End of the Week

We managed 4 days of school this week!  We got everyone up, math done in the morning, and Barton tutoring done.  We only had one Portland tutoring this week so that was nice.  After school, we packed up meals and food prep and were out at the property.  Last night, we didn't get home until 10:00.  I am hoping to get Barton done today but the children got to bed so late last night, I think I will let them sleep in.  

We are "leasing" part of our pasture out and will have 2-3 small Dexter steers.  They won't take much effort, just keep their water trough filled and their owner will do everything else.  In exchange, we can get meat, or help getting our front pasture fenced, or a heifer.  It all happened to be rather random.  I saw someone post a need on social media and offered a lease. It turns out the steer owner, Sandra, works in the school district with Phil and is good friends with a dear teacher friend of mine, Marjorie, from my early days teaching at Eugene Field.  Marj is probably in her early 70's by now and lives alone on a small farm.  I spent a summer when I first moved here helping her out on the weekends.  Sandra and I invited Marj to come out to the farm and we had a fun couple of hours visiting and walking the property and planning the best way to get the steers into the field.  We are hoping to move steers out on the 22nd.  

The girls had some building projects that they were given in Awanas.  Jubilee built a shelf and Evi built an airplane and they both spray painted the first layer.  The boys chopped down snags and cleaned up under the windblock.  The windstorm blew a lot of branches down.  Glorielle "helped" by filled up the treat containers with grain and the sheep and alpaca were gorging themselves before we discovered it!  No grain for a few days.  Hopefully, the didn't eat too much.  Phil got another window in downstairs and then started painting the skylight wells and ceiling.  I cut in the kitchen (oy, cutting in the paint corners takes twice as long as actually rollering it).  I am hoping to get the first layer of yellow up on some of the walls today (Friday).  I need to start making some decisions about bathroom and studio color because we are about ready for that.  The kitchen cupboards also need to be stripped and painted.  I will probably work on upstairs painting all weekend.

Easter is this Sunday.  It has really snuck up on us.  Luckily, my parents are helping to make this a special day for the children with Easter dinner, goodies and an egg hunt planned.  I better try and squeeze in egg coloring tomorrow.  

We may have found our farm name.  (Can't remember if I shared this or not) It is the first name that came to me when we started working on our place.  I like the name but I haven't been positive about whether it is the "perfect" name for our farm.  We are strongly considering Beautiful Feet Family Farms.  

From the scripture, Romans 10:15..."How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"  

And from Isaiah 52:7...How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, "Your God reigns!"

Our hope is that we can use our farm space in some capacity to share the good news of Christ and spread His love...that the Lord will bring people and situations into our lives where we can bless others, help others, share with others, fellowship with others, and continue raising our children to make a difference for Christ.  We have already had an opportunity to share the gospel and how Jesus has worked in our lives and we haven't even moved to the farm yet!   We have already set up a "lease" and gotten reacquainted with a friend from long ago.  And we have so enjoyed seeing my parents almost daily as they come out to the property to see the progress.  

I also have been pondering changing my business name from Whirlygigs and Whatknots to Beautiful Feet Fiber Art.  I love the Whirlygigs name and it is perfect for my whimsical crochet hats, gloves, and knick knacks but I don't think it suits my fiber art paintings very well...they are more "serious" for lack of a better word.  I am not exactly sure the direction of my small little hobby business but I would love for it to work in conjunction with our farm.  The White Oak Gallery is closing/changing owners so I will have to wait and see what the vision for the gallery is and how I will fit into that.  I did sell 3 paintings last week and that was very encouraging.  I still am hoping to market myself and get my pieces in some galleries around the Pacific Northwest.  Right now, I am looking forward to getting my little studio all set up and having some time to felt paint.  I haven't been able to do anything creative since February except for crocheting during piano lessons.

In the middle of all this craziness, I am going to a retreat the first weekend in May.  The timing is either terrible or brilliant.  LOL!  The speaker is Sally Clarkson.  I have several of her books and have been very encouraged by her over the years.  I have always wanted to go to one of her retreats but this is the first one I have seen within driving distance.  Phil booked it for me on the spot when I told him about it despite my protests of money and timing.  Honestly, I could really use a faith building get away.  It isn't the house or the moving or the chaos that we are in right now, rather the challenges behind the dsylexia, speech, ADHD/ADD, homeschooling, and parenting through all of it that I am struggling with.   It sometimes seems like an unmanageable/impossible situation and I have wrestled with it and wrestled with the Lord through it.   

Ceiling painting

Late night movie so we could eek out an extra couple of hours of painting.