MOVING?!?!?!?

A lot has changed since my last post, I’m not even sure where to begin. The plan WAS to purchase the property behind us to add to our 2 acres thus equaling 6 acres.  Shortly after that post one of our neighbors called the Humane Society to report our illegal livestock.  The laws in our county state that you can not own so much as one chicken on less than 5 acres, while in the city you are allowed 6 chickens on a city lot, strange, but the law regardless.  We had figured that because we would be leasing the property behind us starting in October (until the owners moved out and sold it to us) that we would be ok to acquire some piglets and the above milk goat beauties, Ruth and Naomi.  Typically in the country most people don’t mind livestock.  Apparently we pushed the limits and ticked somebody off.  We were given 14 days to move all of our livestock.   At this time the tenants in our old house came to us about moving out.  All of this combined caused us to rethink our plan.  We decided that all things considered it made the most sense to move the family to our other house that has almost 7 acres.  So we called a few realtors and within a week had set things in motion to put our house on the market.  This happened on a Friday.  Saturday evening we came home to find our septic had backed up.  Very discouraging when you are preparing to sell your house. We were then unable to put any water at all down any drain in the house.  We had a septic guy come out who told us that our grandfathered system had failed, wouldn’t have passed inspection anyway and that we needed a new system.  We needed to move quickly, so we took our camper to a nearby campground and “moved in”.  We cleaned the house from top to bottom, touching up paint in various places and moving excess toys and things into the garage.  The house went on the market Tuesday night and we had our first offer by Wednesday.  It is now one week from the day that the house was put on the market and it is SOLD.  God is good.  We had over 20 showings over the weekend and 4 offers submitted.  Thankfully we had our camper to live in as I really am not sure how I would have pulled off hauling 7 kids and 2 dogs out of the house to accommodate the steady flow of showings.  God knew and He provided. As confusing as it all seemed at the time, His timing is perfect.  As Joe and I walked around the campground last evening we talked about how we can’t even believe the way things transpired.  We never thought we’d move back into our other house.  It all happened so quickly but it is clear it was all in God’s plan.  We will be “camping” until we move into our “new” house the middle of this month.  I’m thankful for the down time to spend at the campground with my family as it will quickly go to a much faster pace as we prepare to move.   

"Dinner's in the driveway!"

Many of you know we have laying hens, aka "chickens".    I'll have you know there is a difference.  I was not aware of this prior to my days in the country.  In my mind a chicken was a chicken period...I mean did it really matter in the end??  As long as the store had eggs when I needed them I really didn't care what you called the bird they came from. 



 Then we bought that 20 acre parcel that I mentioned in my previous post and our realtor was kind enough
to show up at our doorstep with 5 baby chicks...awwww!  They were cute fuzzy baby chicks in a cardboard box.  I had a 2 1/2 year old and was very pregnant with my second.  I could handle 5 baby chicks.  Well of course these chicks grew and we ended up with 2 hens and 3 roosters.  For those less familiar with the difference, to make it simple, roosters are males and are big and mean and they crow...loud!!  Hens are females that cackle about minding their own business and provide you with beautiful eggs, about 5 a week per hen.  We never went around the roosters without being armed with a  weapon of some sort (i.e. broom or rake) to keep them at a distance while we went to feed them or gather eggs.

As time passed we decided we needed more hens to feed our growing family so we purchased a bunch (20-30), built a large fenced in area to keep them off our deck and out of our garage, and continued adding to our flock.  Somehow a neighbor convinced us to take his chickens stating that they were "wonderful" he just didn't want to deal with them anymore.  Long story short, they were anything but.  The hens liked to crack and eat the eggs and his roosters were as expected, mean.  One rooster is plenty, more than that and well...you ever heard of a "cock fight"?  They're real and you don't have to train or encourage them to do this, they'll do it all on their own.  

So one morning my hubby was sitting on the front porch enjoying his morning coffee and Bible reading when a cock fight broke out in front of him. We'd had enough at this point so he did what any wise man would do and grabbed his axe.  He cut the heads off all three and then got a call that one of his properties was on fire.  He rushed inside telling me "Dinner's in the driveway, I've gotta go!"  At this point I had a 6 year old, 4, year old, 2 year old and an infant..but I was not to be deterred! Absolutely not!  This new-found farm girl was going to find a way to dress (that's what they call it when you pluck them:))these birds and serve them for dinner!  I called my husband's grandmother and she was kind enough to walk me through the process.  

I'll have you know it took me 4 very long hours to dress those three headless, tough roosters and my 6 year old informed me she was under NO CIRCUMSTANCES eating those birds.  She didn't, but the rest of us did.  I learned a lot that day, no doubt.  This was my first introduction to farm animals.  I still love those crazy creatures.  We've been eating brown farm fresh eggs for the past 10 years and will likely not go back to grocery eggs. Shortly after moving to our new farm the first animals we got were chickens.  I recommend them for any first timers.  They're entertaining and productive!  One day we will butcher chickens for our freezer...but that'll be another post for another day:)

Suburban Girl Gone Country

I grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia.  Suburbs are definitely not the country...especially not out there.  We had city water, a "city address", sidewalks, no farm fields and definitely no livestock.  I lived and died for sports while in school spending my summers playing softball or working to save for college.  

I got accepted to Taylor University in Upland Indiana as a pre-med major with the intent of someday being a doctor and saving the world from cancer.  My parents moved me into my dorm one day and were gone the next.  There I was for the first time in my 18 years of life...alone.  Alone in a  state I knew NOTHING about.  The tallest thing for miles was the campus bell tower.  I had no car, which I guess wouldn't have mattered anyway as I had no sense of direction either.  I was all about me. Then one day I met him.  This local country boy who lived in the male dorm beside ours.  I thought he was the cutest thing...he swept me off my feet.  

Quickly I realized I had met the one and I didn't want to spend the rest of my days in school away from him.  My focus had changed from me to us.  I would often go back with him to his parents home, a short 20 minute drive away, where they lived in the middle of acres and acres of farmland.  I would swing on their porch swing getting lost in the quiet, fresh air and overall peace I felt.  Dreaming of one day.  

We were married in June just a year and a half after meeting and moved to Ft. Wayne where he took his first internship.  We were penny pinchers so we had no phone service, we drove one vehicle to save on gas and we visited the local library for weekend entertainment.  We lived very simply for that summer before heading back to college where he finished his last semester.  We dreamed of where a job would take us in his computer science field, hopefully near a college where I could finish up my Nursing degree.  The Lord had a plan...He always does. 

We ended up in South Bend, him working his first suit and tie job and me a full-time nursing student and working at the hospital whenever I could.  We soon found out we were pregnant with our first and proceeded to purchase our first home.  We painted the nursery, picked out baby names...all the things you do in preparation of your first child.  Then (as you can read in a previous post) we found out that she would not survive and in October of 1997 Dakota Elizabeth Colvin was dead at birth.  The whole event rocked our world and totally changed our perspective on the gift that children are.  

We talked a lot about moving to "the country".  My association with the country came only from visiting my  inlaws or from what my honey had shared about his childhood.  But I loved everything about it.  When we were dating I remember naively asking as we drove through the country, "where are all the sidewalks?" (don't judge me).  That was what I was used to.  So here we are, married, expecting our 2nd and the talks begin about moving to the country.  It wasn't until after Sydney Kaye was born that we got serious.  

Land was expensive making anything in the country virtually out of our reach.  Then we found a foreclosure, perfectly seated on 20 acres with a pond for fishing, wood, fencing, a barn and room for our growing family.  I was pregnant with our second daughter Holland Rachel when we moved in to our first country home.  Our intent was to grow old together there.  Things didn't quite happen that way as the need for a new highway came along and our property seemed to be perfectly situated right in the middle.  We found a 2 acre property not far that was in foreclosure and affordable so we purchased it, rehabbed it and moved in.  By this time we had had 3 more children and were expecting our 6th.  

The kids were young and homeschooling and life was about all this momma could handle.  Now here we are 7 years and 2 more children later and we're itching for more land!!!  Through the sovereign hand of the Lord we are able to purchase the land directly behind us opening up the door for opportunity.  As our farm family continues to grow I want to keep track of the highs and lows, changes, new experiences and whatever else comes our way.  So read along as I journal our new adventures!  We'll be learning as much as you are:)