About

Split Rock Heritage Homestead is home to our family of five. *2022 edit 7

Let me do some quick introductions.

My name is Shane.  I work and will continue to work off of the homestead for the local municipality.  I enjoy the work and the people. We live in such a lovely area.  In my past I have worked as a horse logger, a wrangler, a teamster, a muleskinner, and a re-enactor.  I lived on a farm while I was in high school that Dad managed.  We always had a hobby farm up to this point in my life that I remember. However this wasn’t just any farm we moved onto this was a living working museum that portrayed (for the most part) life in the 1860’s. I have always enjoyed that time era.  I have traveled on various wagon trains across various states in my younger days. I drove supply wagons into the mountains in Alberta and I have ridden over the great divide. The people you get to meet over the trail leave their marks on your life in so many ways. They have inspired me to work towards my dreams and this is one of my dreams.  I am fortunate to share this dream with my wife.

Amanda is a wonderful woman. She is independent she is stubborn and she is not one to shy away from hard work. She can be feisty and will let you know where you stand with her.  Hosting is not her strong point. However she is fully aware of that and has many traits that work well for the homesteading lifestyle we are pursuing.  She lives for her garden.  Her goal with the homestead is to be able to grow enough food for our family and then some. She believes in community and is involved in various ways.

Our children we will refer to as 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5

1 is our oldest. He is a little hesitant to move into this lifestyle. He has voiced that and we understand. Technology and video games are important to him (he doesn’t spend as much time on them as he thinks he does). Regardless he is a wealth of information when it comes to things he is into. He is an avid reader (reading far beyond his grade level) and is gifted in many ways. He is into archery and is excited that we will have a place to build an archery range. He likes to mountain bike and we have told him that there will be plenty of area for him to explore on his bike all over the homestead. He is agile, intelligent, he needs time to process things but when he gets into something he learns all about it and asks some good questions in order to learn all that he can about it. 1 will be a great asset in the homestead as he looks at things with a completely different point of view from so many people.

*2022 edit- He has entered his next phase of life and is moving to his own residence this spring.

2 is tall. She has a sense of humor and is a people pleaser. She is compassionate towards others and a real social justice advocate. She like horses and is hoping we get one soon for the homestead. She likes to play with her little brother when she isn’t being too cool for him and they have an awesome relationship as She does with 1. She is very family and friend oriented. She enjoys reading and playing board games as well as techy game systems. She is on the fence so to speak about moving. She has hesitations about what life is going to be like on the homestead but has warmed up to the idea as we explained we are going to bring her bed and her stuff.

And that brings us to 3. 3 is high energy. Laughing constant. He is a thinker (not always before he acts mind you). He is creative and likes to work with his hands. He wants to do everything possible on the homestead…he wants to milk a cow and shear a sheep…he is adventurous and fun loving. He is quite the optimist. He can be a mommas boy through and through.  He is a magnet for dirt. Constantly dirty (from playing hard and being a boy) I joke that he comes out of the tub dirty.

So since we have moved onto the homestead we have added two more girls to the family, 4 and 5.

Number 4 is LOUD! She is a princess most days unless she is a mermaid, but regardless of who she is she is a take charge sort of girl. She loves being outside in the spring, summer and fall, while the winter takes a little too much effort to get dressed for the elements.  She is funny. She is tough but tender. 4 helps with watering the animals or bottle feeding baby goats. She is constantly chasing chickens and catching chickens just so she can hold them for a few moments. She likes ice cream. Did I mention she is LOUD!?

5, 5 is the calm after the storm. She is as quiet and peaceful just as 4 is LOUD and rambunctious. She will be a year old shortly. She looks forward to time with the cats (they are her favorite) however she likes the goats and the horses as well as the dogs. She gets into all sorts of stuff and has a smile that melts her Daddy’s heart.

So that sums up the people in our family. We are moving to Our homestead in just under three weeks as of this being written. We will be moving with us two dogs, three cats, two parrots, and a rabbit.

Being on the Homestead now for 5 years we have acquired a few more animals.  So the following list is not all we have had (as some have come and gone as the way homestead life is) but what we have here on the homestead as of today. 4 dog, 3 cats, 1 rabbit, 5 goats, 2 horses, 2 cows, 2 pigs, 6 guinea fowl, 13 ducks, and 70+/- chickens.