April 30, 2023 by Mae Lynn

April in pictures

April seems like a whirlwind. We began the month learning homestead skills as a family on a little getaway to Dothan AL and Zeb lost his first tooth. On Sunday April 2nd Adam and Mr. Hagan split one of our hives while I spent the day putting new foraging knowledge into practice. We began our week in our schooling playing Go Forage (similar to Go Fish) and then went foraging in our neighborhood. Tuesday, we began our morning like any other day. The kids woke up to their early morning alarms and went outside to take care of all of the animals. And that’s when the three limbs fell; before 7am on a typical Tuesday morning. There was no storm, no wind, nothing to warn us of the impending doom that was about to happen (Counting our Blessings).

Tuesday April 4th has changed our perspective on things. We hug our kids a little longer these days; we value our property and our house more (even though it looks like a disaster clean up area); we treasure the friendships and the love that has been shown us in so many different ways this month; and we wake up each day so thankful and yet so humbled that God is Sovereign and in control no matter what measure or precautions we put in place.

The girls wanted to repaint their bunkbed

We are so thankful for a friends heated pool so we can swim year round

We processed pigs 2 weekends in a row. It’s a lot of work but also fun when you get to fellowship and be with friends.

Beauty from ashes: these wood pieces and this mulch came from the tree that fell

My “farmacy” shelf in the kitchen. We have snotty kids so I made a pot of echinacea, mullein, elderflower and peppermint tea

Kathryn added flowers to several rooms in the house

I plan to make tinctures and healing drinks from these today

We harvested potatoes and peas on the last day of April (there is obviously more that what is pictured here!)

We finished the month celebrating Adam’s birthday. A dear friend makes the most delicious cheesecake with real ingredients. She topped it with borage and calendula. After dispatching the pig, the guys and boys went shooting and the ladies stayed behind to serve a delicious dinner of rabbit-pork burgers with homemade sourdough buns, deviled eggs with fresh eggs and homemade mayo, corn on the cob and other delicious food. I’m so thankful for a group of friends who value real food as much as we do!

April 8, 2023 by Mae Lynn

Counting our blessings

You should see our shed from the porch. This was all I could see after the third limb fell.

Tuesday, our week and our lives were turned upside down. The kids were outside early Tuesday morning to feed the animals and milk Reba. I was in the bathroom getting read to go on my morning walk. I heard a really loud crash and thought “Oh man. That was a big wreck on Highway 4.” A few seconds later I heard the door open and a kid running frantically through the house. I then thought, “That wreck must have been really bad for the kids to come tell me so quickly.” Graham was screaming as he got closer to the bathroom. He burst in (he was pale and shaking all over), “Mama, two limbs fell on the shed and I don’t know where the rest of the kids are.” Those seconds between me leaving the bathroom and rushing outside seemed so long. I remember whispering to God, “I trust you.” That was all I could get out. There was panic in my chest and I felt like I was moving in slow motion. By the time I arrived to the front porch, Graham, Madelynn and Zeb were there and Kathryn was walking out of the shed. We were all in shock. Kathryn was standing at the stable with the goats and she was staring at the roof (she was in the shed when the first limb fell) and Graham started screaming for her to move (Graham had been in the shed getting feed moments before the first two limbs fell). He could hear another limb cracking above her head. I yelled at her to open the stable door for the goats and run. She and the goats ran to the pasture as the third limb fell, crushing the stable where she and the goats were standing moments before. (Graham was amazing as the man of the house. He saved Kathryn’s life and I’m so proud of him). By this time two of my kids were screaming and crying and I was holding them trying to calm them down. I immediately called Adam and told him to come home “now.” I then called a friend who has helped us with many limbs on our property. Let me clarify: these “limbs” are the size of large oak trees. We were in the process of scheduling to have them cut down because they loomed way too close to the shed and house. Within 30 minutes, Adam arrived home with a co-worker and 4 more friends had arrived with their chainsaws and tools. It was all hands on deck with men sawing limbs and the rest of us moving debris out of their way. And yes, one of my friends and I were so excited to find a medicinal herb all through the branches of the trees so, of course, we harvested as we cleared debris!

We were amazed that not only were our children safe, all of the animals were accounted for and the limbs missed our family vehicle by inches. Our friends worked hard and I couldn’t believe how fast they cleared and cut the limbs. They were finished a little after lunch and this happened at 7am. Our pastor stopped by to hug and encourage us and we had friends coming and going all day bringing food and love and more tears.

We have a long way to go but again, we are so thankful that everyone is safe. God is good and we are praising Him for His mercy. We are all navigating many different emotions and severe mental and physical exhaustion. But we have so many people walking alongside us through this and we couldn’t be more thankful.

April 7, 2023 by Mae Lynn

Learning new skills

Last weekend we attended Keeper of the Old Ways; a two-day homestead festival. We went Friday just the two of us to explore and meet new people and my in-laws brought the kids to us on Saturday. We had many classes to attend so we divided up to learn more. Kathryn and I attended an emergency medicinal herb class while Adam and the other three kids attended a pork processing class. Kathryn and I explored for awhile and met up with some folks we knew because the pork class was two hours. We met up for an early lunch and to chat with some more friends. After lunch we walked around and the kids learned a new way to start a fire, blacksmith skills and the picked the brain of a guy who makes beautiful knives and other weapons out of rocks and minerals. Kathryn and I attended a goat milk lotion class followed by a goat cheese class. Adam and the other 3 learned how to graft fruit trees and how to manage livestock guardian dogs. We finished our day overwhelmed with new information and wiped out but thankful for time away as a family. Only 3 of us stayed awake for the 2 hour drive home while we listened to The Two Towers.

Adam and I stayed in a converted barn. We enjoyed being on a farm without any chores!

Sunday we spent the afternoon catching up on homestead projects after being gone for 48 hours.

I decided to add in foraging to our homeschool week. The kids usually get frustrated with me because I pull off the road often to forage all kinds of things. Well, I taught them Monday morning what we were looking for and once they spotted certain “weeds,” they got so excited to forage! All the herbs are dehydrating now to either make teas or tinctures.