A Wedding, a New House, and a Farm

[SustainableAg]

Completely agree Bay! We bought Liberty last March to keep Maverick company, and soften the blow for when he inevitably passes. She has been a real handful, but is slowly starting to get better. She definitely knows how to push her mom's buttons.
Things are finally being unpacked around here. After working on it all this week, I would say I have tackled about 3/4 of the work. Hoping to finish the rest this week.
Today, I discovered some fun things while unpacking books. I found a very interesting letter amongst my books this evening. My grandma had given me this printed book when we cleaned out her house after my Grandpa passed away. Inside this printed, stapled, and folded "book" is a letter with unknown origin. It is dated 1838, either to or from Holmes County, Ohio. All of my family has lived in New Jersey, so this is a mystery to everyone. We are currently trying to decipher what it says. How fun!
I also found a huge stack of my great-grandmother's recipe books. The oldest is dated 1931, and the most recent book is dated 1968.

 

[SustainableAg]

The letter begins: "Dear brother I now set down by the light of the candil to rite a few lines to you..."

 

[frustratedearthmother]

That's so cool! Hope you can figure it all out!

 

[baymule]

That is some beautiful handwriting! It's like artwork! I love old cookbooks. One of my favorites came from my great aunt, it was compiled by the high society ladies of Charleston, dated early 1960. NO shortcuts in that book!

 

[SustainableAg]

Another busy few weeks here. Finally finished the pile of boxes in the main part of the basement, and hung some pictures. The house is feeling much home "homey" these days. The basement bedroom is still filled to the brim with boxes, but those are hubby's problem. I will contribute (a little), but I did most of the unboxing and decorating.
Last week, we had two gorgeous 60* days. I built some chick fencing from Premier1 and started a compost pile, while Mr. M started my mobile chicken coop.
This past weekend, we had my family over to visit. It brought some much needed life to our home. On Saturday, my family came up to visit my brother (the one away at college), who was spending the weekend with us. On Sunday, I made a big brunch of bacon, lemon pancakes with blueberry compote, tater tots, and scrambled eggs for my family to enjoy. They all left at 3 when my brother decided to head back to college.
We had a huge flock of songbirds migrate into our fields this weekend. I don't know if this is a typical Spring happening, but it sounded like a bird sanctuary out there! Pretty amazing.
Today, I had a fencing contractor come out to give us an estimate on a chain link fence in the backyard for our pups, and pasture fencing for a 10-ish acre field. Waiting on the estimate for the pasture - as he needed pictures of the fencing type that I wanted to accurately price it out. I wish I had the know-how to do it myself, because this will undoubtedly be expensive if he does it.
Also had the septic pumped and inspected today, and was given the all-good on that, which is a relief.
Tomorrow, a woodstove company is coming at 9am to install the chimney pipe and lay the bluestone for the woodstove to sit on. They will return on the 26th to do stone work on the wall, install the mantel, and install the woodstove.

 

[baymule]

You sure hit the ground running! You are getting a lot of things accomplished!

 

[Mini Horses]

That is some beautiful handwriting! It's like artwork!

I so agree. Love those things.

Sounds like you are making the new house a "home". Enjoy it all! Yep, fence is expensive -- doing yourself or by another. But when you look at the price, remember that you would have to pay for the materials even if YOU did it. It will soften the blow. And you will love having another work their butts off, not you.

 

[sumi]

Things are coming together nicely!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Awesome progress!

 

[SustainableAg]

I didn't realize how long I had been away. As always, a lot has happened since the last time I posted.

First, the bad news:
I decided to put my wonderful black German Shepherd down. Maverick would have been 11 on May 23rd. I had him since he was 3 months old, and I could just tell it was time. Hardest decision I have ever had to make. Liberty adjusted surprisingly well. I was more sad for her, really. She is an attention hog now, but she is slowly starting to get better.

The good news:
Well, where to begin! After a few setbacks, the woodstove is finally finished. It was completed on April 4th, and we couldn't be happier with the outcome.
The Garden: All of my live plants arrived. I now have blueberries, raspberries, black raspberries, elderberries, and strawberries, which all need to be planted tomorrow If I'm being realistic, the likelihood of that happening is not very good. I also have 2 lilac bushes that need to be planted. I will give priority to the plants that look the most sad, or are the most leafed out. I received the other half of my plant order yesterday, so I could prolong those if I needed to. I also need to get my onions, garlic, and rhubarb planted. I will be very busy the next few days! Luckily, Mr. M splurged on a tiller for me, so that will cut our time in half! Unfortunately, I do not have a fence to keep deer away, which really has me worried. I only have enough electric netting for the blueberry patch and my birds. I could throw something up really quick with some T-posts, but I'm hoping if I plant them strategically and cover them, I can hold them off. Realistically, I expect a few losses, but there isn't much I can do about that right now. Oh well, we will just have to see what happens.
Animals: My goslings and ducklings arrived on Wednesday (4/10), and my chicks arrived today! I am so excited! They are adjusting well to their new home.
On Sunday, we are having my family and hubby's family over for lunch. Everyone wanted to come see our first additions to our hobby farm, so we made a lunch date out of it. It will be nice to see everyone.
I'll try not to stay away so long next time!