New poured driveway + a boatload of rain = disaster

Yesterday, the kids and I went by the house to check on things.  We've had a few issues that we've been dealing with (ahem….like the painters leaving the front door wide open and windows open on the night we had a major rain storm.  Not cool, man).  Anyway, coming off of that glorious moment I thought it would be best to check on the state of things at the house.

They were pouring our driveway and the kids and I watched for a little while.  Then we climbed in our van and headed off.  Not 15 seconds from the house my husband called to say those 6 dreaded words…."you are about to get pounded."

Rain.

I'm talking a mountain of rain, people.  We probably got 3 + inches of rain yesterday.  Ugh.  Love it for the farm and garden.  Hate it because the driveway was ruined.

Seriously?!

They were saying a 15% chance of rain yesterday.  15%.  And that amount equalled disaster for our driveway.

Oh heavens, just get me through these next 24 days….

Well, I'm not gonna lie to ya….

Farming is hard.  I mean H.A.R.D. people.  Farmers are either passionate or crazy.  And I'm going with a little bit of both.

It takes a passionate person to drag themselves out day after day to be covered in dirt and sweat to fight what seems to be a losing battle against the weeds this year.  But it also takes a crazy person to go home at night with muscles sore and so tired you really don't want to climb the stairs to bed, and then go searching on craigslist for chickens because you don't have enough to deal with right now.

Passionate or crazy?

It takes a passionate person to love the land so much to work it and nourish it instead of fighting it with pesticides and chemicals.  And sometimes that working with it, means pulling by hand weed after weed after weed.  And with those cramped up hands, it also takes a crazy person to ask her husband if we should purchase 214 bales of hay to help cover those weeds.  And yes, she would have to carry each one to the garden.

Passionate or crazy?

It takes a passionate person to almost weep after she has clipped one of her pepper plants with the trimmer.  A plant that she grew in February from a seed.  And then it takes a crazy person, to turn and yell at all of the weeds in the garden at the top of her lungs.  "Ahhhhh……..blasted weeds."

It's most definitely a little bit of both.

I'm not gonna lie to ya.  It is hard.  Today was not a banner day for me.  The weeds seem to be winning.  But let me tell ya something.  I am just crazy enough, to get up tomorrow and fight again.

Game on, weeds.

War room….

Can't wait for this to come out.  The power of prayer, people.  When God is on your side….well, you just better get out of the way.

I believe in it.  Prayer.  With all my heart.

38 days away….

We have rounded the last bend.  I see the finish line.  We are 38 days away from getting into our house.  Maybe sooner.

Let me hear ya say….Yay!

This farmhouse has been a REALLY long time coming.  We looked for more than probably 2 years for a piece of land with a house that could meet our needs.  With nothing coming up.  Nope.  Nada.

Then, taking a chance on a small farm with a run down farmhouse already on it, we dove right in.

The farm was a mess.  Trees so overgrown you couldn't see the base of them.  Apple trees with dead branches that were oh, so neglected.  A barn….well, let's just not go there shall we.  Okay, because I love and hate that thing.  Let's talk about it.  It's leaning….a little.  Alright, the floor inside leans A LOT.  We have a fox that lives in it. It desperately needs a new roof.  It smells funny.  And not like funny ha, ha.  But funny weird.  Ah….but it's a barn with history.  It dates back to the early 1900's.  They just don't make them like that anymore.  And if they did I just couldn't afford to have it built.

So the barn is staying.  Of course, it's surrounded by the evil plant poison ivy but I'm working on eradicating that one.

Anyway…

This farm pulled at my heart.  This overgrown, mountain amount of work, crazy idea of a farm became ours.  And now.

We are almost done.  Building our dream home.

The painters have been there for the past couple of weeks.  And when you hold your breath you can go through the house and see all of the beautiful staining they have done.  I've tried a couple of times to take pictures of the inside but everything now has a thin plastic sheet on it.  So it's hard to tell anything.  The ceilings are getting painted now.  And I guess the last thing is the wall color.

The flooring people will soon follow, alongside the tilers and about every other person who has to come in at the last minute.

Today I had to decide on the driveway and how it was to come into the property.  I'm sure the blank look on my face said it all to my contractor.  And then to add fuel to the fire, he asked me about my walkway from the front porch to the driveway.

Bang, bang, bang….head hitting the wall.  I'm beginning to feel myself slowly start to shut down.  My brain cells can no longer function at this magnitude.  There is a limit to my decision-making.

And….I….am….reaching…..it.

38 days….5 hours…..42 minutes…...36, 35, 34….seconds.  Of not ever having to make a decision where a light plug, toilet, door frame, driveway or anything else goes.

Oh, wait.  I have to unpack all of the boxes we move into the house.  Ugh….

If anybody needs me….I'll be up in my room in a fetal position.

Freak of nature….

We are back now from a lovely vacation.  Never long enough, of course.  And never enough rest time.  But rest is overrated for farmers.  And farm work was screaming our name when we got home.

We got back into the swing of things rather quickly.  My husband went to work mowing, and mowing and more mowing.  Things can get away from you quickly on six acres if you are away for a week.

And then….he broke the mower blade.  Again.

The guys at the John Deere dealership know our farm by heart I believe.  To his defense though, it is incredibly hard to mow around a construction site.  I have hit so many things I've lost count.

I was trimming around the farm and got myself into some poison ivy.  Again.  We are quite the pair aren't we?  I've already had it once this year so I've been quite diligent on watching out for it, but this stuff must have been pretty well hidden.  Because I am right back where I started again.

But that's not the worst part.  Nope.

This time I have a line of it across my forehead.  If I wasn't a freak of nature before, then let's just put a tiara on it that screams….yes, I have no clue what I'm doing farming.

A time to refresh….

Presently, we are in Florida.  We needed a break.  A vacation.  A time to get away from the farm.  From our swim practices.  From our daily grind.

A time to refresh.

Now I am the first to admit that you probably shouldn't leave while building a home when you're less than 50 days from getting in.  Truth be told, I was on the phone with one of the tile installers while we waited to get onto a Minions ride in Orlando.  I'm sure the Gru in the background was quite annoying to hear over and over to them.  But decisions had to be made.  And our house waits on no Minion.

So we threw caution to the wind and headed south.  Okay, technically we had this vacation planned for a couple of months but we worked hard at the farm right up until the night before we were to leave to be able to go.  Still, storms came and the grass was too wet to mow in some places on time and my corn got flattened.  Weeds didn't get all well,….weeded.  The apples needed to be tended.  But we left.

We missed our family vacation last year and by golly, we weren't gonna miss it this year.  We love vacations.  Love traveling, love seeing new places and love fighting…ahem, I mean spending time together.

So here we are in Florida.  The first few days we went to Universal Studios in Orlando.  That, my friends, is a world all unto itself.  Unless you have read the Harry Potter books or seen the movie you will be clueless there.  Like me.  I thought they were speaking in English but…..maybe not.  There were wizards and wands and a man with no nose.  Poor thing.  But the kids have had a blast.

We are now on the back half of our vacation.  We rented a house on Anna Maria Island in Florida.  It's just a smaller island near St. Petersburg.  We lucked out and got a house about a 2 minute walk from the beach.

Now, it's time for Momma and Daddy to relaaaaxxxxxx……….ahhhh.  Plus down here, I know what people are saying.

And that was very helpful at the doughnut shop this morning.