Farm Progress

Gosh it has been a busy month. I said that last time I posted here too. So  many  details. We finished up the school year on Sunday. Yes, Sunday. The end was in sight, and when it was she went full steam ahead. It wasn't a stellar close to the year, mostly due to my preoccupation with other things, but we did get a whole lot of learning packed in. To have every day lessons off of my plate feels pretty darn good. I plan to have her cumulative report in by the end of the week and so ends third grade. I haven't any fourth grade plans and papers to submit because it will be our last year with the Prairie Spirit S.D. I haven't even looked in to procedures for Battle River but I assume it will be somewhat the same.

I have barely begun the arduous task of packing up a household. I will be very discriminating at what gets to come along and what will simply have to find a new home. Paul, on the other hand, wants to keep everything for that just in case scenario. I'm packing so guess who gets to decide? Heehee. I'd love to pack up his hockey equipment and take it to Goodwill but he has already been asked to play!

(Athena's poster)

 

We had a massive garage sale where we sold all of the agreed upon "not coming" items. We sold our bedroom furniture which we have had for 30 years! We have our clothes in baskets and on shelves in the closet. Our new home has a walk in closet with double shelves above the hanger rod so there will be plenty of room for everything. I have about a third of the clothes that Paul has so my side will be nice and tidy. :)

It has not been as hard as I imagined to let go of this place. I LOVE this house. It is not fancy in the least but it is practical and homey and has everything we need and more. The yard has been a pain in the you know what because of the towering spruce trees. Hard to grow anything. Oddly enough it is those very spruce trees I will miss the most.

We took down Athena's play centre and stacked all the lumber. Paul will use it out at the farm. Athena helped her Dad all day, working with a power drill for the first time and measuring and marking for a new project they are working on together. He rewarded her efforts with a multi tool/jack knife of her own. She practiced whittling some wood and although it made me a bit nervous she was happy as could be.

Two years ago I planted a quaking aspen in our front yard. A little slip of a tree really. Barely 5 feet high. I chose it because it is one of my favorite kinds. (next to birch, maple and oaks) It leafed out last week and it is so cute. Our farm is filled with them. Literally thousands of aspens. Good trade. We may name it Aspen Ridge or Aspen Rise or Aspen something. It is looking more wonderful by the week. Paul has been up there every week for months.

We are heading up there on Thursday. There is an auction going on at the next acreage. 3 lots sold, unreserved! He is hoping to get a chance to bid on another lot, perhaps with more pasture, just in case a milk cow or two get added somewhere along the way. Athena and I are going up to plant a few rows of corn and a couple rows of potatoes, along with rhubarb, raspberries and her special rose bush we named the Athena rose. It has been doing poorly here in our yard so we are going to try a new spot for it. It is a climber which hasn't climbed more that a foot in three years. Stunted. Poor thing.

Paul got a farm truck over the weekend. An old '86 Chev half ton, aptly named Rusty now sits in front of the house. $500 and it runs great. He also picked up a giant Massey Ferguson tractor over the weekend. It has a bucket, a blade and a cultivator as well. He'll be taking it back there on Saturday and on Monday, the house gets to make her way up north to her permanent home. I am not sure if I will go to witness that, but he will be there for sure. Power is being installed on site as I type this and our well is being drilled too. If it weren't for Paul's diligence on calling and calling and calling these people we would not be so far along.

The movers come on June 24th to take everything away. Martha's kittens will be born just the week before, if she is pregnant, that is. I still can't tell except for the fact she hasn't been in heat for 6 weeks. I kind of hope that she isn't as it would be much easier not to have a box full of kittens crawling around as we drive up there.

(breakfast in her dog costume, of course)

 

It is getting very close. I still can't believe it is happening. I am looking forward to the quiet and the work. Nothing feels better than to be tired and sore and dirty from a hard day's work. The beer tastes that much better, the food much more satisfying, the shower feels that much more refreshing and sleep comes easily and deeply.