Mornings...

It is 5:13 am, and I have been up since 3:50am.  The alarm went off like a starting pistol, and we were off. 

By 4:15am, I was hard at work in the kitchen.  The giant garden of the summer, which kept me so very busy weeding and planting, is now keeping me tied to the kitchen.  Cherry tomatoes are slow roasting in the oven, complete with olive oil and spices.  Water is readying to boil to blanch the green beans.  And once that is done, as soon as light hits the sky, we are back out to the garden to see what else can be harvested in the early morning hours.

There is no sleeping in during harvest days.

I know that I have scarcely a post to my name these days.  The summer has run away, and taken me with it, caught up in its warm rays and growing days.  But, I will be back soon with updates and pictures - so much has happened.  The baby chicks are now nearly full grown, and (I think) even saw fit to lay an egg.  We adopted a puppy, who is my new gardening (digging!) companion.

There is so much to write, and so little time.  So, until I can get back again...

A crafty indulgence....

OK – so while my technical issues have taken a brief break, and it appears that I can actually "blog", I thought that I would continue with an update.

So, as you know, tax season is over, and, well, I thought gardening season was here.  I mean…the tomatoes are ready!

 

 

We had many days in the garden, tilling up the dirt and readying the beds.  I am just itching with the need to plant my seedlings and get some potatoes in the ground.  I mean, we had temps in the 80’s in March.

It is time, isn’t it?

But this weekend, we had a surprise.

Snow!

Yes, snow.  Horrid, isn't it?  I do not love.  The green grass is now crunching underfoot with a fresh coating of frost, and the feathered ladies are staging a sit-in within the coop.

So, I have plenty of time to spend indoors.  Time for cleaning, organizing, ironging…..oh how the list goes on and on…

But, all is not lost, as I have also been a very spoiled girl. 

Why, you ask?  Well, the craft is back!  (And yes, I realize that I rhymed that, and therefore sound a bit like a tool…so goes…)

I have a friend, Katie, who runs West Bay Farm in Maine with her husband and their children.  Katie is a friend from back in the old college days when we were both accounting students learning about deferred tax assets, and business consolidation journal entries….you get the picture.

It very long time ago.

(I would insert a picture to demonstrate just how long ago it was…but honestly, who needs that? ;)  )

But, anyways, on the farm, they have lots of different livestock, but sheep are the highlight of this story.  Cause, as you know, sheep are a fiber animal, and fiber is wool, and wool is yarn... and well, that is one of my most favorite items in the whole wide world.

'Cause yarn means crochet, which means that Lee Ann is very, very happy :).

Katie hand dyes the wool herself, and she even takes custom orders for weight and color….  So, I have indulged.  And I am spoiled.

I am in heaven.

Truely, truely in heaven.

You should check it out - seriously.  It is very, very awesome.  And for wool, it is incredibly soft.  So soft that my daughter already claimed the pink purse I made from their two-ply wool yarn for her very own…to be home to some Littlest Pet Shop friends…

I am thinking about stealing it back, but that would be very un-mommy-like, and we can’t have that…

Their website for yarn sales isn't up and running quite yet, but you can visit their West Bay Farm Face Book page, and send her a message for details….

And don’t forget to tell her I said “Hey” ;)  And that I had this thought…for some yarn…well, you get the idea ;)

Moving forward....

Today marks the third day that I have spent a good part of the afternoon in the soon-to-be garden turning over soil.  This is hard work!  And my body, having spent the better part of the last three months parked in front of a computer, is exhausted.  I keep thinking that if I just keep moving forward, it will start to come together.

I am still working towards that.

Yawn.

Thankfully, we have a solid month before anything actually gets planted in the garden.  Plenty of time to get my act together.  We will get there.  In the meantime, I enjoy browsing all of the seed packets I collected over the past months.  Three types of pumpkins...hordes of onions...more tomatoes that I will know what to do with.

The stuff dreams are made of.

But, for now, we are just maintaining the status quo.

We are now down to 11 chickens.  It is such a small number for us.  I keep counting and recounting them at night, thinking that someone must be missing.  But no - there are just that few.  Once a day or so, I think about adopting a few more, and then promptly change my mind as soon I as I go outside at dawn to find that yet another skunk found their way into the chicken yard.  The ladies are yet unharmed, but those skunks make a horrid mess.

I am not a big fan of cleaning those messes.

I don't even like to do the laundry....

The husband has big plans for the homestead, of which I am only just learning about.  That's the thing about tax season.  You get to put huge blinders on and focus on the task as hand.  And the husband move forward to price out wood stoves, plans to hire a friend to build a wood shed, and looks into buying a camper for use on our property across town.

Should make for an interesting summer...

Big happenings....

Such happenings on the homestead these days!

As you know, we were hoping to get bees this year.  Yesterday, I finally took the steps to email a company in southern Vermont who sells bees and bee equipment.  They are a solid 3+ hours away, but well worth the travels I think.  As long as we get our names on the list, we can reserve a bundle of bees for pick up in May.  Something tells me we will be taking the truck for that trip ;).

On other news, we are seriously considering installing a wood burning fireplace in the homestead.  Currently, we do not have any secondary heating source, but if we ever want to begin to step away from even part of the grid, we will have to start somewhere.  And, with our forested land across town, we should have plenty of food for the fire.  I am very excited, as I envision cosy warm nights, crocheting by the light of the flame.

Big happening down on the homestead!

Quiet contemplation ...

The morning has quietly come upon us.  I closed my eyes last night and 7 am raced to the forefront.  With snow....

Lots of snow...

Other years, pre-wanna-be-farmer years, this wouldn't have bothered me.  I would have simply creeped downstairs, brewed some coffee and poured juice into cups for the kids, laid on the couch, awaiting wakefulness.

Not anymore.

We still have strict rules regarding our coffee-first approach around here, but if daylight has broken, the chickens have gotta come first.

So, it was out to the garage for me, to don my winter wear and grab a shovel.  Although I shoveled a great amount (twice!) last night, Vermont come upon us during the sleeping hours, and there are still more to go before I could out the coop door.

But now, the work is done for the moment, and I can enjoy these moments of quiet comtemplation - my coffee by my side and my cat by my feet.

It is a good way to be.

2012....

2012.

I like the sound of that...2012.  Maybe it is the evenness of it, or the perceived safety of pairs and numbers.  I don't know....but it makes me smile a bit.

I have big plans for this year.  The most important of these began today.  2012 will be the year that I finally get in shape, and stay in shape.  I mean, I know that I am not horridly out of shape, and I can wield a pitchfork for a time with the best of them, but this year, I want something better.  Sometime more.  We have a huge garden out back to manifest into huge degrees of edible, and I don't want to be the one coming up short.

Pair this goal up with the start of tax season (oh yes, starting tomorrow!), and we have quite the scene.  But, it is going to work.  'Cause, I have a plan.  Starting tomorrow, I will be working longer days, and be arriving home just in time to join my husband in tucking the kids into bed.  And, once their heads hit their pillows, I will be heading down for a daily meet and greet with my new BFF, the treadmill.  30 minutes of running to nowhere, 10 minutes in a hot, hot, shower, and the day will be done.  Each day.

And having started this running journey today, I am well on my way. 

All this talk leads to my next goal of our expanding our homestead this year.  Luckily, the seasonality of the bulk of our homesteading tail feathers well with my day job as a tax accountant.  So, just as tax season is ending, the real work on the homestead will be just beginning.

New Hampshire Red

So, start with the most fun, we will be increasing our flock this spring.  We only have 12 chickens for the winter months (and yes, I could name them all for you...but will spare you for now) and plan to add another 4 by summer. 

I am in the process of picking a breed (really liking the New Hampshire Reds), and then will be deciding when to place an order.  I have heard very good things about the Murray McMurray Hatchery, and am considering ordering from them.  Not positive, but am considering...and if we do so, we will be placing an order for 25 (the minimum order allowed, since, as in many other things, there is safety in numbers) of the tiny feathered ladies, and then finding adoptive homes for many of them. 

 

Next, as you know, the garden is already on its way to a 400% expansion.  Rows have been raised and a seed wish-list has begun.  I have canning jars waiting in the wings and a freezer chest sitting on the sidelines. 

This year, we are prepared, and will be growing vegetables (and some fruit of the berry variety) to last our family for the the following year, and some for our friends and family as well.  To say I am excited would be an understatement.

I plan to utilize some of the acreage on our property across town as well.  While the land is mostly being fostered as a wildlife preserve and my husband's *great escape*, I am also planning to harvest plenty of the blackberries and elderberries that are growing with great abandon, and to raise some bees.  I know nothing about bees, but I am planning to start my education very soon...

I am sure that there are many more items that I could be adding to this list, but these are my top personal goals.  To be fit, healthy, and continue on our path to a more self sustaining future with healthy home grown vegetables, fruit, honey, and, of course, eggs. 

For 2012, this sounds just right.

Early morning in the chicken yard...

It is Saturday, and we had the blessed pleasure to wait until daylight to let the chickens out.  The feathered ladies are full of energy this morning.





Sugar's molting season seems to be coming to an end as her white plummage begins to return with avengance.



Cinnamon would prefer not to share the coveted blue water dish this morning.  We will have to have a chat about sharing with this one!



Rudy and Spark are all business as they set to eating the leftover popcorn from last night's movie fun.







It is a busy morning in the chicken yard this brisk Saturday!

Wonder if we even might get some eggs from these ladies?  Hmmm...well....let's not set our sights too high with this bunch! ;)

An exhausting Saturday....

I am so thankful for the holiday weekend.  Without it, I don't know how I would get everything done.  Even sitting here, typing, I am struck by the realization that I should have started the salsa or the chili before resting upon the couch....who knows how long it will take me to get back up....

So, as discussed before, Spike did end up getting to his vet appointment.  In the end, the husband ended up putting him in a Have-A-Heart trap for transportation....seriously.  This is the cat that was less then a pound when he came to us at the way-too-young age of 6 weeks.  He is now ringing in at 17 pounds...and low and behold... now on a kitty diet.  The vet was not quite pleased...

Saturday morning was spent on our other property - cleaning up some downed trees and working on the camp site.  It is really starting to come along.  All of the pictures included on this post were taken at the property.  I think that the majority of the downed trees were from pre-Irene times...but were maybe just knocked around in the wind, to land right where they should not be.

 

Regardless of any of that, it is the natural beauty of the land that is always mind-blowing.  I take pictures, hoping to share that feeling, but it is never the same...  it is like that land that time forgot.

 

While we were there, we dug a few small trees to bring back to the homestead.  This time, it was just two spuce trees and a willow.  On the land, there just isn't enough sun for these small trees to stand a chance...but on the homestead, sunlight is in abundance.  Once daylight breaks in full this morning, I shall venture out to see how the new additions handled the night and give them a good watering.

Once the trees were planted, it was time to get ready for the evening affairs.  We were heading north to the Islands, for a family gathering.  The day was perfect and the lake was beautiful.  The kids had a great time, but...in the end...the heat and the sun won, and I had some overactive cranky kids on hand.  Needless to say, sleep came easy to them last night.

And it is now Sunday.  I have work to do, a house to clean, and lots to cook.  And now that I notice that sun rising on the horizon, I see that I have chickens to let out of the coop.  So, I will bit farewell for a few....and wish you all a wonderful holiday weekend!

A new rhythm....

So, the kids are back in school.  And a more certain rhythm is returning to our life. 

Now, five days a week, the days will begin and end on more certain terms.  Children will rise to prepare for a new day of learning within that brick building and will fall asleep at earlier hours, after more scheduled dinners and homework sessions.  Much of the unpredicatability of the day will leave us.

This change is occurring just as work in the garden is slowing down...at least for the moment.  We rushed to harvest as much as possible before Irene arrived, and now there are very few crops left to deal with.  We do have the garden expansive left to work on this Fall, but that will be put off for a few more weeks.

So, in the meantime, we work to settle into this new routine.  And look forward to the calming sense of peace that this rhythm will bring us.

An exhausting day on the homestead....

There are some days at home that make a day at the office look like a total breeze.

Yesterday was my last Thursday at home for the summer.  Next week, the school session begins again and the kids are off and running.  And I am back in the office full time.

So, being the last day, I wanted to cram as much into the day as I possibly could.  And I did.  And I am exhausted.

It was such a rhythm of getting up and getting down....Up to put a load of laundry in the wash, down to fold the laundry, up to slice, dice, and can veggies, down to crochet another row on the shawl.

But, in the end, I had had canned 4 fours of sweet pickles and 12 jars of green tomato salsa, froze many types of veggies, made and froze a large batch of peach apple chutney, and cleaned most of the house, and added a few more inches to the shawl. 

A great day, an exhausting day, and a day well deserving of sleep.

And, get this...I slept in to 6am this morning!  Remarkable!  (however, if you had asked me 8 years ago if 6 am qualified as "sleeping in", I would have thought you to be absolutely and completely nuts!)

Potatoes in the morning....

The weather has begun to turn.  The crisp cool air greets us in the early hours of the morning, and the late hours of the evening....

Yesterday morning, I had a few moments before needing to rush the kids towards to van, in order to get to their dental appointments.  So, being the only natural things to do, I took a walk to the back garden.  And I was shocked!

I had just harvested tons of spaghetti squash, zucchini, and cucumbers over the weekend.  But the garden told me that the work was not done.  The ground was ejecting the onions, the zucchini were continuing to grow at alarming speeds, more cucumbers had come out of hiding, and the potato plants were beginning to die off....

The first several items are easy to deal with.  Yank, pull, pluck....the potatoes, however, were another story.  Assuming I had another 10 minutes or so, and knowing that I would be home late in the evening, I ran for the garage and grabbed the shovel.  I then proceeded to tackle to potatoes, tugging the plant from the ground first, then shaking the potatoes clinging to the roots, and then, digging through the ground for any potatoes still lodged beneath.

10 minutes and 6 potatoes plants later, I had to retire for the morning.  The bounty was spread on the front porch for cure in the open air, and about 15 more potato plants waited in the wings.  They would have to meet their fate another day....

A jam-packed rainy day...

For such a rainy day, it was a great day for homesteading!

I finally fulfilled my summer urge to start making more of my own wearables....and in a little bit of time, I will have a colorful & warm shawl to welcome the fall with. 

And the start of this adventure was made even more fun with the company of a good friend, who seems to have a bit of a homesteading soul in her....Soon, we shall be having our own crocketing gatherings, as our spouses gather together to drink and watch football, and our children race through our respective houses. 

And, to make it even better, my daughter is currently hard at work, crocheting a blanket for her American Girl dolls.

The evening was brought to a near close with the accomplishment of my summer goal - to finally CAN something!  There are now four pint jars of sweet pickle relish cooling on the kitchen counter.  'Course, I don't like pickles, or relish...but I am sure I can find someone who does! 

Next up will be Apple Butter...which oddly, doesn't have any butter in it...but is crazy good!  For that, I just can't wait :)

It was a good day...a jam-packed day...and a great day for homesteading!

Adventures in canning...

I love to read other people's blogs.  They can be so inspiring, and work to remind me of my own goals.  You know...to get off the couch, spend more time in the garden, with the chickens, in the kitchen.  To prepare food from scratch and capture the bountiful flavor that comes from the backyard.  In a few months, the garden will be a thing of the past, and all that I will have left will be the remnants that I find in the the freeze and pantry.

I received a gift in the mail last week from a blog acquaintance.  It was a guidebook to preserving, and it has reignited some desires.  I set the goal at the beginning of the summer to learn to can the garden surplus.  And then I delayed....

But no more!  I finally took action this morning.  I went to the local grocery store and got a twelve pack of canning jars. 

And now I am at the ready, with only the decision for where to start to be made....cucumbers?  relish?  wait for apples for sauce?  I just don't know, but it is just the start of the adventure...

Holy basil!

Basil has taken over the homestead.  It is all you can smell, it covers every surface, and soon, it will have to end up in every dish we make.....'cause that may be the only way we can use it all....

Yesterday, upon arriving home from the lake party we attended at mid-day, I cowgirled up and headed out to the garden.  If I didn't act fast, the basil would completely bolt....and then, I had no idea what to do with it.  At the end of the hour, I had three huge grocery bags full of basil, and another bag filled to the brim with kale, rainbow chard, cucumbers, and zucchini. 

After nearly two hours in the kitchen yesterday evening, I had washed, chopped, and put up one bag of the basil.  The rest would have to wait for today.  I was exhausted!

And now, it is today....I have not yet started on the harvest, and am a bit curious of what else might be waiting on the vine this morning....  The edamame is getting closer to pick-ready every day, and I can't wait to snack on those pods.  With a little luck, I might even get the kids interested.  Well, maybe....

It is going to be one of those crazy-busy days, I know...  We have four other kiddos coming over for a play date with my two.  On top of that, my house is screaming for attention.  Someday, I will install a big hinge on the side, so I can just open the whole thing up, shake it out and hose it down with a garden hose.  Until that day...well, the cleaning must be done.

But to start, I will get off the couch and grab those bags of basil.  And, if I get a big burst of energy, I may even travel down to the store this evening for some garlic and pine nuts.  We may have pesto afterall! 

But first, we must start with the basil...

The harvest is waiting.....

It's Saturday morning.....

The sun is up, but the air is lazy.  The kids are relaxing on the couch, enjoying the quiet time, but I am busy in the kitchen, shredding zucchini and baking muffins.

We have yet another kids party to attend today, and I am working on our "pot luck" dish.  Upon waking, I had no idea what we were going to bring, and I even entertained the idea at stopping at the grocery store on the way....

But that is the laziness speaking....the garden is kicking and the harvest is full.  Zucchini are flying out of the garden at high speeds, and the basil needs to be harvested before it bolts (any ideas of what to do with huge amounts of basil, beside pesto....?  Pine nuts are fiercely pricy these days....).  Chard and kale also need to be harvested and blanched for the freezer.  This is no time to be lazy.

In addition, the edamame is finally getting on its way.  Now that the beetle issue has been dealt with (the best $6.69 I EVER spent!!!), the pods should be filling out and ready to pick soon.  Laziness is just not an option.

So, zucchini has been shredded and mixed with the Feathered Ladies eggs (amongst other ingredients...) for zucchini muffins.  Other masses of shredded zucchini has been sealed in one cup servings for the freezer.  I have even cleaned and set aside zucchini seeds (heritage, not hybrid) for drying and saving for next years garden.

So, while the air is lazy, it is the sun that inspires.  And there is no time to waste.  The harvest is waiting.... :)

Hard decisions...

Yesterday was a day of hard decisions.

I have been doing some big thinking about what fills my time each week.  There is so much to do, as I am sure is a common issue with everyone, and not nearly enough time to do it all.

Between home, family, work, and my volunteer position, I am always on the go, and I am usually off homestead these days. 

Therefore, yesterday, I made the hard decision to leave my volunteer position at a local farm.

I contacted this farm in the late Spring, once the busy season at work had ended, as a way to gain homesteading knowledge while helping to support my community.  The knowledge I have gained is priceless, and I hope the farm feels that I made a positive contribution to them as well. 

I sent the difficult email (my prime contact method with the farm) yesterday, and the response I received from them was very understanding.  I am so very appreciative of their positive attitude and the open invitation they gave me to stop by anytime.  I know that I will.

By reducing my off-homestead commitments, I will now increase my time on our own expanding gardens (which are planned to grow by at least 400% in the next 9 months), my family, and my non-homesteading career (which is wonderful, and I enjoy very much). 

I feel sad, a bit horridly selfish, but solid in my decision.  It was the right decision.  But sadly, that doesn't make it any easier.

A weekend of homesteading...

Well, we may have been off-homestead (a rare event) on Friday night, but we have certainly made up for that this weekend.

Some people might say that guinea pigs aren't true livestock, but for this homestead, I will say that they are.  Saturday morning was spent procuring  a larger cage for Simone and Rainbow, and we were greeted with much success.  They are now zooming around their cage with great abandon, much to the cat's annoyance.  Since the tiny furred ones are stationed in our living room, I spent the night on the couch, just to insure that our cats wouldn't try to test their climbing abilities.  Happily, they did not.

With the new cage secured, we went on to spend some serious time on our property on the other side of town.  Of 54 acres, we have tons of forested areas, wetlands, half a brook, and now a nearly cleared camp site.   I also have great plans to rent a mulcher to deal with much of the fallen sticks and logs that land have collected over the years....our gardens will be oh-so-pleased!

Before the evening was over and the sun had completely fallen, I ventured out to the gardens for some harvesting.  Zucchini's growing like crazy, and so are kale and rainbow chard.  Broccoli is also looking awesome, and I was able to harvest two full green heads of it.  All of harvest was stored in the garage for the night, and then dragged back out very early this morning.  It is just after 6am, and I have a blanched 3 freezer bags of kale, 2 of rainbow chard, and 2 of broccoli. 

Basil is also proving to be a bumper crop, but I am in a bit of a puzzle on what to do with it.  I would love to make hordes of pesto, but, frankly, pine nuts are extremely expensive.  I have heard that other, less pricy, nuts can be substituted, and I may venture in that direction. 

The rest of the morning will be spent on cleaning, more gardening, and then off to the beach for an event for the kiddos.  Will be a fantastic time, and I am truely looking forward to it!!

And it is Monday...

Two double espressos later....and I am awake!  Finally!...the brain and body needed a huge jump start this morning.

We had such a busy weekend, but oh-so-productive - it was fantastic.  Two new raised beds were completed, another garden shelter structure was built, and the yellow wax beans are in the ground!  The kale was re-seeded, and "seasoned" chicken hay was laid on top of it all.  What the Feathered Ladies lack in egg production these days, they make up in manure - which may sound nasty, but is fantastic for the garden soil!  And it is lovely to be able to stop buying "Moo-Doo". 

We met some possible new neighbors this weekend as well, and I am crossing my fingers that everything works out for them.  Of course I am doing this for completely selfish reasons, as they have a son close in age to my son, but maybe karma won't mind ;).  Soon, the little people in the neighborhood will outnumber the tall ones - which sounds like a great way to grow up!  We are very blessed to have a such a wonderful neighborhood for our children.

This week looks to be cooler than the previous, so I have high hopes for more work in the garden, turning and tilling the new soil, and plan to have one more raised bed to plant.  After this weekend, the seeds will be put aside until next year, and focus will solely on weeding and harvesting.  Who knows?  Maybe I will even clean the house!  Well, maybe....let's not get our hopes too high up there - it's a long way to fall...

Well, I am off to get ready for the day.  Going to steal into the bathroom for a quick haircut (yes, I am WAY too lazy to actually go somewhere to get my hair cut), and then it is time to let the Feathered Ladies out, care for the furry ones, and get lunches going for the little people. 

Ready?  Set?  OK...time to go....yup...getting up right about...now.

Hopes of Fall...

So, if we don't count the fact that the kids have been fighting since dawn, or that the laptop was hijacked by a virus this morning, it has been a pretty great day so far.

In the garden expansion project, another raised row has been built up, and then planted with yellow wax beans.  With careful management, and the use of the new shelters I am building, we should get a fall harvest to put up for winter.  It will be close, but possible...  Next up today will be the building of another two structures. 

With those items behind us, the rest of the day will be spent with my little people and in the kitchen.  Since the day is a bit cooler, I am planning to make and raise some pizza dough, and then bake it in advance for dinner.  Sadly, we don't have any sauce, but we should be able to figure something out about this...

Lately, we have been trying very hard to use our backyard as source of our summer meals, and have been finding some success.  The berries have gone into muffins, breads, and have been pressed into homemade juice.  The potato plants have been "robbed" for new potatoes, and onions and basil have been plucked from the ground daily.  Kale and chard are our new leafy greens.  The zucchini is starting to get bigger, so they will be a main vegetable at our table very soon...and when we can no long bear to eat them straight, zucchini bread will be made and shredded zucchini will be hidden in chocolate chip cookies. 

But, for the moment, we will relax on the couch and enjoy the moment.  Having a child perched on my shoulders and one at my elbow as I write this, I am certain this moment of stillness will very short lived...

An unexpectedly busy day

So, the morning started easy.  It's the weekend, so I slacked and slept in until 7 o'clock.  Crazy indulgent, I know....  The Feathered Ladies were a bit pissed, but I was well rested.

After the animals, feathered and furred, and family were all fed, I ran outside to start on some gardening.  The husband told me last night that it would be just fine if I expanded the vegatable garden to encompass the whole back of the back yard (about 1/4 of an acre), so I am moving at super-speed to till it all up before the end of summer....and since we are in Vermont, that could happen any day....

However, the day changed as the husband had the great idea for all of us to go up to our land, located about 20 minutes away, to begin clearing bush from the soon-to-be camp site.  The land is currently 54 acres of wilderness, but it may become home to our expanded homestead of the future.  In the short term, it will be a site for a hunting camp for the husband and friends.

Well, we arrived at the site and began unloading our equipment, only to hear a hissing sound coming from a back tire.  We had blown out a tire, and it was losing air fast!  We scrambled back into the truck to haul cookies off the land and back to the main road before we were only riding the rim.  We pulled over at a neighbors house (with two properties, we now have two sets of neighbors, a welcome add-on!).  We jacked the truck and changed the tire, with the niegh helping to patch the hole in the original.  (Keep in mind that this was all happening as a neighbor from our other property was working on my mini-van...feeling very blessed right about now...)

Once all was done, we trooped on back to the property and dug in for 2 solid hours of work - mowing and clearing bush....completely exhausting work.

And now we are back home.  Both vehicles are functional, thanks to several of our neighbors, and we have a newly cleared campsite.  And I am heading back to the garden, for I have lots of grass rip up.

This evening might just call for a drink....a very large drink.... :)