Vomiting Vultures

So we went up to the farm after Duane had gotten the other motorcycle out. Sure enough, that bulldozer easily made a path though the thick bamboo. We wondered back along the path Duane cleared for us past the old house and up to the barn.  As soon as we got back  close to the barn this crusty old vulture hops up from behind the barn and starts flying towards us. I held on to my children and screamed for my life as he flew to attack us. Then just as he got over us out of his mouth comes the most putrid vile substance the world has ever known. Luckily there are a lot of us and he wasn't sure where to aim and it landed right in the middle of our group and not actually on any of us. Later I was googling vulture vomit and learned that it has the pH of hydrochloric acid. Yikes! But the path looks great.

Motorcycles

We went up to our farm to try and explore and explore a little since we couldn't even see most of the property when we bought it.y parents came up too.  We have this area of the farm where bamboo has completely taken over and it looks like Vietnam. It's terribly creepy and I am afraid all manner of things might be living in there. It is so thick you can't see too far in front of you and you have to weave yourself through to walk in there. I watched a video that said if there was a tornado coming to head for the bamboo and hang on because bamboo forests are so good at blocking wind that you would probably be safe.  Mental note. But for now with no tornadoes in the forecast we just need to see what the bamboo has engulfed.  So Brady and my dad head in the to walk around. A few minutes later and one good panic attack that they had been eaten by something they emerged all hyped up.  They had found two old barns, an old car, two old half burried boats, and two motorcycles. Yes, we might be able to afford this place after all if we could sell some of that. Oh and best of all they found an out house....4 seater....let that sink in a minute, just in case you need some company. A week later our neighbor Trent and Brady headed up to pull out the motorcycles and see if we could sell them.  They made it up and pulled one of the motorcycles out.  The barn started falling down on them and so they abandoned the mission and headed over to see Duane.  Duane has a thick east texas accent it is really endearing.  I am a fan of accents but Brady and Trent only caught about every third word. They thanked Duane for his previous dozer work and told him that if he wanted the other motorcycle he was welcome to it.   Duane and his son took the bulldozer back over later that week and pulled it out! Yes.  After two low appraisals of $100 by motorcycle guys in our neighborhood, I listed the motorcycle on cycletrader.com for $750. You never know....turns out it was a Vintage Honda Bike that was one of the last years made for some model called a "HellCat," and we were able to sell it for $600 to a motorcycle restorer. Score. Win-Win. It will probably be worth thousands in twenty years and we will have wished we had kept it.

Bulldozers and Neighbors

So I got a call from our awesome neighbor Duane this week.  He is about 70 and lives on the property next door, owns a bulldozer.  Heart of GOLD.  Love him, and his wife, and his bulldozer.  He calls me up this week and says, "So I took my bullzoder over to your property and pushed in the burned down house, and filled in the old hand dug well. It was too dangerous for them little kids of yours."  WHAT!  You did WHAT?  Am I hearing things?  Woooo hooo!  That saved us like $2,000 at least, not to mention its value to us on gaining momentum!  He says that you don't find people like that in the City.....well Duane I can definitely say you are right.  No one in the city would have ever done something like that.  

Trash

Lots and lots of the previous owners life (read trash) is left on the property because there is no trash service in the country.  Although i knew this fact in my head, it didn't seem like a big deal when we started.  The reality of no trash service doesn't register with city dwellers like me.  This one little thing has been one of our BIGGEST challenge so far in cleaning everything up.  I now understand why they left everything.........its just tooo hard to haul a lifetime of trash away to the dump and then pay for its disposal one cubic yard at a time.  Waste takes on a whole new meaning when you have to pay to buy something, and then pay again to get rid of the packaging.   WOW, I get it now.

We Bought A Farm!

Yes we did.  An old farm from a precious 102 year woman whose family lived in town and were ready to move on.  The Farm came with 9.2 acres, an old falling down Gospel Church, rich with history, an old house, a burned down house, a well (maybe?) at least 2 old barns that we can see, several falling down out structures and who knows what other treasures are hidden and in the process of being consumed by the forest.  The land is beautiful, natural, and the in the Piney Woods of East Texas near the town of Woodville, Texas.  The forest is currently in the process of reclaiming the farm from the previous owners.  We plan to restore the church, start an orchard, and have a retreat spot for our family and others during the growing up years.  Hopefully lots of memories and adventures will be had there, and hopefully this farm can bless people along the way. Thanks for joining us on our Journey.