End of the Road Ranch

Claim Shanty Life is DIRTY!!!

I love it!  We are about a month into life here at the claim shanty and the cabin still does not feel too small, although aspects of it seem tight.  I am now 34 weeks pregnant and am getting big and uncomfortable so the low ceiling upstairs in the loft is becoming annoying, especially since we are sleeping on the floor.  I find that standing up and trying not to hit my head at the same time is increasingly difficult, especially during the night. 

Life here is dirty.  The kids are always dirty, the clean clothes are dirty, I am dirty and the cabin is dirty.  The kids are getting nightly baths and Saturday night baths constitute a major scrubbing, trying to get the ground in dirt and sap and ??? off before church in the morning.  They don’t seem to mind the dirt, and I can probably tolerate more than the average woman, but it starts to get to me (probably just nesting).  There is still no grass, as we are having a well issue and don’t have much extra water.  We will start drilling our well deeper in about 2 weeks and hope to tap into a better water source.  After we have water, we can start thinking about a very small lawn right in front of (and maybe behind) the cabin, which will help keep everything cleaner and cooler. 

Some regular tasks are too hard for me right now.  I just bought bread for the first time in a long time, because lifting the big camp Dutch oven in and out of the pit is just too heavy and hurts my back.  So no home baked bread until the baby is here and we are resettled.  Oddly enough scrubbing the sink is a little difficult too.  It is a deep utility sink and with my tummy as big as it is it is very difficult to reach to the bottom of it, much less scrub it; dh helps a lot when he can. 

I am still cooking on the open fire or in a crock-pot, as there is no other source of heat.  I am also cooking for more men, as there is always someone here helping dh with the big house.  I have had a few burnt (really, burned up completely) meals but the biggest challenge has been learning the timing of cooking on a fire.  I tend to either let the fire die too much or it is too hot to cook on.  The manzanita wood we are cooking is really smoky, which is hard for things that need to be stirred, like breakfast cereals or turned, like pancakes. 

The big house is coming along quickly right now.  The guys have the foundation poured and have started framing – the floor joists are all in and I hear that there will be some walls standing by the end of next week!  It is still a big push to get it done by the end of next April and every bit of help is greatly appreciated. 

Oh, the baby guineas came Thursday!  They are so tiny – I am used to chicken chicks and the keets are around half of the size.  Very cute!

Have a great week and don’t forget that God is in control. 

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{ 03:54 , Tuesday, July 24, 2007 } { Posted by Kitty }

All I can say is God bless your little heart, LOL.
Good luck with everything.
Kitty

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{ 06:27 , Wednesday, July 25, 2007 } { Posted by morningsunshine }

good golly! I am sitting in awe of you (and my grandmothers of 100 years ago!) wow! this is an amazing journey you are on. I am going to go and be very grateful for my kitchen when I fix breakfast. thank you for the reminder of my blessings!