Moving On

This will, most likely, be my last post on this site but don't despair, I will be posting about all the successes, mishaps, and everything in between at my new website  http://dreamvalleyfarmstead.blogspot.com/

 

 And for those of you on Facebook you can follow along at my new page https://www.facebook.com/DreamValleyFarmstead

I have enjoyed blogging here and getting to know y'all.  I do hope you'll hop on over to one or both of these sites and join us at Dream Valley Farmstead!

Kentucky Bound

Four months after we made the offer and two months after we closed, the time has finally come for us to head to our new-to-us old farmhouse and farm.  WOOHOO!

CountryBoy's last day of work at this job in Texas is today.  He is the only employee left other than the big boss.  I tease him and tell him that his boss just doesn't want to let him go even though they know he's been waiting to get to the farm, ha!  Poor guy!

We'll spend tomorrow filling a propane bottle or two (in case we need some heat while staying overnight in the Walmart parking lot, wink), closing the box at the post office, packing up, loading up, and hooking up so we can pull out the following morning.

Once we get there we're going to be winging it for a while.  I have a feeling I am going to feel like a pioneer woman!

But, it's going to be SO worth a little bit of discomfort and inconvenience when we start seeing the 'ol homestead come back to life and making it our home.  The challenge of furnishing the place, renovations that need to be done, planning and planting a garden, fixing up the coop, the list goes on... but we are ready!

I'm also ready to buy seeds for the vegetable and herb gardens.  And flowers, too. I saw some flowers at the store the other day and I got excited as it dawned on me that I could grow them again!  I gave up trying to have flowers or grow tomatoes while on the road.  Even the desert shade was not enough to keep them alive when we were in Arizona and Nevada and we were not supposed to be here very long so I didn't bother.  But now?  Now I can have flowers again!

African Iris

Amaryllis

And, I can take pictures again!

That is, once I get my camera fixed. (I do have a point and shoot camera that I will be using in the mean time.)

And, I can start blogging again!

That is, once I get in internet connection at the farmhouse.

We have a few days of traveling ahead of us and I need to find an internet source then we will be back in business.  So hang in there.

I want to offer a huge THANKS to those of you who have stuck by me during the traveling chapter of our lives.  Soon, this blog will, once again, be about farm life, house renovations and trying to live a simple life in these modern times. So, stay tuned if you're curious to see how this chapter of our lives plays out!

Silly Kitties

My last post was about two new additions to our little farm family, Creamsicle and Oreo.  We have decided to 'transport' them to their new house in the fifth wheel along with Precious and Hunter, who are slowly warming up to the newcomers.  So, to hopefully make the move less of a traumatic experience for them I have been letting them in so they can get used to the space.  (We're still working on the cat-box issue though.)

I have to say, they've made themselves 'at home'.  Check this out...

here's Oreo relaxing on the recliner with his tongue sticking out...

Hahaha!  So cute!

Then yesterday, Creamsicle was sleeping in LizzieBelle's bed until I startled him.  He jumped up and stepped out of the bed then decided everything was OK.  This is how he fell back asleep...

Is that funny or what?!  Hahaha!  Cracks me up!

And, I think he likes the afghan I'm working on.

Speaking of afghan, I'm about two-thirds done with it.  I bought some more yarn yesterday (since it was on sale) but they didn't have all that I needed.  I am guessing that I will need about 4 more skeins of the Woods print, which is the lightest color that has flecks of both the sage and taupe in it.  I'm really liking how it is turning out.  It is so soft and I love the texture that this simple pattern makes.  I hope to have most of it finished by the time we move cuz we're going to need it up there!

And, speaking of moving, we think it will be soon.  But, in this industry, we really never know.  The day CountryBoy comes home from work with his tool and gang boxes in the back of the truck is when we will know we are moving, ha!

So, stay tuned.  Hopefully it won't be long now!

New Farmhands

Let me introduce you to two soon-to-be new farmhands...

this is Creamsicle

and this is Oreo

Such sweeties!

Let me fill you in on how these two came into our family...

Oreo and his Mom, Callie, were wandering around the RV park, hiding under cars and hanging around whoever would feed them.  One of our neighbors kept food out for them so they hung around there quite a bit.  Then, the neighbors left for a while so there was no food being put down.

Callie, a super-sweet, friendly and highly energetic bob-tailed Calico came out to greet me one day when I was walking LizzieBelle.  Her baby, Oreo, was very shy and simply hung back and watched.

 

After another day or two and the neighbors still hadn't returned I felt bad so I put some some food out for them.  They gobbled it up.

Eventually, the neighbors returned so Callie and Oreo went back and forth between the two of us and before long they were both putting on some weight and for Oreo, gaining our trust.  Eventually, they stopped going over to the other camper.  Better food?  More attention?  Combination?  Who knows.

Meanwhile, another neighbor enjoyed Callie's antics so when he finished the job and headed home he took Callie with him.  Yay! Now I am feeding only one stray.

During the time I was feeding Callie and Oreo I would occasionally see an orange cat with a terrible limp hanging around the park and fence.  It was always cautious and never let anyone get too close.

Until one day... I stepped outside to feed Oreo and the orange cat was sitting by the fence watching.  I could literally see him sitting there trying to decide whether or not he should take the chance of adopting us.  Directly, he was limping his way over to me and meowing.  Almost as if he was asking if it was OK.  Seriously.  For weeks, this cat was so leery of people and wanted nothing to do with them and then in one instant he changed his mind.  I still shake my head over witnessing that.

He lets me pet him, hold him up, check out his bum leg (which, I believe is dislocated), pick ticks off him (yuck) and now he curls up in the crate I have outside that is stuffed with blankets and contentedly goes to sleep.

We will be taking both of them with us when he head to Kentucky.

Part of their job at the farm will be keeping the mice population down.  I know Oreo will be a good mouser (since he was playing with a dead one right outside our door) and hopefully Creamsicle will be as well.

Honestly, I do not go in search of stray animals.  They just find me.  And it breaks my heart.  And I can't resist.  And my poor husband who knows I'm such a softy.

sigh.

Bursting With Excitement!

Happy 2015 y'all!l

It's the fifth day of the new year and I'm already about to explode with excitement!

But first, I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and that your new year is starting off on the right foot.

CountryBoy and I had a wonderfully fun-filled, food-filled, Nertz-filled, visiting-filled, travel-filled and productive Christmas and New Years!

It's been two years since we have been able to spend Christmas with family and this year, thanks to a closer proximity and CountryBoy's job, we were able to travel back to Florida to visit with family and friends for Christmas.  AND, we were even able to make use of some extra time off to load a rental truck and our truck with the bulk of our belongings and take them up to the farmstead. Yay!  That is one huge to-do crossed off our mental list of things to do.  We even spent the first day of 2015 at our new farm.  What a blessing (even though we spent it unloading a rental truck).  Nevertheless, a blessing indeed!

We still have some things like photo albums, pictures, lamps and some miscellaneous items that wouldn't fit or wouldn't bode well in storage so family members will bring what they can when they come up to visit and check out the new place.  We are already excited about having company even though the place will be a disaster for a while, wink!

As I mentioned above, we had to put all of our belonging in a storage building at the new property.  See, there was a domino effect after our closing.  The seller needed our money to buy her new place and the seller of her new place needed her money to finish some remodeling of their new place.  Therefore, our seller was unable to move into her new place and all of her stuff was still in our house.  sigh.  But, it will actually work out quite well.  We will be able to work on the house without anything being in the way and it will allow me to sort through the boxes and bring in only the stuff we want in the house.  The rest will be tossed or donated.

We only brought a few pieces of furniture with us; the rest were either sold or given away to family and friends.  We swapped our sectional sofa with some friends who let us 'shop' in their storage unit.  We scored an antique rocker, trunk and desk as well as a compressor and chain saw.  (Guess who wanted the last two items, ha!)  Even though they say they are enjoying the couch I think we came out on the better end of the deal, wink!

I have to admit that it was not easy parting with some of the furniture that we spent our hard-earned money on but when the pieces just won't work in your new space then you have to disregard your losses and move on.  We've decided it will be fun looking for just the right pieces (at the right price) to fit each space!

We are also excited that in less than a month (hopefully) we will be able to travel up to the new farmstead Clampett style with truck, fifth wheel and cargo trailer in tow and start reclaiming this hobby farm.  So many ideas!  So many possibilities!  I can't wait to get to work.

Also coming up in a few months is a sewing expo and my first quilt retreat!  I will be attending with my quilting/sewing/crafting cohort and friend.  There's travel plans to be made, a hotel to be booked, classes to choose and sign up for, a mug rug to be made for swapping and probably something else that I've forgotten, ha!  Exciting and fun!

Needless to say, 2015 is bursting with excitement and possibilities and we can't wait to see what this year will bring forth!