Blowout, Walnuts, Relaxation, And a 50th Anniversary – Week #18 and #19 Homesteading Updates

These past two weeks have been fairly uneventful as far as the homestead is concerned. So I decided to do both weeks in one post. We have been going pretty steady around here with the mowing, planning, and refining expectations we have for the farm. I don’t think you ever truly realize how much planning goes into changing a weekend home, as beautiful as it is, into a functioning homestead. At least I wasn’t aware. Don’t get me wrong. I knew there would be planning, planning and more planning. But I was unaware how much of that planning would be changing constantly. We have only been here a few months and I have already changed my plans a few times. I guess there are somethings that will change several times, not only through out the planning process but probably the rest of our lives. Anyway…lets get into the past 2 weeks.

On the 23rd of September we celebrated my parents 50th Wedding Anniversary. My siblings and I are very fortunate to have amazing parents. They have been a beacon of light and support for me throughout my whole life. I am so thankful God has placed such strong and loving parents in my life. They are an inspiration to Tomithy and I. They have taught us so much about so many things. Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

After the constant running of the weekend, we came home to relax. And everyone did a pretty good job at relaxing except Ginger. She decided to have a starring contest with her shadow. I’m gonna call it a tie! They both looked away at the same time.

I know this may not seem like much but Bendi came outside by her self this week. We have been bringing her outside from time to time so she can get used to the great outdoors. But, she is a little leery of the giant yard! She used to go outside all the time with us when we lived in the city. We are making baby steps with her adapting to the homestead.

We have taken some time to slow down and enjoy the changing scenery. As long as this property has been in the family, Tomithy and I have never spent any time here during the fall.  It isn’t very often that we get to just sit outside and breath in the fresh air. Although we are outside quite a bit, rarely do we just get to sit and relax,  especially during the day. But with the new family schedule, every once in a while, I have been able to find a little time during the middle of the day to decompress.

One of the biggest things I miss about the city is my coffee shop. My wonderful husband brought me 4 pounds of coffee beans from my favorite roaster. Who needs flowers when you can have coffee?!?

On Saturday evening we went to pick up some wooden pallets in Warrenton Missouri for my niece. She is going to make some really adorable furniture for her daughter. But on the way home we had a bit of an issue. We got the flat about 1 hill away from the gravel road that leads to our house. We had to pull off the highway and work on changing the tire. The jack we have (and have used before with no issue) failed on us as we were trying to raise the tire. Thankfully, my niece and her husband were able to bring us a different jack to change the tire. Once they showed up, it was a fast change and we were back on our way. The remaining tires have been checked and they all appear to be in good shape. Sunday Tom was able to take the bad tire off the rim, replace it with a extra tire we had lying around, and get us back up and going again.

We have been working on the girrafe barn several nights every week. Slow and steady wins the race…right? Pretty much all of the pieces are disassembled. Eventually we will have it all cleaned up.

This week we also started collecting and harvesting walnuts. We are planning on growing a walnut grove in the woods. Some walnuts will be used for tree growth and some we will be keeping for food.

This is just a fraction of walnuts that we have harvested. And every time I think we finished, Tomithy finds a bunch more in the woods and along the tree lines for us to process. It isn’t hard work but it is time consuming. This coming week we will be crazy busy as we prepare for Stoney’s 9th birthday party, out of town guests, and my surgery the following week. Lots of stuff always going on. Praying everyone has a fantastic week!