We've been going to the new house several nights a week to clean it up. Our kids love playing on the property. They've climbed up to an old tree house in the pasture and created another play house amidst a circle of juniper trees. They all purchased slingshots with their birthday money this year. The pasture is the perfect place for target practice. We encourage them to shoot the cacti and bugs they find.
We didn't have water available at the house for several days, so we had a perfect excuse to meet the neighbors and fill up water containers. They seem very friendly and they have five kids. We're SO excited to have children living next to us! They are very kind and have let us borrow several tools already. They saved the day by lending us a shop vac when we had a water leak fill the laundry room with hot water. (Yay for running water!) We are so thankful for our kind neighbors!
It's been a bit of an adventure to turn on the water to the house. Each time Nathan switched the water main on, we'd find new leaks in diverse places. Luckily the neighbors had a wrench for us to borrow and fix the spewing faucet. The other leak was in the pasture, so no big messes happened. It just created a colossal mud puddle to play in.
We had a family party and ripped off all the old wallpaper in Sarah's new room. It was lots of fun when the paper came off in big pieces. The remaining bits and glue was more tricky to remove. It took two afternoons to get it most of it off. I'm still working on it. I'm never wallpapering anything. Ever.
It's been like a treasure hunt at this place. Our children have so much fun discovering what 'neat' trash has been left behind. Some of their favorite discoveries include a train set, dolls, cool wire springs, a horseshoe, and a bright pink bowling ball. Doesn't the landscaping look terrific? What a great modern art sculpture we get to have in our pasture!
We transported our chicken flock to the new house. We're testing out the chicken coop facilities with out old flock of birds. We'll see how predator-proof it is before we invest in our new batch of chicks. (I can hardly wait for the new chicks!) I have been told that we have bobcats, coyotes, snakes, and raccoons that will eat our birds. So far everyone's accounted for and happily scratching up bugs.
There's the update of some of the things we've been working on. I feel like there are a lot of challenges as I find more things that need repaired (only one toilet works), replaced (all the baseboards, window screens, etc), or removed (we found a strong, healthy colony of mold growing in a wall). It's easy to feel completely overwhelmed.....
The Lord has great ways of reminding me to count my blessings. I was asked to give an hour-long devotional last Sunday on the topic of the pioneers who sacrificed everything to cross the plains. I was reminded by the Spirit to bear all things with cheerfulness and gratitude.
Compared to the pioneers I live a posh life, right? How can anyone complain about anything when they have air conditioning and running water? Compared to my ancestors, I'm living the high life. I need to keep reminding myself this.
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