1 year Post

One year ago we moved into our home. Before we moved in we took out all the carpets, washed everything (many times), stained the floors, painted walls, and cleaned some more. We took out one of the cabinets and the dishwasher. Thanks to many friends who stopped by to help us we were able to finish a lot before we even moved in. We continued working on items and then had a house warming party in Sept because frankly, if we waited to have the house warming party until we were finished we would never have it. We continued the work inside with painting and outside with gardening. We constructed coops tore down makeshift pens and continued to see what worked best to contain the animals. We acquired pigs. Lost pigs. Shot a pig. Cursed at a pig. Enjoyed the company of our chickens. Cursed coyotes and predators for the death of our animals and continued to try to maintain a garden. On New Year's Brighid told us of this really nifty tradition in which you get at least 12 different types of fruit and have your house all clean for the new year. The fruit represent the bounty of the next year. The cleanliness means the organization for the next year and then you spend that day doing what you would like your next year to be like. We cleaned the house, had fruit for breakfast, and spent the whole day working on projects such as constructing a better bridge to get to the other side of the back yard. In short, we hoped that this year would be productive and fruitful. We've continued to work on projects at a crazy speed, but other projects get put on hold until we're able to get to them. The wood burning stove went in and the cheapo fireplace went out. The bread oven is started, but I still need to finish putting additional layers. (At the moment, the cats use it as a shady spot to hide in so that they can scare the chickens.) The master bathroom is almost done and we're getting ready to start work on the hallway bathroom. I spent this last weekend working on the painting in the livingroom so that I can mark that off my list. The livingroom has already gone through a redecoration and it's starting to look like what I would like it to look like.

So I guess we can say that the first year in our home has been very busy and productive. We look forward to many more and to the addition of more self-sufficient measures such as solar and wind power. My goal is to get us off the grid completely, but that is a long term project. The front garden is blooming and I just found a local supply(as in around the corner) for horse manure that I can get every day of the year. =) Which means that I'll be working on the back garden soon. As the job market is lagging and my interviews seem to flop, I'll continue working on the house and see what comes of it. To our house and our family: a toast. May we meet again for many years to celebrate the work that we've put in to construct a haven and a home we feel happy and safe in.