Weekly Farm Update - Week 2

After living in rentals for the past 18 months, I had forgotten how much work it is to own a house! Add to that homeschooling the kids, keeping track of mischievous puppies and the never ending fly by the seat of your pants adventures with Karen.

This week started with me mowing down part of the front fence line. I greatly underestimated how difficult it was to push mow through sandy soil, my glutes reminded me that I need to get back to working out.

Then, as if the cramps in my posterior weren't enough pain, I felt a stabbing on my leg. If you've been fortunate enough to never encounter a sticker burr, let me introduce you.

These little spiky balls (as the girls call them) will find their way into everything. I've found them on clean towels while folding, on every coat and shoe we own and even on my duvet. They have no shame.

After fully de-burring myself, I noticed how warm it was. Maybe it was the fact that I'm over 30, haven't worked out in who knows how long due to the craziness of moving. Nope, the day turned out to be one of those amazing Texas days where it hits mid-70's in January.

Why not keep the chore train chugging, the puppies need a bath, the kids can help, what could possibly go wrong here? Let me make a long story short, everything. Every single thing that could go wrong, did. There was a flurry of water, soaked fur and a soaked me.

And as soon as they were free from the tub of torture, they promptly found the biggest dirt pile to roll in. Meanwhile the children who were supposed to be helping were laughing and running around after them.

Times like these I fight the urge to let my OCD controlling side take over. I guess you could say that's one lesson that I've learned in this lifetime, there is a time for OCD and a time for rolling in dirt and laughing with the kids. I never want to be remembered as the Mama that never let them have fun and was always so serious. So some weekends they stay up as late as they want binge watching Disney movies and eating candy, and other days they are in bed, fresh from baths, teeth brushed at 8 sharp. I guess the more trendy saying is I've found "balance." But when you're working with Karen who lives by the seat of his pants, kids, animals and building a farm, there is very little balance. I try to keep us on an even keel while the rest of them run back and forth on the deck like deranged circus monkeys.

The evening ended with us meeting one of our neighbors. Jokingly, (kind of) I now refer to him as Karen's BFF, he gave us some eggs from his flock, which reminded me why we ordered 51 chicks that are due here in April. Nothing beats farm fresh eggs 😍

Another farm first happened this week, I made my first batch of soap! And much like the labyrinth of life, I came back to the first type I made in 2019 when I was chasing the dream of opening a soap shop. And here I am, almost 2 years later and doubling the amount I'm making and selling annually.

The rest of the week was a blur of getting back into school and continuing to unpack and organize. Then the weekend came, which means that Karen would be home, all bets are off. I rarely make weekend plans because there is no knowing what project or adventure he will get us into. True to his nature, Karen gave me a list, complete with aisle and bay numbers and asked me to grab things from the hardware store.

I will say this, Karen is nothing if not detailed to a fault. What are we doing with these supplies? Remember how we inherited 11+/- cats? They were allowed to live under the house, that might have flown with the old owner, but these cat's were about to learn there was a new Sheriff in town and his name is Karen!

As you can see, the lattice around the porch was useless in keeping the cats out, and in some places it was completely missing. Under the direction of my project leader, we ripped all of that off, cleaned up the random junk that was under the porch and put up wire. The cats had no idea who they were dealing with, Sheriff Karen doesn't play!

Half way through putting the wire up, another neighbor drove up to the gate to introduce himself and say hi. We're noticing a pattern here, when we are out in the yard working we must look inviting, which is hard to believe of Karen. The bearded monster has been called many things, but inviting is not one of them.

Just before the cold rain started we finished up the last piece, granted there were 2 cats we had unknowingly trapped under there. But that adventure would come the next day, you know the day where the temperature dropped to right above freezing and it rained.all.day.

The next morning when we hurried to make sure the puppies and cats were fed in dry areas we heard meowing, coming from under the house. The house which we had just sealed off from everything! Somehow two of the cats were hiding under there and amidst our banging and me threating to burry Karen in the back 40, they stayed put. We spent the rest of the day going in and out, opening up the wire we had just put up, trying to get the idiots- er, cats, to come out. Finally they either got hungry enough, or Freyja took pity on us and sent them out.

Food worth mentioning this week, I cooked a roast in the instant pot and it was a huge hit. I will say, searing all sides with a HOT cast iron skillet is a must! To go with the roast I attempted to make my own croissants. They looked ok enough, not as flaky as the ones from the store that come in the tube, but not bad...till you flipped them over! We cut the bottoms off and slathered them in butter and honey and they were delicious. Then again, there isn't much that can't be improved by butter and honey. I also found out that Shiner makes a candied pecan beer. I'm convinced Shiner can do no wrong when it comes to beer. And if you come visit, Shiner's on me! There's always at least a couple of bottles of Bock in the fridge.

Is it possible for a week to crawl by at the speed of light? I mean, I know it's an oxymoron, but you've had a week like that, right?

Sitting down to remember what we did, I feel much more accomplished than I did at the start of Monday. So cheers to another wildly productive week! I'm sure Karen's is busy making plans that he's not telling me about, projects to do and things to get into. Silly bearded man, he likes to keep me on my toes.

B.