Since my last blog, in March, my health took a turn for the worse at the end of May, when I got Shingles! It was horrible and I was in extreme pain for quite awhile! Anything that wasn't needed for survival basically fell to the wayside! A lot has happened since then, though, and it's time for an update!
It has been a hard year with lots of things going on. We have been trying very hard to be excited about all of the possibilities we have with our blank canvas (literally). However, I especially, find myself looking back and wondering how things would be different if we had been able to stay on our first farmette, or if we had been able to take over my in-laws' farm. Both options passed us by, because we simply didn't know a way to stay in those houses while I was dealing with mold illness. If I had known then what I know now, we may have been able to make one of those places work. This is where we are though, and there have been a lot of exciting things happening around here!
One thing we have found out the hard way, though, is that it's really difficult to start completely from scratch with new buildings and outbuildings. Not to mention expensive! With that said, Matt had been planning, all summer, to take down a small barn from a neighbor's property, to put up on our property. It wasn't until October, when I planned a work day with friends/family, that we made a dent on that project! As of last week we finally have all of the bits and pieces, from the shed, on our property! Matt has ordered material, and is hoping to work on the shed during his "slow" season, which is upon us. We have entered into our "famine" part of the year, where there is no work, so there is no pay! This is a time Matt tries to focus on home projects as much as possible.
Matt did get one major project done this summer! He built a new entryway off the back of the hallway. This was at my request so that we aren't dragging dirt and snow into the house, and to create more space in the hallway. There was also firewood to collect, cars to repair, and countless other little things that needed to be done. I'm really hoping we have a usable barn by next summer!
It seems there is never an end to projects. As soon as one ends, another is waiting for you! While Matt has been doing a lot of fixing and building, I have been doing a lot of organizing. This Fall I moved from mostly online classes, for the girls, to all book-based. That means I am doing ALL of the teaching myself! Since we homeschool through an online charter school (so we can receive Special Education assistance, for one of our daughters, on the Spectrum) we choose our curriculum from what they have to offer. I chose a different curriculum for both girls. There were A LOT of books to unpack, and spaces to clear, to find room for all of the books! I did it, though, and we are already 12 weeks into the school year! Thanksgiving break was very welcomed by all of us! Back to the grind tomorrow and more on this in my next post!
One thing that has been a HUGE change and help, since last winter, is the insulation Matt put in the roof of the big yurt. He also replaced the pellet stove with an indoor, wood burning stove. We have been staying so comfortable! We are expected to hit 0 degrees tonight, so I am curious to see how it feels, in the house, tomorrow morning. Another awesome thing about a wood burning stove is that it requires NO electricity, AND it is QUIET!!!!
Although the blogs have been few and far between, there has been slow and steady progress on our yurt homestead! I hope to share more of our progress with you as time permits. As always, questions about our yurt homestead journey are welcome!
Our wood burning stove. My dad bought this, for us, off of an online auction site. We paid $24 for the stove, and my dad (a certified welder) welded the cracks, and repainted the stove! The cost of the chimney is another story! It was almost $1000 new! We are planning to tile the cement board eventually!
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