Our Autumn Wealth

Most of our possessions this last season have been an increase in our knowledge & skill sets but friends & family are always valued too. Here our pastor is helping Mike lay the beams on the cellar after his shift at his shop was over.

Miranda LOVES laundry. She is a persistant, though not a rapid plunger & have you ever seen a baby wash her own diapers so cheerfully?

Victor had done an extra job outside of the usual realm of his chores & was paid accordingly. He then made this entire breakfast of bacon, eggs & toast on his own. He even cracked the eggs, which he hates & sliced the bread, which scared me. This is a man's breakfast, a daddy breakfast, & he is bursting w/ pride in the picture as I bestowed the crowning glory; a tiny cup of coffee.

After watching the block go up by our neighbor & helping where he could, Mike figured he could lay block himself & finished the wall so we could start the back fill.

Charlotte had an entire week w/out a single accident. I proclaimed her potty trained & Mike went & bought a ginormous balloon for her. Thomas lasted one week until everybody decided to take a train ride at once & jumped on him. She happily threw him away which relieved me. We still have shreds of our last balloon that won't be parted w/.

We thank God for allowing us more wisdom & control, & hope that these new skills will be a blessing to others as He leads.

Root Cellar Progress

I have a difficult time updating projects as they go on. There is nothing inherently wrong w/ that, but the point of this blog is to keep friends & family posted as to what is going on & when. I just tend to wait until it's all put together & look pretty. So I apologize for not being current. Here is my new desktop picture of Mike looking super manly after COMPLETING THE ROOT CELLAR DIGOUT! He's holding the actual tools used to perform this feat.

He's about 5'10". BDU's are the best work clothes.

My uncle Cecil & our neighbor putting up forms in preparation of pouring the footer.

Our neighbor has a cement mixer & helped w/ a lot of the magic.

He's also the only one we know who knows how to lay block. I think Mike has it figured out now. You can never know too many things.

We're actually much further but that's all that's uploaded. Thanks to good neighbors, visiting family & church family for all of the help in this project.

Come Visit the Luxurious...

Mike has been working hard in his time off between semesters & to show for all of this we have... (drumroll please)

HOUSE of GOAT!

House of Goat is a beautiful 1 room luxury suite w/ walkout covered porch your human can fully stand up in & a mountain view straight up only 20 ft' away. Please don't eat the mountain laurel, it is poisonous. It features an extensive overhead hayloft guaranteed to hold a seasons worth (15 square bales?) of hay. This elegant structure is painted in a very pleasing sky blue & is very pleasantly located beside a spring fed branch which appears to be running all year long.

Here are Mike & Victor starting out putting pieces together. Victor doesn't always like to play gopher but I'm proud when he sticks to it for a couple of hours. I had to help him raise some walls & lift a temporary roof on but he did the majority. We still need to get some kind of feeding system in place & a milking stand, but we'll likely not be having pregnant goats until next year.

My brother in law is a great visualizer, he's the one that designed & helped Mike build my pantry too. This is him after figuring out the best way to make the roof w/ the materials we had. He's a lot thinner too, so I felt better about him being up on the roof, lol. Here, House of Goat is structurally finished. Unhappily it rained quite a bit before we got the roof on & our tarps leaked so the plywood started to warp or peel or whatever it is wet plywood does.

There is a store down from my in-laws house, The Bargain Barn & it was mentioned that paint was to be had there. I took the children on a scouting trip after our hoof trimming day. The proprieter said he'd make a good deal on paint for us, $1.00 a can as he was closing down the store. He gave Charlotte a doll & Victor a sword, I think just get rid of things. Charlotte was in awe; I spent an awe-ful hour detangling doll hair. You know the kind of dolls I'm talking about.

We had no money on us but said we'd be back the next day. What w/ this & that, we ended up not getting back until next week. He gave us all the paint we wanted for free, he didn't want to have to store it, so Mike got all of the exterior paint there was. We didn't know what color we'd end up w/ but figured the goats wouldn't be picky. He also sold us a loft bed for $40.00 after telling me he'd take $75.00, so we got that for Victor. We've been phasing him into his own room this week.

Though Mike has kicked Miranda out of the bassinet into her crib this week too (apparently she's a very kicky sleeper, I don't wake up unless my milk needs to get out). Her crib is still in Victor's room, I need to put it in The Girl's Room. Oh, that's the first time I've said that. I did unpack the penultimate box from our move this week, it was our pictures. I hung my 2 princess pictures in their room, since we now knew whose rooms were going to be whose. I'll try to post room pictures later. Here is Mike realizing his worst nightmare as a decky: (deck hand on an army vessel)

But here is the finished product of all his hard work:











And the happy occupants!

A Summery Spring

It was hot yesterday! As in 100 degrees hot & let me tell you 100 mountain degrees is much more comfortable than 80 on the peninsula in Va. where we moved from. We lived about 20 miles from Jamestown & Mike & I would often comment that it was no wonder the settlers died en masse; I can't imagine wearing only wool & chain mail in Aug. in that swamp.
But it was a fairly dramatic swing, it was 38 when I watered the garden & trees, 101 before sunset. I had spread the clothes & diapers on the deck & they dried in 2 hours.
We had the windows open; one of our goals here is to not have to use the AC. Our thermostat in Va. was set to 80; I would open & close the windows & blinds on the appropriate side of the house throughout the day & it was still fairly close if you were inside all day. Coming inside from the outside is another story. 80 was bliss. I've had assurances that it does get humid here, but we'll see.

Mike was outside all day yesterday. I know he doesn't want to mow & now we technically don't have to. However, there look to be many snake holes by our stream where the children like to play & tall grass would only compound the problem. We threw around the idea of goats vs. a cow & could our front yard support that? We settled on goats & he went out back & spent all day w/ the machete hacking out a place to house some animals. We hope to have some chickens by May's end; they're all over Craigslist for cheap, different breeds too. We figure they can live in the trucks camper shell. That's it for now, plants need water.

Good October Things

DV, this will be our last week in the camper. VA had turned our low (I thought) loan down, citing "not enough residual income"so phooey on them. BB&T has supplied us w/ what we lacked for the short term & we really think we can pay it off in 5 years. That's our main goal anyways. Everyone had planned on closing sometime this week, but now it's looking like next Mon. or Tues. Then... we can move in! Mike has 2 interested parties in the RV & we've paid up for another month, so we'll clean it out & show it off here where it's all set up.

Today has been chill & rainy w/ every one hanging out inside. I washed every one of Charlotte's diapers as we'd been out the last few days; it was a bigger than usual wash day as Victor's pullups can't hold all that's in his bladder at night. I don't know what to do, I cut off all of his liquids at 6:30 & make him relieve himself right before 8:00 bed. He's doing another growth spurt & I suspect he has the bladder capacity of a 5 or 6 year old; pullups just aren't built for it. Charlotte didn't sleep well last night so she had a long nap to make up for it. Victor & I took the opportunity to go the Food Lion.

I rotate between Bi-Lo, Ingalls & Food Lion. I like them all! We don't get the shopper/ VIP cards because they remain store property, & all of your purchases are tracked & stored. Sound paranoid? Maybe, but if we have friends staying w/ us, it's no one else's business. How do they tell? Your toilet paper purchases. http://www.nocards.org/ & also http://www.spychips.com/ Anyway, everyone is so nice here, 9 times out of 10 the checker's will swipe their own cards for you.

We're far south enough that a shopping cart is called a buggy instead. That cracks me up, but not nearly as much as Victor's new accent. He has some friends & I don't know if they made fun of him or commented or what, but he's picked up on the fact that he sounds different & he's taking great pains to hide his Va. roots. "No Charlotte, put it in the trayash right nayow! Get in the vayan!" We tease him for it a bit, but I expect we'll pick some of it up in the next 15 years or so.

Mike received a bow from a friend & he spent the morning getting acquainted w/ it under the awning. I guess he did good, he missed 4 out of 30 shots & his sights were on upside down. He's anxious to begin hunting, but as we're not yet residents a license is not feasible for this year. These RV guys are crazy, they went out hunting bear w/ bows, but all they did was get their truck stuck.

Yesterday was a beautiful day & we kidnapped my niece Amanda & went for a walk on the Greenway, right along the Catawba river. It was (is) a very pretty walk, not terribly far from where we hope to get the land.Victor walked almost a mile & 1/2, he did very good. I carried him the last 2/10ths uphill, he was so tired. At least until he saw the playground at the end, then he forgot all about his muscles hurting. Charlotte walked a goodly ways herself, but we had the stroller for when she played out. We all played while Mike walked another mile back to get the van & pick up lunch for us.

I finally got in contact w/ a midwife today, but as midwifery laws are so much stricter here, that's all I'm going to say about it. I'm happy to have a contact though.

7 Years

Now that I'm grown up, I love wedding stories. I like to attend, I even like to watch strangers marry on tv. Watching 2 souls join together by God gives me goosebumps. The 31st is our 7th anniversary. Now that we're both out of the army we can start living together all of the time; altogether out of 7 years due to deployments & schools we've probably only lived together about 4 & 1/2 years. Neither of us really remembers our wedding. I think we were in shock over actually getting married. Well...I was, he was terribly hung over.

I was 20 when Cid proposed over a friendly bottle of rum at a party. Certainly he didn't love me, or I him; he was very business like, pointing out that as a duel military couple we could double our income w/ allowances for housing & sustenance & my boyfriend was a cheating unprintable word. I couldn't defend that, he had cheated on me w/ Cid's girlfriend among other girls when Cid & I were deployed to Ak. He offered me an uncontested divorce at the end of my enlistment if I did so choose, no hard feelings. I (was sinfully very drunk) accepted on the conditions of no divorce, I wanted 2 children, 1 adopted & quizzed him on his family medical history. I accepted his hand, finished the bottle & went to the army boyfriend's room to make it official & call my highschool sweetheart to say that there would be no wedding for us. That is a whole other story.

I have no idea what I was thinking, only that I have always wanted to be married to prove I could stay married & no one else was offering as soon as I wanted. No one else really shared our...I don't know. We weren't full of joy as we weren't in love. However, we were in the same unit & that's not permissible for spouses; we had to sit through 6 different counselings, our chain of command all urging me not to marry him. I had a very promising career as a soldier & he had had some slip ups in the past. I made rank quickly & at the time honestly enjoyed it. I could keep up w/ the guys & in some respects even physically, pass them up. It's funny now & I praise God for the changes He's worked in me. I no longer believe women should be in the military at all, at the very least in segregated units. It is also illegal to marry for money & milk the system, though soldiers do it all the time so they can move from the barracks.

In a very quick 3 weeks we fell in like, we got an apartment, a joint bank account & I was moved to a Class A vessel w/ a deployment date. There is WAY more money just for that, you get seapay. We originally wern't going to tell our families until later. A week before our union I caved in & called dad. We have a very casual relationship. HE was thrilled. When Cid found out, he had to call his mom & then dad. To my horror all 3 sets immediately made plans to attend. So later that day I called mom to tell her I was getting married & it was just awful. There was no way she could get off work & come, please don't do it, make the same mistakes I did, etc. It was worse when she found out dad was coming. So she couldn't come which I did feel bad about, but we had to get married by the end of the month for all of the paperwork to go through before my deployment. It was, after all an arranged marriage for convenience.

Cid had scouted around for a wedding site & found one in the city park, The Peace Garden. It's kind of Japanese themed, but there were flowers everywhere, running water dyed blue, just very pretty. The day was cloudy & not too humid. My mother in law came over early to help me get ready which didn't take long; I splurged & wore eyeliner. She had bought me daisies & pink roses, my favorite bouquet. Dad & his wife showed up after driving all night. Cid stumbled in a little later begging for coffee. After he & everyone else had showered & changed we all drove over, Cid driving us in his Avenger.

I left my shoes in the car, since I had always wanted to be married barefoot. We got into our places & when dad was walking me over the bridge, a kind of roaring filled my ears. He was telling me something very important & sweet about when he & mom got married & I knew at the time that it was something I would treasure forever if I could only hear it. I never did. I couldn't hear the ceremony or appreciate any of it. Cid said I was shaking like a leaf & he was sure I was going to faint. I remember being annoyed by the amount of pictures being taken. I guess that's why people hire a photograher. Then we went back to our apartment to drink & eat sandwiches & german chocolate cake. Family either left for home or went back to their hotel rooms. Friends crashed in our living room on the floor since we had no furniture. Cid & I talked until we fell asleep. It was nice.

Over the next month we fell madly in love, but then I had to ship out. We kept in touch mainly through email or a phone call when I could get it in. All emails were printed out by the Commo guy & delivered by hand; that's how you got your email, under your stateroom door. I'm pretty sure he read everything too. I still have all of those emails, they're the way Cid & I really got to know each other. We decided that he would buy a bottle of wine for Christmas & we would drink it 5 Christmas's from now. We wanted to start our own traditions & he'd always had bad holidays, the low point next to our being separated was burying hundreds of dead Serbs in Bosnia. He doesn't talk of it, but I was eager to try to rectify it. I'd always enjoyed my childhood holidays though they always seemed rather strained in my youth.

Fast forward 3 years & it is now Cid who is in Kuwait & I'm open to the lies, deceptions & false traditions of the popish Christ-mass. So w/ 3 bottles collected, & no more Dec. celebration,we decided to switch them to August wine. Ha, I made a pun. Tomorrow we will be drinking a 2001 Bendigo Cabernet Sauvignon by Water Wheel Vineyards. Yes, I drink while pregnant, it is in moderation & preceded by about 3 glasses of water & maybe like every other month. I am convinced it was my 2 giant glasses of Merlot the night before in my 43rd week that finally started my labor w/ Victor. Not so much moderation there, but he had overstayed his welcome. Anyways, I'll let you know how it is.

In closing I would like to say that I strongly advocate arranged marriages. I pray that Cid & I will have a strong influence in our children's lives especially in their youth. I know it isn't the norm, but DV, we'll foster an atmosphere conducive to those kinds of conversations.

Current Adventures

I'm so excited & humbled, God has enabled us to obey Him regarding being separate. Cid is in the process of medically retiring from the military, & he is wasting no time getting us out of here though it may be months for him to be officially out. We've been looking at campers to live in, a truck to tow us & are liquidating our assets, so as to pay for everything in cash. The land search is never ending. So far we've been using United Country & looking into western Va.
The Jeep sold today & that makes everything seem more real. I've been thinning things out for camper life, as we may be in there for a year & Cid has 3 people interested in the house. My poor husband, I have all of the excitement of daydreaming & doing my own little plans, but he has all of the big decisions to finalize & it's a stress to him. I'm so thankful for being w/ a command man & am glad to do anything to alleviate his burden a bit. He is most appreciative when I occupy the children more in the evenings, which isn't easy w/ supper prep & cleanup, so I've been using cheater foods. Things in baking bags, crockpots & the freezer aisle, none of which he minds, our fare just isn't as varied.
I broke in my cast iron dutch oven over the weekend. Our camping trip was cancelled & I had planned all outdoor foods, so we had a fire in the fire pit going until the rain chased us in.I did it backwards though, cooked in it first & then seasoned it. It's much prettier after seasoning, a deep glossy black. I tried looking it up on the internet, but got sidetracked so I had an "Aha!" moment when I looked at my bookcase. I have alot of books, & my eyes fell on Carla Emory's Encyclopedia for Country Living. I love the internet & all of it's usefulness, but even though we now have a laptop I don't like to carry it w/ me away while doing a project. I have no qualms w/ books. I got sidetracked reading Carla but was glad I had looked as I had initially just rubbed the inside of the oven w/ olive oil (bad idea!).
Cid has arranged for us to live on a buddy's 14 acres in Gloucester until the medboard is completed if the house sells soon. He has a whole separate septic & will only charge us water & electricity while we're there. He also is a goat/ chicken farmer when he's not deployed. This will give Victor & I some experience & chores to do. We plan on camping in some state parks in the areas we want to check out the listings we're interested in. Charlotte is awake, must go!