THIS & THAT.
Some random photos from the last couple of weeks: the arrival of ducklings and chicks at Bugtussle Farm, cooking on the tiny woodstove, ancient treasures Ira dug out of an buried junk pile, starting tomato seeds, making parsnip wine.
LET'S GO CEDARING.
We already knew that covering the house entirely in cedar shakes we made ourselves was a little unrealistic.....but it's a little unrealistic. I personally love the process, the felling of the trees, the wrestling with the shakes, the entire physicality of it––but it is a long process. So this week, we've decided to start cutting down logs to help take some of the pressure off of the shake-making. Eric and Cher are planning to bring a portable sawmill to the farm, and we thought we'd have some lumber of our own milled while we had the chance. So, the house is now going to be partially sided in shakes, partially in rough sawn cedar lumber, and we're actually looking forward to how it's (hopefully) going to turn out.- Jesse.
BARN LIVING.
We are HERE....we are home. And in these few short moments we have with the internet, we thought we would share some scenes from our little "house" as of late. The cabin is coming along nicely, but until it warms up a bit we are staying in a borrowed barn.Every morning is an adventure for the moment. It's an adventure to the spring to get enough water for the day; an adventure to cook a meal; an adventure wondering how Wendell's going to react to all these adventures... It's an adventure, but it's been a lot of fun. Simple living like this is deeply rewarding, where most of your energy just revolves around food, shelter and warmth. Everything is physical, and for right now, we're having to figure out a lot of little things one rarely thinks about in the city, like how to wash dishes without using a lot of water, but honestly, we're sort of loving it.As far as cabin progress, yesterday we finished insulating the downstairs, we built some crazy looking stairs on the front porch, and installed our mailbox - how official! We will hopefully be back with more updates soon.- Hannah & Jesse.
GOODBYE FOR NOW.
We are in a chaotic state of packing today, running last minute errands and trying to plan for the next few weeks. We are so ready to be back on the farm - but in many ways, we are also COMPLETELY unprepared. The cabin is not finished - it is mostly insulated but without drywall, there is no water, no stove - and yet tomorrow we are moving in. It is just too difficult for us to try to finish the cabin from 2 hours away, and staying in the city is simply too expensive. So, we're just gonna go. We are expecting there to be a strange settling-in period, the days before we have the stove to cook on, or a reliable source of water. But it is time. Although we have lots of love for Nashville and our amazing friends here, we don't do well living in the city. We aren't good at being apart from each other while Jesse is at work, being inside and away from the garden and the animals, spending all the money we make on food that we would normally be growing for ourselves. And although we aren't sure what the upcoming days will bring, we are excited for it. We have lived in a barn before, and we can surely (and happily) do it again. "Roughing it" is sort of how we roll.All that to say...we are officially heading to Bugtussle. That means off-the grid. No cell phones, no internet, no electricity. Although the plan is to drive to town at least once a week, that might not happen. We will definitely be slow to respond to emails and messages, so apologies in advance. Like I said, we will be transitioning, figuring it out as we go, and we hope you can put up with the messiness that will most likely result. See you on the other side!- Hannah.