Boring might not be so bad!

Howdy from the Homeplace!!


Now where do we begin?  I guess we'll start with yesterday morning.  


Everything was moving along at a rather good clip.  The guys were outside getting the tent put back into its upright position.  Tents don't work very well laying down!  They had gotten the "adorable" woodstove pipe in place through the ceiling of the tent.  They were in the process of standing the walls back up and I (Nancy) just wanted to help!  Doesn't that phrase "just wanted to help"  make you cringe.  You know that it is time to brace yourself for whatever might be coming.


Well, there I was, holding my line of rope that was connected to the corner of the tent.  Thinking to myself, "Boy, the wind sure is blowing!"  And then IT happened!  My strong, never let me down,  piece of rope BROKE!!  I know it only took seconds, but in what seemed like hours, I lost my balance and began my descent to the hard ground below.  As I fell, I thought I heard a loud "POP" coming from the general direction of my knee.  Now you need to know that this is the knee I had surgery on 26 years ago.  It has been a very good knee, I must say,  but today it said "ENOUGH!!"  As I am trying to fall gracefully, all the while screaming in agony for Monty, my mind is wondering what I am going to do if I can't walk.It sure does help to be able to walk when you are beginning to scratch out some type of existence from a blank piece of land.  Everyone came to my rescue, even the dogs.  I did have the presence of mind to tell all that were with me, "Please, let me scream for just a little while and then I will tell you what is wrong!!"   They were patient with me and after I had a bit of control I began to tell them where I hurt.  

Dad decided moms knee was to bad so he's going to have to
AMPUTATE!!!!!!!

Just Joking!!!! 

  I  am now being treated like royalty.  The sofa has become my "throne."  Sarah is fully in charge of everything.  She is doing a super job and if the  "queen"  would be quiet I'm sure her job would be easier.  The knee is somewhat painful, but we have decided to see how it does over the next few days. 
Will keep you posted on this part of our lives.

Now--this morning all was going well until... Are you scared for me to go on?  I am and I know what happened!  Sarah, being the loving daughter that she is, was trying to help me in the bedroom and not wanting to accidentally hit my knee, decided it would be better to stand up on the bed and step over my leg to get off the bed.  She was on my bed keeping me company, if you must know!!  Well, as she moved over me she grabbed onto the shower door handle for balance.  Now remember, we live in a camper.  It is not hard to be on the bed and also be in the bathroom!!  When she leaned on the handle, the glass door on the shower BROKE into thousands of pieces and she found herself "showered" (just a little pun on words) with glass.  Thankfully she was not hurt.  Just a little scared and mad.  Sarah doesn't get mad often and it is quite a sight to behold.

Our new shower door.
Doesn't hold much water but sure is pretty.

Now picture this in your mind.  Sarah standing in the middle of a puddle of glass and her mother (with her leg in a brace) trying to help.  It wasn't so funny when it happened, but I can truthfully tell you that I am having a pretty good chuckle right now!!  We had to look like Lucille Ball and her best friend Ethel!
Sarah says to please not compare us to Lucy and Ethel, but it is the truth so it has to be said!  Now she tells me that Ethel is smarter than Lucy, so I guess that tells you who she thinks she is in the dynamic duo!!

We now have the camper back into some semblance of order.  The boys are working outside, trying to get things ready for some friends who are supposed to be here this afternoon.  We have warned them about all that has happened and they are still brave enough to "keep on coming!"  Bless them!!

The guys bought a portable water tank last night and now we have water in the camper!  WOO HOO!!!
I will say that Barrett came in after the shower incident and just began to laugh.  We asked him what was so funny and he said, " Well, now we have water but no shower. "  For some reason this tickled him, but Sarah and I were not laughing!  Oh well, I guess you gotta laugh.  No crying around here.  WE'RE TOUGH!!  Now THAT is something to laugh about!

First Shabbat on the Ranch

Here are some pictures of our first Shabbat at the Ranch!!!    ENJOY!

My first Challah on our land!

Our Shabbat table!

(Dad) Blessing the wine.

Orange Juice is all we had :)

Blessing the bread.

Dad blessing us kids.

Dad blessing Mom.

Mom praying for Dad.

Never give up!!!

Good Morning!

Lots of things have happened these last few days.  Some things have been terrific, like spending time with family on Thursday and the guys have gotten quite a bit done around the ranch.  BUT, some things have not been so great.

Tuesday evening, as Sarah and I began to make supper,  we noticed that the propane on the stove wasn't acting right.  It would flame up and then almost go out.  When the guys began to check it out they realized that the regulator on the propane bottles was not working properly.   So, no supper was to be had , at least no supper on the stove.  Cold cereal and sandwiches for supper this night.  No one complained and we ate and then went to bed.  Generator and electric heaters running all night.  Oh, well!  Life on the ranch!

Went to Dad and Mom's on Wednesday to spend the night and help Mom get everything ready to take to my sis's house on Thursday.  Had a great time with family and friends on Thanksgiving.   The boys were able to talk to one of their cousins about our trip to Israel and the whole family watched some videos from the trip.  We arrived home Thursday night at around 8:30pm and it was approx. 27 degrees outside.  When we pulled into the homeplace we noticed that the army tent we had put up was no longer "UP!"  A wind storm had obviously blown through and the tent had lost its strength to stand.  On one side every stake that the guys had pounded into the ground had been pulled out of the ground.  Nothing was damaged so we are grateful for that blessing.  We left the tent where it lay and went to bed.

We had to go into town on Friday to do some bank business, pick up the last few things for the water system and pick up a new propane regulator.    No time to put the tent back in place.   Sarah and I went back to my parents house and finished the last of the laundry.  YEA!!!  It is all done and now we have clean clothes.  Our goal is to never get anything dirty again so we won't have to wash anymore.  Wouldn't that be a wonderful world?  It is a nice dream!

The guys put on the new regulator and the propane seems to be working just fine.  Today is Sabbath so we are just resting today.  Thank the Father for one day of rest.  It always seems to come at just the right time!

The tent will be put back up tomorrow and we will see what new obstacles we will have to face.  Life on the ranch is always an adventure!!

Coyotes, Sewer and Water Lines OH MY!!

Good Afternoon from the Warren Ranch!

Just finished lunch (cold cereal and fruit) and the guys are outside planning the water system.  Lunch wasn't fancy, but tonight is Alfredo Pasta and that is one of our favorites!

Bonny

Last night the coyotes sounded as if they were in bed with us.  Not a pleasant way to wake up!  Monty (still half-asleep) went and let Bonny (our old english sheepdog) inside.  This was at around 4:00am and she snores very loud, so that will tell you how much sleep we got after she joined us in the camper!  The other dogs (Gus-huskie/shepherd mix and Pepper-part lab/part something else) have kennels so they were fine even though the coyotes were close.

Gus

Pepper

We are out of water in the camper holding tank, so that means the water system has to get done rather quickly!  LIKE NOW!!  Not that I am impatient or anything.  Water to wash clothes and dishes would be nice.   I know my guys and they will get the job done.  They like clean underwear, too! hee hee  Don't tell them I told you that!  All of us went to take showers at my parent's house yesterday, so that sure did help with how things smell around here.

I can hear the tractor outside so I know Dayton is hard at work.  He has kinda put his name on that tractor and so far he is the one who runs it.  Monty is out there telling him where to dig and Barrett and Will are moving the tanks (water tanks) into place.  These tanks are really big.  500 gallons each!  If it works the way Monty has it planned in his head, we will be all set for water supply.  Did I mention that we have a 7 acre lake on the place.  This will supply our water and the system being set up is to filter that water so that it is usable.

Talking about the lake:
  It is beautiful to wake up in the morning and see the sunrise shining on the water!  The Father is so kind to let us have such wonderful things to enjoy!  The children want to get a paddle boat and maybe put in a zip-line!  They have grand ideas!

The Lake from the tent door.

Alot of you know that we just got back from Israel.  WOW!!  That was a trip of a lifetime! We will write an entry just about the trip one day!   We would love to live there, but until such time we are grateful for what we have been given here!  This blog is really dedicated to what happens here on the ranch, but I am sure you will here alot about Israel because it has become such an important part of our lives!

Now- back to the ranch!

Monty and Barrett just bought a pot-bellied woodstove for the tent.  It is adorable (maybe that isn't the right word, but I think it is adorable) and will help to keep the cold at bay on these upcoming winter nights in Oklahoma.

Praying for water to be flowing to the camper by nightfall.  I guess that is the biggest project for today!  Will keep you posted on how it goes!

ANTS, ANTS, ANTS

UGH!!!  We are infested with ANTS!  Tiny, little sugar ants.  But I am getting ahead of myself.


Today began early.  Around 6:00am.  I guess that is not so early on a ranch, but it is before the sun showed it's face, so in our book that is early.


Sarah spent most of her morning working on dishes.  It is a bit harder out here than in a regular kitchen.  We are trying to conserve water and because of that she used some wash buckets and worked outside.  She set up a folding table and did the dishes right outside the camper door.  It worked well and she got everything done.  


I spent the morning cleaning out the closet!  Ok!  You must understand that there are 6 of us in one camper closet.   Today was the day to take out the summer clothes and put in the winter.  It is still very cramped, but we are tougher than some silly old closet.  Monty built shelves that sit on the floor of the closet and that is where all the boys jeans are neatly folded.  Well, sometimes!   The closet looks great and I am satisfied with the results.


Dayton was yet again out on the tractor digging trenches for the sewer.  He says he is about 3/4 done.  It is always a good idea to have a sewer system and we are very grateful that he is willing to do this job.  The only problem so far is that wasps have set up housekeeping in the bars on the back of his seat on the tractor!  OUCH!!  It was a bit funny to watch him dig and then swing at a wasp.  Fortunately he never got stung!  

Dayton

Monty, Barrett and Will worked on getting the liner up in the tent and they also put down plastic on the floor.  We will eventually put in some carpet, but until then we at least have the plastic to keep out the bugs and some of the dirt.  It (the tent) looks really good and will only get better the more the guys work on it.  

Barrett

Will

Monty, Sarah and I went into town this afternoon.  Sarah and I went to a bridal shower for my nephew and Monty began to get what we need for the water system.  We also went grocery shopping and hope that we have all we need to get through this weeks meals.  Now---  When we arrived home, we were welcomed by an army of ANTS!  Thousands of little sugar ants!  BUT, we were prepared!  Those little buggers didn't stand a chance.  Our hero, Monty, armed with his bug spray went into action!

Monty "Our Hero"

So, this is where you will find us.  Sitting on the bed with everything pulled off the dresser (books, alarm clock, misc. papers, etc.).  Now remember, this is a camper.  When you move something from one place it is very difficult to find another place to put it.  Therefore,  Sarah and I are on the bed surrounded by everything from the dresser.  Oh well. Soon the spray will be dry (this I was assured by Monty) and we will be able to put all back into the right spots.  Thank Heaven for Sarah!  Even as I write she is already putting things away!  


We made it through the weekend!  Tomorrow will be another big day!  We have all kinds of ideas and it will be interesting to see which ones come to fruition.  Thought you might enjoy seeing the sunset from the ranch!

Goodnight!  We'll talk soon!

Moving to the Farm

Friday, November 19, 2010

Well, we did it!  We have moved to the raw, and I mean completely nothing on it, land in Oklahoma!  Our camper is now parked, with generator and dogs running almost non-stop.  When we arrived the boys began by finding the PERFECT TEMPORARY spot for the camper.  They have already found the PERFECT PERMANENT spot, but have to run sewer, water, and electric lines to that site before we can set up home.  Try to imagine 6 people, very opinionated people I might add, discussing where our home should rest.  After quite a bit of  "Over here! No! Over here!" the decision was made and now we are happily setting up house.

After the camper was in place, the boys began putting up a 16 x 32 green army tent.  Not very pretty, but will come in handy when we need to spread out and store things.  Like our oldest son, Barrett!  Just kidding!  The neighbors have already come by to check out the "new kids on the block." They live approx. 3 miles away, so I guess news has traveled fast that we are here!   Not sure what they thought about the long-haired group of guys with the long beards, but they were kind and didn't show too much surprise.  We really are nice people, we just look rough!   Dayton worked hard on digging trenches while Monty and the other boys gave terrific moral support from the sidelines.     

Last night we had Sabbath meal in the camper as the coyotes howled outside!  Quite interesting!  As Monty prayed blessings over our children the coyotes tried to join in the prayer.  The boys went and put the dogs in their kennels so they would not be tempted to run out and try to make friends with the pack.  Our dogs just want to have fun, but the coyotes, maybe not so much.  Sabbath meal was wonderful and we all ate until we couldn't eat anymore.  With tummy's full,  bloated would be a better word,  we all headed to our beds.  All was calm until 2:30am when the batteries on the camper began to run low.   I (Nancy) found this out when trying to make it to the bathroom and almost lost my way because of lack of light!  It is very hard to lose your way in a small camper, but no lights can make this happen.  Monty and Dayton tried to start the generator, but it was on strike and would not start.  As we all were in our nice warm covers, I am sure we were with Dayton and Monty in spirit because we sure weren't with them in body!  They worked hard and the generator was finally forced into submission and put up a flag of truce.  YEA!!!  It started and we had heat and lights!  The night was pretty much uneventful after that and we all slept peacefully.

Our first night at the farm and most everything went well. We had a few bumps, but nothing major.  We are grateful to be here and pray that this farm will become a place of hospitality and good fun and fellowship!  A place where the Father in Heaven is honored and people are loved! 
 
Check back soon for more updates!