Want to see my house?!
Welp. I'm here. And obviously in good enough humor to use to words like welp. So yes, as you may have guessed, the dust has *slightly* settled since I last updated you on the move from lower Alabama to the great Pacific Northwest.Though after three Budget truck breakdowns before we left our family's house in Georgia, I really wasn't feeling very humorous.After another day delay in Atlanta waiting on the truck replacement, it was finally time for the kids and I to fly out. Stuart, his brother Justin, and his Dad are still making the 38 hour drive.But let's forget the dirty details. Let's talk about something fun.WANNA SEE MY NEW HOUSE?I took a few pictures while Georgia and I were having a sweet little work party yesterday. Without our stuff there isn't much we can do, but we're at least getting bathrooms freshly cleaned, new laundry baskets put into rooms, flowers planted, and chicken coops cleaned.
Let's see.... where to start... ah, yes. The view.Welcome to Wenatchee.
See that tree? That's my apple tree. I think. It may be a crab apple tree. What do I know. Regardless, I've decided that this little flat area, and another just over the teeny ridge, will be for the garden. It's out of the way and sunny all day. Perfect. The soil is horrendous, but since we'll be bringing in truckloads of compost, horse poo, and mulch, it should be fine.
I've discovered this property also has a small clusters of white birch trees. I love white birch. So classic. And such pretty leaves.I've also discovered that the word "noxious weeds" has taken on an enormously important role in my life that I wasn't prepared for. Weeds, will you please move out of the way? I can't see the steps down to the coop and you make the home look abandoned. Please find a few able bodied Elliott males to remove you from the soil immediately. Thank you.Speaking of weeds, they're practically eating my chicken coop. My Dad is 6'4" and out in the middle of the pasture, they came up to his chest!I spend the better part of the afternoon cleaning old poo out of the chicken coop. Apparently, whoever used this coop before didn't believe in cleaning their chicken's poo out of the nesting box because I scraped two five-gallon of chicken poo from six nesting boxes.That's a lot of poo. Once I put the pine shavings in tomorrow, I'll be able to move the chickens over. That will be interesting, considering only one of them will let me touch her without having a spasm. BAAHHHH!!! THAT CRAZY LADY IS TRYING TO TOUCH ME!!! I'M GOING TO RUN AROUND IN A CIRCLE AND ACT ALL CRAY CRAY TO DETER HER!!!! Chickens can be so dramatic.
Oooh! And look what I found down by the coop running wild! I'll have to find a way to contain these little boogers that are actively spreading all over the ground. Georgia and I harvested a bit over two pounds from this teeny little batch. It's hard to beat a freshly picked strawberry still warm from the heat of the day.
After scraping, sweeping, and scrubbing the chicken coop, I took the poo up to a few old whiskey barrels that were left on the property. I thouroughly mixed it into the soil that was already in the barrels.
And then, to celebrate the summertime and our new little farm, I bought some flowers. Flowers make me happy. Almost as much as food. There is a special place in my heart that they speak to and today, I felt the need to celebrate that little place. It makes me feel at home.
I didn't capture the entire inside of the house, but I did snap a few:
It's SO WONDERFUL to have natural lighting in the house once again. The house in Alabama was so buried in the jungle that we barely saw the rays of sunshine. Our new house just radiates in the sun. I love having the light in my kitchen again! Especially since I'm constantly photographing food in there. Natural lighting is inspiring.You know what else is inspiring? Lavender in an old bottle (I may or may not have stolen the lavender from a plant in the garden of my Mom's office) and light purple violets:
It's not a lot, but it's something.It's not perfect, but it's ours. Well... technically it's our's to rent... but you know what I mean.They boys are attempting to drive 16 hours tomorrow so that they can cut the trip a day short. This means that they should roll into town about 3:00 a.m. Saturday morning. I covet your prayers for traveling mercies - Lord knows we have a heck of a journey thus far.More to come soon!