Happy Birthday Sister!!!

Happy Birthday Sister!  I am sorry we won't get to spend time together to celebrate.  I thought about putting together a photo blog with one picture for each year, like I did for Heidi, but I realized that it would be WAY too long with forty-some pictures!

We did have a lot of good times growing up.  

Laughing

Being silly

The only two girls in a neighborhood of boys!!

We were blessed to have parents that loved God first, then each other and gave us children the security of a loving home!

We had so many matching or coordinating Christmas presents.  I had the pink robe that year and you got the blue.

Then there was our year together at college.  Remember the good laugh we had together when one of our schoolmates only realized that we were sisters the last couple weeks of school. She only thought we were good friends.  Haha, right, with the same last name!!  

Well, the silliness has not completely disappeared.  After being neighbors for 17 years, we have both moved on.  My family to a farm,  yours to the other side of the globe.  We sure do miss you!

 We will always treasure our last year together as neighbors.  The cousins renewing their relationships.  It makes us grateful for Skype and other electronic ways of keeping in touch.

 I hope you had a wonderful day!  Enjoying your family and whatever else you chose to do to celebrate.  We are praying for you sister and for your family.

Heidi,  that big hug I asked your Mom to give you for your birthday, this would be an awesome time to return it!  Love you guys!

P.S. your birthday present is on its way in a BIG box!  (It has encountered a long layover at Mom and Dad's house) Enjoy it when it arrives!!!

Project Update

I am really excited about how nice the floor looks in the living room.  The edges still need to be done, and so does the dining room.  

These are the floor stain options.

It is going to be hard to choose because they look very different based on how the light is hitting them.  Right now we are leaning towards the one on the right.  It seems to have the same tones as the baseboards.

The upper cabinets were torn out of the kitchen.

 My DH got the ceiling re-drywalled and can lights installed.  The new kitchen cabinets may arrive as soon as Thursday!  I am very excited!!!

The cold cellar is painted, walls and floor.  Now it looks crisp and clean.  We need to build some more shelves for storing canned goods and pantry items.

Here is what the house looks like now after the trees were cut down and the shrubs trimmed.  The brush on the left still needs to be removed.  Quite a bit different from the picture on the top of the blog! 

The side is trimmed neatly too.  Now you can see the big stones along the border.

 This is the side yard where our lumber jacks cut down the first tree row of four trees, and thinned the next row of pines.  It still looks pretty thick, but they really did take down over half a dozen trees out of that row.  Now to get the stumps removed and decide what to put there instead.

The progress keeps happening and the projects are moving along.  This week we hope to get the floors finished and some painting done.  The kitchen cabinets should be installed and the counter top measured.  We are planning on getting my office dry walled as well.  I would also like to get a few fruit trees planted.  

Thanks for reading my blog! Please feel free to leave a comment every once in awhile!!!

Peaceful

I didn't make it to the farm yesterday.  I was busy with projects here at the house.  I know a lot got done, but I don't have pictures.  Those updates will have to happen later.

The one thing we have noticed is how peaceful things are at the farm.  We are working hard, but it is not stressful work.  We are on a pretty busy road, but the noise doesn't seem to make it on to the property.

The fields are quiet and the sunsets are beautiful!  We realized how big the field is when we walked around it.

 The fire pit is so calming and convenient.  Whether to cook on it or just to relax and watch the flames and listen to the frogs.

The farm will be perfect for nature classes.  Lots of critters and plants that we need to learn about.

The first critters we brought over were some young chickens, Buddy and Sissy.  It is nice to have friends come over to visit and help us work to get the farm ready for us to move into.  We were able to have two workdays this week.  That was so helpful!

The farm is so peaceful that even Thomas is able to kick back and chill!

 This cart has been so handy.  It was left here for us by the previous owner.  We have used it a lot!!

Most days have ended up by the pond, whether to fish or watch the fire. The sky is dark and clear and the stars truly shine. We love looking up into the night sky. I can't wait to bring out the telescope and really learn the constellations and planets!  We thank God for His goodness to us in providing this place for us to live.

Psalm 36:5

 Your mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens;

Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.

A Lumberjack Day

Yesterday was a lumberjack kind of day.  We took down lots of trees and cut them up and disposed of them.  The guys left the area looking very nice.  Yeah!

 We finished getting rid of the tree line closest to the house, and thinned the pines in the middle tree line.

There was lots of work for everyone!

The guys filled the trailer with brush and I drove the trailer back to the brush pile in the back.  I learned to drive the ATV yesterday!  By noon, I was quite proficient. We are borrowing my Dad's ATV.  Dad,  you can rest easy.  The ATV is still intact and none the worse for the use.

A lot of the pine brush was carried to the fire pit to be burned up.  This was a HOT job.  We did dispose of the brush of two pines that way.

Some bigger trees also had to come down.

Elizabeth rode along with me and was my trailer dumper and relocker.  She would lift the back of the trailer and dump out the load.  She is getting stronger every day.

The office got a little work done on it.  My DH ran the wires for the outlets and lights.  E Paul helped install insulation in the walls for sound proofing (Dr. Patient confidentiality and all that).

T-Bob and his friend worked hard digging holes for me for future trees when they weren't loading brush.

Mary and JoAn worked hard at painting the walls in the cold cellar.

By the end of the day the fire pit was FULL of ashes!!

We met our neighbor to the south yesterday.  He came over with his tractor and wanted to help.  He put all the big chunks of wood in his front end loader and carried them to the back by the fire pit.  He also pulled the big logs over and piled them up.  That saved a lot of work.  He also wanted to make sure it was OK that he kills the weeds on our property line.  No problem.  Sure, go ahead!

These are the three hardworking young men who came up to help us on our project.  Thanks guys!!

In the evening, we hiked to the back of the property.  We were pleased to find that the road along the back of the field is our property.  That made the going a lot easier for most of the way.  In the back you have to hack your way through the underbrush.

We had a fun evening hanging out and exploring!  Another wonderful day!

Little Project Day

 My Sister-in-Law Mary and I were going to sand walls in the family room, but after a half hour effort, we decided there had to be a better way.  They need to be skim coated and not sanded.  That is beyond our pay grade, so we decided to work outside instead.  It was a beautiful day.  We trimmed all the overgrown shrubs and pulled out the overgrown vines.  This was a before picture.  I will post an after picture in a few days.

We then went out to the pond and rebuilt the fire pit.  We wanted it to be circular and not quite so large.  I was pleased with how it turned out.  It is so pleasant to sit out there and watch the sunset and listen to the frogs on the pond and watch the fire.  It really is quiet!  Such a blessing!

Planning the Farm

 I am feeling a little stressed.  I have so many decisions to make and not enough time to figure things out.  Our goal is to use our farm so that it is recreational and fun for our children and visitors yet is a still a small working farm.  We want to have a soccer field or kickball area as well as room to play volleyball and other sports.  We want the pond and fire pit to stay quiet and peaceful.

 So what changes do we need to make?  What trees need to come down and what should stay?  Where will we plant the orchard and where will the garden go?  What will stay grassy and what will we let grow into pasture?  Where should we put the fences?

 Did I mention that we are trying to transplant a lot of the smaller fruit trees and bushes from our yard?  As they come out they need to go somewhere.  Where to put them?????  The Junior Boss (aka Paul) wants to know by tomorrow morning.  He has dug some out and they need to go back into the ground!  How does one decide?  I know the basics.  They need sunshine and moisture, but not too much.

Michelle has raspberries on the brain.  Where can she plant hers?  We don't want them to near the chickens....  What about the blueberries.  They need to be separate as they require acidic soil.  I don't want to do this willy-nilly I need a plan!  and by tomorrow morning.  No pressure.  I have been thinking about this but I have trouble making decisions especially if I don't have any definite criteria to base the decision on.  Ask me about your sleep issues, and I can, after a few quick questions tell you what herbs you need to take to help.  But where to put the rhubarb?  I don't know.  I have so much input from the children, but they know less than I do.  Haha!  I need some experienced farmer to come along side and give us advice.  Any volunteers?