31 Days of Green Acres - Day 21

This post is one of several in a 31 Day series.  If you'd like to read others, please click here.

Beautiful day here at the farm.

First, we worshiped.

Such breathtaking liberty.  Grateful.

And, we rested..

And then, I reached for the camera.

Thank you Nester for inspiring and hosting 31 Days.

31 Days to Green Acres - Day 20

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Initially we planned to repair the section of roof I showed you yesterday, replace floor coverings, add heat and cool to the second story, put hanging bars in the old weird closets, frame and build a wall between what was to become the boys and the girls rooms, and freshen paint throughout the home.

That's all.

I'm not trying to be the master of understatement. We felt that the above list was manageable given our time and resources.

The horrible, smelly, organic nature of mildew and mold would be addressed by accomplishing the above and we didn't want to get stuck having to move quickly and find ourselves in a massive push to move while still finishing up the farmhouse.

We didn't know what we didn't know.

In spite of multiple showings each week on the city house, we went ten months without a single potential buyer indicating they were even keeping us on their short list.

And, every time we set foot in the old farmhouse we thought of some other cool thing to try to build or fix.

Before we knew it, quite spontaneously mind you, we had demoed the entire house - except the kitchen.

I'm so grateful in hindsight that's how it worked out.

Time was again our friend and so we just kept making improvements and learning new skills.

The youngsters stayed in town with me so as not to disrupt nap schedules etc. and the older kids established a routine of getting their schoolwork done, scooting on out to the farm, meeting their dad after his work day, getting some projects done, and then doing it all over again.

And by consistently keeping our shoulder to the wheel, each of us doing our part, (here's where you think I'm gonna say something positive, right?), it got a lot worse before it got better.

Wait until you see.

Thank you Nester for hosting the 31 Days blogging event.  If you'd like to check in on 1200+ other bloggers who joined in, click here.

31 Days of Green Acres - Day 19

Welcome!  This post is one of a 31 Day series.  If you'd like to read the other entries, please click here.

We didn't actually begin work on the roof until November 20th.
Pushing it, I know.

From the outside it didn't look "too bad".

 

 

Okay, I'm fooling us all - it looked bad.

 Cheerful (and experienced) workers always welcome at Liberty Farm!

   Oh, so much dust and debris!  A couple of these farm kids had some respiratory sensitivities.  Respirators were required for a good portion of all our projects.  They have a dedicated bin in our tool room.

It was fun making a mess and throwing stuff off the roof. Yes, yes, we kept it clear of people below.

Now that's a fine looking manager perched on  the window!

Yup, this is what caused the problem - a poorly installed sky light.

See what I mean?

Oooo, the dads got all the fun - it didn't even shatter on the ground.  That made clean up a little easier.

Okay, everyone, that's a wrap for today.  Supper's on us, and will you please come back tomorrow?  And, when we give prayerful thanks at this evening's meal, we'll pray for clear skies tonite since there's a moon roof (gaping hole) under our feet.

Next morning was mild and sunny.  Gift.

The workers remained cheerful...

and teachable.

Surveying our work and offering thanks to the crew, Weekend Farmer Husband calls it a wrap.

One down, 999,999 to go!


Thanks Nester for hosting a host of other bloggers for 31 Days!

31 Days of Green Acres - Day 18

Welcome! This post is part of a 31 Day Series.  To read other entries, please click here.

*Ahem - cough* I do have photographs to accompany my brief text below.  I'm not computer savvy enough though to plug in the hard drive on which said pictures are stored to my son's computer (where the hard drive "lives").  Please come back to see?

For now though, we'll stick with the chronological approach and get y'all started off with one of my "I'm obsessed with cute cows photos  funny farm pictures just cuz. (Yes, yes, I play vith vords...)

Around these parts November 13, 2009 is translated, "Snow's gonna fly soon!"

I mentioned holes in the roof yes?

Roof fixin' and snow flyin' aren't the best combo for safety practices if you know what I mean.

It was obvious that was the place to begin.

And, we were given a wonderful gift - mild autumn weather for getting our feet wet in this endless sea of renovation.

Furthermore, the beautiful weather was made sweeter by the gift of friends giving of time and labor to help us get started.

Snow held off, we finished our roof project, and the action moved indoors.



Thanks Nester for spearheading this epic adventure!  Other bloggers along for the ride can be found here.

31 Days of Green Acres - Day 17

Welcome!  This post is part of a 31 Day series.  If you'd like to read the other entries, please click here.

Photo credit K.G. Steffens

Once, a long time ago, I was bold enough to share a close up of an injury I'd sustained moving too fast in the dark of night.  It involved pores which by default means it was probably TMI.

I'm tempted to show you another close up of a new injury - but, I'm not gonna.
I can't decide if it's too much, after all, my fingernail is almost entirely black and my finger twice its normal size.
Maybe it's not really all that spectacular, and I don't want to disappoint you with a benign looking finger.

What happened?
Well, all tall tales aside, I slammed a van door shut on my right hand.

And it's too much to type too much more.
It has been for several days.

Wimpy. Wimpy. Wimpy.
Or wise?

I know mom, I risk loosing readers again with presenting content that lacks substance.
But, you've actually seen my offended digit and I'm sure you'll agree that a sweet picture is enough for today.

Compression. Ice. Ibuprofen.
And maybe tomorrow some pics of our first big renovation?

Thank you Nester for the opportunity to join in a community of other 31 Dayers!

31 Days of Green Acres - Day 16

Welcome! Thanks for stopping by.  This post is part of a 31 Day series.  To find the other entries, click  here.

Closing on a foreclosed home ended up being one of the easiest parts of this whole journey.

There were virtually no glitches, negotiations, and in the end no troubles or surprises.

And for a few short weeks, aside from ongoing showings at the city house, all was quiet and we enjoyed the naive rest that precedes a whole house demolition, rebuild, and surprise love affair with a lifestyle that we never intended.

We planned, we dreamed, we waited.

And on November 13, 2009 we bought the farm.

Kind of a package deal, we bought the standing water in the house, the urine soaked carpet, the breathtakingly ugly woodwork and trim, the mold and mildew, and the gaping holes in the roof as well.

If that sounds bad to you, multiply it by...maybe a million?

In fact, it was so bad when a family member who we love and trust very much toured our dream home (before we closed),  for the first time, she called her husband and asked him to stop us - from what she saw (and to be fair it was a horror show), we were in way over our heads.

Lucky for you the pictures can only tell part of the story.

Our noses will never forget the rest.

Thank you Nester for hosting the 31 Days blogapalooza.  Find out what other bloggers are saying here.

31 Days of Green Acres - Day 15

Welcome! This post is part of a 31 Day series.  If you'd like to read others from the series, please click  here.

Remember my son, you know the one who was struggling to write a paper for his college class?

He got "unstuck" while I'm still trying to find my way.

It is not a small irony that he chose to write about Liberty Farm.

I know you want to read it.

It's good.

And, you always see things here from my point of view.
His is similar, but with his own voice.

Prepare to be amazed.

I might be biased, but I think he should get an "A". Just sayin'.

His criteria- 2 pages.  Begin with the words, "I'm from..."

Liberty Farm

       I’m from Liberty Farm, a modest 1,700 square foot house that rests on a beautiful plot of ten acres, with two barns and a big hole we call the pond. The house, which is set only thirty feet from the road is almost always sheltered from the sun by two gigantic trees both of which stand towering over the house, one to the east and one to the south. The tree that grows to the east is a Catalpa, and like many trees of this variety it has grown to be very old, and also very large. Its long curving branches extend to almost unimaginable lengths, holding up the large heart shape leaves native to its kind. This tree is a favorite of the barn cats who make a regular habit of being stuck in its lofty heights. Equal in magnitude to the Catalpa, the tree to the south is a maple. Humungous gnarly branches raised ever toward the sky are now adorned with the red leaves of fall.

     Behind the shadowed wall of trees lies my house, a tall yellow affair, with statuesque narrow white trimmed windows, and dark red shutters. From the outside, it appears a pleasant place to live, and it is. Warm old maple boards cover most of the floor, sanded smooth with meticulous attention to detail. The wood has retained all of its original glory. Deep grooves between the planks, filled with dust and debris from decades before, provide dark lines of contrast against the amber glow of the boards. Thick white trim borders the floor. Spattered with scuffs and scratches,the trim bears the marks of many shoes and feet which have traveled this way before. A mix of ceiling fixtures and exposed light bulbs cast their illuminating rays down throughout the house, and give light to the robin's egg blue staircase which leads upstairs.

     Upstairs is a clear view of the barns, both bright red works in progress. The horse barn is used

for almost everything except horses. The roof, covered in solar panels, looks incongruent on the otherwise very old barn. Like a black eye, the square clean lines of the panels appear uncomfortable and unnatural, like dark bruises on an otherwise unblemished face. This disparity vanishes in light of their practical purpose, providing renewable energy for the farm.

     Under the roof, the dusty old barn serves to primarily house chickens, and tall towers of boxes. Chickens provide the unmistakable smell of live stock, further adding nostalgia while the boxes, although unsightly, make room for improvements in the other barn, known simply as the pole barn. Skinned in thin red aluminum siding the pole barn still wears its original color, while the roof's formerly steely hue has given way to the rust that comes with age. Inside the hard, dark, gray concrete floor is a recent addition, along with the half done ceiling. This barn does not smell like chickens, but rather, piles of lumber which will soon make up the rest of the ceiling and walls. The very back of the pole barn tucks into the fence like a plug in a dam holding in seven acres of pasture.

     Used for raising cows, the pasture has three small shelters placed throughout. The expanse of grass now faded yellow with the onslaught of fall, is hunched over, tired from a long season of growth. Low lying brambles now in view reside in the back of the property, a thorny bed I to this day have never seen a cow tired enough to sleep on. The fences that encase most of our property makes a square.

     On freedom's side of the fence, our pond, really more of a puddle is home to six ducks. Following this summer's drought the water is only about three inches deep, but come spring that will change and it can reach depths of almost four feet. Our farm ducks much prefer the greater pond depth of spring.

     Though I haven’t always called Liberty Farm my home it seems difficult to imagine living anywhere else. The lifestyle of the farm is something I've grown to love. At first, having moved away from a busy neighborhood, the relative isolation of rural living was disconcerting. Gradually, the palpable simplicity of life at Liberty Farm with its wide open spaces and sustainable way of living has yielded contentment.

Thank you Nester for hosting the 31 Days series.  Interested in reading what 1200+ other bloggers have to say?  Click here.