Rice Family

Our first step towards the 'homestead' lifestyle: CHICKENS.  J and I have been researching, reading books & articles, and saving a TON of info to our Pinterest board.  I know we are in for some surprises and troubles, but we are doing our best to head them off and avoid other peoples mistakes. (J is still trying to convince me that we need to start pigs this year.  I keep reminding him that is one of the PRIMARY mistakes other homesteaders have made: being too eager and getting in too deep, too fast). So, we start our garden and chickens this year - keeping our fingers crossed that we aren't putting them in poor locations.  The chickens are the first thing branching out into our additional 2 acres.  The coop and kennel are going at the outside, back corner of our fenced in yard.  Our coop is valiantly being made from old cabinets we picked up at the local Habitat for Humanity, Re-Store.  We intend to paint, add roof, prop up on legs, and insert some roosts. Our rese

J and I purchase our Idaho home Nov. 17 2016, and with help from everyone (Emily, Chris, Justi, and John's friend Joe in Colorado; A BUNCH of J's family in Idaho) we got everything moved in. The house has 4 bed, 3 bath, 3 living-room, plus a couple bonus unfinished rooms. We purchased 2 additional acres, which gives us a total of 3 acres.  We have quite a bit of work to do, as it is an older home and runs purely on electric (so we have no back up in the event of an outage).  Hopefully in the not too distant future we will get to try our hands at some farm animals : chickens, pigs, maybe a cow...a goat?  Who knows. Front View of our home 2 acres behind the house In preparation, we purchased an old Chevy Avalanche, an old red & white 2-horse trailer, and an old John Deer tractor/mower with snow blower attachment!  Budget demands we buy old/used. We are excited to get to know our new neighbors, get settled into our new jobs, and start working on our new home.  Fir

Life has run us around a bit, and we have enjoyed the journey.  As Facebook rather took over our lives in regards to blogging, I did not maintain my blog.  I find, however, that I enjoy coming back and reading my blog more than I like perusing old facebook posts.  So I begin again with blogging; for myself more than anything. We have managed, since my last post in 2012, to return home to Idaho.   We spent 5 great years in Colorado!  The kids grew up with the neighbors; McKenzie had horse riding lessons from a young lady named Carrie, in Longmont; she started playing flute in 2nd grade, and in 4th she switched to playing trumpet; Ethan started playing soccer, and Minecraft (video gamer in the making).  We got McKenzie a cat named Diamonds. We got a puppy who we named Ryder.  We got new appliances in the kitchen that I love (double oven, fridge with freezer drawer, etc)!  I mention them, because I am sad to have left them in Colorado.  We made great friends with our neighbors:  Pa