Adventures in Real Estate: “I left Toronto, found the love of my life and bought 14 goats”

Adventures in Real Estate: “I left Toronto, found the love of my life and bought 14 goats”

What started as a three-day date has turned into the rest of my life

Marli Seheult, 31

Operations coordinator at a downtown spa, now living in Arthur

More Adventures in Real Estate

In February, I met a guy online named Jeff who lives on a 72-acre hobby farm in Arthur, about 40 kilometres north of Guelph, with his parents. At the time, I was living in a two-bedroom apartment at Church and Adelaide with a roommate and my three dogs.

Jeff and I were talking a lot, and I could tell he was very family oriented, especially from the way he talked about his four-year-old son. I lived on a farm in Stratford as a young kid, and we bonded over our shared love of rural life.

I wanted to go and meet him, but I was really busy with work. Plus, I have three dogs, so how would I bring them up to Arthur for a date?  Then Covid happened. I told Jeff I’d put myself in a two-week quarantine and then go visit him in Arthur.

He’s got his own space there, a suite attached to the main house, so we had privacy. After three days of hanging out together, we both knew it was love. Three days turned into a month, which turned into two months. I was able to work remotely, and it felt irresponsible to be going back and forth to Toronto anyway. I kept saying, “Okay, I’ll go home next week,” but we kept pushing it back. Then, at the end of July, we drove to Toronto, packed up my stuff and I moved to the farm for good.

Jeff and his parents only recently got Internet (he didn’t know what Netflix was, which I found cute), so I’ve been showing them all about it. Jeff’s mom loves Kijiji—we just went crazy and bought 14 goats online.

I’m breeding for other breeders, not for meat, so my males will be sold for a high price—roughly $400 each.

We’re living in the in-law suite, and it’s nice and private. I’ve gotten to know Jeff’s four-year-old son, so in addition to becoming a goat breeder, I have a four-year-old best friend, too.

I call my partner’s parents my in-laws.

It was a pretty sudden transition, but I’m spontaneous by nature. There was some shock from some friends and family, but then they saw how in love we are and how excited I was about starting something with him.

I think we’re just at that age where we’re ready to settle down. Ours is a family farm, so eventually, when his parents get older, we’ll take over all the chores and duties. What started as a three-day date has turned into the rest of my life.