Tombstone Underground

 ”Every gardener knows that under the cloak of winter lies a miracle … a seed waiting to sprout, a bulb opening to the light, a bud straining to unfurl.  And the anticipation nurtures our dream.”
                              -  Barbara Winkler

This winter we have felt a lot like that seed waiting to sprout. Lots of stuff going on under the surface, nothing showing yet but Big Stuff coming down the pike. 

We are finishing up with Project Hoarders-Springdale and we have now hauled over 2 tons of garbage out of there, not counting the stuff we sent to the thrift store to save on dump fees and the land fill and have redone all the plumbing in the kitchen and to the bathroom. We will be listing it with a Real Estate agent soon. We have decided to not rent it out again, managing that property even with a property manager is too much work and too expensive. Keep your eyes peeled for a steal of a deal on rural waterfront property in North Eastern WA.

In the mean time, we have put an offer in on a small piece of property in town in Ellensburg. It’s on 2.3 acres with Mercer Creek running down it’s west border. It’s got an old farm house on it that has had the same owners pretty much since it existed (I think that speaks well of it). It’s only 3 blocks north of Central and should be a good place for us to breath and grow. Chris really needs to use this time to devote to learning and perfecting his trade as he really enjoys being an electrician, and with him commuting 45 min each way to Yakima daily and me commuting to Seattle biweekly, large farm projects will have to wait. So this little plot will hopefully give us enough room for a decent flock of chickens and maybe some goats next year.  We are all looking forward to our morning coffee by the creek this summer!

And last but not least the biggest news of all, not only will the new house be home to new chickens and goats but Lou is getting a new sibling. Come August our little group of 3 will grow to four.  We hope to deliver at home again, however this is proving quite challenging in Ellensburg. Despite all the alternative health care choice around here, midwifery doesn’t seem to available. I’ve been putting calls out all across the state and hope to hear some encouraging responses in the next week or two. If any of you know of somebody please pass along my info.

Since our last post we all got to spend a lovely Christmas on Mercer Island. Lou had a great time this year, discovering all of mom’s Christmas dolls and dancing to the “Holly Jolly Santa” that goes off  every time you walk by it.

Chris and I both came down with whatever nasty GI bug is making it’s way around the northwest but were both recovered enough to enjoy a quick trip up to Leavenworth to finally find some snow before Chris had to head back to work. We had a great time eating sausage, listening to live accordion music and playing in the snow. Lou was really jealous of the kids sledding on the hill next to the pergola, so next time we go, we’ll be sure to bring our sled along. Also we discovered a great little butcher shop called Cured. The shop is filled with delicious sausages and some amazing bacon, worth a stop if you are in Leavenworth.

After the horses, we made wrapping paper for xmas presents. Lou had a blast and the mess wasn’t really that bad, thank goodness for laminate floors and washable paint.

Our Cowboy friend is out of town this week, but said we could go over and give all the four footed critters a pat and treat if we wanted. So today Lou and I headed over with gifts of carrots for the horses and cookies for the dogs. We gave the each of the horses a good hug and Louie climbed on all three, bare back, I tell ya that girl was meant to be on a horse ;). We threw sticks for the dogs until our hands were frozen and then headed home to all the creatures at our house.  It was another absolutely beautiful day, I’m so glad I live here.

Grandpa Rod came through Ellensburg and stayed in a hotel with a pool. Louie and I got to go swimming! I think we may have to sign up for swim lessons, she had a blast!

Last night we picked out our little tree, and after Lou went to bed “we” put it up. It was a success, however in the morning it lasted about 5 minutes before Lou took off most of the ornaments she could reach and decorated her donkey instead.

    We are halfway through the cleanup at Tombstone, and we have it listed for rent again. I’m hoping one more weekend of hard labor and perhaps a volunteer or two (hint, hint) and we will be ready for someone to move in. It is amazing what a bunch of people, a ton of elbow grease and bleach can accomplish.
    We have hauled over a ton of stuff to the dump and still have more in the shop. We have replaced the toilet seat, scrubbed, located the floor, scrubbed, conquered the smell of cat pee, relocated the cat they abandoned, scrubbed, fixed one of the plumbing disasters, cleaned up the water damage it left, laid laminate in two areas of the house, scrubbed, cleaned the oven, cleaned the fridge and… salvaged the composting toilet. 
    The final task wasn’t one either of us was looking forward to but given my line of work, it seemed fitting that that task be mine. I “borrowed” a plastic isolation gown from work, double gloved with heavy duty cleaning gloves and had a good laugh. As I was getting suited up, what came on the radio but “Eye of the tiger” right then I knew I could do it.  The only detail that I will share with you is this little public service message: Baby wipes don’t compost. When I came back into the kitchen after stripping off all my gear to hear “It’s all gonna be alright” sometimes I love the radio.
    This project (Tombstone 2008-now) has been such an amazing experience. Chris and I have felt so much support over the last few years, not only in getting the farm to where it was 12 months ago, but as we were scooping up garbage and cat S*(& by the armful. The first weekend we had at least five other people helping us, other neighbors offered a place for us to stay, fed us a delicious home cooked meal and listened to us vent, and family was watching Lou so she wasn’t walking through the whole mess, amazing. Given this season of gratitude, I just want to say thanks, to all of you who have participated in this journey, whether it be with muscle, skills, time, or kind thoughts and words. We wouldn’t be here without you, thank you, thank you, thank you.

I HAD a dream, and this is what is left.

you get the idea, for a more complete experience of my weekend feel free to check out this video.

http://youtu.be/Dz6Sq4UF49Q

“Come mommy goat”

Lunch goat style

Over that last two months we’ve been hanging out with goats, riding horses, putting up produce, enjoying our last few days of summer, and of course working. Chris is still with Evans Electric in Yakima working on all kinds of neat projects with big tools and wires and names, and I’m still at the VA in Seattle.  As you know our camera has been an issue, but it seems to be back so here are some pictures from today.

Lou and I had the privilege of supervising a turkey harvest at our friends farm in Manastash Canyon. The idea was to help, but Lou was really much more interested in the goats, so we really weren’t to helpful. On our last visit, one of the chickens tasted Lou’s doll and she’s still deciding if she’s going to forgive chickens as a species. The turkey harvest didn’t bother her, Poncho, a two year old Angus steer giving her a kiss didn’t bother her, being herded by a bunch of goats didn’t bother her, but a chicken getting within an arms length was not OK.

Halloween 2011 “The Lou-Owl”

Ok I’m two months behind. It kind of seems overwhelming to catch up, but I’ll work on it over the next few days. As usual life has been full. In the last few weeks we found out our tenants in Springdale are moving out and Lou turned two! Fortunately we are all healthy and moving forward in our daily adventure. 

I finally got my camera back so hopefully I’ll be better about updates, but until then Kelsi put a nice entry together on Lou’s birthday party, check it out here http://www.frecklesmakemestrong.com/

August, just missed posting these on time.