I can't believe it's actually been a year since I posted anything on this blog. It was a pretty busy year.
It's probably time to at least hit last year's farm highlights:
February we finally found our farm. We began packing up our house and preparing to move.
March we moved in with our houseful of things, plus two storage areas full of things, and the promise of more things from my husband's parents who were downsizing.
April we welcomed our first guests and work crew: my mom and sister from Arizona. They helped kickstart the house decorating. We also bought our first farm animals. Meat chickens - roasters to be exact, in chick form - and four turkeys, in poult form. This means they were only about a day old. We also bought our first beef cattle and got a surprise heifer in the bargain. The day we bought the cattle it snowed. A bit late in the season. Joe started building chicken tractors for our soon to be big chickens so they could have a mobile home on the pastures. And he prepared a pen for the turkeys outside where they would be able to do some contained roaming too.
May we bought our laying hens and an eglu for them to live in. I also started my first ever square foot garden, Joe built compost bins, and we bought our first growing salad bowls. The farmers markets started and we began to settle into the community a bit more. I also was down for a week with my first cataract surgery. I began seeing things much better.
June we welcomed into our home the furniture, decorations, pictures, appliances, etc. from Joe's parents when they moved into their beautiful assisted living home. We also started helping them clean up and clear out their huge four bedroom home to get it ready to sell. By the end of the month we hauled our first ever group of meat chickens to the custom meat house. I had my second cataract surgery this month and finally saw what was really around me. What a huge blessing that was, although both times I was wobbly on sight for a few days.
July we had more guests. First we had our three grandsons come to stay for an extended weekend (ages 3-4). It was really fun. My oldest daughter came to visit with them from Vancouver and helped keep us from pulling our hair out at the roots. Then my sister and her husband from Arizona came and stayed a week.
August we had more guests. Joe's mom and dad came to visit for a day from Vancouver. Then my mom and her husband, Tony, from Arizona came and stayed for just over a week. In between the visits we were desperately trying to fit all the new furniture in and start to unload an incredibly full garage. Well, garages. We have a five bay garage and no place to put a car because of all the stuff still boxed and stored in there. We also finally sold our house in Seattle. We felt really blessed - two house payments was difficult.
September we began to breathe and market the beef cattle. I set up a web page and used Craigslist to get buyers. We also started building a home for goats in and around our barn. It was time to begin harvesting the garden crops and, how could I forget, I also started 'preserving the harvest'. I made applesauce, pear jam, plum jam, pickled beets, sweet pickles, and canned pears.
October we bought our first goats, two boer goat does. We also bought a wether for meat. He was joined on our farm by two other wethers that we kept for a friend. We finished picking the last of the golden delicious apples and cleaned up the gardens.
November we started the month seeing our beef cattle and the wethers head to the custom meat house. Then we sold Wendy our heifer to a great new home. Our pastures were empty again. I bought a spinning wheel and the lady who bought Wendy began teaching me how to spin fiber. I also started and completed (over 50,000 words is completion) a Nano novel. Nano stands for the National Novel Writing month which is November. We had a nice Thanksgiving. In mid November I spent a few days in Seattle for the birth of our second granddaughter. She is healthy and beautiful.
December we prepared for the holidays. We adopted a dog, Bailey, from the local animal shelter. We also got hit by a big snow storm and were stuck on our hill for a few days. Luckily we knew it was coming and we had prepared. I'm also still working on my Nano novel, trying to get it done by the end of the month (hummm getting close here). We are still committed to trying to finish clearing out Joe's parent's house, too, so it can be listed and sold. There is still a lot of things there. Also, winter is our interior repair time for the house. We've worked outside so much this year that we decided to put aside winter for the house. I started on the pantry two days ago and hope to have it looking lovely by the end of the week. We need a big pantry here.
In between all of these 'big' events there were hundreds of little events. Both types were full of laughter and tears, good and bad, funny and sad. It was a year of big changes and carousel emotions. So many things somehow piled up, however haphazardly, into a new way of life for us. Sitting here now I can honestly say it has been one of the most notable and best years of my life. I wasn't sure I would like being on a farm before I got here, now I wouldn't want it any other way. Our course to get here was so twisted, full of disappointments and waiting. But it was worth every minute to be right here where we are. We've made new friends, established a life we love, and invested both emotions and effort into simple things that have made a difference not only in our lives, but many others.
Our cattle alone brought wonderful, healthy grass-fed beef to over eleven families. One of those families had eight children alone. We don't know exactly how many people were and are being fed by them, but it feels wonderful to have helped make that happen.
Did you see that? I noticed it. It was slow but, in small ways I am thinking like a farm woman. It would never have occured to me before this year to marvel at what it might feel like providing healthy food to people. Now it seems natural. Wrapping my mind around country living, farm life, and simple things is slowly coming to me. Not that it's a done deal.
I still manage to complicate my life way too much. Like this decorating the house thing. It was easier to build and grow my first garden, then to know exactly how to make the most of this house. I can't wait until spring. When the 'interior' life ends and the 'outside' life begins again. I think that's another sign of a change. But it really is a good one.
