A Picture's Worth A Thousand Words...

And, I've got a few to share!  Home "improvement" pics, horse pics, dog pics and nature pics...

May 20th....

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            June 24th....

I mentioned to a friend of mine recently how messy and "junk-y" it looks and feels around our property right now.  

She quoted one of her husband's favorite sayings, "You've gotta scramble a few eggs before you can make an omlette."  😎

Wise Words!  So true!

And, Don went back to the drawing board...

Why?  The location of our well is a challenge, but we really don't want to drill another!  Fortunately, however, Don came up with a solution...we're going back to the cape cod idea, in which the girls' bedrooms and bathroom will be upstairs, then the garage will become part of the existing foundation.

Isaac took the bit for the first time, and Rosie began long-lining him last week...

They play hard!

There is so much natural beauty around here;  makes this few months of discomfort worth it, when we take the time to look around...

 Yes, the neighborhood peacock is visiting more and more for some reason!


And, we have a turkey comin' round, too!  (Hmmm, I do plan to host Thankgiving dinner this year...😉)


And, the deer!  Some evenings we see five or six doe in our pasture, plus we have three fawn on the property, whom I've yet to capture with my camera.  And, there are two buck whom we see periodically (I shared a pic of them in one of last month's post.)

 A neighbor told us that the previous residents haven't allowed anyone to hunt on the property for a number of years, so the deer population has really exploded around here, as of late...

.
..According to Don and Rosie, "We really need to thin the herd this fall."  This is true.  We want to keep our little ecosystem healthy 'round here.  I'm quite sure we'll have some venison in the freezer this winter.  

Hope you enjoyed my little pictorial.  Now, I really aught to focus on reviewing for my PA cos exam (I'm taking it July 13th!)...Check in next week - hopefully, I'll have more news on the RE-construction part of this project, and maybe some pretty pics from a hike...

Six weeks in...

The good news?  We were only without electricity for three and half days...

The bad news?  We managed to spend over $1,400 between the generator purchase, then upgrading our woeful electrical system in that 72-hour period...OUCH!

We've been living in Berks County, PA for just over six weeks now... 😊

We've been "camping out" for over six weeks now... 😒  (I'm growing weary of this part.)


In my naive little mind, I had pictured something quite different from reality by our 6-week anniversary of this adventure...

...Sunny skies and 85 degrees almost everyday,

Hanging laundry at 7am, so it's sun-dried by noon,

Grilling spectacular meals every evening,

Visiting friends and family a couple days a week,

Exploring gorgeous parks and hiking destinations (swimming, too!) a few times a week.

My little herb and veggie garden would be planted and flourishing because we tore out all the overgrown vegetation and choking weeds from the sunniest side of the house.

Demolition would be 100 % complete by now.

We would have the financing in place to "have at it" on our remodel.

We would be perusing Lowe's and/or Home Depot many evenings for "the fun stuff": ordering supplies, choosing light fixtures, cabinets, toilets, countertops...

...Well, we have had many delish! grilled meals. We've visited with family and friends quite a bit...but, a couple days a week is very impractical given the nearly hour's drive to most of them.  The first few weeks, we explored our urban surroundings (malls and stores) extensively due to the weather, we've only just begun finding the hiking destinations.  We have explored Lowe's to "get ideas", as well as spending too much time on Pinterest looking at kitchens, bathrooms and flooring, but nothing beyond that, yet.

We've had so much rain in the last 6 weeks that I have spent more time than I ever expected at the laundromat!



There will be no gardens of any kind this year because we are still trying to tame the wild growing things on the property.




Demo is not 100% complete, yet, though another week should do it. 



And, we are still looking at alternative financing options because Don doesn't like the conditions of the loan offered by the bank.  The bank is a last resort, if these alternative options do not pan out in the next couple of weeks, because their conditions jack up the total costs of this adventure significantly.

I do not have the same "visionary" wiring as my husband.  Nor do I have ANY experience with remodeling an entire home...in fact, my experience is limited to the most basic remodel of a kitchen and a bathroom in our first house.  We had one-year old twins, so Don sent us to the beach with my parents, sparing me the messiest parts of that project.  

In fact, just the other day, when Don talked about "raising the roof" so we would have 9-foot ceilings, I thought he meant literally raising the roof with a crane or something. Imagine my surprise when he began DISASSEMBLING the roof!  He and the kids got quite a laugh out of that one!

Needless to say, looking at a drawing of my new house, and envisioning it in reality is quite a stretch for this concrete, detail-oriented, spatially-challenged brain of mine!  And, at this point, even the drawing is subject to change.   Just this morning we re-visited the cape cod plan because of some structural details in the existing footprint that Don discovered!

Sweet, old Sassy Anna is doing much better on our lusher PA pasture!

When we started this whole thing, I never could've predicted that I would suffer from such an obnoxious flare-up of gastro-intestinal issues and hormonal imbalance.  Those things, coupled with my longing for my own bed, a "non-camper" shower stall and a toilet that flushes normally without smelling like a porta-a-potty, and just...indoor SPACE...has made me rather difficult to live with some days, recently.  It's an excuse, I know. It's easy for me to be "Ms. Polly Positive" here on my blog and when visiting with friends and extended family for a few hours here and there, but...

...My dear daughters...one keeps her head down, finding ways to stay busy and avoid me on those "down days", the other, I fear, I've frustrated nearly to the point of unforgiveness.  And, Don.  He's trying so hard.  When it occurs to me...when I recognize the arduous challenge I've become... I sincerely apologize to them.

Why do we tend to do that to ones we love the most?  Is it because we feel so safe that we let our guard down completely and our proverbial "filter" shut off?...Let the beast within show itself, knowing they will still be there tomorrow whether it's because they choose to be or need to be?

But that's not good enough for me, anymore.  I know it's all about the condition of my heart...

...I'm going to make a greater effort to stay more positive with those closest to me.  I ask you all to pray with me on that one, cause I certainly can't do it alone!  I need the power of the Lord...that which is deep within this child of God and needs to be called forth for such a time as this!

 There's no turning back on this adventure, now!  We will keep moving forward, as a family!

In other news, we finally took a much closer look at our deed and discovered that we actually own just over 8 acres, rather than the 7.24 which was advertised by the real estate agent.  Now, we NEED to have the property surveyed sooner rather than later - before we permanently fence our pastures and seed our hay field - so we can optimize our space!






I have quite a few great photos I would love to share, but I don't want to squeeze them all into this blog post.  Keep watch for another post full of pictures, less prose, in a few days, Friends!

                         

Bit of a Hurdle in Our Path...

In this week's episode of "Follow Your Feet..."  you'll witness highs...and lows.  Progress. Roadblocks to overcome...I did say I'd share the ugly stuff, too.




Our week went fairly smoothly after the wonderful blessings of last weekend: friends' help with our demo, and catching up with several others at a graduation party.  A delightful motorcycle ride.

I cleaned up many of the kitchen gadgets we found.

Don did a bit more demo work on his own.




Unfortunately, nothing has moved forward for our financing, so we are exploring other alternatives in the meantime.

Seems like no one moves very quickly in that department, which is beginning to cause me some anxiety given that November is just...18 weeks away!  Yikes!





This weekend, Father's Day weekend, began joyously with a visit from both our sons!  Will drove down from New York and Nate, up from Parkesburg, we enjoyed a delicious grilled meal together, then Will and Nate did their "twin thing", staying at Nate's place and returning in the morning.




I enticed them to come back early with the promise of thick-sliced, smoked bacon and fresh eggs from the local farmers' market.

It worked!  They got here at 8:30am and everyone was ready to dig into the house by 9am!

It was going really well for the first two hours.

I am always so impressed at how much Don, Will and Nate can get accomplished, quickly - even more so now that the girls can pitch in. This family is quite a force to be reckoned with!

Then...


A roadblock.  Darn it!  Not a tiny one, either.

As Don got closer to the power pole holding our electric meter...the one that was in a bad spot anyway, but since it'd been there since the 1950's we were gonna work around it for the time being...the vibrations and movement of hammers and pry bars and falling debris caused the old, worn-out connection to break loose.  Now, no power on the whole farm!  (Thank God, it didn't affect any of our neighbors!)  And, a dangerous live wire dangling...

The "on-call" tech from the electric company disconnected everything for our safety, of course.  He said once we have an electrician re-wire things, we can set-up an appointment for the electric company to revisit us and get us going again...but, "...That could take three weeks."  Three weeks,sir?  You do realize that 4 people LIVE here?  Oye!

Praying and hoping that everything falls into place THIS WEEK!

Praise the Lord that William was here!  He's quite knowledgeable about electrical things, and together, Don and he were able to work out the kinks on Sunday morning.

A generator (something we planned to purchase, eventually, but not this weekend!) will keep us somewhat functional for now, but I've come to greatly appreciate the AC in our camper, my hair dryer, our washing machine!  Thankfully, we can keep the important things going: our well pump, the fridge and freezer, and the lights.  No luxuries, though.

For Father's Day, we grilled, again (we grill about 5 or 6 days a week!), then enjoyed Rita's gelati before sending Will on his way back to NY.





Don, Grace, Rosie and I opted to do some exploring, rather than hang around our now "sauna-like" campers.


With our dogs in tow, we took the 25-minute cruise over to Blue Marsh Lake on a little "re-con mission", of sorts.


We found some hiking trail heads, but with the heat and humidity today, we chose to settle into a breezy spot, under some trees, right on the lake, where the dogs could swim - Penny's first time!  A delightful afternoon!  We'll definitely be spending more time here!

Not sure what this week will bring...tomorrow we head to Linglestown, PA...my sweet friend for nearly 30 years, cousin by marriage, and her husband, lost a special loved one to cancer, and we want to be there for the memorial service in love and support...



...But I am really hoping we can wrap up the demo and move into the construction, or as Don likes to call it, "the resurrection" phase of this journey!


This evening, I sit at my picnic table, sipping iced tea, gazing over our horse pasture, listening to a visiting peacock (yes, our neighbor down the hill has peacocks that occasionally wander up to our property!)  and the melodies of Frank Sinatra floating across the hill from another neighbor's garage, enjoying the soft, cool breeze...welcome relief from the day's oppressive heat.

Don't know if this peacock has a name, but have you seen the Disney movie, UP?...  We call her "Kevin", lol!

"Oh, I'll Get By with Alittle Help from My Friends..."

Ah, yes...the prayers, the encouraging words, the time given...our friends have been such a blessing throughout our lives and our many adventures.


This time...this adventure...is no exception!  We've had friends praying us home from New York for years, actually, but over these last few months our friends, both those in PA and those in NY, have sent encouraging cards, posted inspirational messages to us on social media, cooked us meals, temporarily stored our farm equipment for us, helped us both pack and unpack, and now, some are even volunteering their time and talents to bringing this little horse farm...our new home...back to life!


I am so incredibly grateful for the special friends God has placed in our lives that words cannot express.






This weekend our son, Nate, and our good friends, the Rabes, joined us for demo work and we got so much accomplished.  Simply having that sweet fellowship time with them would've been enough, but this!  What a HUGE blessing! Don's sense of relief Sunday morning was quite evident as we surveyed the work completed - we finally feel like we're getting on top of this thing!

We are just about ready to move into the next phase of the project - bringing up the drop floors and raising the roof.  The desired result is to have all rooms of the house on the same plane, no more two steps into this room, one step into that one.  And, 9 ft. ceilings throughout.

These teens worked very hard!

We're still working out the financing, though, which means we can only take small steps forward for the moment. Knowing a venture capitalist would be handy right now, but since that's not the case, we're working with the...ehem!..seriously slow-poke... bank.

We pulled out some cabinets that are still in servicable shape.  I'm thinking we may paint them up for the garage!


Interestingly, some of the drawers were FULL of canning supplies and kitchen gadgets.  In fact, some kitchen gadgets were still in their original packaging, never used!  I'm going to take some time this week to go through it all and see what "treasures" may be hidden within...

A few more pics from our work this weekend:

One of four truckloads removed just this weekend!  Several others were removed previously with help of another good friend!

As I sit outside near our smoldering charcoal grill, creating this blog post, I am drawing in deep breaths of sweet-n-smoky summer evening air, and listening to the  throaty, almost husky, song of some bird hidden within the trees...

...Mmmm...the smells of summer!  My favorite time of year...such fond memories invoked...

I made strawberry jam with my daughters, niece, nephew, sister and mother-in-law this week...

A neighbor mowed and baled our hay this weekend - another distinctly summer scent...

And, the scent of honeysuckle, multiflora rose, and all the lovely blooming things, both around the farm and the back roads we cruised along on the motorcycle today!

What's your favorite summer scent?  

Not sure what this week's gonna look like. Rosie has finished her school year, but Grace wants to keep going through most of the summer so she can graduate by December 1.   Both girls are seeking part-time work right now.  (Can I just say, I hate these on-line applications!  So impersonal!)                                                                                                                                                        

I did apply for several part-time jobs last week (bank teller and receptionist positions at this point), so now I just wait to hear, I guess.  Placing this whole "job thing" in God's capable hands, cause I certainly don't know what else to do!

And, I plan to study an hour or so a day to brush up for my PA cos exam next month.

(The maple syrup apron I'm wearing in this photo is a special gift from a special friend...a great reminder of our 3 years sugaring and selling maple syrup and candy!)

Stay tuned for an update next weekend, Folks, and thank a special friend today!