Blog Slacker

Wow! I haven't bogged in weeks! This won't be much of a post, but more of a little "hello" to let you know that I am still here.

I'm happy to share that I've crossed a few very simple items off my list! Both #31 and #32 are now complete. At Nicole's suggestion in her comment, I created a very simple compost area using a circle of chicken wire partly buried in the ground (this to keep the puppy and other marauders out). So far it has been dog safe, but whenever something goes in that smells good to her, Katie lies on the ground next to it with her nose up to the wire and whines pitifully!

Item #32 was easily acheived by buying a pair of plain old men's black rubber boots (taller than the cute ladies' boots and therefore much better for wading through the creek) for $8. However, on the same day, in the same store, my husband dropped $465 for a pair of special order Whites boots, so our average purchase price rose substantially! Note that this is not a complaint, though, simply an exclamation over the fact that it is even possible to spend that much on boots! But, they will hike many many dirty, smelly, sooty, miles all over the western states this summer and are quite vital to his livelihood. I'll stick to my creek wading, thank you!

Straight Story

What a neat movie we watched last night. It moves very slowly and has little "action", but is a lovely (based on a true) story. Plus, it stars "Matthew" from Anne of Green Gables, who has such an enjoyable voice.

Where was the camera?

We are becoming bonafide acreage people! Last night we were out in the yard digging up our perfectly good well to take out an existing pipe and plumb in a new one to attached the sprinkler system that is soon to come. By "we" I mean that Casey was doing all the digging and hard work and I was sitting nearby, handing over tools, and keeping track of all the shiny parts and tools that the dog was dragging off and/or trying to eat. It was great fun involving a lot of dirt and not even any cursing this time!

About halfway through the project, our cheering section (ie., Katie the Pup) streaked off across the yard barking. Not far in front of her was a very healthy fox with a tail bigger than the whole rest of her body. They got halfway across the pasture, then stopped, squared off, and had a staring contest. We watched, wondering if we were going to have to come to Katie's rescue, but then the fox turned tail and trotted away. Katie ran home, obviously very proud of her brave defense of her territory. It was quite entertaining! Casey's dad (who is our next-door-neighbor-across-the-pasture) says they have seen this fox quite frequently, but this was my first close-up look at her.

Should I rethink the chickens (since I want the kind that are free to roam around the yard freely most of the day)? And how do I make sure that the dog doesn't think they are meant for her dining pleasure? We shall see!

Nothing Like it in the World

Yes, I admit to stealing that title from Stephen Ambrose, but I promise not to write about the transcontinental railway here, so he should be ok with me borrowing it.

The moment that brought the phrase to mind was just a little quiet piece of life. Last night Casey and I sat around on the back step playing fetch with the puppy, talking about where the garden would grow, and looking out at the pasture full of momma cows and baby calves. It had been a rainy day, so it smelled like fresh, wet, dirt (ahhhhh). The clouds had darkened the sky prematurely to a deep, steely blue/grey, but cheeky little bits of light where sneaking through the curtain of clouds in the west proving that there was still a glorious sunset going on somewhere. The wind had died down and the air was still and cool - a just right temperature for sweatshirt and jeans. There we were--a husband, a wife, a dog, and a itsy bitsy baby growing and turning flips inside of me. I didn't want to move.

It's nice to have a few moments like that to file away.

A Work in Progress

It takes a lot to build a place from scratch! It's exciting to start fresh with a clean slate, even though that clean slate is 2 acres large and it will be a bit of a job...and an expensive one! In the next couple of weeks we need to fence a horse pasture, design and install a sprinkler system, get a start on the lawn, layout a garden spot that works with the irrigation design, maybe lay pavers for a patio, buy a commuter car. Oh yes, and I volunteered to plan a ladies' event for church.

Then there are the things we would like to do, but might have to delay for awhile, like plant trees, build a chicken coop and get some chickens, build a deck, install another water hydrant, install a water softener, build some flower beds and plan some landscaping. I think I should be starting some seedlings for the garden soon, too. Did I mention that all of this costs money?? Truly, the opportunity to be building our home is so exciting, not daunting like it might seem if we weren't finally living what we've been dreaming about since we were first dating. And watching Katie (our puppy) run around and chase birds and steal tools is very entertaining and makes the work more fun.