Three months have FLOWN by, and we are settled into the homesteading routine. Notice I mentioned the homestead part, but glossed over the home part. Ah! This is a beautiful house, but I'm nowhere near having us unpacked and settled. That is highly unusual for me. But, there's two really good reasons (ok, maybe there's more than two. I do have the whole homeschooling five boys excuse. Or the I'm not quite a spring chicken excuse...) First, we've been really focused on getting our farm established. It's Spring, and, as you know, Spring is a really important time for farm "stuff". There's the garden to get going, and animals are born. So, outside work has taken priority. We loved this house and the property, but unfortunately it was not set up with fencing and barns. We had a LOT of work to do. We've built a pig pen, and a rabbit yard, lamb yard, fortified fencing in the goat yard, built a stall inside the little barn, plowed up a large garden spot, fenced the garden, moved a raised bed, started planting, plowed a berry patch, planted strawberries, built a turkey coop and run, had a barn and chicken coop delivered, and now we've started work on the large pasture that'll run the length of the east side of the property. We've hatched chicks and ducks. We have goats we are milking. The farm is moving right along. I've unpacked and prettied up the main living area. But the rest is a mess!
The second reason that I haven't finished the house is that it's a LOT of house to unpack. We'd asked God for the right house with room to spread out. He delivered! 12,500 sq ft of home sweet home. That's not a misprint. It's really 12,500 sq ft. I've almost avoided that subject, because I'd received some rather unkind comments about our home and it's size. But if you know me at all, you know I'm not one to flaunt wealth or be stuck up. So, I was a little hush-hush about the size. Oh, and the indoor salt water pool. But, there's no point in trying to make it seem less than it is. God has allowed us to have this home, and I'm so thankful for every inch of it. But, I'm a little overwhelmed at unpacking it. It'll get done...eventually.
Back to the goats- Have I mentioned how much I LOVE goats? I had no idea they were such incredible creatures. But, they are! Such personalities! Such empathy for others! They are like giant puppy dogs that give you milk- delicious sweet creamy milk. We now have 14 goats at Honeybird Farms. I'm seriously the crazy goat lady. What can I say? I love my goats.
We also have 6 sheep, 15 bunnies (it was 10, but then we had a litter of 5!), 4 pigs, 4 turkeys, 4 Pekin ducks, a gazillion chickens (ok, I've lost count. I have no idea...), 2 mini donkeys, and 1 very special donkey (more on that later). Oh, and we had three barn cats. Then mama cat had kittens. Now, we have 9 cats. And three dogs. And then there's the duck eggs in the incubator...
In other news, we've been SO blessed with a new homeschool group. I just love the ladies there, and it is so refreshing to be around other women who are doing so many of the same things that we are. We've been very involved in a PE co-op, too. I even coached scooter boards this last two seasons. Next year I am teaching chorus, which is obviously much more my style, lol. What a great group of kids! It's been a blast, and I'm really looking forward to next season.
I just signed the boys up to start violin lesson in June. I think we are also going to do clogging again.
Life is busy, but so blessed. I'm so thankful for the blessings that have just poured down on us lately. Now, I think I've caught up on the basics...so, no excuses, right? Time to start blogging again...
Pax Christi (the Peace of Christ),
I think that's wonderful. God gives what we all deserve. You have a beautiful family and your a wonderful mom and wife. You and your family deserve it. Congrats and may God continue to bless your family and home.
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