Carol and Mardie

When we were moving out of our house, on the last day it got really crazy. We were nearing the end and my mother and I were cleaning and clearing out my bedroom. In the closet, I found the boxes that I stored old cards, letters, school papers, etc. in. I started sifting through a bit but realized I didn't have time to sort stuff at that point. So I gathered it all up and stuck it in a small suitcase. As I was taking a final look around, I noticed a card laying on the carpet. We'd been working in there for a while at that point, and I hadn't seen it before. I picked it up and realized it was a Thank You card from my dear friend Carol, who passed away from cancer in 2006. There had been a divorce that tore a group of friends apart, and a remarriage that brought her great joy. We tried our best to stay friends with both and were there when Carol remarried. When she became ill, she kept it a secret. I never got to visit her and say good-bye. That has bothered me so much. The card was thanking us for our wedding gift and friendship. I don't remember getting it and was struck by the fact it was the only card left out. I silently thanked Carol for the support and took it as a sign that everything is alright with her and I knew we'd make it through the move after that. This adventure was something that would have delighted her!

When I worked at the YMCA, I met a woman named Mardie. She was in her 70's at that time, and swimming competitively in the Senior Olympics, travelling the world to go to different meets. She had had a very interesting life, her parents were ex-patriots living in France and hanging out with names like F. Scott Fitzgerald for a time. They then lived on the Pacific coast where she could hear the surf pounding on the shore. As an adult, she lived in Europe with her husband who was an educator in schools there. Then they moved to Maine. I was always fascinated by her past and the things she was still doing. I lost touch with her after leaving the Y, but had heard through mutual friends that her health had deteriorated and she no longer recognized people. While moving, we had found the old leather hat she had given Alan, we still wear it when its raining and we need to feed the horses. She got a kick out of how he looked in it, a bit like a hobo, LOL! I had meant to ask a mutual friend how Mardie was doing when I visited with her just after the move, but had forgotten.

Anyways, a few weeks after moving, we decided we needed more glasses from the storage trailer. People had given me newspapers to wrap stuff in since I don't read them. So as I was pulling glasses from the box and unwrapping the newspaper, I noticed on the ground below the trailer was an uncrumpled, perfectly folded piece of newspaper. I asked Alan to pick it up and asked him where it came from. He didn't know but when he turned it over, there was a picture of Mardie. She had died in June. I had not heard that and was sad to learn the news. It was the oddest thing as all the other newspaper was crumpled and in the box of glasses. Even Alan was a little taken aback. I'm glad Mardie is at peace now, and cherish the memory of her.

Some days I feel like such a PIG!

Wilbur

Okay, so we take the girls and my niece, Shiann, to the Union Fair in our little green Buick. The girls decide they want to put their names in the lottery for the pig scramble. We say Okay, that should be fun to watch. Now I thought 12 kids would be chasing 2-3 pigs, and what were they odds they'd get picked anyway? Well, ALL of them were chosen, Amber first. She was especially happy since she'd decided she didn't want to do it afterall, LOL!

Well, when they unloaded the piglets, I realized there were enough for everyone to get one, and everyone did! Shiann was the first of our girls to nab a piggie!

So all three girls ended up with piglets. Shiann sold hers to a little girl and we sent Alan home to get the truck and a crate to transport them in. None of us were too thrilled with the idea of the girls trying to hold the piglets in the backseat while we drove home!

So what happens when you're living in a camper, your dog has died, the kids are back in school and you have no TV or internet?! That's right, you spend way too much time with the piglets and discover how easy they are to train!

Wilbur and Petunia

Wilbur is a castrated male, shy and sensitive little guy. Petunia is bold and independent, and very smart. I taught Wilbur to sit using their favorite treats, grapes. It was easy. I didn't work with Petunia at all, but the next day when I went down and asked Wilbur to sit, Petunia sat too!

Wilbur

Wilbur loves his belly scratched and will lay down for you to do it. He loves being petted and paid attention to. He has now learned to get down on his little piggy knees for treats, and I'm working on getting him to lay down and play dead with verbal cues.

Petunia must have been a horse in a former life. She LOVES the horses. I can see her being a "pig-eyed, pig headed" Appy mare or something, she does have spots on the top of her neck, LOL! She heads straight for the horses when I let them out and "talks" to each one. They have taught her horsey language, which she caught onto quicker than I have! Molly has learned to ignore her, since its not worth the effort to try and chase, bite or kick her and she'll come right back. Angel has gotten her point across, she HATES pigs and will put in the effort to chase her if she gets too close. Maya is the same way. FlyAway doesn't care, she gets along with everyone! So Petunia has made it her mission to win over Angel and Maya. The other day, Maya was walking down the pasture and Petunia was walking beside her all the way, oinking away "Why don't you like me, huh, huh?!" Petunia not only sits, she smiles too. She's learning to hop up on a hay bale and sit for a treat.

Petunia smiling

The horses have gotten used to the pigs and they mostly get along. The pigs are pretty big now and know to stay away from teeth and hooves. I try to let them out to play once a day, they just love to run around, and they can run FAST. They always come when called and have no problem going back into the pen.












PIG PILE!!!!!!

New Puppies

We have two new family members! Chance and Tucker are now 10 weeks old. They are Corgi Poodle mixes. We don't know exactly what they'll look like when they grow up, but they sure are cute now! We got them when they were 8 weeks old. They easily transitioned onto raw food diet, and I found a shop that sells everything you need right in Farmingdale called "Naturally Good Pets". They have much better prices than the other big box pet stores around. I even put the cat on raw. They can't wait to eat, and can barely bring themselves to eat the dry food I leave out for snacking. They are eating a prepared ground diet from Bravo, but will go onto whole bones when they can chew them up. I found out about a butcher not too far away, from a lady in my Dave Ramsey Financial Freedom class no less!

Chance is the straight haired pup. He looks mostly Corgi and has that personality too I believe. He is very sturdy and solid. Chance is quiet, calm, loving, intelligent, bold and curious. He's harder to house train because he just goes when he needs to, no big deal! I picked him out when he was just a few days old. Chance loves to eat and savors his food. Pig ears are his favorite chewing toy. He also likes cat toys best.

Tucker is curly and has hair so will probably need grooming. I didn't think of that when I got him. They have the same markings, but look so different. Tucker has longer legs and is slimmer in body and bone. He is very intelligent but not quiet. He whines quite a bit. He whines when he needs to pee or poop or Chance has something he doesn't or Chance is picking on him, or he wants to be carried or he doesn't want to ride in the kennel in the car! It actually makes him easier to house-train because you know when he has to go. When he has to go #2, he chases his butt like "Oh no! Its coming out, I can't hold it, oh no!" or he drags his butt on the ground like the dog Toby in the steam cleaning commerical, LOL! When we brought them home, they took naps and then Chance got up and explored and Tucker stayed on the bed and didn't want to move. He likes to be held and "tucks" into your neck. He also gets "tuckered" out faster than Chance. Tucker INHALES his food, never seen a pup eat that fast!

You can see the girls and Alan are having a hard time bonding with them! I had never used the kennel to train pups, but its working out really well. They are sleeping through the night. I had forgotten, though, how labor intensive new pups are! I took them for a walk on the river walk in Gardiner yesterday and they trotted along like little men. They have been easy to leash train so far. Mittens the cat is getting used to them, they were raised with kittens, one used to stay with them all the time, so they are very comfortable with cats.

Electricity

We should be wired in 2 weeks!

Chase

We found out Wednesday that the tumor Chase has developed in the gum of his lower jaw is cancer. Its grown quickly and the vet recommended not doing surgery. I am looking for information on treatments, etc. He still feels good, although the tumor is big enough to make chewing more difficult. Everything else looks great, his ACL had healed very well, and he has just a little arthritis in his hips, still has good range of motion in them.
His heart and lungs are strong. Its devastating news and not having access to information really stinks right now.

Update

Hurray for good weather! Its helped tremendously, even if it is a bit hot now. We found a great swimming spot and go there to cool off most afternoons.

We have our well in, with 100 gallons/minute, so should never run out and it is crystal clear. Our septic system should be done today or tomorrow, so we can move the camper up to the spot near where the house will be by the end of the week. We have a bigger generator, so have been using air conditioning, dishwasher, stove, microwave, etc. The electricity has been a confusing mess, but we think it should be all set now. We got poles a week ago from Fairpoint, but CMP has been hard to figure out, hopefully we will have permanent electricity soon though.

I love the camper, I love living on our land. Its been a good experience so far. The horses are mostly settled, we just need to build one more run-in or small barn by winter and they will be all set. We haven't had time to ride yet though! Then it got so hot. We have been doing Pony Club, but using the farm's ponies since I had hay in my horse trailer. We got that out today, so maybe we can get to a trail ride or something later in the week.

Life in the Camper

Right now we have a generator and an extension cord, so can only run one electrical appliance at a time. Its Alan's first day back at work and my first day alone on the land. The guys wake me up as they get up to go to work, so I decided to head down and visit the horses. They are being eaten alive by mosquitos! Poor thin-skinned Arab Angel is just quivering all over and her neck line is covered with feasting insects. Molly's cheeks are covered and I'm sweeping the darn things off by the hundreds. Maya and Fly had been sprayed the day before with Zonk It to protect from horse flies while we moved and they were alone, so they weren't affected as badly. I had a little of the spray left and dumped it on a rag and wiped down Angel & Molly. That helped a lot. When I went back to feed, they were lined up at the gate looking at me like "Can we go home now?"! I felt so bad.



I decided to make the pasture bigger and started putting in the step in posts. I love those things! By 6:00 am, I had the bottom strand all up and let them into the new area, then went to have breakfast.



Before Alan left, he said if I wanted to use any other electrical appliances, just unplug the refridgerator and plug the other appliance into the extension cord. Sounded easy enough. Except he had tied the cords in a loop so the refridgerator cord wouldn't come undone and slide down behind the back again, but in doing so, made the cord so short, it wouldn't make it up to the top close enough for me to get. So I had to wrestle the big old refridgerator out of the tight space its in, and don't mind saying I was not using good language while doing it! I finally am able to get the cord and manage to start untieing them when I realized I needed to make sure the cord didn't slip back behind the refridge again. So I found a string and tied it to the cord and then to the rail on the cupboard to keep it in place, got the cords untied finally and by 7:00 am was plugging in the microwave to heat my water for tea! I put up a pasture faster than unplugging the damn refridgerator!



Went back down to finish the pasture and the horses looked much happier. They've been munching on all the saplings and plants growing there and tripping over all the rocks and stumps.



I decided to go empty the pot we're using at night in the pit Darren dug. We used to have a chamber pot in the first house my parent's had. My Dad would empty it every morning by dumping it in the row of grape vines we had growing beside the house. Those were the biggest vines and had the best grapes I've ever tasted. We have pictures of us kids sitting under the vines with our laps piled with bunches of grapes, blissfully munching away! Anyhow, after dumping the "chamber pot" that's really a bucket, I start rinsing it out with the hose and notice the writing on the front - Miricid, made by Miracle Grow, incredible plant fertilizer for all your plants!

Hey Dan-ell

When I was pregnant with my second son, we agreed we'd take turns naming the children. I got to go first with Ryan, so it was Alan's turn. He loved the name Daniel, but never said it "Dan-yell", he always left out the "y" so it sounded like "Dan-ell", or how the old-times say Dan-ell Boone. I told him if he couldn't pronounce it correctly he'd have to pick something else, so Darren it was.



In the post "They always know" Leigh made a comment about the other "boys" in the family loading themselves on the trailer to not get left behind. She had no idea how prophetic her comment was!



The first night on the land in the camper was not spent by Alan nor I, oh no, Darren spent the night before moving down there, communing with nature, looking at Mars, swatting mosquitos and having a grand old time. Woke up to a glorius dawn, whole nine yards.



So after the swirling hurricane that the actual move evolved into, all of us and our stuff was plopped onto the land helter skelter, no reason nor rhyme. I'm running around trying to get any type of organization going and need some help. I yell to Alan, "where's Darren?" and hear back "he's out practicing throwing knives!" "WHATTT? What's he doing that for, I mean, he's really throwing knives?!" Yep, and making squirrel friends, leaving them raspberries for a snack, and digging a poop pit, in his freaking glory. Come to find out, he's "always" wanted to live on the land like this, maybe we should have stuck with Dan-ell after all. SIGH!

The target Darren used for throwing knives.

Four Days to Go!

My mother came up and helped me finish cleaning the camper. It took longer than I thought it was going to for such a small place! Its not really dirty, dirty, they took good care of it, its just sitting around not being used dirt. Mom decided to stay the night and help me pack some more boxes and start cleaning the house as we moved things to the lot. She helped out so much!



We got all the boxes moved into the storage trailer and most of Alan's outside stuff.

A Long Day's Job

Wednesday we "invited" some friends and family to help move the run-in sheds and clean out the camper. They really got a work out and we're so grateful.



Alan had the little run-in ready to go before most people arrived. He decided to take that one as a whole unit and that worked out great. Our neighbors across the street came out and helped when they saw him working. They have been so incredibly helpful during this whole move, coming over when they see us outside doing something to see if they can help, we'll really miss them! We drove down without any mishaps and got the first one unloaded.



My friend, Cyndi, and daughter, Amber, stayed and helped me clean the camper while the rest of the gang went back to get the big run-in. That one had to be disassembled to be moved, so was quite a chore. It was very heavy and took two trips. The roof had to come seperately. It all got down there in one piece though. It got very hot and we decided to quit for the day.



We had our first official visitor though! Leigh stopped by go check out the new digs and see how things were going. It was nice to sit and talk a bit and get some support from an experienced recently moved and building their own farm person!

Countdown-Last Week

Somehow Alan managed to pick the week before moving as a vacation week back in January! He didn't have to go back to work until the Tuesday after we moved. Usually his vacations are very rainy, most of the guys at the mill check to see what weeks he takes, just so they can avoid taking the same weeks! We lucked out this time though.



We have the camper on the lot, a nice man at a local camper dealer stopped by and picked Alan up at 6:00 am and they were back with the camper by 10:30. Alan called and told me when they were getting close so I could take down the cable and be there. By the time I got the girls in the car, 20 minutes had gone by. I decided to take my little short cut that never works out for Alan! When I pulled back onto the main route halfway there, I looked in the rearview and see the truck and camper coming up behind me! I ended up beating them through a light and another car got between us, so I did make it to the land before them, and they hadn't even noticed we were in front of them. It was weird how that worked out.



So the camper got positioned and set up. When we want to move it to hook it to the sewer and water line, he will come back and do that for us too. Alan really enjoyed talking to the driver and he was very helpful.



We also had the storage trailer delivered. I wasn't there for that, but Alan ended up pulling the semi out of the mud and we had to put it a different spot than we had picked. It will work out fine though, gotta love our truck!



So next we move the run-in sheds. Its starting to feel like things are coming together!

Toxic Plants

So many trees and plants have started growing on the land since we first saw it! Some trees and bushes are getting quite big. I had to go and look at the different plants to see if we'd have a problem with toxicity to horses. I about had a heart attack over one plant:




All I could find on line that looked like this was the WATER HEMLOCK! One of the deadliest plants in N. America! Then I found these Pin Cherries, all over the place, and also toxic, not even goats can eat them!




And I think these are Red Maple, also toxic to horses! So much for my plans to let the horses clear the land.



I dropped samples of the first plant and the Pin Cherry off at the Pine Tree Aboritium, we pass it on the way to Pittston. The aborist wasn't in his office, so I left my number and he called about an hour later and said that the trees are indeed Pin Cherry, but the other plant was Bristly Sarsparilla, which isn't toxic and actually a beneficial root, and you can make soda from it too! You can tell because the stalks are prickly and the flower clusters are shaped like a ball, the Water Hemlock has flatter shaped clusters, more like a Queen Anne's Lace. Now I just have to find out about the maples, they aren't as plentiful as the Pin Cherry, which are EVERYWHERE! At least they should be easier to pull up than the Sarsparilla plants. We got a handy dandy bush grubber from Northern Tool



We'll be doing all that on Wednesday I think, thats when we're planning to move the run-ins.

Many uses for a Tractor

The neighbor wanted our swingset for their grandson and when they came to get it, Alan decided to deliver it for them!

They Always Know

Poor Chase has been aware that something is up, he's been clingy and not wanting to stay by himself when we leave. He's never had a problem with that before! When we packed up the garage yesterday, he climbed onto the trailer and onto the bottom shelf of Alan's workbench, all packed up and ready to go, LOL!

New Digs

So we have been "going with the flow" trying to figure out the best plan for temporary housing. Nothing has seemed just right though. The 30' camper we looked at was nice, but so cramped feeling. The yurts were nice too, but would be pretty expensive by the time you build the platform, buy the yurt and then have to put in kitchen, bath, etc. Plus it takes 4-8 weeks to get one delivered. If we can't afford to build a house, then the yurts would be a good alternative home for a few years. But we need something quickly. The used ones just weren't working out either. Mobile homes have been disgusting and expensive so far.

On Monday, I had an overwhelming urge to call my good friend Pat, who lives in ELLSWORTH and built their own house when they moved there. I asked her what they had done while building and they had gone the camper route. She advised getting one with slide outs though, said it makes a big difference room wise. So we decided to revisit the camper option. We looked in Uncle Henry's and found this:

45 ft 5th wheel travel trailer. Custom designed in 2002 for use in Acadia National Park. Perfect for camp or temporary housing. Well - maintained, Very clean. Used seasonally as employee kitchen, dining hall, laundry, assistant manager's sleeping quarters. One bdrm. w/2 single beds incl. innerspring mattresses Large Bathroom w/full sized toilet and shower. Kitchen w/dbl sink, full sz. gas range, full sz. dishwasher, lg. side by side refrigerator. Laundry w/full sz. washer and dryer Large living \ dining space w/two 10 ft slides. Ample cabinets for storage Two air conditioners, furnace, on - demand hot water heater, antenna, also wired for cable. New cost over thirty k dollars. A steal at $12,500 Delivery Available-Details-Seal Harbor, ME

So we immediately called and made an appointment to go see it. The ad says its in Seal Harbor, Maine, on Mount Desert Island, but it was really in ELLSWORTH! As we were driving up to go see it, I was wondering if it was the right thing for us, and as we passed our Credit Union, the time on the digital clock was 11:11! The LOA group says to pay attention to what you're doing when you notice double numbers, patterns, etc and its usually a sign you're on the right track. So I quit wondering.

When I read the description of the campers (there were two, one had been customized into a bunk house), the thought crossed my mind that these may be the employee housing for the stables in Acadia. I had read where they had changed hands this year. Sure enough, we got talking and the owner had started the stables and these were employee housing campers. We all agreed we could live in the camper comfortably and bought it.

I have been waiting for the right solution to present itself and this seems like the one. Its been a bit nerve wracking having faith instead of a plan, but I felt things would work out, although it was getting a bit close to moving time not to have a firm plan, LOL! Things are all falling into place and we should be on our property in 12 days. Oh yeah, the buyers want to close a day earlier, the 20th instead of the 21st. Maybe that will work out best, we're still deciding.

Past Revisited

Photos from May 1982, my sister-in-laws came for a visit!



Today is my birthday and I received a phone call from my youngest son wishing me a Happy Birthday! It was great to hear from him, and he had some news. He is in the Air Force and is stationed in Georgia right now. He has orders to go to ENGLAND! He'll be stationed there 2 years! I'm so excited. We spent 3 years there in 1980-83 and absolutely loved it. Two of my boys were born there and I've always wanted to go back and visit. I'm going to start saving my pennies and getting my passport!

Where Have all the People Gone?

Well, so far, relocating the horses is proving to be much easier than relocating ourselves! We have the two portable run-ins and the lumber ready for the new one, fence posts ready to go and they'll have plenty to munch on! Their transition to the land should be quite a bit easier to manage than ours.

We've looked at used mobile homes. We've been to 4 dealers so far and found one we would live in! Its $26,000.00 plus it would have to be moved and set up. The others ranged from $13,000.00 to $20,000.00 and all but one of those I would seriously not let my dog live in! The one I find liveable, Alan does not, so its not my pickyness holding us up, LOL! We looked at the camper, and it is in nice shape, but those close a quarters for an extended period, and then having to rent something different in the winter seems too complicated.

Bring in the yurt! We are going to get the house plans drawn up today, and get an estimate on materials. Since we want to do this move and come out of it financially free from a mortgage, it will probably take at least a year. So far, the most comfortable, economical and lets face it, fun (at least for a while) solution, seems to be a yurt. I know they resell quickly and are moveable. So a trip to NH to White Mountain Yurts is in order I believe. We are going to check out the yurt at Friend's Folly Farm in Monmouth, they got their Yarn Yurt from WMY. We stayed in a small yurt when we went to Grand Manan Island last year, and it was one of our best vacations there! More yurt info on this and many other sites.

Clary Lake Pony Club Lessons

Photos from May 17, Amber was sick so Macy borrowed Toby


The girls are doing a great job at their riding lessons with the Pony Club. We've had 4 so far I believe, 2 with Rachael and 2 with Ivy. They like our ponies and the girls and ponies are progressing quickly with the extra weekly lessons at our house. I think both Angel and Maya will be suitable for the girls to compete on, we just needed some consistant work and guidance! I'm still hoping FlyAway will be rideable someday, but have started looking for a horse that Alan and I can both ride right now. We need 4 rideable horses anyways, since we all enjoy trail riding together.

Photos from May 31, 2009