The Nature of a Farm

For several years now, I've looked forward to getting my farm life started. We'd decided we were going to be farmers, we started planning...I'd made my decision and I wanted to start living it. Nevermind that I'd never lived on a farm before, that my max amount of plant experience was helping in a garden or flowers in a tiny pot that I forgot about. Nevermind that I really had no practice with animals (although I wasn't so un-knowledgeable that I didn't know where beef, steak, pork, bacon, ham, eggs and chicken come from....I know there's no magic "Meat Conjurer" machine in the back of every grocery store). I wanted my farm life. I had this image in my head of a quaint farm in the middle of a prairie, and me washing and hanging clothes to dry, as I stare out onto the prairie, with my munchkins running about catching bugs and digging in the dirt....yeah, no. When you move to the farm at the end of October, that's not what happens.

We came home to bizarre weather. I took over the chicken chores in the evening, which includes feeding the dogs (dog now; the older dog went over the rainbow bridge earlier this week and all that's left is our demon dog, Apollo), collecting and then sorting the eggs. Husband is now cutting wood and hunting for small game to relieve the grocery bill. A daily chore of emptying the "water" is not out of the ordinary. We now live 16 miles from the nearest decent sized town, so running to the store "real quick" isn't possible. But you know what? I LOVE EVERY MINUTE OF IT.

I love this camper. I love my itty bitty bed that my warm son still fits in with us. I love my itty bitty fridge that forces us to be prudent about what we're shoving in there. I love my couch that triples as our dining room and J's bed. I love my makeshift spice rack. I love my coffee cabinet. I love my tiny closet and my tiny bathroom. It's not what I dreamt of, but that's okay. I'm learning to love my current stage, and keep dreaming for the future. And that's the nature of a farm. It doesn't always go with your plans, so you have to learn to roll with the punches, be creative and keep your chin up.

 Apollo sniffing around our eventual driveway, last year.

Me on a tractor, a couple years ago. I just recently drove one again.

Self-Motivation

I've noticed that out here in the boonies, without a schedule to make demands on our time, without accountability for certain actions...it takes your own decision, own self-driven accountability to do certain things. Today is Sunday. In most circumstances our family would be at church. But we are aware of what most of the churches around here are like. Not that they're bad, per se, but because of the nature of the area, most are far more traditional than we are okay with. There's nothing wrong with traditional, but we are just more casual than would be okay in a traditional church. And thanks to the blessings of the internet, our church in TX has podcasts of sermons, going all the way back to before we were regular attenders. But this is important to me, that we have some sort of spiritual nourishment. And so here we sit, listening to the sermon that convinced us that our church in TX was the church for us. And what timing; a sermon on worry. We remember listening to this sermon all those years ago; we knew God was speaking to us because at the time, we were worried about court over G. In later years, Husband and I both were involved in the worship team. We made friends in that church that we still have. That church brought us through some of the toughest moments in our life. They watched J grow up, because he was born shortly after we started attending regularly. They gave us a baby shower and even a farewell party. Without that church, and people to ask after us, ask why we're not there, it can be very hard to make oneself devote to something like that. "I must do this, not because someone else is expecting me to do this, but because it's good for me, because God desires this of me, and because He demanded it of me." Will someone confront me for not spending time with Him every week? It's possible, of course, but in the end, it's not those people that say something to me that are suffering if I don't. It's me. God doesn't need me. But I need Him, and so for my sake it's important that I take time out of every DAY for Him.

Spiritual needs are easier, physically, to neglect than chores, or personal needs. If I don't clean the camper, Husband will eventually be exasperated and get after me to clean it. J won't have room to play. If I don't cook, how does my family eat? But if I don't sit and spend time with God, Husband doesn't necessarily suffer for that, not immediately. Over time, if I don't exhibit the fruit of the Spirit, my son will suffer, my husband will suffer. Everyone who has to deal with me will suffer. It is the grace and mercy of God that makes me bearable to deal with, and trust me, there's a LOT of work to be done.

Closing One Chapter, Starting Another

When I first started this blog, my goal was to "journal," so to speak, about my adventures as a homesteading woman...and the time has arrived. A week ago we were on the road from Husband's base in TX to our final destination in IL. The Army chapter has ended, although it's a bit surreal for us right now. Husband is going crazy because his hair is too long (insert eyeroll here, because it's still ridiculously short) and he is growing a beard, although that part is on purpose. We purchased a camper back in the summer, to give us a space of our own, and while we still don't have everything we need, it actually feels like home. It's TINY. I'll post some pictures and give you a tour. (I only slightly cleaned up for you to see it, promise.)

This is the view from the foot of the bed, so obviously, our bed. We each get a night stand, and 2 walls are lined with cupboards to put things in. 

 Here's the view from the side (so in the last pic I was standing by the ugly blinds on the left), so you can see more cupboards, laundry hamper, and the shelf we put the computer on so we can watch movies.

 These are our closets, for lack of a better term. We each have one. On the right side is my oil cabinet, and on the left, that white inset thing is my fridge and freezer.

 Our itty bitty bathroom. Husband can't stand up straight in the shower. 

 There's that fridge again, along with our TV and tech set up, and the front door we use the most (there's another in the "bedroom.")

 The occursed Asian beetles that NEVER leave us alone.

 The dining set up, with the table down. If we're not eating I fold the table legs and prop it against the window on the left, there, and it's like we have an odd sectional. Otherwise the table props between the benches, and the cushions get rearranged to make J's bed. It's very cozy for a toddler.

My kitchen layout. I have a gas range, a microwave that doubles as an oven (no, really!) and on the right side of the sink is the hot water switch. We leave it off if I'm not doing dishes and no one is showering, and because J likes buttons and switches, we have to pull the fuse too.

It's small. Honestly, had things not taken the turn they did in court, we wouldn't have this place, because there's no way it would work to have G in here, but they did, and we mostly make it work with J in it. He's small and has a ton of room on his "bed."

We're learning how to juggle our time when it comes to cooking, we're learning how to come up with an efficient schedule and routine for bedtime, although naptime may become a dream of the past as we can't isolate J enough for him to be destimulated. We are needing to be prudent about the heat, since that sucks up propane, and we want to be prudent with electricity and water, so combat showers, as Husband calls them, and lights off will be a very important thing to us.

We have a local bank account now. But we're still trying to convince ourselves that when his "leave" is over, we won't be heading back to TX. Still, we've jokingly been calling ourselves "homeowners." I still have no plates or cups, I have all of 2 mugs in here because Husband retrieved some for me this morning when I realized we had no way to drink the coffee I was brewing so excitedly, but I have the TV and Xbox set up and running, I have the popcorn popper, the toaster, and all the pots and pans I pans I plan to use this year....but I just now found the plates and a couple glasses for Husband and I. My "spice rack" needs to be hung, but you better believe my oils cabinet is up and loaded. J doesn't have all his clothes but my coffee cabinet is loaded and ready for use. Ah, the prioritizing. JUST KIDDING. J's clothes are maybe 100 yards away, about half of them. The other half are in the cabinets above my side of the bed.

Husband has been tinkering and going on jobs and trips with his dad, getting ready to get into the farming lifestyle. There's still some homemaking to be done, but he asked for a week, and except for the part where he keeps running away to do other things, he's been using it. Stay tuned for more adventures!