270 Feet!

That is how deep our well is.  Our well is dug and we are one step closer to having our own water. This is a huge relief and we are excited about it.  We still have some work to do as we have to get a pump into the hole and have a way to power the pump.  All detail Super D is working out. 
Nevertheless, we had fun watching the well guys work and they must of though I was nuts as I took pictures of every phase of work. 

 Just set up the drill...This reminded me of my Dad who worked on oil rigs.  He would have loved to see all this!

 Drilling Begins

Here they put a flap over where the drill goes into the ground as lots of stuff was flying... Yes that's water!  This was early on.  We actually hit rock at 12 feet. (that's a good thing) and had good water at 70 feet.  But Missouri has a law that says you have to drill and case (steel tube down the hole) for 80 feet!  So because of a law we had to keep going and didn't hit enough water again until 270 feet.  Sadly that law cost us alot of money. 

The steel liner going in.

All that gravel is ground rock from the hole.  They made a little dam with it and put that pipe in to measure the flow of water.  It measured by how long it takes to fill the gallon jug.  We stopped drilling when we were getting 10 gallons a minute. 

All said and done this is our expensive but life giving hole in the ground.  Now how to get the water out of there and to where we want it???
That is a story for another day.  Any questions?

It's Today, It's Today, It's Today!

This is a well drilling truck! They have finally arrived.... through much waiting and searching we have them here. (we actually had to changed companies as the first guys were just taking too long)  Details to come but I was so excited I had to share! 

Oh, by the way we found the missing charger for the camera.   Have a great day friends! :)

 

Lost, So how about some chocolate?

    I still have not figured out how in a small 300 sq ft space we are still able to lose things! So, I'm sorry but we have no pictures as of late because the battery charger for the camera has gone MIA.  This is not the first item to be lost and I'm sure it is not the last but it frustrates me to no end.  So until it decides to reappear I have a yummy good recipe to share...
  Now this is not my own but one I found at The Bulk Herb Store. 
  Doesn't that look good!
Spicy Chocolate Recipe
2 cups coconut oil (room temperature)
3 heaping tablespoons Raw Honey
1/2 tablespoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon Celtic Sea Salt
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon Powder
1 cup sifted coco powder
3 pinches Cayenne Pepper
Mix wet ingredients together and blend in remain dry ingredients. Blend until light and fluffy and pour into your favorite mold or miniature ice cube tray. Cool in the freezer until firm and enjoy!

We made this for our Valentine's treat and it was delicious! And bonus it is actually healthy for you! 
We made two versions, one with a dark chocolate coco powder and one with regular.   I just used an ice cube tray but the chocolates were rather rich with a full cube so we cut ours in half. They didn't look nearly so pretty but tasted great. (for the record it says spicy but it doesn't have a hot spicy flavor just don't go overboard on the cayenne) Enjoy!

If you want more instruction click on the Recipe title to go to the site and the creator, Shoshanna, has a video for you to watch. (although I found it slightly confusing but it shows that this is a pretty easy recipe hard to mess up.)

Spelunking anyone?

   The weather is fluctuating a lot these days.  Some really nice days with temps in the high 50's and 60's but then it can drop quick and get cold fast.  So we took advantage of one such day and went caving also called spelunking.
  This hike to the cave which is along the river is pretty rough hike.  Not for the faint of heart.  It took us almost an hour to get to "bat" cave.  (I say that loosely as I think all caves that don't have another official name are called bat cave)
   We've done this hike twice now and in the spring thaw it was even more of a challenge not to slip all they way down the hill to the river on the mud. But well worth it.

 It's hard to show the steepness of the hill in pictures but we were almost on all fours at times.

Crawling to climbing! Sassafras was being her sassy self.. but I did take a picture of her backside so I guess I'll let her slide :)

See the river in the background.  It amazes me how it is a different world with each season.  In the summer with the trees in full leaves and grown up you can't see that far in the forest.  That made finding our way easier plus fewer scratches and bugs was a nice feature too.

Drink anyone?

Okay, so this is from the 1st hike this summer... But it is a neat spot on the way. Below is Uncle Monkey climbing down the tree that's behind us.

And finally......

This cave has a huge opening but narrows and get short very fast.

This is as far back as we went.  It continues to get shorter and really crawling deeper into the dark didn't appeal to me.  But this summer we found some unique cave life..

 There is evidence of bats and we also found lots of crickets which I'm sure these guys feast on.

Doesn't this look like a mini city or maybe wind chimes?  It's a mud daubers home.. A type of wasp that make homes out of mud. Hence the name :)

 Sugar Bug was brave enough to climb into this mini cave to take pictures of the mud dauber house... Although thankfully they aren't active this time of year.

Spring is right around the corner.. Everyday I hear more birds in the trees, the sun is rising earlier and setting a little later.  Soon the trees will be budding and we will be out hiking even more.. We are anxious to take up our mushroom hunting as spring is the time for the highly prized Morales....mmmm

Horses... um No!

Now by the title I'm sure someone is convinced I'm afraid of horses.  Not so.  In fact like most little girls I dreamed of having a horse and looked foward to riding horses every chance I could. That happened in the summer for a couple years when I went to girl scout camp. 
  As an adult I'm a little more rational about the idea of horses.  While I truly do understand that some really love horses and want them they are not for us.  Now of course Sugar Bug hates that this is the conclusion that Super D and I came to. (Ok, so he's stronger than me as the little girl in me could probably be talked into having a horse)  Sugar Bug has a special love for animals.  All of them and especially horses.

This is Sonny and a mule.  Sonny is the neighbors and the mule was behind us and they both learned quickly that there is a little girl here that loves to lavish attention on them. 

  We simply have no use for horses.  We have no desire to care for them and have no real reason to have them as they provide no food source and we no longer use them to power machines.  Sugar Bug on the other hand would love to have horses around.  And takes every opportunity she can to ride them at her Aunts.  We are thankful she has horses for Sugar Bug to enjoy. 

Now the little girl in me still likes horses and I have even gone riding with Sugar Bug.

 We had a good day riding. 

Until.....  A horse I won't mention by name got spooked by the wind and tossed me off.  OUCH!  I thankfully didn't not break any bones but could hardly walk back and had the biggest bruise I have ever gotten and hurt for weeks!

Sassafras isn't into the horse thing and wasn't up for riding and after my fall won't get on a horse.  So since then these are more my style.

 

 

Ok so I haven't really gotten on a pony but these little guys are super cute and sweet.  Sugar Bug still rides the big horses and one day I'll get back on the horse but my pain is still a little too fresh in my memory.

 



 Even Sassafras will get on one of these guys.  I guess the fact that her feet are inches instead of feet from the ground helps. :) 

So Thank you Aunt J!  We'll be back for more pony/horse riding soon...

(For the record these pictures were taken this fall and over several trips to Uncle W's and Aunt J's to ride)

 





Upgrades!

I get so excited to see upgrades and changes come that I always want to yell it!  One day the girls and I went to town for laundry and supplies and came home to this.

Yeah Shelves!!!! Yes I know someone is shaking their head because I'm so excited over something so silly but truly this is a life saver.  And your getting a picture after I loaded them with clothes.  This freed up one super small closet and got my Sassafras out of her suitcase. Poor girl has spent almost 6 mos living out of her suitcase!

   This also got me thinking how we tend to own a ridiculous amount of clothes.  This is pared down from what we had in Colorado as I cleaned out our closets as I packed only about half of what we had.  With these shelves I still probably got rid of about half!  I decided I was done finding space for clothes.  If it doesn't fit on the self (we each get one) then you have to part with something.  (We all have a few items hanging in the other closet but the majority is on the shelves)  It has been a great lesson in simplifying. 

Good job Super D!  Keep up the good work ;)

 

Happy New Year!

Hope you rang in the New Year in style!  I know it's tradition to make resolutions but I have never been big on resolutions as I think good new habits can be formed at anytime during the year.  Change for the positive should be a daily occurrence not just at the 1st.

So I tend to look forward I have great hope for a good year.  Hope for a new home on our land, running water, indoor plumbing, hot water, and a garden as we settle into our new life.  I hope for more love, more fun, more cherished moments, and more time with loved ones.  

May you not lose HOPE this year.  Be content, forgive quickly, anger slowly, and enjoy the simple things of life.  Take time to notice. :)