Posted on Thursday, May 15, 2008 at 05:06

This picture is of my Grandmother and cousin.  Isn't it a precious picture?  It was taken probably 39 years ago.  Over the years Grandma has loved her family and supported us more than most.  She gives graciously without wanting anything in return.  There is never a hitch or a catch behind her giving.  She's made all of our Birthdays special and never forgotten one.  She always given her Grandchildren special things without spoiling us.  She handmade my cousin and I each a large box full of clothes for our dolls when we were little.  Complete with nylons, bathing suits, fur coats, jeans, dresses, underware, crocheted sweaters, high heeled shoes, you name it and our dolls had it.  She handmade us quilts when we were teenagers.  Bought us our own rollerskates with carrying case when we were in grade school.  No one else had these and it made us feel special.  She started us our own bank accounts when we were very young which no one else our age had which made us feel special.  We've always loved to show her off because she is so beautiful and no one can believe she is our Grandmother.  Let alone a Great-Grandmother and hopefully one day a Great-great-grandmother.  She's taken care of us when we are sick.  Taught me to crochet.  She's helped us with our burdens.  Loved us unconditionally.  She's cried with us during our sorrows and laughed with us during our joys.  She allowed our family of 3 to live with her for over a year and I never heard 1 complaint.  She is patient, forgiving, caring, strong, kind, thoughtful, gracious, beautiful, artistic, humble and I could go on, but I don't want to embarrass her to bad.  Oh yah, she is shy, proper and somewhat reserved too, but don't mess with her.  I think our son and his goofyness has loosened her up a little.  She encourages us to follow our dreams.  Although I don't know if she's to supportive about the whole cow thing.  She dreams of living by the beach and the mountains at the same time.  Without her, we would not be who we are today.  Which I would like to thank her for all she's done for us and how she's blessed us. 

I've posted this with a picture of her so that you can understand a little of who she is and how much we love her and want her with us for many more years to come.  If you've read this please lift up a prayer for her because she's just been diagnosed with cancer and we don't know the details yet.

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God bless you and many thanks to you all.  May you never take God who has created you and all things or your loved ones for granted.

Posted on Saturday, May 10, 2008 at 07:33

Today we went to Bardstown, KY and looked around a little. 

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This was an old Tavern.

This used to be a place that sold produce.  They've kept the old sign and now sell pet food.  My Grandparents visited this place quite a few years back and met the owners.  We just happened to remember them telling us about it and noticed the sign when we were driving throungh town.  They were closed today though.  Quite a coincidence considering we are all from Washington. 

This is Abraham Lincoln's childhood home.  It was pretty neat to walk around the property that he and his family once lived on.

Posted on Thursday, May 8, 2008 at 06:15

One more thing accomplished:

All the ditches are dug for our plumbing.  Yeah!! 

It's raining now though so nothing is getting done today, but price comparisons.  Our electricity will hopefully be hooked up tomorrow.  The utility co.  tried for two days to dig through a huge rock so they could put up the power pole with no success.  Hopefully they break through tomorrow.  Then we'll start putting up our siding.  A lady from church is going to let us borrow her motorhome for awhile so we can stay on the property to make sure nothing else gets stolen.  We found alot of coal and some black stuff while digging our ditches and were wondering if it might be oil deposits or?  There are people in our area that have oil wells.  We've heard that it's not worth having one though because you really don't make that much.  With gas prices rising so much though you wonder if it might be worth having your own well soon. 

We went to Nashwille the other day to have lunch at Olive Garden.  $5.99 all you can eat breadsticks, soup and salad.  Mmmm.  We also were going to look around the old part of town, but people warned us not to go there.  So we didn't.  Hope we didn't miss anything.  We found out where the Grand Ole Opry is though and hope to go there some day.  No one was playing that day that we would want to see. 

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Posted on Friday, May 2, 2008 at 08:36

Posted on Thursday, May 1, 2008 at 04:57

One more thing accomplished:

1. Our temporary power pole was inspected and passed.  They are going to hook it up by the end of next week.  By then our water meter might be installed and turned on also.

We went to Mammoth Cave National Park and and went for a walk and had some dessert.  If you like homemade food then you'd love the meals that they fix there.  They're moderately priced too.   I had peach cobbler ala mode. 

 We haven't been on a cave tour there yet because we're waiting to do that when family comes for a visit. 

We took a trail to sand cave.  You can't go into it anymore, but it's a pretty view.

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Simple gravestone at the park.

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Pretty flowers at a grave yard.  I don't remember having these ones back in WA. 

I don't think we had these kinds of butterflies either.

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These are wild dogwoods.  The park smells sweet right now because of them. 

Just when I thought it couldn't get anymore beautiful.

We also went to a blueberry farm and talked to the farmer.  I could've talked to him all day, but he had to take his wife to work. They had several acres of blueberries almost ready to be picked last year and then the drought hit.  He lost them all and didn't have crop insurance.  Crop insurance is only $100.00 per year per species.  I can't believe he didn't know that.  They were his backup incase his tabacco failed.  He had an absolutely gorgeous house started and tabacco prices went down (for the farmer) and he had to stop building on it when his blueberries failed also.  So they've had to live in it's basement.  He gave us lots of tips and told us he would sell us his plants for $5.00/plant.  I'll have to do some research on the types he has.  These plants are already used to KY so it's possible that if we're able to get this farm rolling that we'll purchase from him.  Mail order  plants sometimes have a hard time adjusting to a new area.  

Don't forget to speak to your Father today who has created you and created you with the intention of having fellowship with you.

Posted on Tuesday, April 29, 2008 at 04:08

This is for all of you who mentioned that they are tired of seeing that it's 74 degrees.  It's cooled off a little lately, but no thunderstorms like was predicted.  It's sunny and beautiful right now.  Things are finally moving along on the property. 

1. We recieved a long awaited phone call that our last two property stakes will be placed this week so we can put up a fence.
2. Our gravel that was promised for months now finally arrived.
3. We put up our temporary power pole.  Hopefully inspected tomorrow.
4. Have gotten permission from a nice lady from church that we could use her winnabago while we are finishing up our shop so that we can make sure no one steals anything else.  Since presently we're living somewhere else.
5. I'm sure there's more, but can't think of it at the moment.

Anyway here's a few pictures.

   These are some neighbor's horses playing in the pond.  They were having a blast.  They were rolling and even swimming in it.  My favorite buckskin was watching them like she wasn't about to participate.

Some wild flowers on the back side of the property.

I've been researching alot on farming and seem obsessed.  My husband keeps reminding me not to get my hopes up.

There are alot of grants to help people out, but the government will only match what you already have.  Which is $0.

God says he gives us the desires of our hearts.  He also says that He is the one that puts those desires there.  You can usually tell the difference between the  ones that God gives you and the ones that are just selfish ambition.  So to all you who think it's impossible for us to farm because we don't have the money.  This will be a testimony to you when we do.  Because this has been the desire of my heart for a long time.  For as long as I've known my husband he's always wanted to raise cattle and I've always said no way.  They stink and are to big and you have to have a lot of money and land.  So I've done a little research and this is what I've come up with.

Mini cows!

 They only get around 42" when full grown.  So you can have more of them and they're easier to take care of.  Not to mention they are the cutest thing ever.  There are several different varieties too.  Excellent for meat and dairy.  All the books I keep reading on small farms keep saying that you must diversify, use crop rotation,  and sell your product yourself without the middleman.   Sounds like a dream come true to me.  Agritourism is on the rise also so that's something to keep in mind.   

Have a wonderful day. 

Posted on Thursday, April 17, 2008 at 03:23

It's 74 degrees today so far and beautiful.  People are already starting to cut their hay and plant their crops.  Here' a few pictures of how green and gorgeous it is.  These pictures are not our property, but in the general area.  Can it get any more beautiful?

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Posted on Wednesday, April 16, 2008 at 07:16

Well we've come accross another stumbling block with the building.  All of our metal siding, roofing and trim were stolen yesterday afternoon.  So looks like this process is going to take longer than anticipated.  Doesn't it always anyway?  Also for our friends and family that we haven't talked to lately we covet your prayers for our son.  He was diagnosed with Vitiligo which is a skin disease that randomly chooses who it will attack, so says the doctors.  This can be a difficult thing to live with and came as quite a shock.  Anyone who knows of anything that may help or most of all can pray for him we would be sooo grateful.  

Praise to Him

Posted on Tuesday, April 15, 2008 at 05:20

Sorry we haven't posted for awhile.  It keeps raining for just one day and then it takes two days to dry out and the crew hasn't been able to come work on the shop for a few weeks.  So if weather permits they will be there Thurs. & Fri.

We've been there a few times though and enjoyed some more wild life.

salamander

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colorful bug

And one of the neighbor's horses.  I've always wanted to have a neighbor with horses.  That way I could enjoy them without having to take care of them.  The neighbor seems to be a really nice man. He is over 50 and raises chickens and horses.  His old farm house burnt down a few years back and plans on putting up a log home this summer.

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 This is the road to our driveway.  We have purple trees lining the front of the property.

This is the entrance and the shop on the right.

   Close up of one of the purple trees.  They are one of the first things to bloom here in Ky and Tn.  Does anyone know what they are?

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It seems like this building thing is taking forever, but we've actually only owned the property since Jan. 26th.  Take care everyone and we'll keep yah posted.

Posted on Monday, April 7, 2008 at 06:01

Today was beautiful and around 74 degrees.  We got a little burnt and got a ton more land cleared.  We had to get some tick spray and it worked.  Nobody got bit. 

We went to the Southern Union Shaker community a few days ago.  It was neat.  We definately don't agree with any of their doctrine, but we enjoyed looking at the works of their craftmanship.

This was their main building.  It contains their living quarters, kitchen & school room.

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These are some examples of their rules.

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 Contraption to make brooms. 

Loom

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Entrance to the cistern.

We'll update the end of the week if we get any more done on the building.

Posted on Wednesday, April 2, 2008 at 11:42

How many of you wonder how does that person do it?  How do they have such great faith?  Well how much time do you spend in the word? 

Romans 10:17  So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Posted on Tuesday, April 1, 2008 at 08:45

Today we went to Western Ky and looked around a little.  We got this at a neat little shop.  I love it.  It is so fitting for us.  It says A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

I started a journal in February of 2007 when we were first thinking of moving and asking God what He had in store for our lives.  In my second entry I wrote down a quote by Martin Luther King Jr. that I had just come across that day.  He said, "Take the first step in faith, you don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step."

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Posted on Monday, March 31, 2008 at 01:28

Our Journey

We took a step of faith

and prayed that God would guide.

Faithfully He's led us

Just a little at a time.

Through the land of Hebron

a place of letting go.

He speaks of only

what we need to know.

No longer in the desert

or the wilderness.

Now intimate relation

gives us peace and rest.

We crossed the Jordon River

into the Promised Land.

Take care of what you're given

continue in His hand.

Posted on Saturday, March 29, 2008 at 06:43

  This is our shop and what we have up so far.  We are going to have the slab poured after we put in some plumbing.  Notice the front porch on the left side.  It is 50' long by 10' wide.  We are really going to enjoy that.  We already have two rocking chairs to set up and enjoy the view.

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Posted on Saturday, March 29, 2008 at 07:18

This is the spot that we've been clearing out this last week.  We wanted to cut down the brush so we could take walks through the forest without tripping over the vines and to keep the ticks down.

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 We've also been stacking the wood.  Our legs and back are sore, but  it's been alot of fun. 

  So far we have this one flowering tree.  Not sure what it is yet.  Things are turning green so fast.  Just in the last four days everything has started to bud.

      This is a closer look at one of the thorns off of the evil looking thorny tree that we took down.  We have one more on our property, but we might not mess with it.  They are hard to get to.

              Just another picture of a pretty bird.  We also have two big owls that live on the back side of the property.  Hopefully we'll get a picture of them someday.   

Posted on Thursday, March 27, 2008 at 08:30

Just a quick note to let you know what's going on.  Our internet is only working periodically.  They are starting on the building this morning.  I'll post some pictures later.  I saw a red fox yesterday headed up to the neighbor's chickens.  We also saw a deer with her fawns too.  Of course I didn't have my camera yesterday.  We've spent the last few days clearing some of the mess in the woods.  There are alot of rotten and fallen trees.  We even had to cut down some to clear a path for the tractor.  Sorry to my uncle but we had to cut down a few oaks and I felt really guilty not being able to give them to you.  But unless you want to drive all the way here from WA and back I didn't know what else to do with them so they are now firewood.  It was a ton of fun getting out of the rental and doing some labor and getting our bodies out of hibernation mode.  Love you and take care.

Posted on Monday, March 24, 2008 at 07:08

It was a full moon on Good Friday. 

Of course it was way prettier in real life.  It was bigger than I'd ever seen it before.

It was beautiful here today around 58 and there were snow flurries in the air while it was sunshining.  Trees and flowers are blooming and the bugs are starting to get noisy in the evenings.  It is so peaceful  out on the property.  We can't wait to move there.  

Posted on Tuesday, March 18, 2008 at 08:06

Well I got my birthday wish.  The excavator broke ground yesterday.

This is the spot that he leveled for the shop and the driveway that he put in. 

He also had time to put in a road for us to the other side of the property.  He did it in about 20 minutes.  He was fast and even pulled out a few trees in the process.

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I finally dug up one of these supposed wild garlics and I think they're more like  wild green onions.  I'll bring one down to the cooperative ext. office and make sure before I eat one, but if it is we have a life time supply. 

I took the picture of the moon and the picture of this sunset at the same time.  We are surrounded by beauty.

Now we have enough brush to have a bon fire and roast some marshmallows and hot dogs.  Oh yah, our building permit will be ready on Thursday.  So our shop should be erected by the end of next week.  Wow this is getting exciting.  Take care everyone and we love you.

Posted on Wednesday, March 12, 2008 at 08:50

We went to Ohio yesterday.

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And bought a tractor.

Yeah!

So we cleared some brush, pulled some trees and enjoyed the wildlife.

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Posted on Sunday, March 9, 2008 at 09:30

It snowed around 4" on Saturday.  Then turned to blue skies.  This is the most snow they've gotten in 10 years.  Lots of people were really enjoying it.  We heard of kids sledding and building snow men for the first time.  Wouldn't you know we sold our snow shovel thinking we'd have no more use for it.

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