Catch-UP!

I’m ready now to post here on this site.  I tried my LiveJournal for a while, but there aren’t much ags over there.  More vegans who protest raising animals than homesteaders who actually do. 

To update from Valentine’s Day….the last time I posted- 

The MOVE- We signed on the house the last day of February and started moving that same day.  More people came that next day from Eric’s work and helped us move.  There was a lot of boxes to unpack, plus more stuff in storage.  By the end of April I was able to unpack all of them.  BUT there was still some stuff that we had to get from IL at our old home that we’re now renting out.  We finished up getting all of that.  I still have to unpack a lot if it.  BUT I’m pregnant and this being my first trimester, I’m too tired to even keep up with normal housekeeping, let alone unpack endless boxes of STUFF.  I have to re-organize some stuff in order to get it all in too.  I gave bags and bags and boxes of STUFF away to Goodwill already.  I’m sure that there will be more going there by the time I’m done. 

The Garden- We put in rows of early spring green things and hardly anything came up.  I have a few plants each of collards, spinach, and buttercrunch lettuce.  There were a few radishes.  I have to get used to gardening in a different soil type.  IL you can spit a seed on the ground and you’ll get a plant.  TN soil apparently needs more help!  The peas are doing well.  I have some pods and blossoms growing.  I have about 1/2 row of beets.  My onions are doing great.  I initially had some bad luck with tomatoes, but they are doing well now.  I plan on planting more.  I don’t think most people can have enough tomatoes.  I cook with them enough! My peppers seem to be doing okay.  We planted a lot of beans last Saturday.  This weekend we plan on trying to plant some pumpkins and winter squash, but I’ve heard from other gardeners that pumpkins don’t grow well here.  I’m determined to try though.  I’m also going to do some watermelon for the sake of my 3rd daughter.  And I decided that I want some cucumbers….and sunflowers….  We also planted two apple trees and two cherry trees this year.

The family- We are a family of 6 until sometime in December when we will be a family of 7! We don’t know what gender the baby is yet.  That’s a couple of months away.  We have 3 daughters: Lilly-8, Aggie-7 and Arden-4.  We have one boy- Liam-2.  We have been homeschooling for 3 years now.  We are finishing up this year pretty soon.  Next Tuesday or Wednesday will be the last day for the summer.  We contemplated sending our oldest to public school next year, but she was so disraught about it that she was crying.  So we’re going to continue to school her.  She will be in 4th grade.  Aggie will be in second.  Arden will be in K.  I still haven’t decided whether I’m going to do 3 yr old Pre-K with Liam.  He is eager to learn, so I’m thinking about it.  Eric is a powerbuilder developer for a big company.  I stay at home and do all of the Mommy stuff.  I also am a singer and do gigs here and there, but that has slowed down recently. 

The House-  I’m not going to do anything in the house until I get all the unpacking and gardening done.  What I’m figuring is that we’ll get the last things in the garden this weekend and then start on the unpacking.  When that’s done, I’ll start on painting the kitchen before the canning goes into full swing.  But I’m not as concerned with things getting done inside the house as I am getting the homestead working. 

The “Farm”- at the moment is non-existent.  I still haven’t came up with a name that suits.  We don’t have any animals yet either.  First on the list will probably be a dog.  I’m thinking either a Newfoundland or a Great Pyrenees, because they are good with livestock and birds and such.  Then will come the coop and chickens.  Then the barn.  Then the goats. Then maybe a cow.  I doubt we’ll expand beyond that.