Pouring the basement walls

When the kids and I arrived at 12 PM, there were 4 of 6 cement trucks already at work. I went to my new position to take pictures to show the progress. These 2 pictures are from our front yard. 

By the time the fifth truck showed up, it was like someone was conducting an orchestra. I just did what I could to keep the kids and myself out of the way. There was no talking to J at this point. He was in a zone!

This picture (below) will be the second location of our pictures that will progress as we build. It is from the back yard and our grazing area for the animals.

Cement Day

Another exciting day at The Funny Farm. The City Inspector did not make it out there until 1:30 pm, after which the cement trucks were called. After all, you can't have the trucks there if inspection does not pass. After lots and lots of waiting the first truck showed up. J was going nuts sitting around waiting. He sure does like to keep the job moving. Then when the 2nd truck showed up, the truck that delivered the forms for the walls showed up too. It was very busy, but the boys loved it. They were thrilled with being there. We even had another homeschooling family who joined in the fun. I had to take the kids back home just after truck #2 of 3 showed up. We needed to get them fed and the boys ready for their Cub Scout Den meeting. They were building bat houses. Now we have 2 for our new farm.

Deer found at The Funny Farm

No new pictures from the last few days, since the pictures are not that dramatic. We did find a dead doe at The Funny Farm on Friday last week. Unfortunately, she had a shot to the gut. For the non-hunters it means she could of traveled up to 2 miles in this condition. This is why, at my hunter's safety class, we are told to not shoot unless you have a clear shot to the kill zone. Of course, the hunter might have missed his target as a mistake. We were not sure if the meat could be used, so we called a friend to come look. After "dressing the deer" he determined that the gut shot created the awful smell and since there was steam coming from the body once opened, she had not died too long ago, so we could use the meat. I would rather the hunter found her, but it is better us to use the meat over the other animals.

I hope to post more pictures this week, as we have a cement truck coming out on Tuesday before Thanksgiving and the Monday after. Then you will see the house really form.

We have broken ground on our dream home!

What an exciting day! J left this morning to meet the excavator at 8 am. The kids and I thought we had a little time before they started so we got there at 9 am, but they had started. The kids enjoyed watching the machines and even pulled out some folding chairs to watch it. Then we had to leave for an appointment I had, and returned after lunch to see the end results. J and his foundation guy got the beginning of the molding for the walls. It looks like (if all goes on schedule) we will be putting up walls in about 3 weeks. J has promised me that I will be some needed unskilled labor. I told him that is good because my rate is FREE! :) We are having so much fun together!  Here are some pictures.

The Orchard

The Farm is developing nicely. J and I have 28 fruit trees in the Orchard. There is a 7 foot fence around it to keep the deer out (we hope). It kind of looks like a prison yard, but we hope it will be functional. We have the entrance up and it looks just like J's design. J and our boys have moved some rocks to a pile for a future entrance wall and/or column at the driveway. We hope to have a driveway installed in a couple of weeks. We are waiting for a local Dairy Farm to harvest our hay. J is putting together the paperwork for a variance with the city, in hopes we can build The Barn first. I feel like our start is slow, but I know it will kick in gear soon.

Work is being done on the farm

We have not started building the house or barn yet. The financing is still in the works. We have, though, started working on our Orchard. J has dug 27 holes for trees, and put in 46 posts for the fencing. We are stuck on what to do next for our fence. We want to do something as simple as possible yet effective for keeping critters, especially deer, out. We need to check with some expert resource. The trees we bought from the County will be ready for pick up on Saturday. That will be 18 out of 27 we will have planned. Since we do not have water on the site, I am praying for rain. The soil is mostly clay so it should be damp enough. There are some spots he dug holes and found sand. J is hopeful to find a large sand area for septic when it comes to building time.

March12, 2012

Today the boys started their own blogs to journal their thoughts. I am enjoying teaching them, and love seeing them overcome challenges. Writing is not something they enjoy so hopefully they will keep going.

S on the other hand is having a challenge in potty training. I thought girls would be easier, but she is taking much longer then the boys did. I am not sure why, but it is very frustrating. If anyone has any awesome ideas let  me know.

Today I am hoping to order seeds for our garden. I can hardly wait until we have a farm. I have been researching caring for cows, sheep, goats, and pigs.