Homestead Renovations

Rave (left) Ellie (right) Appreciating me... because I am the best horse mom ever. 

What a great weekend for getting things done. My mom babysat Watts for Friday and Saturday night so the hubster and I used it to our advantage to really get some things done around the homestead. We needed to fix the footing in the run in shed for the horses.

James in the tall grass before mowing.

The hubster went and had 4 yards of gravel delivered to our house. In our driveway. The run in shed is about 4000 feet away. The hubster put a tarp in the bed of the truck and manually shoveled gravel into it and then I would let him through the gate into the field and he would back up the run in shed and the both of us would pull the tarp into the run in shed and spread the gravel. It was not an easy job.

 After about 5 loads we had some decent footing. The hubster then spread the rest out in our driveway to make it look like a real driveway instead of a patch of dirt to park the cars. Every time I went out to check on him his only comments were "I hate rocks, I never want to see a rock again, this is really hard, and I don't mind manual labor"

 While he was spreading and hauling rocks I had James strapped to the front of me in the baby bijorn and mowed the tall grass in the horse field. James loved it, and I loved it too because I was killing two birds with one stone. The horse field looked like Kentucky blue grass by the time I was done running down the weeds and tall grass.

After that we piled into the truck and went shopping for my wedding anniversary gift. Four stall mats, a 6' gate and two posts. We put the stall mats over the stone in the run in shed, and are going to install the gate from our property to the horse field. Currently, I just cut the wire fence and am holding it in place with bungee cords. It's embarrassing.

I also had the horse dentist come out to float Ellie's teeth. It's an interesting process. The dentist has files that fit over the back teeth and he files them down so that they grind evenly. It looks barbaric, but Ellie just stood there on a loose lead rope while he did it. I was amazed... I think she actually appreciated it. Meanwhile, Pony Raven was going into the dentist bucket and pulling out tools for him to use. She wanted to help, and was two inches from Ellie's face the whole time.

Last night I was outside and the hubster noticed an animal sitting in the dark.. a calico kitten.... I called for her to come up and eat some food. She was wild but gradually came up to eat, and then let me pet her. She was skin and bone and maybe about 6 months old. An ugly cat, but very sweet.

This morning when I went out to feed the horses she was hiding in the bushes. I called her over and she came scampering up to eat and again came for some love scratches. Am I becoming a cat lady? On top of this we have taken in one of my moms cats... Wicker. We don't let her in the house because she is notorious for hacking up hair balls, pooping and peeing in the house. She is very happy to be here though and sleeps on our porch. She was not thrilled to be sharing with "Kit" as I have named her. Short for Kitten.  She hisses at her, but then lets her eat.

Oh my I have so much news..... So then, we have decided to go to England for a week in September for my Uncle Johns 80th birthday. It's a big deal, and may be the last time that my huge family will all be together again. We booked the tickets for the hubster, my mom, James, Watts, and myself to go. It is going to be a problem because I need someone to look after the homestead while we are away. I need someone to feed the horses, chickens, cats, and look after my koi. I put an ad on Craigslist for a farm sitter, and I found a few people that were interested. So problem solved!

Things are working out it seems. We have also been busy moving my mother out of her house of 42 years. It's been very stressful. The dump guy is coming today to take away all the unwanted stuff and then on Thursday the moving guys are coming to move things into storage. So by the end of the month my mom will be officially living here until we find her a new perfect and even better place to live.

I'm looking forward to the end on the move. It's really sad on one hand... the house is in shambles, everything is everywhere, and it is proving hard to put emotions on the back burner. It is a beautiful house, and now that most of the stuff is gone you can really see the bones of the architecture and then all the memories come flooding back to what it used to look like and all the Christmas dinners, Thanksgiving feasts, and birthday parties I had... floating around like a ghost memory.

The only thing that gets me through it the thought that I can find a place that is up to date, with central air, with new appliances, and a landlord that will take care of the house that my mom will move into. She can start fresh with no more stress.

I also won't have to drive an hour to see my mom. She will be right here... no more phone calls every morning, no more worrying about what she's eating, no more concern over helping to upkeep a yard. She will be here, and that's how I want it.

Everything is great right now... my animals are happy and healthy. My family is happy and healthy... and I am happy because everything is running like a well oiled machine. Things are great... for now.

We have a ton of butterflies. All I can think of when I see butterflies is "CHANGE" can be a great thing.