May 7th, 2022

Weather/Nature

Got a little less than a half inch of rain for three consecutive days, perfect for the new garden, then a good soaking rain yesterday. The spring wildflowers seem to have run their course for the year, their locations now shaded by the full leafing out of the trees. Incredible how fast that happened.

Down On The Farm

I ordered 50 red oak trees from the Kentucky Dept of Forestry for next to nothing, and so far we’ve planted about 30 of them around the edges of our property and in the woods. We don’t have many oaks, so hopefully this will add some diversity and ultimately replace some of our junky boxelder.

I clipped the pasture with tractor and bush hog in the hope that more sun will get to the low-growing clover. Once pasture gets mature it is not as palatable or nutritious for the cows, so we’ll probably clip the pasture 3-4 times during the growing season to keep it healthy. Overall, we’re impressed with the condition of our cows on this lush pasture, even without feeding any grain.

Best Thing We Ate

A homemade apple pie with ice cream was made for company this week, and whenever that happens it is a shoe-in for best thing we ate. I should have taken a picture of it.

From Family Worship

Our friends from Florida, Matt and Pam, came to stay with us Wednesday night on their way to Michigan for the summer. It was great to have them join us for dinner, family worship, and an evening of catching up. The fellowship of the saints is a great blessing, and the shared bonds in Christ endure over the miles and years.

Other Happenings

First off, an amazing thing happened with our dog, Anya, who was run over by a truck (and trailer) last week. After getting hit, she ran off and disappeared for 36 hours, leaving us to assume the worst. But last Saturday night when we got home from being out, there she was on the back porch! She was tired, thirsty, and banged up, but she was back! We have no idea where she went or where she spent the night. Vet check up confirmed that she didn’t sustain any serious injuries.

We had the chance to go to a nearby barn dance that’s held twice a year, which we went to last October. The family that puts it on goes all out, including 500+ old fashioned dresses for the girls to have fun picking from in the days before the dance.

This week marks a double anniversary of sorts. It has been exactly 3 years since we first visited the property here in Tennessee, and almost exactly 6 months since we moved here permanently from Florida. What a journey!

Here are some side-by-side pictures from when we first visited 3 years ago to look at the property listing (on the left) vs the same perspective this week (on the right).