Pink Squirrel Farmstead

Over night on July 30^th there was a big storm for the area. Usually, no big deal but as you know there is no electricity in the house and we rely on the cool breeze coming in when we sleep. Most of the windows had to be closed because the wind was blowing and the rain was really coming down. Didn’t seem to be a bad storm but we actually got 3-4 inches of rain in a short amount of time.

A little after midnight I had to go to the bathroom and found out that the whole back walkway was flooded that was on the way to the outhouse. I also noticed that there was a little water coming in the back door. I went to the bathroom and then decided to checkout to see if there were any other leaks or anything. Since I was on the main floor I went looking around. I found a leak around the base of the floor in the laundry room where the cinder blocks meet the concrete floor luckily there is drains built in the floor and there was not anything that would need to be moved to keep from getting ruined. Then I moseyed down to the basement to check it out. Also, in the basement there were leaks where the cinder blocks meet the concrete floors. There are also drains built into the floor down there. Maybe that’s why? I guess we will try to figure out how to seal that up. Glad to find the problems now and not after finished construction. I went up to the top floor of the house and looked around for more leaks and luckily found none.

Payton got up several times to go check on Rick in the barn, she let me know that there was a river going through the barn. Oh boy! Just what I always wanted to hear. I asked if the cat was up somewhere safe and dry and she said yes, he was laying in the hay. I sent her back to bed and headed up stairs.

I went back to bed, texted Chad to have him remind me of the things I found in the morning. Most of the time he doesn’t hear texts when he is sleeping but he did that night. He called me right away about it and I told him my plan for fixing some of the problems and we went back to sleep.

The next morning got up and saw most of the neighbor’s driveway in the road in front of our house. I was like ummmm yikes! All the rain pushed large rocks and gravel down their road and washed a lot away. I messaged Paula our realtor to let her know because she was supposed to come out to visit that morning and I did not know the condition of the roads around us and did not want her to drive all that way (1.5-hour drive) for nothing.

Checked in the barn for damages. There was definitely water flowing through the barn but it was not as dire need to fix as it was to fix around the house. The water had pushed several things into the bay doors going into the barn and the cat bed was soaked, but overall, not any terrible damage. I will have to work on that some other day.

I found a bath tub online on Facebook marketplace and messaged the seller to see if it was still available. Luckily it was and we decided that since it was too wet to do much outside this morning, we would make the trip to go get it. The tub was in Cincinnati, Ohio which sounds far but it was only about an hour and a half away. Have you ever been to Cincinnati? Why are the roads so small? Why are the houses practically on top of each other? Why is there absolutely no parking? Oh, and did I mention I am pulling a trailer.

Luckily there was a Kroger’s parking lot by the seller’s location but little did we know the tub was a few blocks down in a garage down a driveway at the bottom of the hill. I thought to myself oh boy! This will be fun to carry a cast iron tub up the hill and load onto the trailer but I didn’t say anything. There were a few options on tubs to pick from. The guy remodels old homes and that is where he obtained the tubs. I saw a big farm house sink in a shopping cart and asked if it was also for sale and he said yes. I reluctantly asked how much and to my surprise it was only $100. We had been looking all over for one and could never find one under $800 in this condition or this size. I was wanting a double sink with the drain board on the side and this one has one on each side. I ran down to Kroger’s right away and got more money out to pay him and his crew loaded up the trailer for us. YAY! We were so glad that all we would have to do is strap them down and we headed home.

We stopped at Lowes and Walmart on the way back home to pick up some more supplies needed for the house and grabbed some lunch. I think everyone was glad to get away from working one the farm for a bit, we had been going nonstop.  

That evening it was time to get busy on a project to hopefully help prevent water from coming in the house again. In the back of the house is a large hill and weeds above my head. I thought that if I dug a ditch behind the house and lined it with rocks and concrete then maybe it would redirect the water and keep it from coming into the house. We got to weed eating and raking it all up. We decided to create a brush pile to burn it because it was just so much weeds.

While Payton and I worked on that Hunter cleaned out the gutters and trimmed the tree in the back that was hanging over the house and gutter quite a bit. Not sure if you know but Hunter HATES heights so he always gets those tasks. I’m a loving parent, I know!

Luckily, we were refreshed after our morning off because there were lots to do behind the house. I began to dig and dig and dig and dig some more with a shovel, a hoe, and a pick ax. There are tons of rocks around on the property so we hauled rocks to line the “man made creek” making sure to have the rocks higher on the house side to keep the water contained and redirected. It was coming along slowly but surely. My dad started making dinner on the Blackstone and we worked until dinner was done.  

Relaxed on the front porch that evening and did some tub home measurements for Chad so he could order the hardware we will need to put it in and the kit we will need to refinish it with. Luckily it looks like the sink just needs some elbow grease and new fixtures. I am so excited about our forever farm; I love working on the farm and enjoying the outside. One of my favorite features is the front porch, it is so nice to sit out there and listen to the bird’s chirp and feel the soft breeze in the air.  I cannot wait to get back to the farm.

Chad is beyond excited to have a workshop and I am beyond excited to have a barn for animals. Chad was still in Texas at this time dying to be at the farm. The barn was quite a hot mess when we purchased it but it just needed some love. There was a room in the barn that we could not look in before purchasing because the owners had so much stuff in it that we could not get in there. The room is about 8 1/2 ft by 12 ½ ft. We call it the tool room. It was honestly the least intimidating room to tackle first. We took everything out of it, swept the walls, ceiling, shelves, and floor to get rid of the abundance of cob webs, saw dust, old feed, and just all-around grossness. We found am old exercise bike, and some old rusted horse shoes.

Payton had already started in the big bay working on clearing out old rotting straw that was piled up for who knows how long. I had her start wheel barreling it to the big horse bay to use for compost in the garden once we get the Polaris fixed. This part will take a few days to complete it was quite a bit and was heavy scooping it up and hauling it. We moved some of the totes of tools, and garage type stuff into the big bay after sweeping out some of the cobwebs, and sweeping off the counters and my dad started putting some of the guy stuff in the tool room. It is all starting to come together little by little. I knew Chad was very excited about the workshop areas so I wanted to get them a little cleaned up for when he got there.

Now, the third bay of the shop was quite a mess. It had been used in the past as a Farrier shop (horse shoeing). And it was piled almost to the ceiling with trash and treasure. We thought, dang this is going to take a few days and we started to get busy. Slowly and carefully, we started pulling out trash, and interesting tools, more horse shoes, more trash, buggy parts, metal gates, animal troughs, chairs, more trash, wood, gas cans, broken insulation boards, tomato cages, even tires, both wooden and rubber oh and more trash! I really thought the Amish would have been a bit cleaner than this but that’s what I get for making assumptions. We began to wonder after getting a lot of the stuff out of the room if the floor was dirt or if it was concrete like the rest of the shop and barn.

I got out my handy dandy German snow shovel and started scraping up 3-4 inched of composted horse poop off the concrete slab. I started putting it into the wheel barrel and sifting through it to remove trash and metal debris so it could be used in the garden as well. 90% of the floor was covered with the composted poo/trash mixture. We continued to chip away and get it clean. Once we were able to open up the bay doors 2 kittens came to visit us. One was super friendly and Hunter named him Rick. The other one was very skittish and didn’t really want any attention at all. Rick hung around the remainder of the day and we had no idea where he came from. But it was a nice breath of fresh air to have him around and he was quite curious to see what we were doing and had a blast exploring around the barn. Hunter stepped on some glasss while cleaning up but luckily it wasn’t bad. We like to work in sandals, they are more comfy but not practical. Oops! Glad there was no stitches or anything but a foot soak and a band-aid.

My mom kept us hydrated as we worked on the barn and checked on us to see how we were doing. We had bagged so much trash up, had a pile of both good and rotten wood, a pile of trash that couldn’t be bagged up and, a pile of insulation board for trash and kept some that were still good, and then a pile of cool gadgets to check out on a later day. The bay was finally cleaned out, man what an accomplishment.

After working on that all day, I decided to clean out one of the stalls in the barn, it had a stall mat in it and more piled up manure and hay. I scooped up the what I could and then we moved the stall mat. The smell was putrid, it was slimy with manure and urine. We drug it out of the barn and scrubbed it down. We ran a hose down from the house to use to help clean it since we hadn’t fixed the water to the barn yet. We finished scrubbing the stall out, removed more cobwebs, and dirt dobber nests then sprayed out the stall. It is so rewarding to work on your own farm.

We knew when we bought the property there was a water leak at the main on our side not the city side. Which is why I did not get the water turned on until after we were there. The water was leaking over a gallon a minute which can get pretty pricy pretty quickly. But we did not know exactly where it was. We were given a phone number to a ditch digger that came out within 30 minutes of being called that showed my dad where the leak was, gave us a part to turn the water line on and off all for no charge. Him and my dad are now best buds and has literally been so helpful in many instances since we got there. My dad got up early the next morning (he is definitely a morning person…..I did not get that gene) and dug up the line and found the leak.

After finding the leak and my dad working on it to get it fixed we found out that there was actually water to the barn. YAY! But we did not know where it was either. We did not have all the parts needed to fix the problem due to the way the piping was put in. The broken pipe was actually a Y that supplied the water to the house and to the barn. My dad patched it so we could use the shower that night in the house that we got off amazon for temporary showering. When we hooked that up we found another water leak inside but luckily it just needed tightening and was a quick easy fix.

Everything was pretty grown up and had not been mowed in a quite a while so when I was at Lowe’s I had purchased a new lawn mower (self-propelled…. I know super Fancy, right?) the mower dies several times due to the height of the grass and we had to make several passes to get it all cut but it was very satisfying in the end. The hill going up to the entrance was quite the chore though. Self propelled going up was great but not going down. It was so steep and the ground was so slick that it literally pulled me down the hill and fell onto my butt a few times too. At one point I fell and let go of the mower for safety reasons and it went all the way down to the bottom of the hill. We worked on mowing the yard for a couple days but finally got it done. It looked amazing and when I tell you the grass felt so soft and amazing on our feet with out any stickers in it, oh it was heavenly.  When I just finished mowing around the front gate and beside the barn an Amish buggy came by. I just love our little farm.

Home from Kentucky 8/11/21

Sorry I have not been able to write much lately. I will try to update with you over the next few days on all that has been happening. Chad was able to write a couple posts for me while I was away but being that he was working and having to do everyday life without me there was a bit hard for him to have time. So, I may repeat some of the things he has already talked about because I write differently than him. I am so thankful that he was able to update you a bit.

On Wednesday, July 21^st 2021 we became owners of a beautiful farm in Kentucky. That is also the day that we began moving stuff we have had in storage for the last couple years from when we transitioned into RV living, picked up some household items from Carla’s that she had stored in her extra rooms. And then went to Livingston to help my pack up my parents. My parents were awesome and drove up to Lamesa, Texas (8-hour drive) to help me begin this journey. We celebrated my mom’s birthday that evening at a local restaurant since we would be loading out their stuff in Livingston on her birthday. We left early Wednesday morning to pick up the Penske Truck and headed to Dalhart (4-hour drive) and loaded out my storage unit. Then we went separate ways. I took the Penske truck and Cheyenne to Copperas Cove Texas to Carla’s house while my parents took Hunter and Payton with them back to Livingston. The next day we loaded up at Carla’s house and went shopping for our amazing realtor. I originally had made her some sweet treats but found out she was diabetic and did not want to sabotage her healthy eating (she disagreed and wanted the treats so I will be bringing her some next time I come to Kentucky) Early the next morning me and Carla set out to Livingston in the Penske truck to join in on project move my parents. Now, at this point I have been away from the horrible humidity of Livingston Texas for a couple years. So, Carla and I opted to wear shorts to prepare for this. Now mind you we did not anticipate our legs adhering to the Penske truck seats, I am pretty sure we waxed any hair off the back of our legs every time we moved. LOL, we made it to Livingston and we all got busy. I don’t do heat well and I got a bit grumpy pretty quick. Sorry mom for being grumpy towards you on your birthday. Luckily, she knows I am a brat and a control freak (she did raise me).

After a very long and sweaty day, we were all over heated and exhausted. We went to town, got a hotel (not pleased with the state of cleanliness of the hotel), cleaned up and went to get dinner. We may have been quite hungry from all the work that we did because everything tasted amazing and we ate so much. Thank you, Patrons, the food and service were amazing.  Time for bed we have a long day of driving in the morning.

We inherited my in-laws cat Tex when they passed away and he has lived at our property in Livingston. I have not really had much dealings with Tex because he is not a very social cat and I did not see him daily. Our intentions were to take Tex with us to Kentucky but that morning when my mom handed him to me, he went berserk and clawed me to high heavens and took off and hid. Mind you this is at 5am. We made the decision to leave him at the land and will pick him up later. Luckily the neighbors behind our land love Tex and made sure he was taken care of until we could come back for him. We drove all day and all evening towards the farm. We were going to stop in Elizabethtown Kentucky because we were beyond exhausted but all the hotels we could find were booked. I am pretty sure Carla was freaking out trying to find a hotel with phone service going in and out but did great trying to not stress me out about it while I was driving. She is truly the best sister-in-law anyone could ask for and I am so thankful she is mine! We ended up finding one in Lexington and got there a little after 11 pm. Zep (our boxer) got his first ride on the elevator, he seemed pretty excited about it. And we had breakfast at the hotel where there were several Amish families at. It was so neat to see how they all dressed alike and their kids were so well behaved.

 Carla got a rental car while we were in Lexington and due to covid there were no shuttles to transport from the hotel to the car rental company so we took the Navigator loaded down with Chad’s car hauler to the airport to go get it. People probably thought we were a bit crazy but oh well, ya gotta do what ya gotta do. Then we headed to the farm. My parents stopped in Benton Ky and still had about 5-6 hours before they would make it to the farm.

We got to the farm, looked around a bit and got to work unloading the navigator and the trailer so we could have it out of the way for when my parents got there with the Penske Truck and their truck and trailer. I tried unloading the Polaris side by side but then it lost steering completely. So, I just backed the trailer out of the way with it still on the trailer. We will figure that out later.

We explored up on the hillside behind the house. There is a big chicken coop that was left pretty dirty, an old garden tool (Chad talked about in previous post), and beautiful wild flowers.

Of course, we got to Kentucky on one of their hottest days of the summer but I was still determined to work through it. My parents arrived around lunch time and we began unloading the Penske truck. My dad got sick pretty early on with the stress from moving cramps, throwing up, and dehydration from loading out in Livingston. He felt bad not being able to do much that day but I would rather him get to feeling better. So, I had to constantly tell him to go sit down. The Penske truck was due to be turned in the next day and I was determined to do just that (not a great idea). But I also didn’t want to pay $100 extra per day for it. A bit of blood, lot and lots of sweat, and probably a few tears mixed with more sweat later we got it unloaded. We got a hotel for the night in Mt. Sterling for the night, and went to Applebee’s for dinner at 10pm and we all showered.

The next morning, I needed to be in Flemingsburg to the water department to get water turned on at 7:30 am, then drive into Lexington to turn in the Penske truck at 9am. Originally supposed to have been turned in at 8am according to my paperwork but the place didn’t even open until 9. Which made the morning a bit less stressful other than finding that actual office to turn it in. I am sure being sleep deprived at this point didn’t help. I am also covered in bruises and a sliced open toe from moving in the day before… people probably think I am a domestic abuse survivor. Then went to Lowes for a few items and got breakfast. Now to head back to the farm for some more adventures of owning a farm.

On 7-21-2021 We officially became the owners of the Amish Farm. How exciting, and intimidating all in one breathe. Early that morning is when we started the 3-stop packing and moving adventure. I finally got to Kentucky Saturday night the 24^th of July, 2021. We chose to stop and get a hotel room in Lexington KY. Figured wasn’t a need to try and get to the farm in the middle of the darkness. Early Sunday we all got up and had a few things to do in Lexington then headed to the Farm. I enjoyed the thrilled expression upon Carla, Hunter, and Payton’s face as we arrived.

 It is like going thru a time machine and stepping back in time in rural Kentucky. Everyone you see just waves and acts like they have known you their entire life. The roads to the Farm are rolling hills and narrow windy roads. Everyone seems to be on a slower pace here. Having the Farm with no Electricity really feels like we have stepped back 100 years or more. The Water goes to the kitchen sink (well both kitchen sinks actually, The Amish have a handwashing sink just for handwashing) and goes to a water hose spout, and to the Barn. Currently there is a broken pipe somewhere on my side of the water meter so the water is shut off. My dad will fix it as soon as he can.

Carla and I set out and explore the property, while the kiddos went another direction to explore. We looked inside the house, basement, barn, and chicken coop. It was like a treasure hunt or more like a scavenger hunt. It was exiting to see what the previous Amish family left behind. Some stuff they left was just items that needed to be disposed of and others are real neat objects.

A few items left behind was an Antique Rotovator and a Vintage High Wheel Cultivator. It will always keep me astonished how the Amish still utilize simplistic items to get their chores done being surrounded by the most technologically advanced civilization ever known. From using old type non-motorized farming equipment to the simple hygiene practices, they still follow. It would defiantly take a strong faith in your religion to live, survive, and flourish as they do.

I brought Zeppelin along on this adventure. Let me tell you what he is in heaven. Tons of places to explore, new aromas, new noises to explore. It did not take long for an Amish horse and buggy to come by. I’ll tell you what, that ole Dog was extremely excited and wanted to go have a “meet and greet”. Luckily after a few firm and stern commands to come back he decided it was in his best interest.

A little after lunch time my parents arrived with the rental truck. We had already unloaded the Navigator and Chad’s trailer before they arrived. But now the real “fun” begins. We had to have the rental truck turned in by 8am in Lexington which is an hour away. Needless to say, the 6 of us were super busy. Not sure if I mentioned the Farmhouse is built in the side of the Hill. I think all of us should have received a Gold Medal for this whole moving adventure. On a bright note, we decided to go ahead on this night and get a hotel room close to where we had to drop off the truck. That was one of the best showers I had taken in what seems like eternity. Day number one is all wrapped up. Now onto bed so I can get an early start on tomorrows adventures.  

As I have mentioned The Pink Squirrel Farmstead BnB is our long-term goal. It seems like just a dream still. I suppose when you know it will be almost 5 years before Chad plans to retire and we get to move to our DREAM FARM it is just surreal. At times it seems there is nothing but speed bumps between our current home to our forever home. It was a challenge to find the perfect property that met the criteria both of us wanted. We liked a bunch of places but none seemed just right or was way too expensive or we got beat out before we had the chance to place an offer. Once we found the Amish Farm, we crossed our fingers and prayed we would have no more problems. Of course, we had more speed bumps…When I put in an offer on the Farm, I actually offered $10 thousand under the asking price with the anticipation the owner would reject it or rebuttal a counter offer. So, if you were not aware when you go to buy property from an Amish person it is not a super speedy process. It’s not like they are riding on their horse and buggy with a cell phone and Bluetooth air buds hahaha. So, as I am sure all of you are aware I am not the most patient person. I hate waiting. So, when Paula called me what seemed like an eternity of days later, I held my breathe until she was “you will not believe it but they have accepted your offer !!!!”   I was able to let out a sigh of relief. Although I have never met the Amish owners of the Farm, I was more than 100% confident it was a done deal. Amish still believe in handshake deals and what they say is as solid as the Farmhouse we are buying.

Of course, my mind began racing 100 miles an hour. I was like OMG what do I do 1^st. It was very overwhelming. I contacted the water company; The lady was just the biggest sweetheart and chit chatted with me for awhile like we had know each other all our lives. (Which is one of the many reasons I just adore the rural Kentucky area) I think Chad was able to sense the overwhelmed look on my face. So, he bit the bullet and started to try to locate an Electrician. If you know Chad then you know he absolutely despises talking on the phone and dealing with all the business phone calls and leaves them to me to figure out. I have plenty of titles at our house according to him. Wife, Babe, Bride, Chef, Entrepreneur, Accountant, and Secretary among a slew of other titles I won’t elaborate on lol.

Chad literally tried to call over 20 electricians in that area. He finally found one who would answer his phone (well sometimes). The guy explained in Kentucky you have to have a 20-foot power pole professionally installed and inspected by a certified inspector. The guy said he would go out and take a look at the farm when he had time. Several weeks later when Chad talked to the guy again, he informed us of yet another speed bump…. In rural Kentucky, State law states a property has to have a certified inspected septic system prior to getting a power permit. We were WTF does septic have to do with electricity?? Come to find out a lot of people were putting in homes or trailer houses getting only electric put in, and not septic and were dumping raw sewage on the land or draining to a creek. First thought was well that is gross and nasty, my second thought was how do we know if the Farm’s septic is certified. We called Paula and asked if she knew. Of course, she didn’t but said 1^st thing in the morning she would make several phone calls and find out. Did I mention Paula is my Hero! So next morning she called and gave a number to the county septic health inspector. Paula contacted the guy and then 3-way called Chad and he stated he was confident it had never had an inspection. Due to it being a newer Amish Farm. Speed bump time again.

Fortunately, the inspector did say knowing the Amish he would be able to issue a certification because he already knows the quality of work they do on their homes, but he said there is a stipulation due to it being Amish and they never have any intention to get electricity put in they install the septic systems different and skip steps. He made an appointment to come out to the Farm when Chad is there so Dad, Chad, and I can all consult with the inspector to figure out if we will have to only upgrade the system, double the system or totally replace it. Geez these speed bumps are just getting bigger. Luckily, we can still have Electric installed and that will give us sometime to upgrade septic or whatever at a later date.

Next step is to figure out what we want versus what we need and where to put it. Good thing when you buy an Amish Farm is it is a clean slate. We will be able to install electricity and put plugs, lights, light switches, toilets, sinks, showers, washer and dryer hook ups, bath tubs, celling fans, and hence the reason my mind is racing a million miles. Another good thing is we will know exactly how new and what type of electricity and plumbing we have. Which is fantastic for our forever Pink Squirrel Farmstead. Agritourism and Farm Tours | Alternative Farming Systems Information Center | NAL | USDA

 Chad and I have spent many hours looking on the internet, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, tiktok, Lowe’s (which we love because Chad gets a Military Discount) and have watched a lot of HGTV trying to figure out exactly what we want.  We have decided the top floor will be designed for guest with three amazing guest suites. An amazing spa quality bathroom. A little sitting area with a library, tv, and games for guest. The Main floor will be my design for the master bed room, bathroom, Kitchen of my dreams (y’all just know how I love to feed people and cook and bake stuff) dining area, and Living room. I am allowing Chad to have free reign of designing the basement into his “man cave” Oh great I think I have opened Pandora’s box on that one.

By the way many people have asked where we came up with the name of our business. Its actually pretty simple. Pink is my favorite color, Squirrels are my favorite animal, and Farmstead is what we plan to have.  When Chad, Carla, and I decided to form a LLC business what better items to use in our name. If you have seen our logo Carla actually hand drew it so that just adds to the awesomeness !!

Farmstead vs Homestead: All the Differences – Farming Base

As I have previously discussed the decision to purchase my Dream Farm wasn’t just an overnight whim. We have been on the look for several years for the perfect place. First, we looked in the Utah/Colorado area for land. We almost purchased an undeveloped parcel of property in Colorado near Durango. Let me tell you what, it is just an amazing area so much to do and the views are exquisite. The land was supposed to have a water well already on it. Which was a #1 priority. If you are not aware of Colorado laws and land rules it is very complex. The state has more rules and laws than you can shake a stick at. We had a well inspection conducted and it turns out the well was fake. It was just a concrete culvert stuck in the ground to have the resemblance of a water well. So needless to say, we withdrew our offer. In that area water wells cost $40 – $50 thousand to be installed. Also, the water rights go by seniority. (so, if ten families are on same aquifer and water gets low the 1^st one established gets 100% usage then it trickles down to the newest) So there is never a guarantee you will have water available.

So next we started to look in the Arkansas and Missouri area. We went on vacation to that area several times and really like it. So, the search began. The housing market is just crazy right now. Anytime we seen something we liked it was already pending sale or sold already. So, we expanded the search. We actually looked in almost every state but we were determined to pay cash and not go into debt with a mortgage so that narrowed our search window. Several months ago, Chad suggested we go on vacation to the Appalachian Mountain area. We went thru Tennessee and Kentucky. Now mind you Chad has been to 46 out of the 50 States so he already known areas he likes. I hadn’t ever been in those areas. If you get the chance go!!! Especially to the ARK ENCOUNTER.  Life-size Noah’s Ark | Ark Encounter

So, we really started to focus on that area for several reasons. 1. It is just breathe taking. 2. The weather 3. We already knew we wanted a Hobby Farm.    4. The prices. So, we had seen a few places we were interested in but it’s really a challenge to find a real estate agent who is helpful when you live out of state. I’m sure most of y’all, who know me realize I am a researcher and control freak. So I watched a ton of YouTube videos, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and TikTok on the areas we wanted to retire to. I was watching a TiKTok Video on Kentucky when I came across an informative video from a realtor. I commented on her post and we began to chit chat. She was really helpful. We were actually in the process of having her figure out what all our needs and wants were when Chad got the phone call he was promoted to Senior Warden. So, I had to tell her to give me a few weeks to get resettled LOL.

Things just seemed to fall in place with the help from Paula Lyddane. I actually seen a different property in Kentucky I was interested in looking at. I called Paula and was going to have a look at it when Chad said “hey I really like this Amish Farm 100% more”. I had actually viewed it before myself on relator.com but thought it may not be what he wanted. We discussed the Pros vs Cons of buying an Amish farm and decided the Pros way outweighed the negatives. The home was built in 2009 and is solid as an OX. One of the things I love about it is Chad and I will get to design it our self and put the kitchen of my dreams in, design the nicest B and B we can. Just how I envision it should be. We will get brand new electricity and plumbing that should give us many years with trouble free service. We intend to put way heavy duty stuff in so we won’t have to worry.

 Chad is exited he had a few must have criteria (1. Over 10 acres. 2. Able to shoot his guns and hopefully hunt. 3. A work shop for him to piddle in and the rest wasn’t too important) he always says as long as it has the 4 S’s. place for him to Sit, S@#t, Sleep, and Shower… Although right now it only has 2 out of the 4 in modern terms hahaha.

When I called Paula about the Amish Farm she was just as excited as we were. The next morning is when I left Lamesa and headed to Livingston to pick up my dad and we headed to the Farm. I already knew before I even went inside this was my dream come true. Heavenly Father answered my prayers and sent my Heroine Paula. She has been the most amazing help with this process.

So today was stop #3 of getting things loaded up to move and we packed up everything we had at our Lake property in Livingston. Bright and early tomorrow we will head to Pink Squirrel Farmstead in Kentucky. I just can not wait for Chad to get off a few days from work so he will be able to see it also. I still can not fathom buying a Farm sight unseen for my retirement forever home and having to just go with faith it is what I envision. So of course, because It’s how I roll there has been a few hurdles, but I will leave those for another day to discuss….

Rector Hayden Realtors – Paula Lyddane (rhr.com)

So today I woke up early with Chad when his alarm went off for work. After careful evaluation of the clock, I decided it would be in the best interest for the rest of civilization if I set an alarm and got more shut eye (after all that work yesterday and on top all that driving, I was still exhausted). Few hours later I got up and Cheyenne and I headed off in the moving truck to my sister in-laws house (5) hours away. On the way the car ahead of my kicked up a little rock that dinged the edge of the windshield and cracked it. Good grief I swear it is always something. I am defiantly glad I went ahead and paid for the extra insurance. Not even remotely done with this trip and already going to have to use it.Once I arrived at my Sister-in-laws it was time for round #2 of loading up stuff. She graciously is giving several large pieces of furniture for the Farm House. Couches, recliners, dressers, beds, end tables……Oh did I mention that it is just us three girls trying to load up everything? Everyone else was already in Livingston (except Chad who is at work ☹.) I was glad that Carla had impulse bought off Amazon AlexHome Mattress Bag for the queen size mattress. This product is sorta like a blue tarp material with several handles sew-on to it. It was a life saver (and more importantly a back saver hahahaha).

After we had everything, all loaded up it was great to chit chat and visit. Carla is also going to go to Kentucky with me to see the Farm and help load/unload stuff for a couple of days. I told her she was welcome to bring an air mattress along and stay at the Amish house also. She declined the offer and stated she is not that ready to get back to 1800’s and rather enjoys modern conveniences lol. Tomorrow morning, we are on the way to Livingston for round #3 of packing up the moving truck. Guess we shall see what adventure tomorrow will bring…..

Its CLOSING DAY!!!!  We are officially Kentucky Farm owners!! Without further ado here is the long-awaited photos of our farm.

This morning we got up early (not my favorite thing to do) and headed to Lubbock to pick up the moving truck. Picked up my parents from the hotel on the way to Lubbock and we were off like a herd of turtles. I am so thankful they drove up here yesterday (an 8-hour drive) to help picking up the moving truck and helping me load up the stuff I have had in storage for the last couple years for our forever home when we moved into our 5^th Wheel.

We actually got the storage loaded up pretty quickly, way ahead of schedule (yes in my head I have a schedule). Well, then we attempted to move our giant safe. We got it on the dolly, got it to the ramp, and that’s when it downhill…. Not up hill like it was supposed to. We went over safety, and my dad was pulling the safe (450 lbs.) and the kids and I were pushing. We pushed, and pushed and it didn’t move up the ramp. We tried again and it fell over on top of my dad!! Yikes I am so glad he was okay. We quickly pulled it off of him and laid it down on to the ramp. We thought maybe we could push it up the ramp laying on the dolly. We were wrong again. I felt defeated. We literally only had the safe and the kitchen table left. We called in some reinforcements to come help and I was so thankful for their help.

Since we were way ahead of schedule we headed towards our next locations. My parents, my dog (Zep), their dog (hazel), Hunter (my son), and Payton went back towards Livingston, its about an 11-hour drive. Cheyenne and I went towards Copperas Cove to my sister-in-law Carla’s house. About 10 min in I realized it only adds a little bit of time if I go home tonight to Lamesa and drive the rest of the way in the morning. Yay! I get to see my amazing husband for the night.

Tomorrow morning, we will get up bright and early and hit the road again. On to step two of the move to Kentucky.

Yesterday evening Chad called me to make some treat boxes for a couple of his employees. I love getting to bake…. Not necessarily last minute but I don’t mind. Chad had told our local coffee shop about my bakery business and they wanted to try some out. I was able to take them some royal icing cookies, biscotti and some Oreo truffles this morning. I am so glad that they liked them. I love to feed people. Is that weird? Eh if it is oh well, they still have happy tummies.

We are doing some last-minute packing today. My parents are on the way here today. We are picking up the moving truck in the morning to go to Dalhart to empty out my storage there, then I am going to Copperas Cove to my sister-in-law Carla’s house to pick up some things from her house and she will be riding with me to Kentucky. From there we are going to Livingston to pack up stuff to move to the farm. We will be quite busy for the next few weeks. Chad will be blogging for me while I am gone to Kentucky because it will be another week and a half before he will be able to fly in.

You know its love when you trust your spouse to buy a farm without you even seeing it. I am so thankful he trusts me and my opinions. He is my best friend and I am so thankful we have each other. I could not imagine how it would feel not to have seen the farm other than on facetime and pictures. I hope he loves it as much as me.

We got a call from the Paula our realtor yesterday that the sellers left stuff in the house. She was worried we would be upset about having to clear it out. In all actuality I am a weirdo and I look forward to looking through the stuff. It’s like a treasure hunt! Who knows I might keep some of it? I hope they left all the stuff in the barn, there was all kinds of neat stuff in there.

I am sure there will be tons of pictures to come in the next couple weeks. Along with all the adventures we will have. This is so exciting for our family and we are so excited to share it all with you! Let the moving begin!