The chickens are doing well. Here they are cuddling in the sunshine.

James and Heather's home building is coming right along. Here they are working on their side wall before raising it.

Dana is painting the bottom side of the OSB which will allow for moisture protection in our quansit hut; the board is part of the floor.

Our posts set strong in the cement and I got up some of our joists. However, because of a series of mistakes in my measurements and calculations, I have a catty-wampus effect going on. James, the builder, helped me figure out a way to cut my OSB to adjust. But I may end up having to dissassemble the whole thing and start over :-(

New Building Site

We basically chose the only dry place available at the end of the easement. There was plenty of road base to dig through, but there was no water coming up into our holes. We actually prefer this place to the other site. Our dwelling would have been sinking in the mire had the weather been good and we continued our building. We may use the previous site as our first garden spot.

Dana carrying a 6ft 4x4.

Me mixing ready mix with a grub hoe.

A Snowy Surprise

Upon arriving, we were surprised to see we had four inches of snow. An hour an a half before, we were in Jefferson City which had no snow.

Treking down the 1/4 mile drive with wheel barrow.

Snow, no big deal, we were prepared. Just move the tarp and snow right?

Wrong! The snow melt was too much. It made our site soft and gushy. Still, I was determined to build on this site. So I changed from concrete blocks to cemented posts. I bought a post hole digger, 4x4s, and ready mix.

You are looking at about a 2 foot deep hole. Basically, we found a good site not for building but for digging a well. Needless to say, Dana and I were very discouraged.

Chickens

We were given chickens by a gracious friend. They are working out quite nicely. It took them a little while to acclimate to their new sorroundings, but saw them perk up after they began feasting on worms. It was a little tricky trying to round up the rooster, who would not have it. Finally, after enlisting the help of Dana, we were able to chase the rooster into the camp fire, which disoriented the cock enough for me to grab him. (The rooster recovered well, just a little walk on hot coles).

One of the hens would not leave the truck, so here I am trying to coax her out with a little granola bar crumbs.For this hen we are considering the name McNugget.

This hen we may name Mrs Strips.

Caught the rooster about to leave. The rooster we may name Colonel.

Brush Clearing

I cut this log into movable pieces with that hand axe on the ground.

Dana was a tremendous help:-)

Overall, it was an enjoyable experience.

Our Building Site

Before

After

All In A Day's Work

The Day Ended Well

Before

and

After

Behold, Our Cistern!

While we had kept wind factor in consideration while constructing El Tent; we did not consider the weight of rain water collection.

We did manage, however, to develop an excellent rain water collection system.

James and Heather at Work

James and his wife were trying to errect the 10' x 30' tent as quickly as possible to beat the impending rain.

Behold, Our Camp!

Above is a tent we constructed (mostly Jame's effort). It is composed of metal conduit pipe and regular tarp. Rocks are piled on the end of the flaps to keep the wind from getting a hold.

Got Stuck

We were all exited to get things started at the property. We unloaded a tent at the bottom with a Toyota pickup and drove it back out to get some more things from the trailer. That is when the truck got stuck in the mud. One spot on our road has a little ground water and its always soft. This will prevent us from using the truck, especially when it is raining.

After breathing campfire smoke, seeing all the spiders, sleeping in cars, and digging after dark, we have revised our plans quite a bit. We are now looking for housing to rent in nearby towns while gradually moving onto the property.

The lord has blessed us with some chickens a family has said they will give us. We will be constructing a small coop for them on the property. Including a cock and some hens, we hope to expand our brood and have enough beaks to eat our tick and spider population.

We're Going Camping, Permanately!

Have you ever gone camping without running water and toilets? I have only done so for about 5 days at a time. After those five days were up, we were happy to be back in civilization. Well, primitive style camping is essentially what we'll be doing for a little while. We will be moving out onto the 5 acres we purchased the 1st of April. Right now, there is no electricity or water or sewer.

This wasn't our original plan, but I think God had this planned all along. Once I gave up my job in Jefferson City, we had to make some decisions and the next thing you know, BAM; we're pioneers.

It's not as bad as it sounds. We'll have things one wouldn't normally have when camping, sush as: earth closets(portable dirt toilets), timber rights(we can cut down the trees), mineral rights(we can move rocks), and the ability to build whatever we want. Oh, and we hope to drill a well soon; with a hand-pump on it.

We're hoping to live in a quasi-quansit-greenhouse-type-cabin-tent. It sounds confusing, but look at the two pictures below and try to put them together in your mind:

-Matt

OUR FARM BY: BRITTANY

While playing a game of Scrabble, Brittany drew up our mini farm layout. The building should go a lot smoother now that we know what it's going to look like.

A RECIPE FROM OUR FRIEND BRITTANY

Fancy Egg Scramble

1 c diced ham or sausage
¼ c chopped onion
3 Tbsp butter
12 beaten eggs
1 3 oz can mushrooms
1 recie cheese sauce
½ c melted butter
2  c softened bread crumbs


In a large skillet cook ham and onions in 3 Tbsp butter until onion is tender. Add eggs and scramble until firm (not overdone). Fold mushrooms and eggs into cheese sauce. Turn into a baking dish. Combine melted butter and bread crumbs. Sprinkle over the top of the casserole. Cover and chill. Bake in 350 oven for 30 minutes.


Cheese Sauce:
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp flour
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
2 c milk
1 c cheese

OUR FRIENDS RENAE & NICK

OUR FRIENDS HERE IN MISSOURI

BrandonBrittany, Nick,Bradey and Renae

PRAYER REQUEST

Please be praying for Matt to heal from a painful stomach ailment with his gal bladder. It was declared awhile back that his gal bladder was filled with stones. The pain went away for awhile; but has recently returned. Thank you for your prayers
-Dana

ENCOURAGEMENT THROUGH THE SCRIPTURES

Yesterday in our home fellowship meeting I was encouraged through a message on the subject of mockery. Here are the scripture that stood out to me:

2 Kings 2:19-25 speaks about some youth who mocked Elisha for healing some bad water, and then we see the consequences of their mockery as Elisha turned and pronounced a curse on them and two female cubs came out of the woods and mauled them ( v 23 and 24).

Proverbs 19:29 Judgements are prepared for scoffers, and beatings for the back of fools

These verses were convicting to my heart, causing me to realize that I have been guilty of mocking God in the things I've had difficulty understanding as of lately. The Lords loving rebuke through the hearing the word brought to my attention my pride and arrogance against him when I make fun of what I don't understand. I take comfort that what is impossible for men is possible with God i.e. all things!
May you all have a blessed and enouraging evening Amen!
-Dana

PIE CRUST SECRETS

Hi again!
I was pretty excited to come across these 4 tips for making great pies, and thought I would pass them along to ya'll.

1. Handle pie crust mix as little as possible the more you handle the dough the less flaky it will be.
2. Use only enough water to hold the crust together. Too much water will make the crust tough. The water should always be ice cold.
3. To prevent the bottom crust from becoming too soggy, beat lightly with a fork, a mixture of 1 Tbsp egg white and 1 Tbsp of cold water. Brush lightly over unbaked bottom crust. As your crust begins to bake it will set, sealing the bottom crust and preventing sogginess.
4. For a beautiful flaky crust, brush the top of the crust with softened butter. Over the butter sprinkle flour very lightly and drizzle a couple teaspoons of milk or cream over this and blend together with a pastry brush to form a paste like glaze. It will brown beautifully.

MORE ON WOODFIRE COOKING

Hi girls!
Just thought I would write on a few basics to start wood fire cooking. I would say first that it is critical to know how to regulate your heat, so that you don't burn your food. It's been said to watch the temperature of the pan rather than the heat source, i.e. being the fire inside. To allow yourself the ease of this, you can benefit by purchasing 3 different thermometers, one for each the stovestock, stove top, and inside the dutch oven; all of which are designed differently for a different purpose. They will register acurately only when in contact with the proper hot surface. You may find each of these thermometers at you local coal stove store, or hardware store. The stove stack thermometer is important to tell when the stove is getting dangerously hot. It will be beneficial for you to know just how hot your oven temperature is inside. It's been said that when the outside of the oven pot lid (a key place for your oven thermometer) reads 175 then the inside of the dutch oven is 400 degrees.
   Well ladies I am signing off for now... stay tuned for more on Woodfire cooking tips.
-Dana