it's official . . .

IT'S OFFICIAL . . . We're moving to the country south of Defiance!

I got word today that Fannie Mae officially accepted our offer and we are moving forward to the purchase of our farm. Whew! It's been a long time coming.

Today I drove up to the realtor's office and signed the purchase agreement and wrote him a check for a HUGE amount as a deposit. I am going to be getting a loan, so we are not paying cash for it yet. In a few years, I plan to sell the house we own in CA and then pay off the loan amount here. Hopefully my scheme will work out. :) Here are some photos of the home front.

unoffically YES! . . .

According to the realtor . . . unofficially . . . WE GOT THE FARM!

Now the quick work needs to happen. Approving loan info, signing more papers, and anticipation for the the final word.

letter of approval . . .

This "finding a house/farm thing" is getting old! I think sometimes the emotional parts of it are harder than the physical work of moving all of our stuff. We have spent a year and four months looking for that perfect place and now are in the mix of getting/or not getting THIS place.

Friday night I drove up to Defiance to put an offer on this house. At that point, we were the only ones interested in the place. (here's a picture of one of the barns on the property. . . during the bicentennial, the state paid for one barn to be painted in each county. . . this barn was chosen for Defiance County) I told the realtor that I would be able to get a letter of approval by the early part of the week. Well, last night I spent some time online applying at the credit union I am a part of. Long story short, I got a letter of approval that I printed and emailed to the him. He called last night to let me know that another person (someone from California) also put a bid on the property. Now it has become a realtor game of "highest and best."

All highest and best offers are due in by 3:00 pm tomorrow and then Fannie Mae (the owner of the deed) decides who gets the house." Life is sure full of excited waiting times!

in a variety of ways . . .

Here's the gurney I found in the barn after we cleaned it. I started sanding it off so I can wheel it around and use it in a variety of ways. The most exciting thing I have thought about for its use is a MOBILE CHICKEN PLUCKING STATION. I thought about cutting a square out of the center and putting a stainless steel sink in the middle. If I did that, I could wheel it over to the outside water supply and have a movable sink to wash up the birds.

Any other ideas for this FABULOUS find? (no comments like "Yeah, throw it away . . . it's yucky!" please)

what we've been looking for . . .

Lady is the newest addition to our family of animals. We got her today, after I came home from looking at the house/farm I am going to put an offer on at 5:00 pm today. What a day of excitement!

Earlier this week Ildi found a house on the market that I later called on. We went to visit it, and both Ildi and I felt like it the house that we have been looking for. The children all said they really liked it as well. It is on a busier road than what we want, but has all the other things we have been looking for in a homestead. 31 acres, fenced pasture, open pasture, large barns, 5 bedrooms, and three bathrooms. Hopefully this one will be the one that we actually purchase, move into, and settle our lives into an area of this world. And hopefully for a LONG while!

As well, I told the children if they cleaned out the barn here at the farm, I would buy them a horse. Well, they worked hard cleaning out all the junk, shoveling out the dirt/glass/and trash, and so I made good on my word and picked her up today. Today we rode her a bit and all were excited to take turns riding her around the place.

a good experience . . .

Several changes have happened over the last few days. The biggest being that our first born is now DRIVING! What a trip.

Saturday we went to the BMV and Nolan did well on his written test. I told him if he passed, I would take him on a drive with me that day and have him drive the entire time. Since he passed, he drove us to a small town about an hour from where we live. We dropped off an amish lady so she could visit her family. It was a good experience for him to not only drive on the country roads, but also to drive through the center of some towns.. I am also excited because this means when I need someone else to drive besides Ildi or I, we have someone to call on. :)

Our chickens started laying this week. The children found 3 eggs in the barn (a place they should not be laying them) and were shocked that they found a different spot to put them. Over the next few weeks we have to be diligent to keep the hens in during the day so they will get the idea that we want them to put their eggs in the nesting boxes. All this so we don't have to run around the property trying to do the fall version of an Easter egg hunt.

a few days visit . . .

Miss Leisa came to visit us again while she was on ANOTHER one of her many travels. Must be nice to take work off and travel the world huh?

We first met Leisa when she was a tenny little 16 year old exchange student from Down Under. She came to stay with us for a month during the summer, and since then, we have stayed in touch. This year, she decided to "pop in" on us at the farm on her way back home from another world tour and visit for a few days. Little did she realize that she was going to be doing some real, down to earth, homesteading activities. Along with milking Janey, she has ridden the go-cart around the property, and tomorrow she will butchering her own chicken. Nolan is also going to teach her how to shooot a rifle! She is going to go back home with lots of stories and new experiences to share.

training time for everyone . . .

Officially her name is Intercept Golden Jana (American Jersey Cattle Association) and she is a Registered Jersey. The previous owner called her Baby Jane, but since she has had a couple of calves, we decided to call her Janey.

It seems that what we have been doing is working. And we are learning quite a bit about her. The first few days were a little rough being new at the milking thing, and the whole cow thing, however, after a week of it, it's running pretty sMOOth.

The children are taking turns, like everything else, by milking on their day of the week. Years ago we assigned a day to each child to have for their day to pray, get the mail, and things like that. Well, it was only natural to let them milk on their day as well. Nolan is taking on most of the work and he is the constant milker along with me. In the evenings, the others join in to get the practice to be able to milk her by themselves. It's a training time for everyone.

The first few times Janey moved around ALOT and it was like milking in a moving van. She wanted lots of feed (which is like candy for her) and was ready to move on real quickly. Now she is eating her small cup of grain we give her, and patiently standing and waiting for us to get our work done. And currently, she is giving us about a gallon and a half per milking. We are almost swimming in milk! The benefit of having her as well is that we are able to have cream regularly for our coffee without going to the store, and the children have been making really rich BUTTER from the cream as well. What a treat.

hard to believe . . .

SHE'S HERE! SHE'S HERE! SHE'S HERE!

Two years in the thinking, planning, and praying, and finally the time has come for us to get our milk cow. It's hard to believe she is actually here.

Janey came to us last night via a wonderful young couple from Leesburg, Ohio. Last Wednesday, I took a half day off from school to drive down to their farm and look at the Jerseys they were selling. My neighbor Steve went with me to help me since he has had quite a bit of experience with animals, including cows. I decided to get the one they took to the local elementary to let the kindergarten students milk. He said she was real calm and would make a great family cow.

It has been fun to watch the children dawdle over her already. Milking her this morning and evening was a real learning experience for them. The morning milking yielded a couple of cream filled gallons. However, this evening's milking was a bust not being able to keep her feet out of the milk pail. :) The things you learn in a day with a cow.

hole in my pants . . .

The same morning that the chicken incident happened, I also had a little accident at school. In the process of cleaning up the storage area of the art room, I was taking a poster filing cabinet off the table to store it in a different place. (I needed the counter space and the cabinet looked a little shabby as well) As I was pulling it off the counter, I realized that it was a "little" heavier than what I expected, so I used my knee to hold it up and lower it slowly . . . stopping it from crashing on the floor and putting a hole through it! The last few seconds of the descend it ripped a hole in my pants at the knee, and finally dropped to the floor. "Whew . . . that is over" I thought to myself as I wiped the sweat from my forehead. A minute later my knee area started filling up with blood. I sat down on a small stool, raised my pant leg and noticed that I had torn the skin on my knee all the way to the cartilage! About an inch long altogether. Blood was soaked into my pants at the knee, and was now running down my leg. It's a good thing I did not panic, because right then, my third grade came into the class for art.

Long story short . . . even though I was advised by the school nurse to go the emergency room where I should have gotten 5 to 10 stitches to close the wound, being the MacGyver kind of guy that I am, I just used some bandages and some tape for a make-shift butterfly to close the wound and to keep my knee from bending. And one week later . . . God has brought about a complete healing! Don't hate me Mrs. Thompson.