Hard at Work on Mission Road Homestead!

This will be a catch up post. Been so busy lately getting our homestead started that I just haven't had a lot of internet time. The kids are still homeschooling (math only) as we got a little behind after our move last fall. We're almost caught up! I'm really looking forward to a bit of a break before we start up again in Sept. Thought I'd begin this post with pics of our garden. I started tilling this spring and before I knew it, I think I might have tilled under a 1/4 acre garden plot. Oh boy! I've got my work cut out for me!

 This is what the garden looks like as of July 17th. I got a lot of stuff in really late for this area, but things are finally taking off! Ate our first peas yesterday and we're getting lots of lettuce, spinach, kale, yellow squash and zucchini. The kids each have their own garden plot that they are completely responsible for. It has been good for them.

Those lazy days of summer! Michael refurbished this awesome swing that we almost burned when we first saw it laying in pieces in the shed. Turns out it was made of redwood. I absolutely love doing my prayer time on this swing in the mornings before the kids get up. So peaceful. Josiah planted a sunflower shade around the back of it and they are now about two feet high (not pictured).

We have done so much re-seeding around here and we have lots more to go. We've all worked very hard to get grass growing over all the places we've disturbed.

Michael took out these old dead/half-dead shrubs along part of our property and then we reseeded the whole area.

Hailey is enjoying her kitty, Cuddles. He's been such a sweet addition to the family.

He's starting to become and indoor/outdoor cat. Getting spoiled rotten already as you can tell by this pic. He really likes the window seat. I do a lot more vacuuming these days!

After weeks of hard work, Michael finally has power to his shop! We had to dig over 200 ft, to get from the power box to the shop. Michael used a trencher. It was a lot of work to cover it all back up and seed. Of course it had to run right through the middle of our yard. So yard still looks bad as it is trying to recover from being disturbed.

The bench/flower barrels came with the property. These flowers are now spilling over and gorgeous.

We flew kites on our property for Mother's Day. So fun having a place big enough to do this. We got them waaaaayyyy up there, too!

Michael got me this stainless steel teapot to go with our retro kitchen. Why fight it? I'm just going with it. We've also got a 1972 camper we're restoring, too. Can't seem to get away from the 70's! I'll post pics of that in a future post (I hope).

Josiah and our dear friend and fellow Celt, Billy Carroll, sold swords and homemade soap at the Prosser, WA Scottish Festival. So neat to see Josiah in his element. Josiah said he'd already sold all of his soap by noon. He was really excited and encouraged! A big thanks to Billy, for giving him the opportunity to work with him, even though Josiah is only 10 years old. Billy is a super mentor! Billy will also be at the Celtic Society of Eastern Oregon and La Grande Celtic Festival this year, too. And Josiah will be selling soap at our clan tent (Clan Lamont).

Josiah made this sign as one of his writing assignments. I think this would be a good start-up business for this entrepreneurial-minded kid. Anything he makes on the soap (after expenses and tithes) gets re-invested into another business (4-H animals, honey-bees, etc). Hoping this will teach him some real life skills.

Last but not least, here is an engagement pic of Michael and I nineteen years ago. We celebrated our anniversary in June. Thought you might get a kick out of this old photo. 

Hope you are all having an awesome summer! I hope to have time to visit your blogs soon, that is in-between weeding, watering, harvesting, homeschooling and most importantly PLAYING. 

God Bless,

Jackie