It’s done. We have officially changed homes and lifestyles. We have to start by thanking so many friends and family members who gave us a helping hand. We started the move on Friday with loads of boxes! I mean, caravans of trailers and trucks and vans and cars going back and forth between Orleans and Clarence-Rockland. But there was a lot of waiting in the middle of the day.
We loaded all the vehicles and then waited. And waited some more. To the point where we were all crashing. But finally in the late afternoon we got the keys! And so began the caravans. We were finished by around 8:00 Then started unpacking. The kids went home to spend their last night at the old house and I stayed at the farm. It was wonderful.
I have to say the day was bitter sweet. Leaving the first house I have owned alone, the house where I became stronger and faced many challenges, wasn’t easy. To then walk into this new house that didn’t feel like home at all was a little overwhelming. My first night was about feeling displaced. Did I make a mistake? Did I need to uproot us this way? Will we surmount all the challenges that will be thrown our way?
But Saturday morning brought the piano. It seems to ground me. As soon as I was alone, I sat and played a little. Yup, I am home.
Even had Lizzie’s bedroom floor done in the morning before the movers arrived. That’s organization!
By 1:00 pm the movers had emptied the old house and filed the farm. Again, we had a crew of family and friends making everything happen with ease and joy. Janet brought a huge dinner for everyone to share. Sitting around the table with my girls, their boyfriends, and my specials friends, well, that made everything worth it.
So today’s adventure! Katie and Lizzie have been gone for most of the day to collect day-old chicks. I didn’t write this week about our hatching mishaps. If you are following us, you know we have not had much success with our hatchings eggs. We started with 14 and ended up with 8 fertile eggs. Of the 8, on day 18, we only had 4 still alive. After checking on day 21, we had 1. By day 25 we had none. So, the girls were devastated and discouraged. So today, after lots of planning and discussing they went on a road trip and collected 20 little chicks of different breeds! The kitchen floor is now covered in brooders. We obviously had plenty of cardboard boxes to create makeshift ones.
And so today I did a walk about. There is water at the back of the property! I mean a running creek. Of course, it may dry out by the time the summer heat hits, but at this point, it’s about a foot deep. A huge part of the flat acreage is also under tons of water. This gives me hope that digging for a pond may be feasible.
So, all in all, a great weekend. Life is full of hope and I am truly smiling for the first time in a long while. My Ankylosing Spondylitis did not interfere with the move. That’s a first. I think good eating habits that I have undertaken lately and a really positive shift in my life have a lot to do with it. The girls are happy, engaged and excited about our new adventure. I think this farm will suit us just fine.
Unruffled Farms 