’s pretty hard to walk away from the shop when there are maps waiting to be finished, but I’m trying to make sure I still get out once in a while. There will always be more work to do, but grouse season only lasts so long.
A 28-Inch Walleye!
We’ve managed to get some fishing in too, and my 8-year-old had a pretty exciting day recently.
He caught the biggest walleye he’s ever caught—a 28-inch walleye.
Needless to say, he was pretty excited about that one.
There’s something pretty awesome about watching your kid pull in a fish like that, especially when you know it’s one he’s going to remember for a long time.
And really, that’s a big part of what Rainy River Homestead is about in the first place.
I spend a lot of time in the shop turning lakes into wooden maps, but those lakes aren't just shapes on a piece of wood. They're places where people fish, hunt, camp, spend time at the cabin, and make memories with their families.
Catching a 28-inch walleye with my son is a pretty good reminder of that.
So, Yeah... I’ve Been Busy
Between starting a business, keeping up with orders, grouse season, fishing, family, and everything else that seems to come up, the blog has definitely been neglected.
I’m going to try to change that.
I’d like to start sharing more of what goes on behind the scenes at Rainy River Homestead—the maps I’m working on, what’s happening around the shop, hunting and fishing, projects around the homestead, and probably a few of the mistakes I make while figuring all of this out.
There definitely hasn’t been a shortage of those.
For now, though, I figured I should at least check in and prove that I haven’t completely forgotten that this blog exists.
I’ve just been a little too busy living life to write about it.
