Mountain Lane Homesteaders

Oh this is TERRIBLE! How in the world does one just jump back in after a THREE MONTH silence? I feel as though so much must have happened with everyone that I'll never get caught up! Even this page where I type my entry looks different.  YIKES.  Thanks so much to those of you who've been writing to me and wondering where I was. I think that's what finally got me back on the keyboard again. Nothing like wondering if no one will know who you are any more to create a big ole writers block! Sure hope to be getting back to regular visits with all of you.

So how about an update on things around here? I'm sure you've all just been waiting on pins and needles to finally hear the words....... WE'RE FLUSHING!!!! Yes indeed we are creeping ever so slowly back into the realm of civilization. We have a beautiful shiny functioning potty and the portas have been put out of commission! The excitement of it all was just too funny. The night we had it all hooked up we called my parents up at about 11:00pm to have them listen over the phone to our flush. The phone call was quite brief since it was late and they were heading off to bed. It was only AFTER hanging up did I realize that it was their ANNIVERSARY and I hadn't even said a word. I'm sure they were thrilled to share their anniversary with our toilet anniversary!

How about a picture?

As you can see, no walls yet but we've got blankets tacked onto all that framing and at least finally have a little privacy. Gone are the days of the "NOBODY LOOK!" commands. I cannot tell you all just how wonderful it is to stand behind those blankets and get ready for the day without an audience :). Something else we've accomplished is to get the engine rebuilt for the sawmill that was given to us and have moved it onto our property. Just as soon as we're able to get it all leveled we'll be able to mill the wood for the bathroom walls. And a door.......I can't even hardly imagine.......a door!

You know, I was just thinking. I think one of the reasons I must have slowed down on writing and even reading blogs lately is because everyone was so excited and looking forward to their gardens. It was so hard to read all that great garden information because of my last years experience of having everything here demolished by the deer and free range cattle. My poor little tomato plants that I so carefully grew from seed were just carelessly destroyed!

But.......Happy Birthday to Me! This year Sam was determined to see to it that I had a fence so that I could garden again without fear. So at the beginning of May he peeled several poles and we set about creating a fence. We were able to buy a 100 foot roll of welded wire, 6 feet tall, for $99. Sam dug post holes into our clay/rocky ground and we mixed bags of cement in the wheelbarrow. We stood each pole up, made sure it was level, and began to shovel in the cement. Once all the poles were in place we were ready to put the wire on. Our ground slopes a bit where the garden area is so we had to take a stair step type approach to the wire rather than just wrapping it around and being done. Since the deer are not daunted by a 6 foot jump we stretched several lines of single strand wire around the tops of the poles so that each area is actually now protected up to 8 feet high. Hammering in the fencing staples and pulling the fence tight was actually a pretty enjoyable task and we are so proud of our accomplishment.

We think it turned out beautiful! We have set in 14 raspberry plants along the back side (that's on the left side of the picture as you see it.  The gate is on the right) and I've put in tomatos, bell peppers, zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, and brussel sprouts. I've left a place to put in some lettuce as well and I still have to figure out how to do the jalapeno peppers I want to grow for my salsa. A neighbor told me she had once planted jalapenos in with other things and everything else took on the heat of the peppers. Anyone else have that happen? I'm thinking of putting them in pots rather than the ground to prevent this. We have a short growing season here with the weather still being pretty cool right now and will get cold again at night starting probably in mid September. Don't know how all these things will do but at least I finally get to TRY!

Along with the additons of the toilet and a new garden fence we also have several new animal additions. We are being overrun by kittens! We moved here with 2 pets. A dog and an indoor cat. Last fall we found a cute little kitten snuggled down in our wood stacked up next to the house. We think she was trying to stay warm. We thought she was an orphan abandoned by her mother so we made her a cozy box outside and yes, started to feed her. We just call her Baby. It wasn't too long before the kids found another cat that looks just about identical to Baby snuggling with her underneath a stack of windows we have outside. Seems baby's mama was now going to live with us too. So, since last fall we've been caring for these two outdoor GIRL cats. Fast forward to a few weeks ago and we found mama's newest litter of kittens....underneath those windows. Two boys and a girl. Soooooo cute. Although so tempted to keep "just one" we have found homes for all three. One little boy left yesterday and the other two will go to a home together just as soon as we can get it arranged. Which will be perfect timing because just over a week ago, on my birthday, Baby had babies too. Two girls and a boy. And they are soooooo cute! We have a few weeks to go before finding homes for these. You don't suppose I'll get talked into keeping "just one" of these do you? 

Along with the cats/kittens, as of this holiday weekend, we find ourselves as of Saturday to now be GOAT OWNERS! Sam e-mailed me from work on Friday that he'd heard of someone who wanted to give away two female baby goats. Although, we've talked about getting goats some day it surely wasn't in the plans to do it yet. However, when presented with the opportunity, we at least had to go and look at them don't you think? They are bigger than I had imagined. They are each about a year old. They've not yet been bred so they can't be milked but they're just at the right age I guess. Here are our new friends.

This is Molly Hazel. She is a Toggenburg and came with the name Molly but we added the Hazel because of the color of her eyes. She seems to have an affection for Sam since he's the one who sat by her in the back of the truck for the ride here.

Here is Mara with Tangle.  Mara was wearing this dress the day the goats came.  Doesn't she just make you think of Heidi?  Tangle is an Alpine and came with the name Snowflake. We changed her name because Snowflake just didn't roll off the tounge. Her new name fits her though because this one sure seems to get tangeled in her line a lot. Since the goats were unexpected we have no pen yet but have them tied to lines between trees. When we got home from church on Sunday we found Tangle laying on the ground with her legs all tangled up. We got her untangled but she scared us because she just layed there. At first her eyes were shut, then they were opened but huge and vacant looking. We were just about to call one of our neighbors over who has goats when Tangle finally stood up, peed, pooped, and started eating again. Whoa. What a way to start things out. It was like she just had given up. I hate to think how long she must have laid like that. She was fine when we'd left but we were gone probably about 3 hours or so. All seems to be fine now though. Both Molly and Tangle are getting use to us and now are willing to eat some oats from our hands. Every so often I'll just look at Sam and say "We have goats" and then a little later he'll say, "Darc. We've got goats." I think we're somewhat bewildered but we're sure having fun :).

So lets see, a potty, a fence, sawmill moved over, baby kittens, and goats. I guess that's what's been going on around here while I've been A.W.O.L. these past several weeks. Sure am glad to be here this morning. I hope to hear from some of you and I'll be checking in. I have a lot of reading to do to get caught up with you all.

Talk to you again soon!