Blessings at home

When we got back from our five-week road trip to Arizona, we were greeted by some amazing things:

1) One duck egg. Our ducks haven't produced any eggs for several months, and their welcome present was to start laying again.

2) A crocus. It's a little scary to have stuff bloom in the middle of February, but it sure is pretty to be greeted by this loveliness.

3) Pluto. My 14 ½ year old dog seemed confused (he is very senile), but happy to see us. I took him for a walk, and although he enthusiastically comes with me, he seems stiff and stumbly. The tumor on his back end has grown. This dog is my first child - I have known him longer than my husband. I know my days with my dog are numbered, and I cherish them.

4) The sun and mild temperatures. The weather forecast predicts the same for a week! I am sitting in the yard with a T-shirt, writing this. However, I can tell (and my friends assure me) that it has rained a lot here. The earth feels spongy and saturated. Creeks, rivers and puddles are overflowing. I am so glad the weather gods are really smiling on us spoiled Arizona-sun-drenched travelers. I don't know what I would have done if it had rained non-stop upon our arrival.

5) Bald eagles soaring on my first walk to the creek. Oh, I love the Pacific Northwest, rain and all. Everything is so GREEN. After weeks in the desert, our place feels almost obscene with its wetness and fertile smells. The smells! The earth is exhaling fumes of spring already, and I have to keep myself from throwing myself onto it and sticking my nose into the moss covered soil.

6) Kale and collards from last year growing in the greenhouse. I am so relieved I don't have to buy greens any more – it always feels wrong to buy veggies, because I grow them myself most of the year. But for a few months in the winter, this is not an option. A few hours after getting home, I ordered seeds from Territorial Seed Company. I can't wait to start my onions in the next few days!

7) The cat, who is supposed to be an outdoor cat, but has been let in by the house sitter. He is getting very, very comfortable on our sofa – unfortunately, because I am allergic to cats. We are going to have to kick him out and start new habits, although I wish he could live inside. It looks so domestic and cozy, with a cat presiding over the living room, don't you think?

It has been a full time job for Steve and me to unload the RV, put everything away, clean stuff, and do many loads of laundry.

Now, we are catching up with friends, and very soon, Steve will be gone all day, working his butt off so we can go travel in the winter... I am so grateful for this man and our (unconventional) life.

Home, sweet, sweet home

Five thousand five hundred miles and six and a half weeks later, we made it safely home.  We drove all day for three days, first through Arizona, then through California, and Oregon, and as soon as we crossed over to Washington, it started to rain.  Welcome home!
This photo was taken on the border of Arizona and California.

Here is a RV park at the AZ/CA border, where we spent the night.  There was a a huge tower for a zip line (which was closed for winter) and white sandy beaches.  Weird, huh?

Steve looks a little bit scary in this picture, doesn't he?  Like a Viking or something.  He was probably frustrated with Eva, who didn't want to walk back to the RV for dinner, but rather wanted to play in the beautiful white sand.

Here is me enjoying the last rays of sunshine, and modeling a new cowl I knit.  Wild camping hair!

Blasting through Oregon on Interstate 5 felt bittersweet.  We were heading North, which meant our wonderful road trip would be over soon.  We only stopped once, to stretch our legs at Shasta Lake.  Here is Mount Shasta, keeping us company on the road for a while.

On the way North, we visited our friends Erin and Terri and their two kids, since they only live an hour away from Portland.  They used to be a huge part of our lives, and our oldest kids grew up together.  Erin attended Kai's birth, so it goes to show how important they were to us.  It was wonderful to visit them on the scenic 80 acre farm where they live now!

All five kids enjoyed running around and getting their yayas out.

I miss these beautiful ladies!

That same day, we stopped for dinner and spent the night at Brian and Margaret's with their little baby.  Brian is Steve's best friend, and Brian and Margaret got married on our property.  I can't believe I didn't take any pictures of them!  What a beautiful day filled with old friends... Bittersweet visits, because we realize how much we love these people, and how hard it is to live so far away from all of them...

The closer we got to our home, the more I felt like a horse smelling her oats in the barn.  I just wanted to get home!  The first thing I did when the RV finally stopped in front of our house was to run to the barn.  My goat Gracie has been walking on her knees for two weeks, so I knew something was wrong.  I hope it was just the fact that her hooves were improperly trimmed and put stress on her legs.  After calling the vet, I hope that my suspicions are confirmed, and that she will start walking normally again after getting used to having perfectly trimmed hooves.
The second thing I did was enter the house.  I hardly recognized it!  It felt so BIG!  And it was so CLEAN!  Our house sitter Terri cleaned the whole house (including the refrigerator, which was not clean when we left....).  Thank you, thank you, thank you, Terri!
Our friend Andrea stopped by on her bicycle before I even walked into the house, and then was joined by our friend Sharon, and later by neighbors Rich and Anne.  We feel loved and welcomed and are happy to be home.  The kids are blissfully playing with their toys they had forgotten about, and Eva must have gone up and down the stairs fifty times already.

Steve and I are catching up on laundry, mail and bills.  Soon, we will bring out the home schooling books.  Then they are more goat hooves to trim, seeds to start, the RV to clean... But not yet.  We will try to take it easy-ish for a day to acclimate.  Plus, the SUN is SHINING, so I bet there is a walk in our immediate future.