Our Last Days at Cedar Pond ?

The sale of Cedar Pond is pending. We had two offers to buy Cedar Pond right after the open house, the first day it was shown.

I see I haven't blogged since April 10th, but we've been busy packing, sorting, cleaning, moving things to our future home and depositing other items at the local dump and Goodwill.

I am still tending my gardens and sometimes have to distract myself so I don't cry. That is really the reason I haven't blogged lately. Every time I begin to post pictures or write on my blog , so many emotions flood my heart and mind that I opt for a snack to munch while watching t.v. or reading a book, or catching up with friends and family on Facebook. Quick distractions.

Of course, having kept chickens for many years now I have learned not to count my chickens until they hatch and I know Cedar Pond is not truly sold until all the paperwork is signed and official. But it does appear another family with young children will be loving life here at Cedar Pond soon.

We had a big work party in April when most of our family came together to help prepare Cedar Pond for sale and also help load a lot of heavy stuff into a rental truck. We drove 6 hours , over the mountains and far away, to our future home. We unloaded the truck , storing our belongings in the barn there. We still have at least 2 more truck loads of stuff to move  ( how did we accumulate so much STUFF ? ) not including my sheep, my geese, and my chickens.

I hope you don't get the wrong idea about my feelings though. I am prone to nostalgia and "what-if's", but not sorry to be moving . We built Cedar Pond from raw land almost 30 years ago. We raised our children here and enjoyed life here . I knew this was the right decision for many reasons, but I also knew I was ready to move for sure when the last few trips to our future home I did not want to return to Cedar Pond because I was home . My home over the mountains and far away !

Our Future Home~ 2016 ,Year of Great Change

 

2016 is shaping up to be a year of big changes for us. My husband is retiring in the fall and we're hoping to move to our place over the mountains and far away. You can see our future home in the pictures. This is a view of the back of our home , I was standing in our field.

My husband loves this place and we work on our future home every chance we get. Our oldest grandson also loves it here and is a big help. Grandson and my husband have some big plans for the pastures, woods, and livestock housing. Unfortunately the trip there requires us to drive over a mountain pass that is treacherous in the winter, and sometimes in the fall and spring too , making our trips not as frequent as we'd like. Plus, it is a 6 hour drive one-way.

We have an old travel trailer there ( shown above ) we use as a guest-house. I have made some simple changes to the interior and have so many more ideas and plans for the trailer, but first we have to sell Cedar Pond and move. I have been very busy since the beginning of the month sorting through my craft room and closets , deciding what things to sell, what to donate, what to box up. I have a BIG job ahead of me !

This is a picture of 6 of our grandchildren taking a walk through our field and heading into our woods. As much as I love Cedar Pond my heart has turned to our home over the mountains and far away. The hard work of packing up and preparing our home for sale has begun. My husband and I are in for a lot of work and a new adventure this year, a year of great change.

Parched

We've been gone. Over the mountains and far away to visit our sons and their families. Of course the best part of this is seeing our grandchildren there. It was very hot in eastern Washington and we were re-routed on our 6 hour drive there by the complete closing down of the freeway near the Columbia River because there was a raging wild fire burning on both sides of the freeway near Vantage, WA. We saw the charred remains of many fires alongside the freeways on both sides of the mountains and watched yet again fire-fighting being waged on another very big wild fire burning near our home there. ( Just over the mountain ridge.) All is well.

We returned home to parched gardens. A parched lawn, a parched orchard, and a parched pond. In the picture above you can see our small dinghy not floating in the pond. If it were actually in the pond it would be stuck in mud. Our pond is naturally filled with water by underground springs and rain. This is only the second time in all the years we've lived here the water level has been so low, and it is much lower today than when this picture was taken a few days ago.

There is a very big plus for us with the water drying up in the pond. Within the next few days we should be able to walk on the pond bottom without sinking into mud and finally clear out the fallen branches, logs, and debris the winter and early spring storms left behind. We'll also be able to walk across the pond bottom to the island and haul the storm-fall off without needing the dinghy .

The work crew ( husband & 2 grandsons ) cut up and stacked a lot of storm-fall on the island in Cedar Pond needing to be hauled to the fire pit to be burned later on this autumn when the burn bans are lifted. I think we'll make a big deal of this and have s'mores and hot coco by the camp fire. After a spring and summer of record breaking high temps and little rainfall I am looking forward to pouring rains , wearing jackets because I NEED them , mud boots , and a pond full to overflowing.

FIRE !

 Earlier this month we were at our place over the mountains and far away . While visiting our youngest son and his family who live within walking distance to our place we saw a huge column of smoke indicating the heart stopping knowledge there was a serious wild-fire near by.

 This is a picture of the back of our place there. ( Soon to be our retirement home .) The front of our future home has a mountain directly across the gravel road from the house , and on the other side of  this small mountain is where the fire is raging.  (Picture is of my husband and oldest grandson walking back home from checking out our patch of forest.)

 This is the mountain in front of our place, and there is a serious wild-fire near our home.

 As we watched the smoke flare up, seem to dissipate, then flare up even more, our youngest son called his friends to arrange transportation and housing of his horses if the fire got much closer. My husband & I prepared for the realization our home, the home we're planning on moving to within the next 2 years, just might need to be built again from the ground up.

 During a small break of time when the smoke seemed to be showing the fire was being put out on the other side of the mountain my husband , holding our youngest grandson ,posed for this picture for me. This picture was taken at our youngest son's home, which is walking distance from our place.

 The smoke was so thick from not only the fire near-by, but 3 fires raging in the area. Local fire-fighters were very busy. We watched helicopters drop buckets of water over the horizon and seem to have little to no effect on the smoke we saw.

 This picture was taken mid-day. Look at how dark the sky was with smoke.

The next day we knew all was well. The fire was not out but it was contained. Over 800 acres was burned and if the fire had not been attacked by local fire-fighters and volunteer fire-fighters, it could easily have gone over the ridge and down to our home over the mountains, and burned it. This picture is from our son's home. There was a haze in the air the whole time we were there because there were, and still are, multiple fires burning in eastern Washington.

Our thanks, prayers, and hearts go out to the many brave fire-fighters all over our country who risk their lives to put out fires and save those in danger from the fires that kill. We are very grateful to you all. Thank-you.

Good Neighbors Matter !

 This is the view outside our trailer parked at our son's home in eastern Washington. His neighbors are a Mennonite family . When our son & his wife first moved into their home this farm next door was run down and sad. A severe winter storm a few years ago left so much freezing snow on this barn roof it collapsed. The previous family abandoned the farm and it seemed doomed to fall apart. It was definitely an eyesore.

Then a good thing happened, the farm was bought by Mennonites and their whole community seemed to come together to literally raise the roofs of not only the barns but the houses you cannot see in the pictures. Fences were repaired , out- buildings were made to house well kept farm equipment. Everything about this farm tells you this family cares about their farm, their family, their community, their animals, and God .

 I loved watching the sheep as I drank my morning coffee. ( This is the view from the window over the dining table.) You cannot see most of the lambs because the rich grass is so high and lush and they are still small. When the sheep grazed though you could spot the little lambs jumping , kind of looking like popcorn popping...jump, jump, boing boing boing ! So much fun to watch.

 I think this family has about 10 acres just in pasture ! (I am so jealous. ) The sheep would sometimes run from end to end as I watched them, and they'd be snatching big hunks of the grass in their mouths as they ran. If you know even a little about growing hay or keeping nutritious pastures, you know there is a lot of hard work invested in this lush patch of green, and all to feed a flock of sheep. This family also has hay fields, and they hay for many in the community.

I thought long about the kind of neighbors that consider their community and their neighbors in their daily lives. People who live honorably as they tend their homes knowing that being good neighbors DOES matter. People who really do sacrifice self-interest in order to do what is right. I do not know this family personally, but our son and the surrounding neighbors do, and the Mennonite family seem to practice what they preach , they have a good reputation for being hard workers, honest people . Their farm & flocks show this.

The back end of the pasture was just as lush as the rest of it. I think this has to be the most perfect life on earth a sheep can have. Endless green grass, well-kept strong fences protecting the sheep from the many predators lurking in the hills nearby ,shepherds that tend them as they ought. "The Lord is my shepherd , I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake." Psalm 23:1-3

Good neighbors are a blessing, often rare , and do matter . A lot !

Over The Mountains & Far Away ~ Family Time

 My husband has worked so hard for so many years it is good to see him enjoying time away with our sons and their families .

We journeyed over the mountains and far away to be with our sons and their families. We have a home there where we will re-locate within the next 2 years, but until then we visit when we're able. This past week we were there visiting and we also went fishing. This is a picture of Diamond Lake where we went fishing. We LOVE to fish....

...especially when we're catching fish ! Look at this stringer full of Rainbow trout my husband and youngest son are holding ( it was heavy ).We all limited out and later on the same day we had a fish fry. Enough fried fish for everyone to have a whole fish. So delicious.

Our sons' families ( including 7 of our grandchildren ) enjoyed the fried fish and all the goodies that went along with the meal. We enjoyed the company of our sons and their families.

Yes, over the mountains & far away holds our hearts and God willing, will soon be the place we live until we die. This pic is of a few of our grandchildren watching one of their cousins ride our youngest son's ( their uncle ) horse. So many good times, so many good memories, so many hopes and dreams over the mountains and far away.

Summer Was Awesome

 I have missed blogging but have no good excuse for not logging in nightly. This summer has been one adventure after another with one summer duty or need after another leaving absolutely no spare moment that has not left me exhausted and deciding I really need to get some sleep. Yes, this night-owl has been to bed before 10:00 p.m. many nights the past month ( August ), so maybe that is my excuse ! I needed to get some sleep. We did some camping last month with our daughter & her family, and my husband's brother and his wife. ( Above is our little Jayco trailer , our home away from home when we're camping. )

 We camped at Iron Creek Campground near Randall, Washington. I am the gray-haired lady in the picture with my husband and 4 of our grandchildren. This campground is so beautiful with ancient trees, fast moving rivers, hiking trails, berry picking, fishing... just an amazing place to camp with family and friends. A place that is so beautiful and magnificent there are not adequate words to describe it. "Awesome" comes close, if you're using the intended definition of the over-used word.

 We've spent quite a bit of time at our home over the mountains too. Our youngest son and his wife  who live near-by this home are expecting their first baby after 13 years of marriage and this little long-hoped-for miracle is due any day now ! My husband & oldest grandson are shown here after checking out the woods and pond and discussing what needs to be done for next year's hay crop.

 Our oldest grandson is a very hard working young man and has his heart set on raising Galloway cattle. He and his mom ( our daughter ) discovered there was a couple who raise Galloway cattle near our home on the other side of the mountains and our grandson has worked hard to earn the money to buy a calf from these lovely people. We visited them and their herd a second time, where our grandson saw his calf. She isn't ready to leave her momma yet, but in a few weeks ...

 One of the perks of our trip over the mountains is the time to hang out with these characters . Yes, along with our oldest grandson who traveled with us are his 6 cousins ( or 6 more of our grandchildren ) . You just know you're going to be amused and entertained when you sit down with this group. If you make sure you have a lot of Cheetos and chocolate pudding to share you're in for an even better time !

 My husband & I also began a bedroom / bathroom re-model late this spring, and are finally finishing up. I use the "we" generously , because my husband really did almost all of the work himself after the plumber re-fitted the plumbing for our new spa bathtub. This is the old master bedroom as we began to clear away and move things for the work to be done. The room is now repainted, the tub and sink have lovely tile my husband cut & fitted perfectly , and after this month I'll have the carpet shampooed, new curtains, bedspread... oh, lots of things.

 We can't escape gardening around here either. With all that we have going on my husband also raised a bumper crop of beans and cucumbers. I promised him I would process and preserve all his hard -earned harvest . This is the number 1 reason I have had no spare time or energy. We here in the Pacific Northwest have had a record number of days over 80 degrees in July & August. We do not have central air-conditioning and I have been over-heating myself as I have been canning in our kitchen with the temperatures indoors at about 80 to 90 degrees daily. Believe me when I tell you I wilt at 72 degrees. Yes, this wilted blogger was very happy to go to bed before 10:00 p.m. for many a night lately. I must confess, we have a teeny tiny air-conditioner in our bedroom , so it wasn't hard to choose going to bed over blogging !

 The reward for all that hot and hard work was worth it though.

Summer is almost over, and although it is my least favorite season, it was a summer well spent. My youngest grandson shown above with our dog Whimsy  is soon to be the 2nd to youngest grandchild and grandson. My dog Whimsy is over 1 year old now and she has proven to be very good dog, wonderful camper, and all around excellent companion to our family. The year has gone by so quickly and soon my favorite season will bring with it the weather I love . As I look over my blog from its' beginning, a beginning that started as our family eagerly awaited the birth of the grandson shown above with my Whimsy, I see how quickly things can change in a life, how what seems an insurmountable life situation can in a few short years turn into something quite amazingly different. Not what was expected , but every bit as "awesome" and blessed.