On Farming

To those considering farming or just wondering why we want to do what we do…this post is for you.

Just like any other job – and really anything in life – there are pros and cons to it. You are probably thinking the obvious – “Farmers are at the mercy of the weather.” While that is most certainly true, there is so much more to farming than just that.

Farmers get pooped on.

Farmers get peed on.

Farmers also deal with vomit and other bodily fluids on almost a daily basis.

They get up with the sun but don’t normally get to go to bed with the sun. Why? A lamb isn’t eating well. The pigs escaped. There are 40-some chicks coming in the morning and there isn’t a spot ready for them. The trees need to be planted before the next storm hits, even if it means staying up ’till midnight.

They also deal with death on a regular basis.

In the 12 months we’ve lived on this farm we’ve lost nearly two dozen chickens and the ram we had bottle-fed since he was less than a day old.

They also deal with the death of trees, crops, fruits, and vegetables.

They spend more money on gas than most of you can even imagine.

Frustration is a frequent visitor to the farm. Tractors, trucks, and vehicles break down. Tools break, go missing, or stop working altogether. The ground can be too wet, too dry, too acidic, or too rocky. Some months find you with a shortage of water for crops or hay for animals. Other months hit you with storm after storm. Even other times you are faced with unpredictable weather. One day it’s 85 degrees and sunny and the next day it’s 38 degrees and storming.

They break their backs planting seed, only to have a torrential rain fall wash it all away.

They miss events that they were looking forward to because an animal is sick or needs attention. When farming is your livelihood, you can’t just take a break whenever you like.

Farming is hard on everyone and everything.

But.

Besides being a mother or father, Farming is one of the most rewarding jobs ever.

The wonder of seeing your siblings (or children’s) faces light up with joy when they get to drive the tractor for the first time.

Looking out the window and being able to say that everything you can see is yours. The sheep grazing on the spring grass. The lambs playing leapfrog in the field. The pigs running in circles when they’re excited. The crazy, hilarious, unpredictable behaviour of the chickens.

All the babies! Lambs, puppies, and piglets just enjoying being alive. Chicks, ducklings, and guinea Keats all scratching in the grass for bugs. All these bring laughter to your life, and remind you of the miracle that life truly is.

The sound of rain on the roof or the sound of a child laughing as he runs through the field.

The delight in the face of a little person when they hold a chick for the first time.

Seeing the green of new life in the spring after a long winter.

The taste of home-grown bacon. That’s a good enough reason to farm in of itself.

The amazement you feel when you step outside at night and see millions of twinkling stars.

The relief of having neighbors that truly care for and about you.

The feeling of satisfaction when you set a meal on your table that wholly consists of things you and your family grew or raised.

The friendly competition that develops between siblings, whether that’s who can grow the biggest watermelon, or who can harvest the most radishes.

And think about it… Farming is necessary! If there were no farmers, there would be no food.

So, to those considering farming or a self-sustaining lifestyle, I have two words.

Do it.

It will be THE hardest thing you’ve ever done. But it is worth it, Every minute of it.

~ Amy

p.s. Thanks to C. A. of inskirtsandwellies for your inspiration for this post!!

Painting Part 1

The entire main floor of our home came from the factory primed for painting. We painted the entire main floor Antique Buff by Valspar, (a neutral beige), with a few exceptions.

1. The kitchen was painted Butter by Olympic
2. One wall in Mum and Daddy’s room was painted Yacht Harbor by Behr

Also, I just wanted to extend a huge thanks to all our friends who came to help with painting. It was an enormous blessing!

Our paint! (A total of 48 gallons)

The pod hallway. The first door at the end of the hall goes into the garage, the first doorway on the right is the bathroom, the second is the laundry room, and the third (not visible in this picture), is the pantry. The door on the left will open onto the front porch. Lockers will eventually be built by Josh and Daniel onto the left-hand wall.

The hallway after paint.

The hall-bath before paint.

The hall-bath after paint (The truest color in this picture is the narrow wall beside the shower)

The laundry room prior to painting. (The washer and dryer along with an upright freezer will go on the left wall and a bank of cabinets will eventually be built on the right wall for folding clothes/sewing. Also note that the boxes stacked up are the laminate flooring for the upstairs.)

The laundry room after painting.

A little woodpecker on a hickory tree near the house.

Remember, the big move is this Saturday!!

~ Amy

Water!

We hired a local drilling company to drill our water well and our HVAC wells. Overall, we were very happy with their work!

The drilling rig and pipe truck.

Drilling (The gray sludge is silt)

River of sludge (yuck!)

When he was done drilling the well he took the cap off causing the built up pressure to release creating a geyser.

The water pressure was amazing!

Sunshine!

Telephone poles and a lovely sunset on the way home

 

~ Amy

Drywall Part 2

After all the drywall went up we hired a mudder to finish the walls and get them ready for paint.

The boys’ room all mudded

Another view of the boys’ room (The silver pipe is the chimney pipe from our wood stove. There will be a drywalled box around it eventually.)

The boys’ bathroom drywalled and mudded (The drywall in the bathrooms was green because it is a water-resistant drywall.)

The main dormer all mudded

Another view

Getting ready to mud the girls’ room. (The black things in the window are the mudders stilts. He mudded around the top of each room first wearing his stilts to avoid the need for a ladder.)

The outside wall of the girls’ room

Another breathtaking sunset!

Each day I am awed by God’s majesty as displayed in a microcosm thru the phenomenal sunsets every evening!

(A panoramic view)

~ Amy

Update

I’m sorry it’s been so long since my last post! All the house pictures have been on Josh’s phone and he’s been so busy with house stuff that he hasn’t had time to upload them onto the computer.

That being said, we’re almost done!! The entire main floor is painted except the for the kitchen, and the upstairs is completely drywalled and primed. Daddy has set the 24th of November as the move in date, ‘wether we’re ready or not’.

The things that have to be done before we move in are:

1. The kitchen needs to be painted
2. The hardwood floor needs to be laid down on the main level
3. The pantry shelves need to be built
4. Hanging rods need to be purchased/installed in all 4 clothes closets (Daddy’s, Mum’s, boy’s, and girl’s)
5. The upstairs needs to be painted (including ceilings)
6. Laminate flooring needs to be put down upstairs
7. The upstairs bathrooms need to be tiled
8. The upstairs toilets need to be purchased and installed
9. The upstairs vanities/tops need to be purchased and/or built and installed
10. And last but certainly not least, the stairs down into the basement need to be built

I know it seems impossible, but I am constantly reminded that, as Philippians 2:13 says,

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

Please note that following this post will be a series of posts, (with pictures *smile*), that will hopefully bring you up to date.

Have a blessed day!

~ Amy

House Set Part 2

Setting the second module.

Raising the roof on the second module. (In case you’re wondering, some of the shingles were put on in the factory. The big hole is for a shed dormer.)

See?

God’s beautiful sunset!

Here’s that same sunset reflected on the back of our house. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I can’t wait to do dishes in this house. (The kitchen sink is under the two windows that are right next to each other.)

The crew working in the dark.

The next day. . . (Note, that most of the shingles are on and all the walls are up. The garage will come off of the mudroom extension in the left of the picture and the porch will wrap from the front corner in the right of the picture, around the corner, and to the door off the mudroom

The hole for the steps down into the basement. (It’s currently covered over with plastic.)

By the way, here is a picture of our second module almost in the creek.

~ Amy

Our First Farm Animals

We recently went to the local Amish community to purchase some piglets to use for rooting out an area for our garden in the spring.. We got 2 piglets for ourselves and 6 for various friends, (a total of 8 piglets). They weighed between 27 – 40 lbs each and were determined to get away!! Add mud, barbed-wire, small spaces, and angry mama pigs to that mix and you’ll get a very interesting evening!

They were not the most helpful little fellows!

I know this isn’t a great picture but it shows the action of the evening. (smile)

The beautiful sunset as we finally caught the last of the piglets!

~ Amy

House Delivery Part 2 & House Set Part 1

We officially have a house! Yay!!

The third truck came about 1415. By the time they unloaded the second module, 5 out the 12 wheels on the trailer had gone flat or blown out, 2 on the way up from the factory, 2 getting into the driveway, and 1 coming up the driveway. On top of that, when the truck crossed our creek it slid slightly off the driveway, putting a big whopping dent in one of our 2 culverts. They eventually did get across the creek but it took them upwards of 45 minutes.

The third truck coming up the road!

Getting ready to cross the creek.

While waiting for the second module to arrive, the work crew was far from idle!

They unwrapped the dormers, put moisture barrier paper on them and put the windows in.

Lowering the first module into place.

Making sure it was exactly square with the basement.

Raising the roof and putting the side walls in.

The first dormer is set!

Lowering in the second dormer.

The men and I watching as they secured the dormer. (left to right: Daniel, Josh, Me, and Daddy)

Putting on the next segment of roof.

Past the point of no return! Pulling the trailer out from under the second module.

Setting the second module.

I’ll post more pictures later!

~ Amy

Sill Plate Installation

Our men spent Saturday installing the sill plate so as to be ready for the house set on Monday. A sill plate is basically boards that go between the top of the concrete walls of the basement and the bottom of the walls of the house. The sill plate serves two basic purposes, 1: It enables the house to be bolted down more easily. (It might be a little difficult to bolt it into solid concrete!) 2: To act as a moisture barrier to prevent water from seeping up the walls of the house.

Countersinking the bolt holes in a sill plate board so that the bolt heads do not stick out above the board.

Josh positioning the next board.

Josh drilling in a bolt while Daniel holds the board down.

Daddy is hammering the bolts thru the pre-drilled holes in the sill plate and the concrete wall.

Sill plate in progress (The pink roll is Sill Seal. It acts as a barrier between the concrete walls and the boards of the sill plate.)

Daniel traversing the wall.

Almost done!

Josh is drilling in a bolt while Daniel is keeping the nut from spinning.

The completed sill plate

Just remember, TOMORROW IS HOUSE SET DAY!!

~ Amy

House Delivery Part 1

We found out Friday morning that we were only going to get two of our three trailers that day. Why? Well. . . apparently, when the workers went to put the countertop on the cabinets they did not have a man supporting the weak spot where the sink space was cut out so the countertop cracked. They were not able to fix it in time so they told us that the last (and biggest) trailer will be delivered Monday morning. (The same day as the house set.)

Also, the house company ended up parking the dormer trailer at the gas-station down the street from us Thursday evening so they could detach the truck and bring it back with the first house trailer Friday morning.

The dormer trailer parked beside the gas-station.(In case you’re wondering the dormers are laying on their backs with the windows towards the sky.)

Mr. Horne brought his bulldozer in case one of the trucks got stuck coming up the hill.

Our first view of the front of the house coming in from the road!!

Josh and Daniel taking pictures.

Crossing the creek! The man in the blue shirt beside Josh is our builder. (He was watching the wheels. They got really close to going over the edge of the driveway.)

The front door!

The back of the pod. (The white is shrink-wrap.)

The dormers crossing the creek.

As of today, (Saturday), the plan is still to set the house this Monday!

~ Amy