As some of you know, we moved back to CT to be closer to Beau's mom who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer at the end of June. It also gives us a chance to be near our little niece, Isabella, whose birthday is just 3 weeks from Finn's! Beau's mom was given a 6-12 month diagnosis, then a 3-6 month diagnosis. We made the decision, at the beginning of July, to pack up or sell/give away what we could and be in CT by July 21. That gave me 2 1/2 weeks to get it done!! We got most of what we wanted done, but left too much undone, which happens with quick moves. On Aug. 28, Hurricane Irene hit the east coast and took not only our electricity, but Grandma Helen Kennedy, as well. She fought to stay with us as the rains and winds whipped angrily around outside. As the storm calmed down and settled to a slow drizzle, Grandma Helen took her last breath and left this world. Her kind heart and loving spirit will be forever missed. We went w/o power that week for 5 days. I finally got Beau to "rough it," but I think that is about as close to camping as I will be able to get him. He was NOT a happy camper :-P Fast forward now a couple of months (almost to the day), and I am writing this blog from a storm shelter (that blocks FB and all e-mail...grrr).
An early heavy, wet snow that dumped about 10-12 inches on our lovely homestead, has downed trees onto power lines (due to the trees still with leaves that allowed the weight of the snow to drag them down) and we are AGAIN w/o power, and this time the governor of CT is saying it could be at least a full week before power is restored because MORE people are w/o power this time. Hmmm, I seem to remember a blurb in the newspaper where a CL&P rep announced to the world (okay, maybe just the state of CT) that they are ready for the storm this time. They really stink if this is "ready." Makes one think about switching to solar-if it wasn't so expensive to retrofit, of course. Needless to say, Beau is again not a happy camper-especially since we weren't prepared this time. We didn't fill our humongo bathtub with water so we can flush the toilet, even! We won't go into details on how we're dealing with that issue...lol. I will say one thing though, I actually like the kids having a technology and screen "down" time. They have been getting along better, playing games together, doing more craft projects, and we even started a family reading time in front of the fire before bed, by candlelight. It's a bummer that I can't get on FB, but c'est la vie :-) Even though Beau says he is ready to jump ship, I know that he and we will make it through, and God is providing this down time for us. Some might even say, a calm before the (next) storm.
Which brings me to our next little piece of news- Beau got a job!! Hooray! He starts his new position on Nov. 21 and we are very excited for him. Each of us has a different reason of course...lol. I love his continual help around the house, and will miss that when he starts to work, but I know that he is going stir-crazy, so I am very happy that he is back at work. Okay, not to mention the fact that we have been running on money fumes for a while now, so that will be extremely helpful.
On the home front, we are going to get chickens and would like to get a couple of dairy goats. I've been looking up how to make cheese-which is where I learned about rennet . That's a whole different blog post! I would like to get a couple of alpaca and learn how to spin the fiber to make yarn. They are a bit expensive, so it may be a while for them, but it's on the list. I can't wait til we can plant a huge garden and learn to can next year. Angel (my SIL) and I have been going to some pottery workshops, and I think it would be fun to have a throwing wheel and pottery workshop set up in the barn, so that's on the list too. So many ideas!!
That's about all for now. I'll have to do a separate post just to catch up with the kiddos. Unfortunately, not long after we got here, my camera broke!!! So as soon as I can, I'll try to post pics of the kiddos and the things that they've been up to.
Love you all!
