I've missed you guys!

If you’ve been following along on Facebook you’ll have an idea of how the last six months have gone. Most of the county we’re from burned last July, about the time I went on hiatus. AJ spent the summer helping with fire clean up. Hundreds of homes were lost but many we thought burned survived the fire. In spite of the huge loss suffered by so many, they came together to take care of each other in a true show of small town community.

Last summer a lot of other things besides the fire were going on. Through a free load of hay we discovered some like minded folks just down the road. Since then we’ve butchered poultry and rooted the Seahawks on together. They’ve quickly became great friends. We had a successful garden that gave us lots of tomato sauce, salsa, and pesto to put up. This fall we raised a batch of Cornish cross and a big batch of flock replacements.

Loosing our Anatolian, Cal, in November was a major blow. I still look for her in the dog house she’s buried under and every time I open the door I listen for the thump of her tail. I think I see her out in the field and I think I hear her at night. Sadly she’s gone on beyond my call.

We plan to find another Anatolian after we move in June. Yes, you read that right! In June I will finally be done with five long years of college and I’ll have a Bachelors of Arts and Sciences from The Evergreen State College. I’m sad to be leaving the community we’ve created here but I am so ready to be back home. I’m excited to be in the shadow of my mountains with the snow, the blistering heat, the dust and the sunshine.

Our long term plan is to buy my grandparents property. This place was essentially my childhood home. It’s full of memories and surrounded by property owned by friends and family. Unfortunately, it’s located in a valley that was hit hard by the fire. Most of the homes there burned and a cloud of sorrow has settled over the folks that have stuck it out. It’s not the same as it was when I lived there as a child. I hope that our presence can start the healing process for the land as well as the people. We’re still in the process of working out the details so I can’t share a lot right now. Things are slowly falling in place.
We’ll be carting all our earthy belonging back home one trip at a time. I’m sure it’ll be an intense month full of crammed car rides, disgruntled animals and frantic cleaning. Oh, boy doesn’t that sounds like fun.<insert sarcastic eye roll> but, it’s going to be worth it. We have a new and exciting adventure awaiting us.
I bet you’ve noticed the changes around here; we are playing in the big leagues now! I’ve been alternating between cursing the WordPress gods and making offerings. I’m about to run out of unblemished lambs. It might not look like much, but behind the scenes a mountainous glacier of work went into getting this site running and it’s far from my idea of perfect right now. If you notice anything wonky or have any problems please let me know so I can fix it! Also, you’ll notice continuing organization and format changes. Let me know if you think they are good changes or not. I’m excited to be back to blogging full time. Just piddle on the floor excited! I’ve got loads of posts just waiting for their chance to get published.
It’s been a roller coaster ride, good and bad all smashed up together these past months. This is the beginning of something good!
Kindest regards,
Emily