OUR HOMESTEADING JOURNEY

For our family and friends that wish to follow our adventure in turning our piece of property into a home for our children. Homesteading adventures, parenting adventures, and all around family fun.


Sunday, December 19, 2010

First snow

Need we say more... no I didn't join them today... it was just too cold!  But its officially winter with snow on the ground and hot cocoa going in the kitchen!

 Let the forts be built! 

 Gloves?  What are those?   I'm tuff!  Don't worry about it! 

 Shhh... they cant see me...really they cant see me...


 Nanaanananaaana....   you cant get me I'm the oompaloompaman!  tehehe... 

 Yes... yes we need hot cocoa.. how am I suppose to win the snowball war without cocoa? 


Not a ton of snow, but beings they lived their whole lives on the coast without snow up until three years ago... they LOVE it!  :):):) 

The almost five inches we got hit so fast this morning, Russ had to come home from being on his way to work, it took 40 minutes to make it 20 miles and then there were accidents before he even hit the canyon that  he couldnt make it to work.  I left meeting early as did half the congregation... I slid all the way there in the truck and Don and Cheryl followed us home... no one was ready for snow... this evening with the lightning and thunder and wind... Little Russ watched a couple small trees fall at the back end of the property.  I guess I will have to take a look tomorrow... when its light and I am warm! 

Tomorrow I plan to breed rabbits.  I know only my old girls will take and do well, so I need to get the others ready for breeding season and get them used to breeding period!  So... here we go! 

Happy homesteading...

Monday, December 13, 2010

Curtains...

Our room has become a catchall... so another day to take photos... but here are the other areas...

 You know having three sisters sometimes makes the poor guy feel left out...so here is is one and only tiara model shot!  lol  What a goofball!  The things he does to get the baby to laugh! 

 I just love the curtains in the hall... just the right touch of gold... and the emboidered lace is so vintage... Cheryl always does such fantastic work!  I stop and look at them every time I pass through the laundry shoot!  hehehe

 It almost looks like a house!  :)  And I just made room for more ... BOXES!!!!  lol

 More shelves to be put in above microwave.... and above the mobile island as well... (below)....

 I am ready to move the chandelier...  I think we finally found the permanant spot for the table... I think!

 I know there is a box out there in a land far far away with their pictures of giraffes and crocodiles... We'll find it someday if the gnomes and elves dont hide it too well! heheeh



 Yes.. I am without lampshades... two broke in the move... so I am on the hunt for new ones...
Mr Whiskers says,"  Yep... this is as close as I get to the outside world... it looks wet and big and whew... it would take way to much energy to even get to the door... I better just lay here and hold this table in place..."

more later... tomorrow I deal with the Maytag repair man... a recall on our dishwasher... and unpack more boxes... maybe I'll take a few of the shop so we can always remember the chaos it was in the beginning too... thus the expression,"  Its in a box... in a land... far far away" ..:)   And off we go to the shop... to dig in the chaos of boxes and furniture still out there...

Happy homesteading! 

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Outside updates...

I promised better updates... so around 3 pm as I was digging junk out of the garden still... my ears burned.  I heard Mom saying.... "heeellllooo... you promised pictures!"...  so here are outside updates.  I will do more inside tomorrow.  Monday is cleaning and laundry (kids and man are all gone and I can actually find the floors to mop and they are out of the way!)

 This is pretty much how Rebel guards anymore... my poor ol boy...lol  This is actually where we will put the chickens, but the picture loaded first instead of last...

 Down to just our garden pots along the fence line here... I have an area to clear out still to move them all... but the garbage and junk is gone!

 Welcome to our garden... you can see where Russ is bringing in the manure from the area where the chickens are going.  This used to be a goat farm, so there is LOTS and LOTS of manure to bring in... but the ground hasn't been worked in years, so it needs it. 

 this is a pile of bricks I have dug out of the garden area.  There is more piled up by where the chickens are now.  As I keep finding them I keep piling them.  The kids and I have decided to make a friendship path through our garden to Don and Cheryl's... we are going to paint them yellow... and of course have the yellow brick road running through the garden... :) 

 You can see where we have basically worn the path to head to Don and Cheryls... we need to make it more user friendly... no bad witches allowed!  hehehe

 There is a garden bed in there we need to dig out.  All the brush is where there is stuff buried, once its all gone Don said he'll bring the brush mower over and clean it up... and then we can til... I think one more afternoon and I will have most of the junk out and at least at the edges so we can turn the soil...

 Big huh?  I am at the greenhouse... and the garden goes basically all the way to the end of the lattice.. maybe another ten feet or so after it. 

 This is my nook I want cleared out for all my potting and planting.  I will need to find another planters bench, but I will clear out all the wire and "stuff"... :)


 I am at the apple tree by the other end of the garden... it needs some pruning as well... maybe tomorrow afternoon...

 Russ need to help me dig this out... He can do it faster with the tractor than I can with a shovel....

 Just more stuff... I keep burning and burning...

 this lovely pot cut my finger... I thought it was a half bucket... its not!  Its buried and the rim took a good chunk out of my ring finger...


 Grape vines... I am trying to get them cleared out and pruned way back... to see what is good and what is not... Not sure what I am doing with grapes, but hey..every adventure needs something new right? 

 My sidekick... she was a huge help today....

 it was an asparagus bed... but I never did see any asparagus... and its right in the way of tilling main areas... so Miranda and I moved all the blocks... which are two deep.  The lower ones were buried... but she pushed that shovel and lifted them just enough for me to pull them up.  What a great lil helper she is! 

 plum trees... that got seriously pruned today... some pulled up to plant elsewhere... the green thing is gone now too... it was broken, but actually a neat idea for composting...

 now you see it... now you dont!  Its gone... :)

 Our trees waiting to be planted... if I can figure out where to put them permanently! 

 I dug all the pvc out of the garden... I know some was to cover berries, the netting cut Russ all up when we had to pull it out... but the rest... I am not sure... but you can never have enough pvc...

 Yep... we have mud!

 I know you cant tell, but there is a chicken coop back in there.  This lil wooded area is what we will turn into the Little Girls play area.  Once the chickens are moved I can begin cleaning this up... the old coop will become a playhouse... a pressure washer, bleach, and kilz paint will create a neat little play house for the little ones...
 burn pile ready to go...

 There were pigs there in the past, and after the rain it got pretty soft... and for the first time ever...the truck got stuck... in our own yard... lol 

 and more mud... actually some was manure... its where Russ has began to haul it out from what used to be the goat field...

 just more to move.... every where I turn is another project....

 the ag building you see from the road... after the chicken coop is done, we will tackle the roof of this one and then the sides... to get it all repaired and locked up tight....
 more manure... and stuff to get rid of...


 the lil chicken coop... soon to be playhouse... and the trees that the goats killed.  We have I think three left to fall...

 Ahhha....  there they are... building a Poultry Palace?  We know overkill... but we are reusing the lumber from the last rabbitry and it will be sectioned off for meat birds later too... so not really... :)  And I wont hit my head!  lol 


 oh look... more manure!  hehehe

 Big Oaks by the road... we need to refence along there to actually fence in the property...

 a small area... Rascal should be out there... but he is Houdini... and never stays anywhere we try to put him...


 Awwww... she is growing up way to fast....

Speak of the Devil! 

Ok... my fingers hurt and I am pretty tired... 5:45 am comes early for us to get the kids on the bus... so until next time... :)  gnite!