A Step in Thyme: Vacation Stay

02/22/2024

Our mascot Gus♥️
Owen Selent

04/25/2023

We spent some time on Earth Day picking up the garbage that had blown in, from Taimi Road, into our forest at A Step in Thyme: This seemed like a perfect annual undertaking 😁

03/21/2023

The winter view.

03/21/2023

The view from the top deck of the Chalet, just off the Primary Bedroom. Summer, 2018.

03/21/2023

Third giant leap in our A Step in Thyme: Vacation Stay story is how we came to have the Chalet acreage 3 years after finding the forest.

We had spotted a couple enjoying walking their dogs on our trails one day in 2014 and thought we’d say hello. This couple lived at the far end of our forest and we gave them permission to continue to use the trails year round. We felt that more ”eyes” on our forest, especially since we didn’t live there, the better. This couple did have to chase off some teenagers having themselves a fire in the middle of the forest once. They walked their dogs and biked the trails in the warm weather; snowshoed and cross-country skied the trails in the snowy weather.
We began to look at a property across Taimi Road to see if it would work for us and was spotted by their neighbor, Doug( the very same one who has been so kind to us). He told his employee, the husband in the trail-walking duo, what we were doing. The couple approached us and asked if we’d be interested in buying their place as they had lingered in one place too long and felt the urge to go adventuring. Their acreage was at the very end of our main trail which we discovered was the original road into Rocky Mountain House. We toured it and loved it. We bought it November 8, 2017 but allowed them to rent it from us, for a dollar a month, until they could leave at the end of March, 2018.
We felt we landed in a little slice of paradise ♥️. Each time we get to come out to our acreage, we feel such peace…like the weight of the world dropping off of our shoulders.

03/19/2023

Next on our Journey:
Two years after we purchased the 96 acres of mostly forest, our lives were spun on its’ heels by an unexpected call in January, 2016, from Social Services. Would Owen and I be willing to take my new-born niece into our home under the Kinship Care program?
We had much to consider. Owen and I were already in our 50’s. My own children were in their 30’s. We had 12 grandchildren. Life was sweet and fairly routine as we were coasting towards retirement, dreaming of what we could do with our forest in the future.
Because of the laws surrounding the 3 times per week, court ordered access/visitation given to Jasmine’s birth mother, the only 2 viable options: us or Foster Care.
We decided to step up for Baby Jasmine.
This set loose a cascade of fractures in my family that have never mended. At some point in the future, I will discuss my ongoing work in healing from this “Ambiguous Loss”.

The decision we made that day changed our lives utterly. It gave me the greatest heartbreak and the deepest joy. Dealing with Social Services was a nightmare. Dealing with Jasmine was, and continues to be, a most wonderful experience that I am grateful to be a part of.

We discovered she was autistic and amazing. Owen and I are her biggest advocates as we nurture her and watch her develop and bloom.
We adopted her when she was 3, she is 7 now and she is integral to our story since 2016 and will remain so as we create our lives at “A Step in Thyme:”.

03/12/2023

Since it is still a few months away from when we launch our Short Term Vacation Rental, I thought I would create a few posts about the history of our journey thus far.
It makes sense to talk about the first acreage we made ours: the 96 acres of old forest.

In April, 2014, Owen and I took a road trip to look for forested land that we might purchase. We thought it made more sense to carve out a homestead from a forested area than it was to build a homestead in a field and plant all the trees. There wasn’t anything near Innisfail, so we ventured further west. About the time Owen had to take a leak, we spotted a ”for sale” sign in front of an open gate along a highway called Taimi Road. The gate opened to a 4 acre clearing in an area that looked kinda dead. (Tamaracks look that way, we found out). Owen did his business and we decided to check out the area. As soon as we started walking down the trails we knew we found “our place”. It was so lovely and peaceful, even though it was next to Taimi road. We took down the sign information and immediately called our realtor, who put in our offer to purchase. I refinanced my rental home and in short order(April 28, 2014) that forest was ours. We were in love with it. Thank goodness for tiny bladders, hey Owen!

We picked up a small trailer and then a second one, so that we could spend time out there without having to live in a tent and at the same time have guests stay too. These trailers will be renovated and permanently placed as a part of our future campsite plans as not everyone has access to their own trailers nor do they necessarily want to sleep in a tent on the ground.
So many dreams and plans floated through our minds as we discussed bringing in utilities, building in the clearing and moving out there one day.

03/02/2023

“A Step in Thyme” is happy to welcome you to our 100 Acre Wood Vacation Stay, which will be launching soon to welcome our first guests. “The Chalet” will be our first Vacation Stay where you can come to get away from the rush of life and find tranquility and peace, and even a little fun and learning, as you mindfully enjoy our 100+ acres of forest trails that lends itself beautifully to forest bathing and nature therapy walks and even foraging for wild edibles for your salad. In winter, enjoy snowshoeing and cross country skiing. Wander around the developing gardens and pond. In Thyme, we will be adding more unique vacation experiences.

Next door, at our Step in Thyme Homestead, we will be living and adding farm stay activities for our vacationing guests to enjoy.
But for now, come Step in Thyme with us on our journey to create this place and Let the Adventure begin!

03/02/2023