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We Went Viral… And Now We Have a Robin’s Donuts Dilemma!

It’s birthday week around here!

Leah celebrated her 47th birthday on August 29. Shawn is getting ready to hit the big 5-0 on September 3. We’re celebrating both birthdays with a big BBQ potluck at Shawn’s dad’s place on September 5.

Before the party, we’ve been busy getting things ready. We tackled some yard work, picked up supplies, and started preparing for a pretty big family gathering.

We also talk about the many celebrity deaths we’ve seen this August. It’s been a particularly rough month for losing familiar faces. We discuss some of the biggest names we’ve lost, including Dolly Parton, Peter Cullen, Tim Curry, Ben Jones, Hayden Panettiere, and others.

Meanwhile, Leah has another update from the bee yard. Her colony continues to keep her busy, and we talk about how the bees are doing.

We also check in on our Etsy shops and share some recent sales and customer feedback. You can find both shops below.

Then comes the really big news.

Shawn’s YouTube channel has exploded!

Most of his videos typically get somewhere between 50 and 300 views. Then, two weeks ago, he posted a video about finding his family at a yard sale.

That video has now passed 150,000 views.

Even crazier, it brought in more than 800 new subscribers and helped Shawn get accepted into the YouTube Partner Program.

It’s been an absolutely wild couple of weeks, and we talk about what it feels like watching a small channel suddenly take off.

And there’s even more YouTube news.

Leah launched her own channel this week!

My Northern Life With Leah is officially underway, so we talk about her new channel and what she’s planning to do with it.

Finally, we end the episode with one of the strangest dilemmas we’ve ever discussed on the podcast.

Shawn’s brother Robin grew up with a plush Robin’s Donuts bird. He last remembers having it in 2019, when he left Sault Ste. Marie to move to Timmins with Shawn.

Now he’s been looking for that bird.

The problem?

There is a Robin’s Donuts plush bird currently listed in Leah’s Etsy shop.

Leah bought it in Orillia while travelling south to pick up her bee colony. That’s roughly seven hours from home.

Robin thinks the bird might actually be his. There’s a stain on the bird’s hat that he recognizes.

He wants Leah to give it back.

Leah isn’t convinced.

After all, she bought the bird legitimately and has no way of knowing whether it really belonged to Robin seven years ago.

So who’s right?

Should Leah give Robin the bird, or is this simply a very strange coincidence?

You’ll have to listen and decide for yourself!

As always, grab a coffee and come travel with us.