Started

I got Charlie's blog started and had him write out his entries. I didn't get a chance to have them actually typed up and posted until this evening. I have him write them out first so he can work on his handwriting and to help him organize his thoughts and learn to expound on things.

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We have had a LOT of rain. It has rained almost non-stop all day long with very brief breaks in between. Everything is wet, muddy, and a mess. I am tired and I am tired of it. I have to pee, but I don't want to go back out in the rain and mud to go pee. so, I hold it until either the next break in the rain or my eyeballs float away and I either go out in the downpour or I wet myself. Either way, I will get wet. But rain water is preferable to urine. So, I will go out when the pressure becomes too much. Guys have it easy. They just go to the doorway and stand there. They don't have to get wet.

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Due to the rain, everything is at a standstill. So, we did what any good pioneers would do. We strung up clothes line and the muddiest stuff we put through the wonder washer and the less muddy stuff, we just hung up to rain wash. At least until we can get to a laundromat. Did they have laundromats 150 years ago?

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I sometimes feel like I don't know what on earth I'm doing. What am I doing? Am I nuts? Am I really doing this? Yes, I am. Yes, I'm nuts. Yes, I'm really doing this. And yes, I'm winging it because I have never done this before. This is not a camping trip where At the end of the week-end or even a couple of weeks, I take the wet, dirty clothes, pack them up, go to a nice dry house, do laundry, collapse in a heap of exhaustion, and say "That was fun, now to recover from the vacation." This is a for life thing. We are in this for the long haul. It is fun, exciting, grueling, exhausting, frustrating, and overwhelming. We are not just building a house (which we haven't even started on yet since there is work to do before we can even think of starting on that) but we are blending two families and all the different quirks that go with that. You would think that with 80 acres there would be plenty of room, but right now we are cramped.

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Tomorrow, Husband will be leading church service and we will have a day of rest. Monday will bring what Monday brings. Hopefully a full creek and a dry ground.

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Incidentally, the goats are loving the all you can eat buffet that is this land. They are so free range that they come right through camp and come up to you while you are trying to eat. The chickens have decided that roosting in trees is preferable to going back in the pen at night. I have no idea where they are laying so we have no eggs. I've sent the children to search, but they have come up empty. I have a feeling I am going to have to be the one to search.

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It looks like cooking has become my job. At least as far as lunch and dinner goes. Thankfully, I enjoy cooking and there really isn't a whole lot of difference between campfire cooking and stovetop cooking. I have even used the crockpot. With the solar chargers, I can cook with it and not completely drain the batteries. I am hoping to get a solar oven build this next week.

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Rain has let up, so I am going to go to the bathroom.