Follow Our New Blog

I have been trying to change up this blog, but thought that it'd be better to start a new one. Our new blog: http://thehaddockhomestead.blogspot.com

I think it should be quite amusing to watch our new adventures as "country folk"!

Packing, Packing, Packing... and Saying Goodbye

The past week or so has been devoted to packing up all our needed possessions. I have been sorting through our stuff, deciding what goes with us and what needs to find a new owner. Not fun. It is hard and horrible, but we simply do not need so much. My mom has so much stuff there already! I could not feel at ease with a cluttered "new" place. So tomorrow is an action-packed day devoted to packing up my kitchen. Ugh!

I am so sick of boxes!!!

Last night was a "farewell party" for our family. I thought it was very sweet that someone (Sharon Roundy) would be willing to plan it for us. I have to admit it was a little embarrassing to have all the focus on our family, but my kids could not have been happier. We've truly loved this Ward!

We have been here for nearly 8 years and our kids have grown up here. When we moved in this house, Dallin was 5, Aubree was almost 3, and Zoe was almost 1. Cole and Emma came later. We have seen our own children grow up beside all their buddies, kids we will always adore. Through Primary, Scouts, Elders Quorum, and Young Mens, Dan and I have been able to get to know the wonderful adults and youth here and learn so much! We will miss them all!

Today was the last day of church here for the kids and I. I was sad to say goodbye, but glad that I have a reason to visit from time to time. When I am in Texas, I'll just have to stop by!

We visited my dad's after church today. It felt so weird to be moving so far away form dad, Luz, and my little sister, Anjolie. I felt awful when we pulled away from their house. My sis looked so sad! She loves the kids and I so much! I hope she has a chance to visit us on our farm!

So for tonight I am trying to stay positive about the days ahead of me. I have a feeling that I will not be so positive in the morning. Packing is in my future!

A Missourian Holiday

Just thought I'd give an update on our holiday travels and such. We left for Missouri on Friday, Dec 23rd and returned home on Sunday, Jan 1st. The actual loading of the moving truck was a total pain in the rump with a moving truck rental reservation getting screwed up by the nearest rental facility. That set us back a good 5 hours. But we got there despite the fiasco.

We arrived (Mom and I, driving in separate vehicles) close to midnight. There was not any snow, a blessing in disguise. I must admit my first few hours in the house were not happy ones. It was cold. And ugly. And I was so super tired. And we brought our pup, which annoyed me. Not fun.

The next morning was cold and we had a truck full of stuff to be unloaded. Our odd new neighbor, JR, helped us unload, allowing us to be fully unloaded by lunchtime.

As the day wore on, we ventured outside to view the property and that made the "what did we do!" feelings go away. A bit. I had been feeling overwhelmed by the amount of updating needed (floors, walls, etc). And the dirtiness. And all the stuff to be unpacked. And the FLIES. There were so many, many FLIES. Thousands of them. Buzzing around everywhere. GROSS! But looking around at the beautiful property and thinking of the possibilities made it bearable. Ish...

That was Christmas Eve. Christmas day arrived with a Charlie Brown Christmas Tree, filled stockings, and a few presents under the tree. The kids were delighted that Santa found us there. But I was sad that their Christmas presents were few and that awesome new sled that Grams bought each child went unused. We were fortunate that a kindly new neighbor came by with a Smoked Turkey (home raised and home smoked, cool!) that made our Christmas dinner a delight. Yum. Church was great. The Branch is super friendly and excited to have us.

The rest of our visit was a lot of unpacking, cleaning and organizing, sending kids outside, cleaning up doggie "messes", cleaning up FLIES... It was chaotic, but fun. FYI, if you are potty-training a pup, don't go on vacation IN THE CAR to a cold place. For some strange reason, the pup will choose the carpet inside to the frozen grass outside. And then you are stuck re-training when you get home. Weird.

We visited an animal auction (Dan went to 2), checked out the local area, learned about Pamida stores (a mating of a Dollar General and a Wal-Mart, LOL), saw a lot of Amish people, got to know JR a little too well, and made friends with the horses down the street. And the kids had their first "this is how you play outside" and "this is how you climb trees" lessons. Sad, but true.

The flies, the FLIES, THE FLIES! Seriously Mom and I were near a breakdown from those nasty suckers! In every room. Buzzing near your head. Going down your shirt... Thank heavens a nice thorough bug fogging of the entire house has ridden mom of these buggers. For now...

Now we are home. I miss the place a bit, surprisingly. LOL. I am currently able to shop anywhere I wish within minutes (its an HOUR to Target from Gentry!), but the desire isn't there. I was very glad to be home, though. Walking into my home was such a delight. My floors were so FANCY (compared to old nasty linoleum and crusty shag carpeting)! And my own BED! FANCY!!!

I am missing my Dallin really badly. I am setting up a Skype account, so I can see him each day. Hopefully that'll help. I have to tell myself it isn't gonna be too long. I may be venturing up with Emma in a month or so for a visit.

Gonna miss my Dallin...

I am supposed to be packing right now... We are getting ready for a trip to Missouri. mom is moving up this week, so we are going with her to help out AND have a little vacation in the snow. I am sad because we decided that Grammie cannot stay there alone. We are leaving Dallin there to keep her company.

I have mixed feelings...

I know he'll be fine and so will we. And I am glad that he is so excited about starting school up there. He has had a hard time in school here with bullying. We are hoping that a move to the country will help that. A little extra time with Grammie alone would probably be beneficial for him, as well. She is good with him.

But, he's my (very large) baby. And I will hate being away from him.

For now I am trying to find him some warm clothes and pack up his belongings. I still need to get a warm coat, boots, and other things together. Not fun. But necessary.

Wish me luck!

Moving to Missouri...

Dan's company was planning a big move to Phoenix, AZ next summer and we were supposed to follow. But we had doubts. We had been wanting a farm, a lush and green farm, for so long. Moving to AZ seemed too far from what we wanted. So we bought a 40 acre farm in rural NW Missouri. Naturally. (Mom was in on it, too.)

We (Mom, Dan, 3 kids--2 stayed at Grandpa Segovia's--, and I) drove throughout western Missouri for a "trip" in October. Basically we just wanted to look at some of the properties we had been looking at online. One particular property caught all our eyes. Gentry, MO. We just needed to know if it was truly as nice as the pics and worth the asking price. (2500 sq ft home on 40 acres, listed at $115K)

It was love at first sight! We visited the property and knew we wanted to make a bid. Thank goodness the bid was accepted! We closed in November without any problems and currently are owners of a farm. Now we just need to move out there.

http://kiplinger.trulia.com/property/3060102683-Farm-Ranch-Gentry-MO-64453

Dan is taking another position within the same company that will allow him to work from home with some travel. That will allow us to be in such a rural area (town with a population of 99). He needs to stick around in TX for a few more months to smooth things out. I think the kids and I will move over Spring Break (mid-March) before heading out. Mom is going ahead the end of this month. Dan may need to stay behind a few weeks after we go. Not sure yet...

Okay. I am super excited to have my dream farm! The house is in good condition, just needs decorative updating (stuck in the early 70s). There is a barn and nice garden setup. There is also already a hen house/run. I am drooling over my garden area (approx 5000 sq ft) and all the animals we will be able to have. Dog, rabbits, and chickens first. Then milk sheep, pasture pigs, and a milk cow. Maybe even some milk goats. Must. Wipe. Drool.

Self-sufficiency! Finally!

Preparing My Garden...

The last few days I have been getting my exercise the good old-fashioned way. I have been doing a lot of prep work for my Fall garden. Lots of digging, weeding, hoeing, and mulching in our super hot weather has definitely caused me to sweat. But it feels good to be so productive.

I have a new compost bin started that I feel proud of. I was able to find some nice shipping pallets (for free) to make a 3-sided box with. So far I have just put some old grass that has been up-rooted and some newspaper in the pile. I still have a basic yard debris pile that I need to go through and get the good stuff put in my mulch bin and the woodier, larger pieces put in a separate pile. I am debating whether I may rent a mulcher/shredder for that stuff.

I have my garden bed hoed and mulched so far. I want to add some more mulch in the next day or so, though. It just still looks too sandy. I am probably going to start a shadier bed for my peas, cucumbers, and some of my herbs closer to the house. I need to get that set up.

The heirloom seeds I had ordered came in last week. I also purchased some herb and edible flower seeds, as well. I cannot wait to start sowing! I will be starting a few things indoors and a few things in the bed the week the kids go back to school (Aug 22).

I hope that I can get a good yield. I have been reading all about raising the veggies and herbs I have selected. I plan to do crop-rotation, companion planting, and square-foot gardening techniques. I've got my nerdy garden journal started with all my dates and mapped out plans. Wish me luck!

P.S. Emma has already been praying for our garden. Hope that gives me an extra good start. :)

Current happenings and obsessions...

I got the test results back from the biopsy and it is benign. Good news! I have not be working too hard on exercising and dieting, but I haven't been "bad" either. Not really losing too quickly, but definitely not gaining. I need to rededicate myself to being more diligent. I will try harder.

I have a naughty habit of being "obsessed" and/or "focused" on one subject at a time. I don't know why I do that. So right now I am "focused" on self-reliance.

First obsession: I badly want to build a chicken tractor and house about 4 to 6 hens. Our HOA does not allow it, but I know a few families in our neighborhood have some and have yet to be warned or fined. So I am thinking about trying it out. I wanted to build an A-frame, like the one pictured below. This would be sufficient protection from predators when caged and would allow me to be able move it freely throughout the yard as needed. I would also be able to let them 'free-range" in the day outside of their cage. I am wondering if I could use either used pallets or our old swingset for lumber. Hmmm...
Next obsession: I cannot wait until it cools off a bit, so I can get my fall garden going. I want to get more production from our garden than we have been doing. I am debating whether we need more garden beds. I need to build a new compost bin, because we only have a pile right now. And maybe start a worm bin...

Final and worst obsession: FOOD STORAGE! I feel like such a loser because I am so far behind! I recently read a book that scared me into action. One Second After by William R. Forstchen. And yesterday my cousin Christen loaned me some literature on food storage. After reading some of the doctrinal information on preparedness, it is apparent that I need to repent and get into action. Or else I am not following the prophet.

I am trying to make up my lists of what I need, how much, and what it should cost to obtain a months worth, 3 months worth, and a years worth. I also have recently obtained more canning supplies and a dehydrator. Now I just need to buy a wheat grinder. Ugh! How will I find the money to buy these things?! I am so frustrated with myself! If I was more careful with money and purchases, I should be able to get it together. In time. My worry is that I may not be able to get it all together in time for a disaster.

So, basically today I feel like a nervous wreck!