Many of you have wondered what is going on with us and our homestead. After I announced that we are selling Marblemount Homestead in July, I haven't published a single message here.
I'm gonna make a long story very short and tell you: we decided to KEEP our homestead!!!
Yes, we DID move down valley to the Skagit Flats in March, where we started a new garden and smaller scale homestead.
But every single time we went up to Marblemount to prepare our wilderness property for sale, or to show it to interested buyers, or to visit friends, I bawled my eyes out. I've had more migraines from crying about the prospect of selling our place than I can count.
So we are happy to announce that we found wonderful young folks to rent our place. They are dreaming of having goats, a garden, and many bonfires around the good old fire pit. We are so happy!
And I can finally stop crying.
In the meantime, so much has happened, you guys.
Ever since moving from our home in the wilderness to the Flats in the West, we've been impacted by the pandemic, just like the whole world has been. Before we moved, we had visions of the kids going to a better school with many more opportunities. Well, school has been all online for nine months. No in person meetings with new friends.
We had visions of going to the local YMCA, working out, swimming, meeting new people... Nope. It's all shut down.
We dreamed of a huge housewarming party with lots of friends. Nah. We do hang out with a small select group of people, called our "pod", but there are not lavish parties...
So instead, as always, we take solace in nature. We've been biking, hiking, kayaking, and playing in our beautiful Pacific Northwest as much as we can.
My hubby and two sons climbed to the very top of Mount Baker! What an amazing albeit exhausting feat!!!
It was a smoky summer due to many wildfires. So our hiking and outdoor activities were pretty numbered in August - just another checkmark in the 2020 S**t-show...
Aside from being in nature, I spend a lot of time in front of the computer in zoom coaching sessions. I've been working more than ever as a Feminine Power Life Coach for women, which is incredibly rewarding, and also takes a lot of my life force energy in these crazy times working from home while also homeschooling kids... Ahhhh, the balancing act of being a working mother....
And on top of this, we grew a productive garden! I made lots of pickles and sauerkraut!
We picked apples from our Marblemount orchard one weekend, and when we came back the next week to get the rest, all that was left were humongous piles of bear poop. Oh well... We had enough fruit to press into cider to give us ten gallons for fermenting into hard cider.
In other news: Our kids continue to grow and flourish. I can't believe our oldest will be 18 in a month. And our middle kid got his driver's license in October. And the baby of the family is not such a baby anymore.
What a journey in these uncertain times! What this is all teaching me right now is to be very, very present in the moment, day to day, hour to hour. Everything is so darn fleeting. It's so easy to get lost in the anxiety and stress of it all. So I hold the ones I love close (if they let me), and I breathe in all the goodness. At least I try.
How about you? How are you doing????
Jeri I Petersen. We are good. We were able to golf all summer which got us out of the house. Things were curtailed as with everyone, but we got to see the kids and grandkids. We have decided to not have a Thanksgiving get-together this year because of so many cases. Gotta be smart right now. This will pass too we feel. Thanks for the blog this morning. It was a nice read for a lovely Sunday morning.
ReplyDeleteGlad you are doing well! Golfing in the summer sounds like fun, and just what the doctored ordered, right? Sunshine and exercise! Take care!
DeleteEverything is all right! Everything looks absolutely lovely! In spite of disappointment from being constrained compared to what we used to be able to do! We are 4 months into our roaming adventure around the American West. We've had very interesting time since July 31st when we first started north to Oregon. (Check our www.rlbenoit.com for my travel posts. Too much to recount here). We are currently in CA getting our trailer fixed and then we might go to... Texas to see what's going on over there! BTW That is a great move NOT to sell your homestead in my humble opinion. As long as you can keep it in good condition it will always be worth something and you will always have another place to go in case you decide that the Skagit Flats isn't your cuppa tea anymore.
ReplyDeleteWow, I can't believe you've been travelling all these months! That is so awesome! Were you in Oregon when all the terrible wildfires hit? Were you impacted by the smoke?
DeleteVery glad to hear you're all doing well!
ReplyDeleteHi Corina
ReplyDeleteGood to hear from you again. I was wondering if you were rethinking selling you Marblemount place. It seem like a much better place to spend this crazy time we are going through.
My husband and I have pretty much been hanging tight. Didn't get as much into the garden as I wanted to, but then, we just added a large fenced area with raised beds this spring and working the soil took more energy than we had. The one zucchini I got it went gang busters and produced great. Also took care of the bees by planting some sunflowers.
Other than a couple of health scares for each of us, its been pretty quiet around here.
Ha! You only need to plant ONE zucchini plant, right? Good for you for taking care of the bees by planting sunflowers! Take care!
DeleteHi Corina! We're doing good. Had an insanely busy season selling campwood this year! People from ALL over this country which really shocked us. Florida, New York State! And they DROVE across in cars! We met some really nice people too. Wore masks, respected the social distancing and kept coming back for more firewood! My garden didn't do so well this year. At least I know the berries are in the right spot so next year I'll plant a lot more in that area. Potatoes did well too and will be planting more. I'm doing container gardens still so I'm able to move things around until I figure where is best. I miss seeing you all bicycle by in good weather. I can't get over how much the kids have grown up!! I'm glad you're keeping the Homestead and found good renters!! With any luck people will start paying better attention and we can go back to more normal life next year. Kids back IN school, yard sales, BBQs, and travel.
ReplyDeleteWe did take a week and go out to Westport camping at Twin Harbors State Park. Was so blessed that the "kids" across the road watched everything so we could get away the first part of October.
Beep or wave next time you're up in the area! Still following your page and hoping some day to take a class.
Tena Hastings (Hastings Campwood~white horse trailer with red signs)
Tena, that is so great that you were able to sell a bunch of campwood. I heard that the North Cascades National Park had record numbers this year in terms of visitors and traffic.
DeleteWe'll honk next time we'll drive by!
Not been back to America, or even traveled this year, but reading all the horror story restrictions (natural and man made), I'm very glad to be safely ensconced in Eastern Europe.
ReplyDeleteI have family still in USA and also based in India and Singapore and God certainly placed me just weeks before lockdown in the best place. 🇦🇲❤️🇦🇲
Oh my goodness, I'm so glad you are safely nesting in Eastern Europe. Our trip to Germany got cancelled in July! So sad!
DeleteAfter 10 years our honeycrisp tree bore fruit - 75 apples! So I put an electric fence (rated for 25 miles) around one tree. Our garden is too big to do that, so the bear gets 20 blueberry bushes of fruit about every other year. I put a battery powered web cam up this year, that I call the bear cam. Between heavy rains we are keeping busy on our acreage in Marblemount. Feeling lucky with the beauty and our situation here, feeling good about a full wood shed. We’re happy that you still have a foothold in Marblemount!
ReplyDeleteIt’s been fun finding new ways to experience the world with window-swap.com, where folks from all over the world take a 10 minute video from their window and upload it. My video to upload is recording our rainy day and wood stove crackling right now. Rob and JS
Heya Rob! We miss you guys! And we missed dancing at your party this year, because there was no party... Sigh. Next year!!!
DeleteGlad to hear you are doing well! Sending love!
I am so glad you did not sell your homestead. You could read the pain you were feeling in your posts and I was hoping things would work out for you. I am glad it did. This has been a hard year for us. I got sick (not Covid19 thank God) but had to have a stent placed in my trachea to hold it open as it was continuing to close up, causing breathing hard. Right after it was inserted, during a major coughing fit, I dislodged it and blocked my airway. I was rushed back into the hospital for emergency surgery to replace that stint with a larger custom one. I spent 16 days in the hospital before being released. I was moved to my son and daughter-in-law's home for another 6 weeks so they could care for me while I got back on my feet. I have been home for about 4 weeks now. Getting better slowly but not whole yet.
ReplyDeleteI managed to be sick during the height of my garden, so I lost most of it. That was painful as I will have to purchase supplies from the store this winter. But I am healing, so I am counting this as my blessing for the year!
We too are skipping Thanksgiving with family but are taking about having a 'messenger' Thanksgiving so we can all be safe but still be together as a family. Seeing faces and listening and talking to those we love is the important thing.
Hope all goes well for you and your family. Happy Holidays. Stay Safe! God Bless and keep you!
Sandi Abercrombie
Wow, Sandi, this sounds so intense! I'm glad you are okay!!!
Deletehi corinna so nice to hear from you and glad you are doing well and back at marblemount! seems the best place for you and your growing family. I am sure the children are happy also. we are both well. did not make much cheese this summer as my best doe got very sick with a huge amount of worms after kidding even tho I wormed her. it was so sad to milk and watch herilk get less and less. ugh. she survived eventho vet thought she was a gonner! now looks great and will breed her on next heat. was able to acquire milk from a friend during these pandemic times. very healthy to be eating natural food. enjoy all the quiet holidays and be thankful for all blessings as we go into a new year! keep in touch. love visiting the pacific northwest even tho on computer! kathleen
ReplyDeleteKathleen, poor goat! So good that you are such an excellent and committed goat Mama and pulled her through the sickness! I really miss goat milk!
DeleteTake care!
I have followed your blog/youtube for a while now. I am not one to comment much but have appreciated your practical living posts and the beauty of your area. I was sad for you when you put your house up for sale because I could see how much of your family was intertwined into that space, but totally understand making sometimes big adjustments for our kids (I have one the same age as your middle child). So happy to hear that you can keep it and share it with some likeminded folks.
ReplyDeleteHello Kay, so glad that you stopped by virtually and said Hi. So fun for me to "meet" my readers like that!
DeleteSounds like everyone is doing good, Gary and I are hanging in there. We have stayed here on the farm. Our days are numbered,as we will certainly have to relocate soon. Property has changed hands. Looking for another opportunity to caretake property somewhere for someone in exchange for cheaper rent. Keeping our chins up��❤️
ReplyDelete