The move went well thanks to the help of friends. We were well organized but lacked the sheer muscle to load the heavy stuff. I'm afraid I let the team down here. I'll willingly lift, stack and carry but, as Ian laments, I'm "as weak as water". Thankfully we had some local muscle to call on. A massive thank you to Travis, a parent from Jessica's school who amazingly booked time off work to help us. We also took advantage of Juliet, our long suffering friend and Realtor, who had the good sense to marry a Rugby player and spawn Rugby playing offspring; thanks Lee and Liam. No lack of strength in that household! We're also eternally grateful to Jenessa, Kyla and Shenade for looking after our kids and feeding us.
Within a week of living on Farmageddon, my life & priorities have began to change. I haven't worn a scrap of make-up, I've barely left the farm, Ian had to ask me politely to shave my legs yesterday and my daily hair wash habit has reduced. At the moment all of this is due to time, we've been working all hours to get things done and it's sometimes easier to stay dirty. I am hoping that I am not really turning into a Eco hippy recluse and that my hygiene will improve with time, but who knows? I've been too exhausted to care about such trivial matters. I've also been drinking cider out of an jam jar...how very hillbilly of me. I hope this is not gateway behaviour; cider today, moonshine tomorrow.
Ian has been in his element building the chicken coop (Chickingham Palace) and setting out plans for the tree house. His smile ratio has dramatically increased. Ian is a Superintendent for a Construction company but a Joiner by trade. Constructing something out of nothing is his art and it's been fascinating to observe. The chicken coop is almost the same size as our house and will be there long after we have gone. I have assumed the role of a kind of Magician's Assistant during this process; painting, moving, lifting, etc. and listening to everyone accredit the Magician for his awesomeness, it's ok though, I'll let him have that one. ;-)
Lauren is having more fun than she cares to admit. What I mean by that is she doesn't really know how to enjoy it and maintain the necessary street credibility. She has had a crash course (no pun intended) in tractor driving and is responsible for mowing, a job which she loves. However, she still has 'city' friends and these thing don't fit with the accepted image. I think this will change though as she becomes more comfortable with the lifestyle and when she starts school. She'll make friends from a more rural community where tractors are the norm. It's tough to be 13.
Jessica is.....I can't think of a word that really encapsulates her excitement and joy. This place is a 5 year old child's dream. The first time we were here, she behaved like a zoo animal that had just been released from captivity. When we saw a snake next to the house, I said we had to move house immediately whilst she looked on in awe and declared her love for for this beautiful creature. When she's not running through the long grass or chasing dragonflies, she's hanging out in the chicken coop and kissing the chicks heads.
Talking of the chickens, I'm chalking this one up as a success. They have been here 5 days and are still alive! I collected them, aged 8 1/2 weeks, from the hatchery last week. They are truly lovely Caramel Queen hens. The had a temporary home in our barn during the day and in the house at night but have officially moved into their permanent home now. I'm really enjoying them and watching their little personalities emerge. They've been given very regal names, Elizabeth, Victoria and Anne (the rowdy one). Very fitting for residents of Chickingham Palace. Today I have called the hatchery to ask for three more.
Chickingham Palace itself is another success for our reduce, reuse, recycle ethos. Ian purchased $16,000 worth of timber that had been sitting unused for years in a construction yard for just $500. The doors and windows were purchased from a reclamation yard for $100. The mesh is actually a hard wearing material normally nailed down to bridges to stops you slipping, this was acquired from a construction site too. We only used a fraction of the timber, the rest will go towards the tree house and, in time, a new house for us.
And so to our failings. We've budgeted every dollar and cent for this move. We really made sacrifices in the run up to the move, including a short time where we dangled precariously off our own fiscal cliff. We knew this would happen, there was a period of one-off payments to be made, like tractor deposits, and therefore a void between money in and money out. Anyway, the plan was to spend no money on non-essentials for this house. We bowled into this with our 'make-do' attitude only to fall at the first hurdle. The metaphoric hurdle is the kitchen. By then end of the first day I had announced my inability to cope. I hadn't even unpacked one box and the cupboards were full. One kitchen wall was occupied by a huge top-loading washing machine and tumble dryer. I expected my protests to be met with cries of "suck it up", but it seemed everyone was struggling with the teeny-weeny kitchen. The next day Ian went and bought kitchen cupboards and relocated the washer and dryer into the back room. The cupboards have made such a difference, but cost us $1100 (including plumbing supplies for the washing machine, etc). We have made a cut back though as a gesture to 'making do', we didn't buy doors. There is just the skeleton of the cupboards, but actually I like it. I can see everything. I don't think we're going to bother with the doors ever.
Just one more failing to mention, it took us 4 days to find this switch for this delightful light fixture:
Other than that, we're doing ok and I'm proud of us. We're dealing with four of us sharing one tiny bathroom. We're making do with the lack of storage space (at least for the moment when the weather is dry and boxes can sit outside). We're excelling at tractor driving and chicken care! We're seeing snakes and bugs that I've never seen before and we're taking it in our stride. We're learning to think about the ground water and well management. I guess we're starting to live with the land. And the icing on the cake is that everyday I have to remind myself that I'm not on holiday, I get to live here, in this beautiful, tranquil, serene place. I get to continue to live in harmony with the land, I get to watch it evolve as we make subtle changes in order to become self sufficient. We get to look after the land as it looks after us.
