and the beat goes on....

                      So, it has been far too long since my last blog and I must apologize to those of you who read and follow regularly. July has been a busy and frustrating month for me/us and I have honestly been so freakin exhausted that at night I am asleep before I am even in bed.  July 1st myelf and our two daughterswere in a car accident in a neighboring township and the frotofour vehicle was ripped off! We are all ok, but it was my fault and now i must go to traffic school or lose 3 points from my license and rsk a rate hike. Also although we had full coverage and collision we did not have bodily injury liability thus- if anyone in the accident clims an injury from it I am liable to be sued... awesome. That said, we were able to secure a rental for fee(good insurance again) Thank you geico, however the only vehicel avaable on the holiday wknd was a bright yellow VW beetle. I kid you not.o we wentfrom a full size SUV to a hotwheels car overnight and we cannot fit our family into it much less groceries or anything else,so it has been very frustrating.
                     We did finally acquire a pair of goats, first Gomez our buck. He is Dwarf Nigerian white w black spots. he has a great personality and is very friendly,following us like a dog around the yard and preferring to sleep on the front porch by the door. Next we purchased Fatima. She is a Nigerian/pgmy milk goat and though a bit skiddish ,she is very pretty and docile in nature. We have milked her successfully 3 times and gotten nearly a gallon of fresh, home pasturized milk. Edd and built them  pen next to the house on some of the dry land we ave lef after the rains. Rains,yes I said rans -plural. our drought is over and the fires are being put out all over florida and it is fabulous-however it has turned our entire property into a Louisanna BOG. I have lost over 85% of my entire crop for the year and we have standing water oer 3 iches deep over 90% of our 3acres. It is saddening to look out in the back yard at what used to be  my gardes and see only yellwing roted vegetables there now and muck. I have salvaged Edd's precius watermeons and a few eggplants anmy roa tomates re linging to life as we speak but terestis all gone. no point in replanting, the rains come everydy now torerntially for hours. We spent days with nothing but shovels and a post hole digger and a machets,clearing the land and digging trenches to try and drain as much as we coud into the ditch along our property. it has worked for the most pat t keep water out of the front yard, but the chicken coop/henhouse Edd built for me was ruined and had  to be disassembled and rebuilt with modifications on our front fence line. It is now on high ground wih an elevated floor for added protectiona and the Bantams have their own loft with a built in sand box to bathe in. The ducks have been free ranging 24/7 since the rains& have gotten quiet feral. They nest on the septic mound where the grass grows high (reminds them of a marsh I guess) and spend their days swimming about the property in the various  mini ponds" the rain has created.
                   Layla passe drivers ed w/a 97% and is ready to take her learners pemit exam. I am not however and feel she needs a few more months of practice before we take that leap off the mountains ledge. I have been baking like crazy to cut down our expenses. breads, pretzels,monkey bread you name it, and we have been kneading, pounding &  baking it. went out last night to a pear tr Edd and I found a few yrs ago on a business lot in town thats abandoned and got 75 lbs of pears to can and bake with. Not exactly sure 's legal but  we have been doing it ever since we first found it. We jump out of the car like wild things and attack the tree, it must look funny to anyone passing by. It took us less than 5 minutes to pick 75lbs!!
                    Money is getting VERY tight and if I cannot bok work mre steaily we are not going t ake t thru winter with any real success. Having lost the crops before I could get sufficient canning done will impact us hard and our Doe cannot breed for at least 4 months putting her next birthing somewhere around March and then they wouldn't be viable to slaughter til June/July  of 2012. We can always cull our buck if needed -though Edd is rather attached. We have plenty of chickens and eggs, the last group of chicks is finally ready to start laying.  We have a new rooster pen built for Juan and Cortez, Steven just wont stop fighting with them and this last tiime Steven lost a chunk of his wattle to Juan. They will have to sharethe yard on a rotating schedule until they can live together  peacefully or someone is in a stew pot. They are all easily handled so it has not been a problem so far.

Gomez



the goslings



goat pen

rebuild of henhouse in progress



Fatima-our nanny goat

                     We keep our faith in God and each other. I believe this property can be beautiful, and it can sustain us. We have had some set backs and  I wont lie they have knocked the wind out of me at times, but I will not let this land,this homestead beat me. We will survive here as naturally as possible and we will make it work. We will be broke (this is painfully obvious) and we will struggle, but we WILL make it work. I refuse to give up, no matter what-we have committd ourselves to this life and we are going to succeed.  We are beyond tired,on some new plane of exhaustion that I have not hit before. My body hurts in paces I didn't know could hurt like this and still I want more. I want to toil in the sun or the rain and I want to see my vision come to life. I have been teased thus far-given the tiniest of tastes of the potential around me and I will not be denied a full cup of it's rich and intoxicating liquor! I  start breaking down palets today to build raised garden beds to start over. the is a small chance if I am diligent and dutiful in their care I can grow  a small sustainable crop before fall weather hits. So I am off, I will try to update more frequently. attachedare som photos of te recent changes and additions.