If there's one thing about having a farm, animals, kids and a partner named Karen, it's that there's always something coming that is going to try to knock me off balance!
It wasn't so much last week that shook me, as the beginning of this week. But I'll catch you up with some amazing photos and little stories first.
When we first bought this farm we knew we were in for some long hours of hard work. But after we closed and we took our first stroll around as owners, only then did we really get a grasp on all the work that needed to be done. The previous owner(s) had accumulated so much....STUFF! It's early, so I'll spare you my 4-lettered rant of what I normally call the "stuff." Mostly it's broken appliances, rusted metal and junk. But occasionally there will be a diamond in the pile. I've carefully plucked some great things from their rust filled graves. I'm still waiting on a good cold week to really dig through. After having a kamikaze scorpion come at me in the garage when we first moved in; you could say I'm once bitten twice shy when it comes to what could be lurking in those scrap piles.
Monday came and brought with it a tow truck driver to haul away a very large piece of the junk puzzle we are dismantling. Thankfully we found the title to the truck here in a kitchen drawer, so I gladly signed it over and they hauled it away.
And before you even start thinking, but that could have been a farm truck! Karen, Mr. Goodwrench himself, took a look at it and assured me, aside from having no front wheels AT ALL, it would need more time and money than we have to spare. I bid the truck farewell and we lost a death trap that I was most assured would fall off the blocks it was sitting on and kill some animal.
The next thing on the list was the puppies first trip to the vet, which by the way, I have found one of the last remaining old school farm vets around! He is a sweet and mild older gentleman. His office hours are a little odd, but he does do farm calls and his receptionist is the sweetest lady. We are rabies vaccinated and good to go! Although our farm dogs let us know the whole ride how much they hate the crate and car rides. Speaking of those two, I had no idea I would essentially be adopting toddlers. They are into EVERYTHING! We like to play a game called what are they trying to eat now, where did you find that and STOP DIGGING HOLES IN THE YARD! I've got it on my to-do list, find a butcher and get bones. Hopefully that will entertain them long enough for me to make it through a cup of coffee without stopping to chase them and pry their mouths open to fish out half chewed trash.
The middle of the week was filled with school for the girls and me making soap. We're slowly finding out what works for us when it comes to school. American history is eeeh, as much as I want them to learn it and know about our country's history, at 8 & 9 they just can't get behind learning about Jefferson, Madison and the signing of the constitution. But I fish out certain parts and make them interesting. Daniel Boone, Lewis and Clark and Davy Crockett were much more their speed. One thing they are absolutely loving is learning about the states. We take a state or 2 a week and learn all about their geography and history, watch documentaries on the Smithsonian channel and they color the flag and other symbols from the state. Homeschooling for us isn't about meeting requirements and getting good test scores, it's about fostering a love of learning. We hit the important things like math, writing, using proper grammar and of course reading. One skill that they have no problem working on is reading. Whether it's them reading magazines and books or all of us sitting on the porch and me reading Harry Potter aloud, my kids are bookhounds. Another thing on my to-do is to find a good library, on average they can fly through 30 books a week.
The end of the week brought Karen home so I could run some errands. I snapped a couple of pictures of things that made me happy while I was out and about.
I love the art here in central/south Texas.
I want this hammock chair thing. I would never get a thing done, but it looks like it would be worth it.
Horchata...if you know, you know.
We ended the work week with some amazing sunsets as a low front was moving in. I know we've only been here for a few short months, but I'm thinking I'll ever get sick of seeing sunsets here.
That low brought with it much needed rain, and what happens when it rains? Karen burns things!
He got up, early on Sunday and decided that since it had rained the day before and was misting, he might as well burn a pile of the aforementioned stuff that was left in the burn ring.
Broken chairs, a bed frame, a busted up dresser, those are just a few of the items that we were so graciously left by the old owner. Karen wasn't alone though, he had his boys to keep him company as he went pyro on the junk.
They were muddy messes running around finding even more junk for us to burn. Which is where they got nicknames from Karen, Fred and Lamont.
He said the amount of time they spend digging through the junk piles, we should have named them Fred and Lamont. Of course I love a good nickname, so we added middle names to the pups; Loki Fred and Thor Lamont. It might not have the best flow, but it makes up for that with the meaning behind it.
Sunday night was spent packing up soap orders and getting myself prepared for the week ahead. Little did I know I should have just drank the whole pack of Shiner and stayed in bed. The next farm update will be action packed for sure.
B.
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