Mar. 19, 2006 - March musings
We have switched gears from Winter to Spring here...Dave is back out working on the log home and Farmer's Market has started up again. The house is really coming along. A friend from Dave's log home class came to help out for a few days and has ended up staying almost 2 weeks. We think he's really an angel sent down to earn his wings .....by tomorrow they should be finished stacking the logs, then Bruce will come back in another 10 days or so to help put up the ridge poles. We are getting so excited! The house is amazing! It is only 30 x 30 but very tall with 3 stories. It will have 2 dormers and a nice wrap-around porch to balance the height. It has a massive look to it because the logs are just so big. It is a little scary to see them working up so high but I have left that up to God. The weather has cooperated and things haven't gotten too slippery for them. One of these days I will learn how to post some pictures!
Yesterday was our 3rd market of the season. We set up indoors for March and April and start out slowly. I had a good day and sold about 2 dozen loaves of bread, cinnamon rolls and cookies, eggs, soap and lotion. Business has picked up each week as it should continue to do until we move outdoors in May. That's when things really get busy for us. I find I can sell up to 75 loaves of bread but perhaps not this year...new baby is due May 1st. She and I will do the market together but I may not be able to spend so much time baking. We will see...I still have handmade soap, wool and yarn, preserves and produce, etc. to sell. Right now I am trying to get a nice supply of soap made and plan to use up my frozen berries for jam and syrup.
Six more weeks and we will be a family of nine! We are getting so excited! We still haven't chosen a name but have some nice ideas: Margaret (Maggie), Annie Rose, Mary, Elizabeth (Betsy) ...these are a few of our thoughts. We'll see. Last Monday my midwife discovered that baby is breech so I have been working on getting her to turn. VERY hilarious around here! I have been lying on the ironing board set up on the edge of the couch, 3 times a day for 20 minutes. The baby has definately shifted position but I'm not sure that she's completely head down. I'm taking 2 days off from the ironing board until Jeanette can check me on Monday. I have also been taking the homeopathic Pulsatilla and I'm ready with my Moxabustion if she is still breech. I have had 5 beautiful homebirths and one easily in the hospital so this "complication" is all new to me. I can't even imagine not being at home in our cozy little cabin with my nice birthing tub. But that's another worry I'm giving to the Lord...I just pray for a healthy baby.
The children are doing well and ready for Spring. Ben-13 and Gabe-6 are starting baseball season. It will be Gabriel's first year and Ben's tenth. Unfortunately Ben has been diagnosed with a torn tendon in his right arm, an old injury from last year. It just hasn't had a chance to heal as he's gone from one sport to the next so he's in physical therapy now and will sit out the beginning of the season, if not longer. Gabe will be playing T-ball, his first experience with organized sports. He is very excited.
Kieran-19 is awaiting the results of his college auditions. He went to Chicago in February to try-out for 5 different musical theater programs. Competition was stiff but he is very talented. He expects to hear back in April. Right now he has his own apartment in Seattle and is working at Nordstroms full-time. Emily-almost 16 is learning to drive this Spring. She is doing a wonderful job and will be well prepared for her exams come August. We recently enrolled her in Clonlara's homeschool program. It is a great program with alot of flexibility. As an unschooling family we are finding it to be a perfect fit. Katherine-10 is spending most of her time right here on the farm. She loves to read, knit, play outside and get together with her friends. The little ones adore her and she is a big help to me in many ways (like getting me up from the ironing board!). Cecilia-3 is a joy to all of us. She is most delighted that new baby is a girl. Celia's days are filled with the life of the farm and a big family that adores her.
I have had a short lull before the farm springs to life again. I finally got our cow, Isabelle, dried up to rest before her calf is born next month. So milk shares and cheesemaking have come to a halt for awhile. It is a nice break for me although we miss the fresh milk. The goats are due in April and the sheep in May. We will get some new chicks this month and plan to raise meat birds beginning in June. The pigs are getting big and will be ready for the freezer in another 6 weeks.
Our shearer will be here from Wales in another few weeks. We have 13 wooly sheep and 6 curly pygora goats ready for haircuts. I will send most of the fiber off for processing into roving and yarn. I can't wait! We have some gorgeous fleeces this year and a nice variety of colors. Eleven ewes are bred to a white ram so we should have plenty of neutral wool for dying next year.
The garden awaits slightly warmer weather. I do have one large beds of greens growing nicely under row covering. I'm looking forward to summer days in the garden with baby sleeping in her new pram...barefoot children digging in the dirt...teenagers down the hill at the sandy beach....clothes drying on the line...but I am cherishing this day right here as well. Only a short time until our family grows again and everything shifts and changes again, including my very full heart. God's blessings are so abundant.
Comments
Mar. 20, 2006 - You are an amazing mom!
Posted by Anonymous
I read over your blog and I just had to say you are an amazing mom! You get more done in a day then I do in a week or more.... I only have 2 children and you have almost 9 and you even work a farmers market - Just amazing. I enjoy your blog!
Thanks for posting,
Donna - Florida
Mar. 20, 2006 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Anonymous
I am sorry, I ment to say almost a mom of 7 - A family of nine.
Best Wishes,
Donna - Florida
Mar. 20, 2006 - love this
Posted by Cathy
Molly,
Oh, how I LOVE reading your blog and all about your homestead and your family. You all are an amazing family and keep the love of the Lord in your hearts. Thanks for sharing this with us...I sure love it.
Soon, your new little baby girl will be here. I know you all are excited. I am excited for you all. I love all the names you are thinking about.
Talk soon on the "Homestead".
Blessings to you all my friend,
Cathy
Mar. 28, 2006 - What a dream come true!
Posted by KarlaKAkins
I have always fantasized about living as you do -- but I don't know the first thing about gardening! But to live in a log home -- wow -- that's still one of my dreams!
Is the baby here yet? I hope you are well and thriving!
Karla in Indiana
