Yes! Still Dreaming of a Homestead

A sweet and relaxing Thursday evening to you, dear friends!  Finding yourselves cozy, I hope?

My feet are up and my cup of tea is near, the hum of the dishwasher is quickly making me quite sleepy and, thankfully, the house is quiet with the babies sleeping peacefully.  Daniel is away on one last mission from these two weeks of intense training.  I won't lie. I will be thankful when tomorrow morning comes and a long weekend can begin.  We have been on what they call "reverse cycle" these past weeks, meaning that we have Daniel home for breakfast and he heads to work around 2 in the afternoon but doesn't return home until early early in the morning.  Sometimes 3 am or sometimes not until 8 am, depending on the mission.  What a man he is to endure this training and to thrive in it!  I am exhausted just watching and I hate to admit it, but the "reverseness" (I think I just created a word and we are going with it!), the "reverseness" of it has really thrown me off-kilter and has affected me more than I had anticipated.  Alas, I think I am out of the irritated-annoyed-what time is it-which meal am I serving? bubble I have found myself in and am back to a somewhat re-oriented-with-normalcy type of routine.  

Somehow I was hoping to write about homesteading… um… let's see… how to transition?

Well, yes!  I am glad you asked.  Our hopes of homesteading are still alive and well and although we can not do much here in this yard of ours in Savannah, we are trying to do all that we can.  Our garden.  Well, yeah, that was not what we had hoped.  Why is it that we can't grow anything?!?  Well, we think it's because we don't receive enough sunshine here in the back yard. Or maybe, too, it is because we have a HUGE pine tree right in the middle of our garden which lends to the soil being more acidic.  Either way, we did not get a big harvest last year.  In all honesty, there was not a harvest at all.  Maybe one tomato?  

We tried a few kale plants and cabbage and carrots over the winter but that seemed to fail as well and so, we have just planted our last effort for a Savannah garden and we planted onions and potatoes.  So far so good but that is how all our other attempts have begun and so we will wait and hope.

And for our animals, we are loving our chickens.  We actually just made quite the big change to our flock.  We had two laying hens but they had come to the end of their prime for eggs and so we, well, we made them into delicious stewed hens.  Might that be a good way of putting it?  

Daniel was the brave one here, as always, and once again, it would seem we always have an audience on such occasions (remember something about a neighbor boy with a bag of chips and us chasing pigs?).  The neighbors just happened to be out, enjoying a gorgeously Spring afternoon when we decided it was time.  And so Daniel just stated over the fence what we were doing and not a minute later, there were the 3 young neighbor boys, already over the fence and standing, mouths wide and eyes wider at the chickens hanging upon our . .  clothes-line.  

Not to waste a beautiful bird, they were into the pot

plucked and cleaned and into the refrigerator.  We enjoyed one this week actually!  I put her in a big stock pot with water covering her and let it simmer for about 6 hours.  Then I added some onions, carrots, green beans, and potatoes and we had a delicious and nourishing chicken soup.  Delicious!

But that wasn't the only change.  We now have 5 new ladies we welcomed here.  3 Barred Rock and 2 Americanas.  They are not quite old enough to be laying yet, we are hoping for mid June.  But they are beauties and we are thankful for them.  Snow White seems to be the only name Tirzah has been using for all of them, so we have our sweet flock of SnowWhites and we are set for now.

We weren't quite happy with our coop set-up however, so we moved it from one side of the yard to the other and we put up a fence so the girls could have an extensive run to enjoy.  And in the move Tirzah found and communicated in the clearest way (loudest scream ever imaginable) that a snake was in our yard.  Thankfully it was just a brown snake, but he was a good two feet long and added quite the adventure to our back yard morning work!

Hard to see here, but to the right of Daniel and Tirzah, hidden amongst the pine needles and leaves is the snake!

Tirzah took this picture, actually!  Us in motion moving the coop.  That thing might not look heavy, but let me tell you!  I think my arms are just now over their soreness… Daniel was the muscle and I simply steered.  

So, yes, we do still dream of homesteading, and we do still love doing what we can, right now!  Never a dull moment, of that I can assure you.

We have had a full and wonderful past few weeks!  With visitors and friends, pursuing homeschool, and even beginning BSF leadership here in Savannah, it has been good, but full!

We welcomed our dear friends the Gibbons family: Grant and Lisa, Jadea, Gavin, and Annie to our home for a fast but wonderful Labor Day weekend.  We spent wonderful moments together at the beach, splurged on ice cream and donuts, pizza and southern BBQ, and went downtown for a Shear-guided tour and a splash in the fountains.  It was wonderful to be with them and we were so thrilled to host them!

Just this past weekend we had Greg and Marlene here.  Daniel is away in the field, and they were so kind to drive down and arrive late Friday night, stay all through Saturday, and then hit the road again early Sunday morning to be back for the class that Greg teaches at VMI.  We had a day full of adventures here at home and made the most of our moments catching up.  A wonderful surprise was that Daniel was able to come home early early on Sunday morning so that Greg and Marlene could see their son for a few short moments!

I wanted to share our garden with you here in Georgia... definitely don't get your hopes up for it though!  I am totally disappointed with it.  I thought I was some sort of master gardener after that garden we had at our little homestead!  But now, after being here, I realize I am definitely not that!  When we moved here Daniel quickly erected several raised beds and they are beautiful.  We planted squash and zucchini, tried our hand at corn, did wildflowers, tomatoes, and peppers, and cantaloupe.  Well, from all of that... we have harvested about 7 tomatoes.  Yikes.  We planted late, it's true, but I guess we were thinking: It's Georgia!  We can grow anything here!  It seemed that our squash plants never pollinated... I think our soil is missing nutrients, and we just don't get enough sunlight here in the back.  SO... we will continue our attempt.  Now we have some cucumbers planted and some trellis purple beans for a fall harvest.  We are hoping to do carrots, beets, kale, and maybe some parsnips for the fall as well.  Definitely adding some nutrients to the soil, and maybe even moving the garden over a long weekend to the front of the yard??  Any thoughts?!

And lastly, we have been doing some sweet and simple homeschooling for Tirzah!  We are following the guide: Before Five In a Row, and it is just the sweetest.  It is based on children's literature; so basically we read a book every day for a week and then do simple activities to go along with the book.  This week we are reading Katy No-Pocket, a cute story of a Mama Kangaroo going to great lengths to get a "pocket" with which to carry her son kangaroo.  At the end of the book, the kangaroo goes to the city and finds a man with an apron that has lots of pockets in it.  And the man gives it to Katy!  That way she can carry all the baby animals of the forest!  So today, we made a cute little apron for Tirzah.  I am so hoping that tomorrow I find her with her stuffed animals in those pockets...

The rest of the week we are doing some printable activities I found on this site, we are making a traditional Australian dessert here, and even doing some Aboriginal  Art!

Have a wonderful day!

What I'm LOVING this day

Loving that its a pancake morning. LOVING Bible Study Fellowship and the redemptive story of Joseph.  See Genesis 39-45

LOVING sunshine. 70 degrees. Being outside. Picnic at the park two days in a row. Riding the bike with Tirzah in the Ergo and all the funny crazy looks we get. LOVING What a daredevil she is. Watching her with her new love: sidewalk chalk.

LOVING today and the next two. . .

LOVING girls date morning: treats and play room at the Local Co Op. When grocery stores/ restaurants have play rooms. Amazing! LOVING gingerbread men even though its April. Coffee for Mama and a big chocolate chip and peanut butter cookie. Crumbs on her little face. Walking through the store with a toddler-made-chocolate smear on my cheek (didn't know til I got in the car). Dropping off a treat for Daddy too just because we were thinking of him. Celebrating life just because. Celebrating life because one year ago today we sad goodbye to Daddy for 9 long months.

This was the night before he left last year. . . swollen and puffy eyes.

And this was a year ago, just hours after we had said goodbye.  Trying my darndest to keep smiling and keep from thinking about his leaving.  PRAISE Jesus that is over!!!

LOVING driving with the windows down and car dancing with my daughter. Have I ever told you I LOVE the banjo??

LOVING big boxes from the Co Op to use in our move. Ladies who see my need and help me in the grocery store checkout line. The excitement of our move. The first sprouts came through yesterday! Spring mesclun mix (thanks Kathleen!!)! LOVING 4 chicks to call our own (our new landlady gave us her 4 pullets!) The generosity of our new landlords.

LOVING lunch out on the front porch: vegetable soup in the sunshine.


What are you LOVING today?

Laundry room prayer

Well I have been meaning to start writing about this for some time: our dream of having a homestead. And today is not the day to dive into it, but let it be a short beginning.

Daniel and I dream of having land someday. The thought of growing our own food, having chickens, and maybe even a dairy and meat source all on our land is the desire of our hearts. And it hasn't always been like this, but the pull on our hearts has increased and we find ourselves reading about and dreaming of and planning for this part of our future lives.

One thing we can do now, in preparation for that dream, is save. And a major way to do that: move out of DuPont. We have absolutely loved this house and this neighborhood and we could not have asked for anything better during this season of our lives (speaking of season... 1 year ago today, we were spending our last day together as a family before deployment began...). But, it is incredibly expensive to live here and we need to find another home so we can begin to save.

We put this house up for rent with a feeling of apprehension: how would the timing all work out? Moving out, finding a place, moving in... But The Lord has amazed us in ways beyond measure. Truly. We found a place after several weeks of looking on Craigslist and this place is perfect for us. 2 acres, fruit trees, a shed and a horse stall, chicken coop included and a huge place for the garden. The most amazing part? The owners allowed us to simply pay the last months rent to hold it until the DuPont house rented out and we could move in. They even let us put in our garden last weekend!

Let's see, so I guess it has been about 2 weeks now since we have decided on this property and have begun to paint the backdrop of this new season in our lives. But we still didn't know when the DuPont home was going to rent. Tomorrow? Or maybe not for several more months. But this morning, over a pile of laundry, I asked The Lord that the home would go today. At that exact moment, I received a text from Daniel saying we had a showing today at 130! And... The house was rented!!! Glory!!

So, thus begins our next move, this time: DIY. And so begins our first steps in homesteading. So much more to come...

So this is to be our new garden plot!  Huge, right?!  Daniel has worked so hard and it is looking so good!  That little shed to the right of him. . . perhaps a new home for goats??

On Friday we spent all morning moving these 2 raised beds from the middle of the garden plot, to the corner.  This one is for herbs: oregano, sage,  chives, lavender, parsley, and then room for basil

And this is where we sowed our spring mix of lettuces.  Hopeful for them to come up in the next few days

Manna Monday

Back again.

Manna Monday.

And so it is complete: our 3 weeks of block leave are over but oh how delightful they were!  Oh how needed, and oh how restorative.

They began with the 9 days Daniel and I had alone while Tirzah was with her Grandma and Grandpa in Colorado.  Reflecting upon those first days, I think upon the first afternoon.  That feeling of absolute rest, of nothing hanging over our heads, of a respite from responsibility.  Daniel was off at noon and we came back to make lunch, then went to the library for a bundle of books, went to a State Parks for a gorgeous walk, and then went to downtown Olympia to enjoy the best meal we have ever had from a restaurant.  If you are in Washington state, or if you ever come and visit, we will have to go to The Mark.  Local, sustainable food. . . truly it was delicious!

Tirzah returned home and we celebrated Easter and then headed to Canada to meet up with Michael and Danae on Galiano Island.  As I reflect upon those days, I cherish the time we spent outside in the sunshine together: exploring nature's best out on the beach.  Daniel and Tirzah especially spent hours and hours lifting up a rock here and delighting in starfish, hermit crabs, and fish there.  I cherish the slow moments over tea and a snack, talking or simply all being together reading quietly.  I cherish the meals cooked together and the conversations that went late into the night.

We returned from Canada and drove to visit our dear friends the Nease family.  I cherish the time spent around their family table.

To complete our block leave, we traveled to Wheaton to celebrate my dear friend Brooke and her baby.  Daniel and Tirzah decided last minute to join me on this trip, and what a wonderful decision it was!  We spent the days playing and catching up at Lisa's house: what a joy it was to see her two children!  Friday evening we had the husbands and children join us (meaning the college girlfriends) for a meal and then us girls left the babes and the men to go begin our girls weekend over at Sarah's house.  The time began with red wine and, yes, puppy chow.  We talked late into the night and slept in late in the morning.  We love our babies. . . but oh how wonderful that morning was. . . waking up at 10 (for me at least!) and spending long moments laughing over coffee and french toast.  The 6 of us all get ready together, just like our old college days, and then we went to Brooke's baby shower and what a joy it was to celebrate this new life!  This little one is the 8th baby of our group and we couldn't be more happy for Brooke and James.  After the shower, we drove to Geneva and talked even more over chai tea and San Pelegrino and then went to the best taco place: Bien Trucha.  I would have to say this was my favorite part of our time together: enjoying to the utmost a night out with my best friends in all the world, sharing both avocado and strawberry margaritas. . . it couldn't have been better!

Our little family made it back to Washington early yesterday morning and we culminated block leave with a 4 hour Sabbath rest.  We look back upon these weeks and can't believe how quickly they have gone by, but we also look back with such gratitude at the moments, the experiences, and the time.  Such time to rest and to read, to laugh and to linger, to delight and to dream.  

And so block leave is complete, but we begin again today with hope and with joy and with thankful hearts for as Daniel continues to say: "we have nothing big hanging over our heads."  Oh.  To think back upon this time last year and to think that at this time, Daniel would be deploying in less than 10 days. . . we are so incredibly grateful for the provision of the Lord during that season.  And how we rejoice in His deliverance!

The ladies

Auntie Renee with Jaeda and Tirzah!

Such divas! :)  This is how Daniel took these ladies out for an ice cream treat!

Back at home. . . building block houses

Sunshine!  And Spring!

Ladies night out!

A morning walk together, happy to be back home, but absolutely missing the girls.

Well, I am going to do What I'm LOVING early this week. . . for tomorrow I will be gone all the day long. . . taking Tirzah out to be with her grandparents in Colorado!

Block Leave, about 3 and a half weeks without work, begins officially on Friday!  We are so thankful and so excited for this time together.  We haven't planned a huge trip, but rather we decided to have some time together here at home, a "stay-cation" if you will.  So, I fly Tirzah out to her grandparents house early early tomorrow morning, and then fly back super late in the evening.  For 9 days she will be with them and I can't even say all the fun things they have planned for her!  She is so excited. . . we have been counting down since about day 16, so she is ready (I think Grandma and Grandpa are even more excited!).  For Daniel and I?  Enjoying one another and the slow days together.  We hope to get a few day trips in, since we really haven't explored too too much of Washington.  But nothing is on the calendar yet.  Definitely some trips out to eat: breakfast, coffee, and dinner.  Most assuredly mornings sleeping in and evenings spent staying up way to late.  And of course, food will be our theme!  (always is!)  Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for giving us this time!


So. . .

LOVING the thought of Block Leave!

LOVING the unity that Daniel and I have been having; especially after a long hard week last week of missing one another.

LOVING these chocolate chip cookies. . . we made this morn for someone special whom we will see tomorrow. . .

and loving it all over her smile

LOVING celebrating with Anna and James!  He arrived home today from his 9 month deployment!  Praise the Lord for all that he has done in their lives.  How we give thanks for their presence in our lives and how we have the opportunity to walk side by side in this military season of life.

Anna is on the right.  I LOVE this picture, it makes me cry every time I look at it.  What emotions !!

He's HOME!!

LOVING hearing the sound of laughter, trailing down the stairs.  Tirzah and her Daddy doing what they do best: wrestling!

LOVING funny remembrances of yesterday:

* I was cooking that Roasted Sweet potato with couscous recipe, and as I stood by the stove, stirring the couscous, Tirzah came and stood by me looking in the oven saying "fire.  I see fire."  But I couldn't quite understand what she was saying, and there wasn't anything in the oven.  But then I looked: and there indeed was a fire!  Ooopsies!  But all is well. . . just a little startling to have your toddler tell you of these things.

*One other: thank you so much for your prayers for Tirzah and her bowel movements.  We are doing SO much better in that area.  So much so, (and this will most definitely be too much information but I have to write it because it is the opposite of what we were bearing 2 weeks ago), she was not wearing a diaper and we heard a catastrophe upstairs. . . yes. . . a bowel movement on the floor and all over the socks of Daniel that she was wearing. . . yikes!  But so funny in light that 2 weeks ago we couldn't get her to go, but now, we can't get her to stop! (So sorry to have written this! )

LOVING, absolutely LOVING, that just now as we put Tirzah to bed, Tirzah let her Daddy hold her while we sang and prayed over her.  The first night in 2 months!  Well actually, in 11 months!  Since he left on deployment, Daniel has not held her for her bedtime routine and tonight was a breakthrough.  He simply asked her with the tenderest of hearts, and she said yes.

Here is What I'm loving this day!

Loving Bible Study Fellowship this morn and the challenges it brings. The question that has stayed with me through the day: am I avoiding hardships in my life? And in so doing, am I avoiding potential blessings? How would you answer those questions? More to come on that topic as Daniel and I pray and strive to discern what The Lord has for is in the future.

LOVING tea time with my baby girl after BSF. Loving reading and snuggling together while we sip our tea.

LOVING toasted almonds. Oh my. I am addicted! Simply place almonds on a baking sheet and bake at 350 for 10 minutes and you have a delicious treat. I have been putting them in the food processor to grind them so that Little One can enjoy them too. Putting them in baked items and oatmeal and Daniel's smoothies too!

LOVING an afternoon with these 2 little ladies: Tirzah and her sweet friend Jane. Jumping in puddles, running in rain boots, swinging, their curls, finding delight in curtain rods... What could be better?

LOVING these tomatoes. Not quite sure what they would be called, but they are delicious. Made a batch tonight for the Soldier to take for lunch tomorrow: places on top of his spaghetti squash . We had them the other night as a homemade focaccia topper and they were a total hit.

Simply heat olive oil in a large sauté pan, place half an onion and heat until starting to brown. Add a clove or 2 of garlic and continue to brown another 2 minutes. Add 1 cup of grape tomatoes halved and cook another 5 to 8 minutes and sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic powder, oregano and basil. Delicious!

Absolutely LOVING Tim McGraw's new song: One of Those Nights


LOVING Watermark station on Pandora


LOVING that the week is almost over!

Manna Monday (well, this week, can it be Tuesday Telling of Manna Monday?!)

Provision through pictures

The morning began with the two of them, Daniel and Tirzah.  Daniel was home; I was sleeping in; they were on the couch curled together watching a movie.  Perfection.

And then?  Homemade bagels.  Oh my.  And the Little One to add the cinnamon sugar topping.

And then?  You will not believe it, but iPhones for Daniel and I.  I can't believe it either.  There we were in the store, Tirzah content on their plush cushions playing with blocks, and we were deciding between old-school phones and iPhones.  How did we decide you might ask?  Rock. Paper. Scissors.  Not even kidding. 

So now, we are both owners of iPhones, but extraordinarily enough, we are paying LESS than we were with the other older phones.  But will you hold me accountable?  We do not want to be so attached to our phones that they are our very life. . .  balances and checks must be put in place!  

First picture had to be him

And second had to be her

Next a walk by myself to celebrate the first signs of Spring!

 Homemade granola bars, with homemade puffed brown rice and date paste

They like it!

Next stop: a newt for a pet.  Yes, not kidding here either.  Daniel was out on a run and so finding one on the trail, he carried it the rest of the way home to surprise Tirzah.  Oh how delightfully surprised she was!  We have named him Newton and created "a whole ecological system for him".

And so it was, Newton became a little friend last night.  When little Jane and her parents came over for dinner last night, Tirzah grabbed Jane's hand and pulled her over to see "my friend Newton!"  

However, I don't know if I am ready to call him friend quite yet.  4:30 this morning Daniel goes to find Newton in his little home: not there.  I knew this was going to happen!  My only hope was that he was in Daniel's work bag instead of in my fruit bowl or something like that.  We found him just before Daniel left for work, (praise the Lord for I don't know if I could have picked him up!) hidden by Tirzah's little kitchen.  And so he walked through the day with us: skyping with Anna and Meredith, watching Dora, eating raisins, and talking with Auntie Renee. . .

And to finish the day yesterday: delight in all things common