Our first peach!

In May 2014, we started a small orchard on the north part of our property.  Sure wished that I would have learned about Permaculture Orchard before we planted though.

May 2014 - 5 year old playing in the holes dug waiting for trees

May 2014 - First part of orchard planted

August 2016 - First fruit - Contender Peach

I'm not the biggest peach fan, but WOW did that peach taste good.

When we started, we planted 2 pear trees, 2 peach trees, and 5 apple trees.  This year, we added blueberries, grapes, hazelnut, almonds, strawberries, sweet cherries, sour cherries, 3 more apple trees, and another peach tree.

New title

Change in life change in blog title.

I've been too long in posting and I miss it.  Need the me time.

Stay tuned.

Happy Fat Tuesday!

Two cans of cinnamon rolls unrolled and braided into a king cake.

Crazy Idea

We discovered this posted on craigslist:

FREE  ... you dismantle.

The double corn crib is located about 30 miles from the farm property that we are scheduled to close on March 14th.

With all the projects (in particular a workshop and chicken coop) that we would like to do around the farm, all these materials would come in super handy.

My one concern ... the safety of my husband while he is dismantling.

He has spoken with the farmer and my hubby will start dismantling the elevator this weekend.  Once the elevator is down, we'll take that for scrap and use the money to cover the cost of gas and any safety equipment that I'm requiring him to wear .. I'm thinking a harness and some rope.

News on the Home Front

Third time's the charm, right?  Well this will be the third homestead that we tried to purchase.  The first one didn't go far .. the owner didn't even counter.  The second one .. part of the story is here and here.  Also, we recently learned that the owner's son was arrested at that property producing meth.  Yeah, God was telling us a definite NO on that one.

A few weeks ago, I started to pray a novena to St. John Bosco.  This is the novena that I prayed from Jan. 22 to his feast day, Jan. 31.  At the request, I asked for St. John Bosco's intercession for a homestead.  During his life, he helped many troubled boys.  He set up oratories to teach them different skills along with the ways of God.  Since St. John Bosco knew the importance of work and learning the faith, I prayed for a homestead in which we would be able to do that for our children.

On Jan. 29th, my husband sent my an email with a craigslist listing of a homestead just over the county line.  Feb. 2nd we looked at the property.  The house was small and the property was 10 miles from our good friends instead of 5-6 miles like we were hoping for.  We prayed about it all week.  Saturday, we looked at it again bringing our good friends along.

Well, tonight, we have a signed contract.  Tomorrow, we will start the appraisal process.

Some stats:

1934 2 story brick farmhouse
6 acres
2 pastures fenced in with a gate separating them so that you could rotate pastures.
Huge three level barn built in 1900
Another outbuilding
One stall detached garage
1456 sq ft house
Full basement - dry ... they added foundation tiling around the perimeter.
3 bedrooms and 2 baths on the second floor
1 bedroom, kitchen, dining room, and living room on the main floor
0.25 mile long driveway
0.5 miles of gravel to the black top road

Some pictures:

Main floor bedroom - will use as piano room / school room

Living Room

Living Room

Dining Room  (fireplace is fake .. owners are taking it with them)

Kitchen

Kitchen (pantry to the right of the stairs)

Boys' Room

Girls' Room

Our room (a king size bed will fit)

We went into this process knowing that we'll be adding on as soon as our current home is sold.  The house is able to be added on to on the north, west, and east sides.

If everything works out, we would take possession on March 28th.

Homestead update

An update on trying to purchase this homestead.

Short sale didn't work out.  So we are still looking while we wait for the property to go into foreclosure.

We are just shaking our heads on the decisions the bank has made.  If they would have worked with us and finished the sale back in October, they wouldn't have a property on their hands with a heating system non functional and broken water pipes.  Most likely, they'll spend quite a bit of money on repairs in order to sell it for the price they're asking.

I keep telling myself, 'Patience is a virtue'.

Discerning ...

This past spring, my husband and I started major discussions about the future of our family with regards to the path the country is headed.  We are concerned .. is an understatement.

Therefore, we started looking for a homestead.  Here in Iowa, that is a bit difficult since land is at a premium and is usually passed down from generation to generation.

The first place that we put an offer in wasn't accepted.  We were not willing to go any higher with such a wet damp basement that had a cistern right next to it.  I'm all for having a cistern and all, just not right next to the basement.

The next place has been an adventure so far.  Initially, I didn't want to post anything until it was final, but I'm in need of prayers for my patience.  The funny thing is I was preparing for class (teaching religious education to eighth graders at my parish) and read the second reading for this Sunday:

Be patient, brothers and sisters,
until the coming of the Lord.
See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth,
being patient with it
until it receives the early and the late rains.
You too must be patient.
Make your hearts firm,
because the coming of the Lord is at hand.
Do not complain, brothers and sisters, about one another,
that you may not be judged.
Behold, the Judge is standing before the gates.
Take as an example of hardship and patience, brothers and sisters,
the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.  - James 5: 7-10

Yes, patience and talk of a farmer.  The Lord is teaching me patience.  If you don't believe me, here's our timeline so far:

• July 31, 2013:  Price is agreed upon ... pending appraisal
• August 23, 2013:  Appraisal comes in  $48,000 less.
• September 3, 2013:  Requested a revised appraisal. no change
• September 9, 2013:  We start with another bank for financing and another appraisal.  The VP of this bank personally goes out to the property.  The owner is underwater on the property.  He suggests approaching the owner's bank for a short sale.
• September 27, 2013:  Short sale process is started. 
• November 14, 2013:  New purchase agreement is created with the price at the first appraisal.  :)  (Closing date of December 16, 2013)
• December 4, 2013:  Second appraisal is finished.  Price is pretty much the same as the first.  There are some troubling notes ...  something about the gas line being removed and all the utilities off.
• December 7, 2013:  After a First Saturday Mass near the farmstead, I stopped by to 'check' in at the house.  Noticed a window open.  I decided to try the back door ... unlocked.  Sheet of ice on the kitchen floor.  Went to the window and closed it.  Noticed a huge block of ice under the radiator.  Front door was open.  Upstairs attic window was open.  Did a complete walk around and closed things up.  No utilities and most likely broken pipes or soon to be broken.
• December 10, 2013:  My bank informs me that they are ready to close once the approval of the short sale is finalized.  The other realtor hasn't heard much from the owner's bank. 

 So this is where we stand.

Now.  Some would walk away.  We do feel that this property is a really good fit for our family.  The really great part is that we have very good friends who live 5 miles away from the property and have similar dreams of being self sustaining like us.

And here's what the potential is:

1920 Four Square Farmhouse

Chicken Coop

At least an acre of pasture

Corn crib to be changed into my workshop

Barn with individual stalls and hay loft

Large barn that used to hold cattle ... notice all the cement.

And a lonesome hen ... wonder if she'll survive the cold.

Discerning if God's plan is:

1. Reward our patience with a property at a greatly reduced value so that we can gut it back to the studs and then re-wire, add duct work (there is no air conditioning), fix plumbing lines, and insulate plus then have the funds to add our addition much sooner than we had planned.
2. To walk away ... so far no other properties have come up yet.
3. ?????

4.5 acres - The kids want to name each building after a location in Middle Earth

Listening in on children's play

"Today is the feast day of all feast days!"

A letter to Our Heavenly Father

Bumbershoot wrote a letter today in school to Our Heavenly Father

----

Dear Heavenly Father,

I would like to go to Heaven to ask you God if I would be a saint.

Please help me God to go to Heaven safely.

Love,
Bumbershoot

Snow in May

Looking out the window and seeing this:

Lots of Hair exclaims, "It's Christmas!"

What they say

This past Sunday was not a usual Mass schedule for our family.  We typically go all together to the 9:00 Mass.  But this Sunday, Mr. T served the 7:30 AM Mass and Lil' Chef sang in the choir for the 11:00 First Communion Mass.

Squeaker and I went to Mass at 7:30 AM with Mr. T.  I must admit that it was nice to fully participate in the Mass without keeping a constant eye on the baby and Lots of Hair.

Hubby and Bumbershoot went to the 11:00 Mass with Lil' Chef.  Bumbershoot took her purse along with her ... she is a little lady, you know.  Before Mass began, Bumbershoot opened her purse, took out her 'cell phone', and opened it up.  Hubby was just about to discipline her when she said, "I just received a text from Mommy.  Mom says, 'Don't let Dad sleep in church.'"  She then closed her phone and put it back into her purse and grinned.

Hubby tried hard not to fall off the pew from laughing.

with needle & thREAD

Joining with Eliabeth

Not too much sewing going on, but a lot of cutting ... to me, it's the most time consuming.  I try to cut out many and then sew assembly-line style.  The patterns are from The King's Daughters.

Projects ready to sew:

2 Button Dresses
1 Jumper
1 Skirt

All for my oldest daughter ... she's a size 8 in the waist and a size 16 in height.  Try finding clothes that fit!

To conclude from yesterday's post, my spiritual reading that I do along side the daily Mass readings is The Conversation with God  The funny thing is that in today's reading it talks of the 'heroic minute' on pg. 491 of volume two.  I just had blogged about that the other day!

Yarn Along

Joining Ginny on YarnAlong...

Back to working on the baptismal gown.  This is the second time around with the gown.  The length of it is finished and now I'm working on the picket edging.  Due date is fast approaching and I'm getting nervous about finishing this in time for the baptism tentatively set for either June 10th or 17th.  Ravelry notes here.

Recently purchased the updated Daily Roman Missal.  I do really enjoy the Magnificat, but I felt it more prudent to go with the daily missal ... wouldn't need to spend more money on a subscription.  I realize that the missal doesn't contain spiritual readings, but I'll blog about what I do read tomorrow.

Conquering the "Heroic Moment"

Have you ever heard of the "Heroic Moment"?  The moment when your alarm goes off or the sun wakes you up ... and you struggle to get out of bed.  You know you should, but just a few more moments of sleep are begging to be had.

Depression, stress, tiredness, and loneliness have plagued me for the past four weeks.

I'm at 36 weeks now and I'm starting to wonder if I'll make it to the end with my sanity and strength still intact.

Today, I am hopeful.  The last two days now, I've conquered the "Heroic Moment" and I feel so good about that small accomplishment:  waking up at sunrise and walking two miles.

Actions speak louder than words

Setting:

Bumbershoot (5 yrs old) is running a lap around the family room, up the stairs, a lap around the living room, up the next flight of stairs then repeating it over and over again.

After watching this for twenty minutes,

Mother asks, "Bumbershoot, what are you doing?"

Bumbershoot replies, "I'm training so that I can run a marathon like you, Mom!"

Yarn Along

Joining Ginny on Yarn Along..

Getting closer to finishing my Fibonacci sequence inspired sweater.  The pattern I chose was a buttoned sweater considering that I'll be nursing again for the next two years.  My knitting teacher (a fellow engineer) thought that it would be fun to knit a sweater using the Fibonacci sequence.  The Fibonacci sequence is found all through nature.  Here's one example.

My reading lately consists of reading and re-reading "Designing Your Own Classical Curriculum" by Laura Berquist.  We've been using MODG (Mother of Divine Grace) as our homeschooling curriculum since my oldest was in first grade.  (She's currently finishing up seventh.)  Most of our curriculum has been ordered for next year thanks to an Easter sale at Adoremus Books.

A full homeschool plan of what we are doing is here from grades K-12.  Not sure on how to get it to look a little better on the blog.

needle and thREAD

A fun new link up by Elizabeth at In the Heart of my Home

Lately while sewing, I've been listening to the New Testament on cd.  The pattern I used for the girls' Easter dresses was from The King's Daughters.

He is Risen!

Happy Easter!

Out of the Mouth of Babes

Lots of Hair:  "More!"

Dear Husband:  "Would you like more water?  What do you say?"

Lots of Hair (almost 3 years old):  "Father, Son, Holy Spirit, Amen."