homesteading

  I have gained a new respect for the settlers. After a month there is no way to play catch up. I'll touch on the highlights.
   We drove away from the peninsula June 6th after fetching a coffee from Adelades. Greg drove the animal van (5 goats, 9 chickens and Aiden) while I took the other two kids and dogs in the jeep. A trip where nothing breaks down at the side of the road or gets a flat is a good trip. This was a good trip! We made it in record time and peeled our household stuff off the top of the van and from the crevices of my jeep.
  The first week went by in a flash. Greg and I constructed a movable goat pen and I began a better milking schedule along with putting the chickens into a temporary pen every day. The kids played non-stop with their cousins and took multiple trips to the pond. I went to my MIL to help her move for the weekend and then picked up a $700 gas saver suberu on the way back. Why was it so cheep? Apparently the last driver chose to change lanes into a semi. Its not pretty, but after a month of tinkering its running well and Greg will be saving at least sixty dollars a trip.
  The next week we moved a shed and converted it into a chicken pen. We inherited 4 more chickens which were supposed to be layers but ended up to be Cornish cross. Those suckers can EAT! We couldn't figure out how the chickens could be going through so much feed and why they were getting SO fat. Well we butchered the three meat chickens and again inherited anther 4 hens. Yes these ones are the egg laying kind.
  There are two more weeks of life that have slipped my memory. Many people have come and visited us, I bribed Greg's uncle with a pie to move the homestead house next to ours so I could refinish it. The kids have stretched their legs in freedom and utilized all 20 acres over and back. Even my media hound Professor son has gotten into playing outdoors. He is currently reading a non-fiction book about chicken care and is planning on growing a beard and starting an egg business. To him, the two things go together.
  I dropped my peninsula weight gain like a bag of dirty laundry. Its nice to be able to slip into my jeans instead of hold my breath and tug. I've been working so hard that I fall into bed without getting to the extras like blogging and TV.
  Well, I hope now that I have caught you up and I can actually get around to blogging at least once a week. We don't have Internet (or constant power) at our house so it takes more work than walking to the computer and turning it on. Catch you all later!