Today we took down the large dead tree in the pasture. Thanks to Kevin and Mary and Kevin's chainsaw we made short work of the job. I wish I had pictures of the tree before it came down.

Here is a picture of what we have left. Still alot of work to do cutting up all the branches for kindling, but at least it is out of the way of the fence





When the main trunk was being cut the bottom part split. We decided to just let it there since it would have been difficult to cut it and not have it land in the water. As we looked at it we thought it looked like an Alligator, so Kevin made an eye and teeth.

When we got home and told the kids that we have an alligator they just stared at us until it sank in that it isn't possible.

Cows? in less than a week?

Here is what the pasture looks like today.

So we found out tonight that the cattle that we were trying to get are coming on Wednesday. We are excited that we have this opportunity but wow, what a job we have in front of us. That means we have just 4 days to get LOTS of fencing up. Nothing like having an important last minute job to accomplish.

The Orchard

We got all of our new orchard plants today. We already have 4 apple (2 fuji and 2 gala), 2 nectarine, and a pear. Now we will have another pear 2 cherry and 4 plum. To go along with that we will have 5 blueberry, 6 raspberry, 6 blackberry and 32 strawberries. I am so excited and can't wait to get fruit from our trees, I just have to wait 2-3 years :(

Green and "eco-friendly"

As we planned for this house we decided we wanted to be as self-sustaining and earth friendly as we could. So our first purchased was an Envirolet composting toilet. Thus removing the need for a septic system.

I went to the county courthouse to make sure I knew all the rules and codes before we started building the house . It was then that I found out that they do not recognize the greywater system that we designed and we need to put in the septic anyway.

I wish I could make sense of what our regulators want. They want us to conserve and do things better for the earth and then they make it impossible for us to actually do that. I wish there was a system in place that allowed these "specialists" to make decisions not only from what they learned at school, but also what they might learn from "everyday Joe's" like us.

So now my septic system will be a very expensive rainwater cistern for watering my garden.

The Driveway

Finally, after 6 weeks of excuses the driveways is finished. It doesn't look the way we would like, he left piles of mud every where and the sides of the drive are all rock (nothing for grass to grow on). But at least we can drive back now. maybe now we can get started.

The driveway

If the weather would cooperate we would be so much farther ahead. First the rain hindered the survey. Now the cold is stopping the driveway.

We were so discouraged when we went searching for a contractor. Most were on vacation, those that gave us quotes were so high we didn't know what to do. Finally we got a call from someone local, he came out to meet us that afternoon. His price was right what we were hoping for, and he could start the next week. That was a Sat. He started on Tuesday (he said it should only take 3 days). That was 2 weeks ago. We have had record low temps here in TN causing fuel lines in big construction vehicles to freeze. So the driveway is started, but still days away from finished.

One down 100 to go...

It seems like there are just so many things to do. We finally got the survey of our land the day after Christmas. We have been waiting for it since the 20th of Nov. With rain and the days that the surveyor had off (seemed like every day that it didn't rain), he finally finished on Christmas Eve. Now we can finally get started on the list of many things that need to be done to build the house. First of all the driveway. We found out last week that if we don't get a driveway in, we won't be able to pull off the road any longer. The ground is so soft and muddies so quickly that I would never get our van back out after I pull in.

It is amazing to me how many contractors are on vacation for the entire holiday season. We only found 1 person so far that is working and will come out to give us an estimate for the driveway. No contractors that do foundations are working right now so we have to wait....again. Once those two things are done we can do the rest ourselves and have only our own procrastination to blame (hopefully that will be at a minimum).

Finally Finished

Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year. I love the decorations and the fellowship and the food and giving presents. I start planning my gift list in July. As my girls tell me about things that they want I write them down.

This year however, they didn't mention very many things. So I had to really think about what to get them. Eric and I finally decided on their gifts and I put that aside because it was still early and I knew some of them would go on sale. I can't mention specifics since they also read this and I don't want to ruin the surprise.

The Homeschoolers decided to have a party and we planned those gifts also, still with 'weeks' to go. Things got busy at church and I got into full December mode (it seems like this is always my craziest time of the year, which is why we take December break instead of summer break).

Next thing I know we are 3 weeks before Christmas and the decorations aren't out, the gifts aren't bought and I still had to make all of our handmade gifts and get presents in the mail.

So I got into full Christmas mode and made all of my lists (Walmart, Aldi, Sam's, Target, Michaels, Hobby Lobby). I bought some presents online because they weren't available in the store. I shopped for Tanner while the girls sat with him in the van. I shopped for the girls last night with Eric (it's good I had a list and it was short, he really doesn't like shopping). And today I finished up at Hobby Lobby and Aldi for the remainder of the items needed for the handmade gifts. Now we can put the handmade gifts together tomorrow and get them in the mail on Monday. Decorations on Tuesday and Wednesday and a day of rest on Thursday. Then I can start planning our Christmas Feast.

Even though the Holidays always seem to be full, and time is spent shopping and planning and running around, I always have an underlying feeling of peace and calm. For me that is because I know the true reason for this season is Christ. As long as that is my first thought I don't ever get so caught up in the presents that I lose the real focus of Christmas. I love giving gifts to my family and making them happy, but most of all I love knowing that we are together and we love each other and even if we had no presents we would still have a Merry Christmas.

Rain, rain, go away

The first summer we were here in TN it was dry. We expected the spring rains, every other day or so, but it never came. So for weeks we watched for rain so our garden would grow. The only time it rained was when I drove to PA to visit. The 17 weeks in between visits we had 1 rain and only for about an hour (definitely not enough). Then the winter came. Eric told me that TN can get some really strong storms, they didn't bother us. Then the winter rains started. We are grateful for the winter rains because it means we won't be in drought right away in the spring and summer. But after 3 straight days of rain, it would nice to be dry for a bit.

The first time it rained like this I thought to myself, "this is why we got this property for such,a good price, it floods." Then I went visiting some friends and I realized that EVERY yard floods.

Here is our front yard after last night's rain....and it hasn't stopped.

Did I forget?

I know my girls were once three year olds. I guess I just don't remember it anymore. Tanner is 2 years and 9 months old. He is the sweetest little boy who can give the biggest hugs and turn the grumpiest day bright and shiny. But when he is feeling destructive he can turn a room to rubble in a hurry. I sat down to start this blog this morning with everything cleaned up, all counters wiped, floors swept, toys put away. The girls were Christmas shopping with their Nana and Tanner was quietly playing in the den.

The next thing I knew he had everything out in the den, and as I picked that up he was systematically finding lost toys under the stove (ick) and throwing dog food all over the laundry room. While I cleaned that he was stripping the sofas of their pillows and cushions onto a pile so he can jump on them. Needless to say one mess became another until I felt totally overwhelmed. Luckily I was able to stop him before he got to the sugar and cocoa (again).

Getting Started

This is new for me. I have been reading so many blogs of our friends in PA and enjoyed being able to "catch up" and see what they are up to. I realized, being in TN with all of our family and friends all over the country, that no one knows what is going on with us. I definitely don't have time to email each person, I actually tried that for awhile. So this is my atempt to stay in touch.

For those who have not heard from us in a while, we are starting a farm. Eric has been researching this for about 9 months now (for 5 of those months I had no idea). One day during one of our evening "catch-me-up" on what is going on conversations, he told me what he was spending all of his time on (since canceling his World of Warcraft account). His plan was to buy a piece of uncleared land and build a log cabin with our trees, and then a farm. As crazy as that sounds, I knew that was what we needed to do. That was the first time that I really felt the spirit tap me on the shoulder (as I was ready to rant and tell him how crazy he was) and say "he is right", so I immediately shut my mouth. Since then the plan has changed just a bit. We are NOT building a log cabin. As neat as that would be to live in, it scares me to think about building it. We would have if we found the right piece of land for that, but as luck would have it everything fell into place and we found 21 acres with 1 large creek, a stream in the woods and a spring. It is the most beautiful place I have seen, and it is exactly what I was hoping for when we moved here to TN.

As for the farm, we are planning on raising beef cattle, sheep, chickens, pigs and some goats (mostly for clearing land). Our Anatolian Shepard puppy was born on Nov. 30. He will live outside with the sheep and keep them safe from predators. We already planted the first 7 trees of our orchard (Fuji and Gala apples, pear and nectarine) and in the spring we will plant the plums, cherries and apricot along with the blueberries, raspberries and blackberries. We really can't wait until we can harvest the fruit. We would go broke if we bought all the fruit that we would like to eat.

We will again have a large garden, but the soil on this farm is so much better than the red clay we have now, I can't wait to see the difference it will make.

The girls have already decided that they love it there and have spent most of thier free time exploring in the creek. Even in the cold a creek will draw the kids to play in it. Tanner calls it "big water" and keeps telling us "take hammer, build house".

Things are going so fast now and I have so many things that I have to do. We just finalized the plans for the house we are building ourselves. So now we can decide where it will go and then put in a driveway so we don't always have to walk all the way back. Designing my own house is a dream I have always had. My parents designed and built their house, so I always had the idea, even as a kid, that I would do that too. As I grew up I realized how much work that would be and that my father really didn't want to build me a house, not that I blame him. But after the log cabin idea, building a house out of lumber is looking a whole lot easier. Dad will still be there to make sure everything is even and level (not my strong point) and Eric and I are the hard labor. It is exciting and scary all at the same time