Its been a pretty busy week around here...it begin with having company on Monday which was nice and I really enjoyed it..you can view her blog here Flipflopsapronsandpearls . Tuesday was a day of heartache...my dad and I have had an on and off relationship for years and about 1.5 years ago things to seemed to be on the mend then back in October when he ask me to move to here I was thrilled to finally think he and I could have a relationship...well my excitement has turned to heartache...I will not go into the details, but lets just say when I move from here all of our contact will cease...he is a man full of hate, bitterness and has no clue what it means to have a relationship with your children...he has also alienated my brother at this point...its so sad and I am so hurt...I just really needed to think my dad had changed and to find out he hasn't is so hard...

On a much happier note we are dealing with some wonderful things here on the homestead...we now have I believe 6 baby chicks, 3 baby ducks, and 3 new baby kitties...Mama hen has now been setting for 11 straight days...in order for her to hatch all of the eggs I take the chicks and ducks as they hatch and put them under a light....I tell ya she has taught me a lesson in perseverance! She is one determined mama...she is so wonderful I will truly miss her when she is gone(which I hope is a long ways off)...I haven't been out this morning to see if we have anymore little suprises under her. We also have a duck that is setting about 20 eggs and I'm so excited to see how many she hatches out...they should be hatching within the week if my dates are right...

We are still looking at land and we did find a nice brick home on 1.5 acres that would be feasible for us to purchase...we have, I believe narrowed it down to the 10 acres we found awhile back that hubby decided against in the beginning but has since changed his mind...LOL...so now its between the 10 acres with no home and lots of woods and off the beaten path, which we love or the 4 bedroom brick home 1700 sq feet on 1.5 acres very close to the road with no woods...Hmmmmm...what will we do? We looked at the home again last night and will probably look again this weekend...today we are going back over to the land to walk it out again and just see what we can do with it....its not all flat land it has lots of hills and hollers(arkansas talk) but we still think maybe we can make it work for us...I suppose the decision hinges on what we have set for goals...really large garden, having a few hogs, of course chickens and goats and maybe a cow...working to get off the grid and learning to rely of our God given talents more than the government system for food, water and power...we want to be able to take care our ourselves as much possible all with the Lords blessing and his timing...all of this can be done on 1.5 ares if layed out well, but 10 would work a whole lot better...soooooo we are praying daily for guidence.

Today is also berry pickin'...more blackberries for the freezer...I stopped by a farmers market in our area yesterday and was shocked at prices they want for stuff...LOL...I am queen of cheap I suppose but I could not see paying 5.00 for a pint of blackberries when I can find them for free all day long...it just takes some work and driving..we have a great place we go that is on a not so traveled dirt road and all the berries one could want...all for free and for the taking...all one has to do is stop and pick, watch for snakes and hope you don't chiggars and ticks...LOL...doesn't sound real appealing but I find it makes me appreciate the great pies and cobblers a bit more than if I had let someone else do all the work! Have a great day!

~Kris