Daylily

I know it! I get so tired this time of year that I forget what "rested" even feels like! Today, we can the blueberries and nectarines. We did 35 qts of nectarines Friday. We've got both dehydrators full of nectarines, Sungold tomatoes, summer squash, etc. We borrowed SIL's steam juice and plan to try some nectarines in it. A friend told me they did some and canned the juice with a little orange juice mixed in. She said it was really good. We have 8 bushels of nectarines to do so thought we'd try some juice. I'd better get to work! Best wishes to all you tired canners:)

mom11, been there, done that It can be a real mess.

We have 1 1/2 bushels of green beans to do, 4 gallons blueberries, more than 1/2 bushel of cucumbers and every counter top covered in zucchini and yellow squash. We need to pick pea pods, okra, tomatoes. I know about that corn splatter! It's a very busy and tiring time of year for all us canners, isn't it?

CeeGee, I am so sorry! May God give you comfort and peace.

Friday Yesterday about mid-afternoon, I saw a somebody coming up the trail in a wagon. They hesitated at the shallow creek crossing but then came up to our cabin. We were all still on our side of the creek. We had just cleaned up after dinner and the men were putting the last part of the handrails on the bridge. It was Nell's cousin Frank and his wife, Janet. They apologized for not making it to the barn raising but they'd had some issues that had to be taken care of during that time. They'd heard that both cabins were finished and had come to spend the weekend with Fred and Nell. Except Fred and Nell were still at our cabin They had planned to move into the other cabin today but with the other folks here willing to help build the bridge, they put their plans on hold. Nell decided that we had time to move their stove and beds into the cabin and get pretty well set up before dark so we all went to work on that. I invited them back over for supper yesterday and breakfast this morning since all the food was still over here. Janet handed me a note from Chef. He had decided he wanted to try hardy kiwis and planned to plant them in the big greenhouse, on the north wall. He had sent Nell and me some plants for our greenhouses. There were a couple of cherry tomatoes, some kale, Chinese cabbage, and a bunch of leaf lettuce plants. I picked out a really nice looking female and male to send to him. Today, the folks helped set up both greenhouses. Rick put together some log planting boxes for us to start cuttings in. We built some raised beds to plant the vegetables and herbs in and filled them with the "potting soil" I had made. While we were planting our plants, the men dug two holes and built two outhouses. We had each brought regular toilet seats with lids for them. I don't plan to go out to the outhouse after dark. We have our old-fashioned chamber pots for night time and bad winter days. The barn-raising crew plans to leave right after breakfast tomorrow morning. We are so grateful for all the help we've had this week. Linc seems so much more relaxed now. Well, we all do, I guess! Now we can focus on some of the other things that also need to be done before winter. We need more firewood. We need to spread out the black walnuts that the kids gathered while the barn raising was happening and let the husks dry. We shared the walnuts with anyone who wanted any. They'll taste good this winter. I think Frank and Janet are staying through Sunday. They will be a lot of help to Fred and Nell getting their house set up. Paul and Carrie haven't moved yet but probably will this weekend. I'm looking forward to unpacking and setting up my house. On rainy days Linc and Rick will be building bedsteads for us, book shelves, kitchen shelves and cupboards, etc. while Fred and Paul do the same for Nell and Carrie. Loren brought a little horse-drawn mowing machine. He had to cut a long pole for it and get it put together. He plans to continue cutting hay as long as possible. As it drys, we'll all be helping get it into the barn loft. He got the horses, the cow, the chickens and the dogs settled into their own spots. His horses are funny; they have to have the same stall every night. It's theirs and they don't want another horse to go in it. He'll be building a corral around the barn too; the other men will help him, of course. He's been moving the tack out of our cabin into the tack room, and his stuff into his room. Gradually the stacks and piles in our cabin are getting smaller. I don't know how much grain he needs for the horses and cow this winter. There are the chickens too, that will need grain. With all that's been going on, I keep forgetting to ask Loren how his grain is holding out and how much he needs for winter. We'll probably get together this evening and play some music again since the neighbors will be leaving in the morning, and since Frank and Janet are here.

Monday We were all up early this morning, anticipating our visitors! Linc was so excited he could hardly keep his feet on the ground. I know the pressure on him to get everybody under roof has been terrible. He feels responsible for all of us; that's just his nature. When we found out the group was coming, he immediately started get everything lined out so the work would go quickly. He had all his measurements ready for windows, etc. We are making our windows to fit the mini blinds we brought from home. The folks got here just as we were finishing up our morning chores. Linc was joking with Mr Smith about waiting till the work was done to get here. He loves to pick on people, as long as they don't mind! We all went out and everybody introduced themselves and their families. I was happily amazed that so many folks had come. The women started setting up their camp and cooking area. Linc quickly filled the men in on what needed to be done and they sorted themselves into groups to tackle the different tasks. One team started on the roof of our cabin. Our men had cut Western red cedar into 22” sections to make shakes to cover the roof. Several of the men had brought their froes and we have a couple in our group so some of them started splitting the shakes and some started laying up the support beams for the roof. Linc and Rick had the pulleys and come-along already set up. We're going to have a porch along part of the front which faces south and the greenhouse will be along the other part of the front of the house. The men teased me about my “rock pile” (my greenhouse foundation) that they were having to work around. Two teams went down and crossed the creek to Loren's place where the barn would be and started on that. The area had been staked off weeks ago. The foundation piers had been set up so it was ready for the logs. Loren was there working with those teams. He'll need room for 8 stalls for the 7 horses and the cow. He also wants a room for himself on one end, a chicken house, room for his dogs, a tack room and I'm not sure what else. It's going to be a pretty big building. Another team crossed the creek to Paul and Carrie's place and started on their cabin. This one will house them as well as Fred and Nell until next year. It will also face south and have a porch and greenhouse attached. It's Nell's greenhouse but I have a feeling they might spend every winter will Paul and Carrie and summers in their own cabin. Of course, Paul and Fred were over there working. For several minutes, I just stood there watching. It reminded me of the honeybees in Linc and Lena's hives! But I had to pull myself away and tend to the dinner preparations. The group had brought along a lot of food but we would add our share to the mix. By the time they broke for dinner, they nearly had our roof done. I could see across the creek that the barn and the other cabin were well along too. I could see young folks hauling in rocks with David's pony and cart. Speaking of David, he and Lisa seemed to be having a great time. We need to take time to get them together with some of the other kids their age. Supper sure tasted good after the days work! The folks had brought vegetables from their gardens and I hadn't realized how hungry I was for fresh vegetables. Some folks had brought in vegetables to trade for apples and pears too. I was really tickled about that! We'd get that all sorted out before they left. As we ate, we shared our stories of how we came to be here, our experiences since we'd been here and our hopes for the future. Mr Smith talked about the winters here. Winter has never been my favorite season and I'm not looking forward to it. Apparently it comes earlier here than it did in Virginia and we still have a lot to do before it gets here. How thankful I am for the help of our neighbors! Tuesday Morning came early. Everybody was up and working at first light. It was chilly and looked like it might rain. I hoped it wouldn't but about lunch time it started. The men kept right on working and we women kept right on cooking. It's been a long day and I'm tired and tomorrow will come soon enough! Progress on the buildings has been amazing. We can never fully repay these good folks! I've enjoyed visiting with the women too. One lady told me she made pear sauce and how good it was on toast. I'm going to make some as soon as we get the house in order and things unpacked. Wednesday Brrr!!! Another chilly morning. When the sun got up good, Nell, Anne and I inspected our root cellars and they were dry! What a relief! We'd been concerned about that and yesterday's rain was enough that they would have taken on water if they were going to. Anne and I crossed the creek this morning to check out the progress there. They're already building the stalls in the barn! Loren's room is looking good too. We walked on up to the other cabin. They are already working on the roof. The older kids are still hauling rocks. Any rocks not needed for the chimney and hearth can be used for the greenhouse foundation. Some of the men have been cutting firewood too. After our inspection tour, we got busy helping with the cooking for this evening. Nell and Mom have been making pies all day. They've been using dried fruits and the fresh apples and pears. They've made cherry pies, blueberry pies, apple pies and apple dumplings, pear crisp and I don't know what all. All the smells coming from the cooking areas area are making me hungry. Several of folks will be leaving in the morning. I hate to see them go and not because of all the work! I've enjoyed the company and visiting back and forth. I hope we can get together more. Maybe they will have projects that we can help them with later on. We'll likely see many of them when we go to help with the wild rice harvest and the vegetable harvest. Later that evening, after supper, we all walked around and admired the work. Everyone was pleased with their accomplishments. The cabins and the barn were finished except a bit of inside work. We have a potential loft for extra sleeping and storage space. I say “potential” because we don't have flooring in it yet. That can be done as we make 2 x 6 lumber later on. We'll also make a low wall or railing across the front of the loft later. There is a room in the barn where we can stack and dry the lumber the men will cut later. Rick got out his banjo; Linc, Fred and the girls got their guitars and some of the neighbors had brought instruments too. Paul had his trumpet. Everyone seemed to enjoy the music and joined in singing. I sat there with tears in my eyes. It reminded me so much of home and our get-togethers with friends and family. I couldn't help wondering how they all were doing back home. Finally, things began to wind down. Kids were falling asleep. Paul played “Taps” on his trumpet and the sound echoed off the surrounding mountains. Silently, we all slipped off to bed, each mind and heart full of it's own memories, hopes and dreams. Thursday We were up quite early this morning. Several of the folks were leaving. We went around saying our goodbyes with many thanks, hugs, and promises to see each other again and offers to help them when needed. We stood waving as they drove out of sight down the trail. Then we turned our attention to the folks that were staying a couple more days. They wanted to know what else needed to be done so Linc suggested that they could help us build a bridge across the creek here close to the cabins. This bridge will be mainly for walking but the men decided to build it wide enough for the pony cart. It will have handrails on both sides. (IRL DH slipped on our frosty foot bridge last Oct and fell in the creek. His faced landed in a bed of ferns and he still broke his nose!) So they went to work on that. Mr Smith and I sorted out the barters that he and a couple of others had brought along. We ended up with several bushels of potatoes, carrots, rutabagas, turnips, cabbage and winter squash, along with some beets, garlic, and onions. We loaded the apples and pears into his wagon, each crate labeled with who it went to. We'll have to build shelves and bins in the root cellars to store everything in. There was enough wood left over from the barn and cabins to do that. If they get the bridge done today, they might be able to help get in the hay that Loren has been cutting. That would be a blessing too. I'd better get back to the kitchen and help with dinner. We'll have a hungry crew here in a little while.

The drivers came for the wagons and oxen a few weeks ago. We have walls but no real roof on our cabin. We have tarps and plastic covering everything. We were able to set up the cook stove where we can cook on it but most everything else is just stacked in the middles of the rooms to be out of the way of building. All of us are sleeping in our cabin here. We have a “great room” which includes the kitchen and a sitting room, 3 bedrooms and a storage room. We are praying we don't have to spend the winter in half built cabins. I've read about pioneers doing just that. We women finished digging the root cellars. The men took a couple of days and helped us finish them. We chose south-facing banks to dig our cellars. We dug about 8' x 8' holes into the banks with level floors, each with a 4' x 8' entryway. We hauled gravel from the shallow part of the creek for the floors. We built bins and shelves and then put the roof on. We used squared up logs laid side by side across the top. We made 10” by 10” chimneys of sheet metal for venting and covered the roof beams with 6 mm plastic. Then we replaced the dirt on top, about 4 feet, and replaced the sod. The fronts are solid beams laid up like a log cabin. The doors of small logs will work until the men have time to make boards. We harvested the apples and pears. The cellars are full. I hope to barter some for some vegetables. The nights are getting cold. I never did like getting out of bed when the house was cold but I've sure been getting lots of practice at it now. Mom and I have been doing the cooking and all the others have been working on the cabins. While things are cooking, we go out and lay up rock for our greenhouse. It is on the south side of our cabin. I've got my pots of plants sitting all over the place in here trying to keep them from freezing at night. Thankfully, we've collected a lot of firewood from the logging operation but we'll net a lot more for winter. Well, I hear the building crew coming in for lunch. I'd better go take care of them. Later....I am overwhelmed!!! A messenger just came and told us that a bunch of folks from the Valley are coming here Monday for a barn raising!! I cried when he told us. I just couldn't help it. Our prayers have been answered! Well, maybe I should say a "building raising"! We do need a barn for the animals with a room for Loren on one end, and if we could get our roof on and get a cabin built with a great room and two bedrooms for Fred and Nell, Carrie and Paul, we'd all be under cover. I don't know how long they will be able to stay but any help at all will be such a blessing. Even though we have a lot of logs ready more will have to be cut. We've got to get some food cooked up. I'm excited about having company and getting acquainted with folks too.

It's been a very busy and productive few weeks. I can hardly believe it's nearly September already! I had hoped to keep a daily journal but just couldn't keep up. The men have been cutting down trees and de-barking them. Linc says we need 40-60 wall logs for a small one-room cabin so I guess we need about that many per room. Linc told me last night that they are ready to start our cabin and have a lot of the logs for the others ready. Every evening when they come in from the woods, they haul a load of logs here to the cabin site. We women finished planting my fruit and butternut trees, grape vines, berry bushes, etc. and everybody else's too. I hope everything survives the winter. We planted asparagus, multiplier onions, elephant garlic. I think that's all! I'm eager to get the greenhouse set up. Nell has one too. We want them to be attached to the south side of our cabins so we can't put them up until the cabins are built. I've been using David's pony and cart to haul leaf mold from the woods. I've just dumped it on the ground in a pile and mixed it with soil and the composted manure. It's seems to make a pretty good potting mix. I've also made a pile across the creek for Nell. I have to go down the creek aways to where it widens out and gets shallow so I can drive across it. Up here, it's steeper and we plan to build a foot bridge. Fred & Nell's property is on the northwest side of the big rectangle, Carrie & Paul's in the middle and Loren's on the northeast side. The creek is the boundary line. On our side of the creek, Rick & Lena's is the southwest section and ours the southeast. Mom's 40 acres is on the south side of ours and Anne's on the south side of Rick's. The sections are laid off in such a way that each cabin will be close to the creek and fairly close to each other. We plan to build small cabins later on Mom's and Anne's acres just to have a place to sleep or shelter when we're over there working. We've also been working on digging root cellars. We each want to have two, one for fruits and one for vegetables. To keep from getting in each others way, Anne and I have worked on ours while Nell and Carrie have worked on Carrie's. Lena helps one then the other of us. We're digging them back into a southwest facing bank. The men have been laying aside the shorter logs to use for the root cellars. We're planning an 8' x 8' square for each one. Mr. Smith did come a couple of days after the messengers told us he would be coming. He got here just at lunch time to of course we invited him to eat with us. It was nice to sit down to a relaxed meal and visit. He commented on how well David and Lisa were looking. David proudly showed him the stack of firewood he had cut and stacked. He told Mr Smith that Mom and Lisa had helped him with the stacking. I knew that Mr Smith wanted to talk to Linc and me in private so I suggested that David and Lisa go check out the apples and see if they were getting ripe. They both took off running. He got right to the point. First, he told us that their golden retriever, Missy, had been found at an animal shelter and he wanted to know if we were willing to adopt her. The shelter would update her shots as necessary. We told him, of course we would. I know Lisa misses her a lot and I think Lady and Turbo will get along fine with her. They are both good natured. He said the Rocks were willing to bring her out on their wagon train. What he told us next left us speechless. He said that his attorney friend had been checking around and discovered that David and Lisa's parents had a home in a small town in the same county as the Ranch and a cabin out in a more rural area. After they died in the car accident and no payments were being made on the town house, the bank foreclosed on the property. However, it appeared that they had owned the country property outright. Mr Smith's friend sent a couple of police detectives out to check out the country property. They found a man living there who identified himself as David's father's brother. The detectives didn't mention the children but the uncle did. He said he had been looking for them and was worried about them. We remembered that the attorney friend had said he could find no living relatives so this was a bit confusing. I suggested that we ask David and Lisa about him. I called them over. “David”, I asked. “Do you have an Uncle Roger?” His eyes widened and he stared at me for several seconds. “Where is he? He's not coming here to get us, is he?” My heart sank to my toes. If he was their uncle, could he take them away from us? “Is he your uncle?” I asked “No! He's not!” David exploded. “He was Mama's husband before she married Daddy. She was married to him before she was a Christian. He was mean to her. Sometimes she had nightmares about it“. He turned to Mr. Smith. “You can't make us go live with him! We''ll run away and live in a cave! We won't go with you! We won't!” Lisa stood wide-eyed and silent, looking from David to us to Mr Smith. She sidled over to me and put her hand in mine. I drew her close and hugged her. Linc put his hands on David's shoulders and looked him in the eye. “Calm down, David. Nobody said anything about you going to live with him. Mr Smith is just trying to find out who he is.” Linc told him about the policemen finding the cabin and the man living in it. Mr. Smith reminded David that Linc and I had legal custody of them and nobody was going to take them away from us. David began to relax. Mr Smith asked gently, “May I ask you a few questions, David?” “I guess so”. “When was the last time you saw this man?” David screwed up his face as he tried to remember. “I think he came to Grandma's birthday party. He was drunk and Daddy called the police. That was...umm...last spring. Grandma's birthday is April 13 but it wasn't exactly on her birthday. No wait! That would have been two years ago, before...before..Mama and Daddy, before the car wreck.” David swallowed hard. Linc squeezed his shoulder. “So” Mr Smith mused. “He likely has a police record. OK David, does he have a family?” “I don't know” David answered. “He was always by himself when he came around. He never talked to me and Lisa. He always said we got on his nerves.” “Why would he even come around if he was your mother's ex-husband?” I blurted out then wished I had bitten my tongue. Lisa spoke up in a surprisingly collected voice, “He always came when he needed money. He would cry and get Daddy to pray for him and then ask for money. At first Daddy gave him money to help him but after a while Mama would just give him some food instead of money.” Mr Smith commented, “I suspect he wants to know where the children are so he can use them to gain ownership of the property there.” David looked at Mr Smith. “I don't want him to have our stuff!” Then he looked at Linc and asked, “May I go now?” Linc nodded. David and Lisa both ran toward the creek. “Well, now what?” I asked of nobody in particular. Mr Smith answered me. “I think this guy needs somebody to keep an eye on him. I don't want him finding out where the children are or anything about the Valley! As far as the stuff there, I don't know how we can get any of it without compromising the safety of the children. We'll have to think on this for a bit.” I sighed and rubbed my hands over my face. When I looked up, Mr Smith was looking at the apple trees loaded with apples. “Do you think you'll have extra apples?” “Yes! I would love to trade some apples for potatoes, cabbage, carrots, winter squash or any good keeping vegetable. We have a lot of applesauce canned and dried apples. Of course, we need some to keep in the cellar but we should have several bushels to barter with. Please pass the word, if you don't mind.” He said he would. Then he asked, “How are you folks coming along on your cabins?” He looked around and the answer was obvious! Linc sighed. “We're doing our best. We hope to have some kind of shelter where we can unload the wagons before the drivers come after them.” Mr Smith looked thoughtful. “Well” he said. “I'd better be on my way. I want to get back before dark. I'll let folks know about the apples. We need to schedule a wild rice harvest soon. I'll send a messenger around to let you know when. And then there is the grain and root vegetables from Mother's place that will need to be harvested. We haven't decided exactly how to handle that to be fair. And don't worry about this so-called Uncle Roger. My buddy will be working on this situation and we'll keep you posted.” With that, he jumped on his horse and rode away, waving to the kids as he went by.

Monday, August 16 The explorers got off early this morning, well-stocked with lunch and water. Linc, Loren and David set out just at daylight to cut trees for the cabin sills and floor joists. They wanted to make the best use of the chain saw gas because we don't have a lot of it. I'm not sure just what the best use is, but I think I would use it to cut down the big trees. Anne baked a loaf of bread in the Dutch oven. This was a new experience for her but it turned out pretty good. We'll all be glad to get the cook stove set up to use. I'm sort of tired of camping! I'm feeling a bit stressed. It seems like everything needs to be done FIRST! As soon as it was light enough to see in the wagons, I started looking for my fruit growing books. I had a general idea of where they were so it didn't take long to find them. While Anne was making the bread, I made a list of the fruit trees, etc. that we have and looked up the planting distances. 3 hybrid serviceberries (15-20 ft apart) 2 pears (20 ft apart) 2 Van cherries (20 ft apart) 2 Lambert cherries 2 Rainier cherries 3 Sweet Anne cherries 3 McIntosh apples (25-35 ft apart) 4 butter nut trees (35 ft apart) These will need to be away from the fruit Semi dwarf apple rootstock (15 -20 ft apart) We'll allow a little more space between them so light can reach all sides of the trees. We will probably plant some vegetables between them for the first few years so all that space won't be wasted. I haven't counted the berry bushes yet. They will need their own patches, separate from the tree orchard. We staked off the orchard, near but not including the mature apple and pear trees. Linc and Rick had staked off the spot for our cabin and the orchard had to be straight with the cabin. Linc can't stand things to be “off”. We won't start digging holes for the trees until Linc approves As we worked, I could hear Lisa talking to Mom as she (Lisa) carried water for the pots of herbs and other plants that were sitting in the shade of the apple trees. I thought about what Mom could do so she wouldn't feel like she wasn't pulling her weight. As far as I was concerned, just having her with us was enough but I knew that she needed to feel useful. She enjoyed listening to Lisa read her school books aloud to her. It was good for Lisa too. She was learning to read with expression and they often discussed what she had read. I'm sure this helped Lisa to remember and actually learn better. After we got the orchard laid out, we picked out a spot for the asparagus patch and got it squared up and ready for Linc's inspection. Then we did the various berry patches. It was starting to get hot so we decided to find something to do in the shade. We got out the sacks of beans and started filling the 5 gallon buckets and labeling them. After lunch, we cleaned up and were sitting around talking for a few minutes when we saw a couple of horses and riders coming up the trail. It was two messengers from the Lodge. They had a letter to Nell from her cousin and a message for us from Mr. Smith. Someone would be coming for our wagons and oxen by the end of August. Oh my! That was just two weeks from now and we had no building to unload all our stuff into! And I thought I was feeling stressed before! I realized that they needed them to get back to the Ranch so the Rocks and their family could get their belongings loaded and back to the Valley before snow. We would just have to get some sort of building put up quickly. He also wanted to talk with Linc and me about David and Lisa but sent word that he would come himself in a couple of days to talk with us. I hoped he hadn't been contacted by any officials. I couldn't imagine what else he would have to discuss about them though. It wasn't long after the messengers left that the exploring party rode in. They were chattering away, full of plans for their homesteads. I casually mentioned that the drivers would be coming for the wagons in two weeks. “OK” Fred said. “We've been lazy all morning so now we'd better get to work!” “Speak for yourself!” I laughed. The men followed the sound of the chain saws to where Linc, Loren and David were felling trees. They would be able to get in a few hours work before supper time. I hoped Linc and Loren had made a lot of progress. I told Rick to be sure and tell his dad what Mr Smith had said about the wagons. I would talk to him about the other message later. I gave Carrie, Nell and Lena copies of my fruit tree planting list for when they started planning their orchards. We all just stood there looking into our wagons, trying to figure out where we were going to put all this stuff to keep it safe and dry until we got at least one building up. Finally, I threw up my hands and said, “I can't think about this anymore! I've got to DO something physical and quit thinking so much!” “All right” Carrie said. “Let's collect rocks for the foundation of your greenhouse.” Lena started hitching up the pony to the cart. Later that night, in our tent, I told Linc that Mr. Smith would be by in a couple of days to talk to us about David and Lisa. I could tell it concerned him. To distract him, I started asking questions about what they had accomplished with the logs. They had cut down and limbed 30 trees. (IRL I asked DH how many he and my cousin could do in a morning and then with the other 3 men in the afternoon). Once they get enough cut for our cabin, they will use the horses to haul them to our building site. The current plan is to build a cabin here on our spot, then build one on Carrie and Paul's site. That way, we will have room for everybody to eat, sleep and store their things. Then we''ll move on from there. David had worked hard all day cutting up the smaller limbs with a bow saw and stacking the pieces for firewood. Linc said he had quite a stack and was pretty pleased with himself. Tomorrow they would take the farm wagon down and David could load the firewood right on it, then they would bring it back in the evening. The men plan to put up a woodshed, just four poles and a heavy tarp roof for right now. Linc had approved our orchard, berry patches, and asparagus patch so we would be doing a lot of digging tomorrow. I started to ask him another question but his even breathing told me he was already asleep. I snuggled closer and pulled my sleeping bag up around my chin. The nights are getting chilly. I hope we have a late Fall! Tuesday, August 17 I'm worn out and don't feel like writing much. My arms feel like they are going to fall off! The men left again this morning at daylight. Soon after, the rest of us started on the fruit. Lena hitched up the Belgians and plowed a section for the strawberries and the asparagus. Then she took the little cultivator and went through to break up the soil more. Mom was able to help pick up big weeds like dock, etc. While Lena was plowing, the rest of us dug planting holes for the fruit trees. We took turns digging so we wouldn't all be exhausted at the same time. We were able to dig 12 holes before lunch, 2 per hour. I'm sure the men could have dug faster but we did the best we could. We ate leftovers for lunch. Nobody had taken time to cook! After lunch and a short rest break, we planted and watered the 12 trees. We mixed some of the composted manure from the old animal pens with the topsoil and put that into the holes. That leaves 5 more fruit trees, the 4 butternuts, and the apple root stocks to plant tomorrow. After that, we worked on the strawberry and asparagus beds, getting out as many weeds and roots as possible and leveling up the ground. We laid off straight rows with Linc's surveyor tape and planted the strawberries. We'll have to plant the asparagus tomorrow. We took time off to fix a good, filling supper. The men came home quite pleased with themselves. They had cut and limbed 45 trees today. They have been labeling them according to their purpose..stringer, purlin, wall log, etc. so when they take the horses and haul them up here, they can be put in separate areas and won't have to be sorted through again. David almost has the farm wagon full of firewood too. Well, tomorrow is another day. I hope we're able to dig again tomorrow!

Hi Mother, Happy Mother's Day to you too! Very busy here as well but I'm working on a post. We have over 26,000 sq ft of vegetable gardens we're planting and we've been shipping out daylily orders too.

August 15 What a weekend! Full of surprises! Five mature apple trees and that gorgeous creek would have been enough. We found an old pear tree! I don't think its quite as old as the apple trees though. I hope these are good keeping apples and pears. Anne found a peony struggling through the grass too. I brought a piece of my white one so I hope this one is a different color. I don't know when the group will come to drive our oxen and wagons back to the Lodge. I know the Rock's want to get to the Valley before the snow flies. We need to get our cabins up and get the wagons unpacked before they come after them. We all wanted to take off exploring but knew we needed to set up a temporary camp and kitchen so we could eat and sleep. We turned all the dogs loose so they could search out any snakes that might be around. Lady and Turbo especially dislike them and will sniff them out and let us know. Mom's little terrier is an able accomplice to the bigger dogs. Mom's two cats and Carrie's two cats have developed an uneasy but civil relationship. They aren't fighting but tend to stay out of each others way. They've all been “fixed” so that helps! We got the wagons situated, the tarps hung up for shelter, tents set up for sleeping and beds made, temporary outhouse set up with tarps, animals taken care of and a fire pit built. Loren got out the scythe and cut the grass around camp and a spot for the horses. He says they don't like to eat tall grass. They like it best when it's just coming back after being cut. He plans to dry the grass he cut for hay. Funny how they want the short, new grass and then eat the old dried stuff in the winter! I guess they don't have much choice though. I don't know how much grain they need; I'll have to ask Loren about that. I wonder how much he has left? They got a make-shift electric fence put up with the solar fencer to corral the horses, cow and oxen. The men staked out a spot for the barn. They're thinking of just adding more to the barn for a chicken house. Loren is talking about building him a room on one end of the barn for winter and then build his cabin next summer. We were so busy that we missed lunch entirely today but have a pan of cornbread and a pot of canned pinto beans going for supper. While we eat, we're going to have a family meeting and make some plans. We need to figure out what our priorities are and who can do what. We have had a few minutes to explore our immediate area. The grass under three of the apple trees is worn down, probably from deer that come to eat the fallen apples. The two broken trees have a lot of weeds and brambles growing up around them. Linc showed us another wonderful surprise. A spring! it had been boxed in with rock and capped but needed some repair. They got it dug out and re-laid some of the rocks and found a larger flat rock to cap it. We have the black plastic pipe to run it into the cabin. I don't know how deep we will have to make the ditch to get it below the freeze line. During supper, we talked about what our priorities are. We need to get some cold hardy plants started so they will be mature and producing in the greenhouse this winter. We need make hay for the animals. We also need to allow time to help with the wild rice harvest, since we have two canoes that we can use. Mr S had also mentioned the family group that left and said they had left many acres of different grains that they wanted to be harvested and shared with the Valley residents. He wasn't sure about the vegetable gardens. After much discussion, it was decided that Fred & Nell, Paul & Carrie, and Rick & Lena would take tomorrow morning to look over their land. The ladies were eager to see what it looked like. Since Loren had seen his, he and Linc would start cutting some big trees to make sills and floor joists for the cabins. They had flagged them during the 3 days they were out exploring. Anne and I would stake out the fruit orchard and start digging holes. It would be right next to the apple trees since that obviously was a good site for fruit. We were not in a frost pocket since the land sloped gently down with several flat areas in between. David decided to go with Linc and Loren. He is such an eager student and Linc is a very patient teacher. Lisa is a quick learner too. She loves to cook and is a good helper. Mom does surprisingly well at camp fire cooking for not being able to see very well. (IRL she cooks in her fireplace when the electricity is off) I put some beans and dried vegetables to soak for tomorrow's lunch. My body is tired but my mind is in high gear! So much to do before winter and so much to explore. I'll have to work really hard and then reward myself with a little exploring I think I'll see if Carrie can find her haircutting stuff. My hair is driving me nuts, blowing in my face all the time. It's still too short to be tied back well. I think I'll have her cut it shorter this time. I need to make some biscuits in the morning so the “explorers” can have them to make sandwiches for lunch. They probably won't be back until after lunch. I need to dig out my orcharding books and see how far apart we need to plant the trees and stuff. Hmm.. I'm getting sleepy. Yawn...............

I finally came across the maps Q and Mt3B had posted so I think I know where everyone lives now except CeeGee. I guess I'm far away from everybody and can't interact

Thanks everyone for the encouragement! Mother, good to see a post from you! I never heard anything back from Mt Rider. I hope she is OK. I decided to go ahead and find a homestead but we certainly want to get in on the wild rice harvest and we have two canoes that will be useful!

Thank you! It's good to know folks are still reading I'm missing the others too! I can hardly wait to see what's happening with all of them. Yes it is a busy time of year. We're planting a lot of stuff right now and the daylily season is upon us too.

Friday, August 12 Packed up and ready to go. We've said our goodbyes to our new friends and Nell's relatives. We have our deeds safely stored away in our wagons. Linc and I started the line-up and the others got into line behind us. We headed northwest from the Lodge and crossed the river at a shallow ford with no problems. We knew from the map that another river joined into the big river to the north of us. We had been told that our nearest neighbors were a couple named Michael and Lori. We hoped to meet them and become good friends soon but our route didn't take us very close to their homestead. Or at least to their cabin. After crossing the river, we headed west. The 11 adults in our group would get a total of 440 acres. That is just more land that I can fathom. We had 21 acres back home and it's hard for me to picture how much more we'll have here. Linc had steadfastly refused to give me very many details because he wants it to be a surprise. This almost annoys me because I want to know all the details so I can process them before we get there! But I will let him have the fun of surprising me, especially since I can't do anything else I don't know if the other men have told their wives; if so, they haven't told me anything. Linc tells me we'll be there before lunch time, so that will mean we are about 1 ½ to 2 hours from the Lodge, I'm guessing. We'd been gradually climbing but it doesn't seem really steep. In the distance, I could see a pole with a pink flag tied on it. I looked at Linc. “Yep, that's our boundary line.” “Where are the other families property lines?” “I'll have to draw it out for you”, he said. “The 440 acres is a long rectangle with 3 sort of triangles on one side and two squares on the other side. That way all five corners meet in the center and we can all have our cabins fairly close together and our acres spread out behind us. Does that make sense?” I agreed that I needed to see it on paper! As I looked all around me I could see that there was good variety in the acreage: rolling plains and plateaus, rocky cliffs in the distance, stands of evergreen and hardwood trees. I could also see a creek in the distance. The part I could see was fairly flat and lazy-looking, meandering through a meadow. It disappeared into some trees ahead of us. “Did you pick out a cabin site yet, or do I get to help decide that?” I asked. “Well, you can help decide but I did find a spot I think you'll really like.” “Could that have anything to do with my surprise?” “It's entirely possible!” He grinned at me. We pulled up into the trees along the stream and stopped. The other wagons pulled in behind us. “Rest stop!' Linc called out. We all hopped out of the wagons to stretch our legs and look around. It looked like mostly cottonwoods with some western red cedar in the moister spots. I walked around with my binoculars looking and listening for birds. Lisa stuck her hand in the water and gasped. “Ooh this is cold!” After about 20 minutes, we all got back in the wagons and headed out again. Linc told me that we were getting close to our homestead and my “surprise”. As we rode along, I tried to think what it could be that was so special. A creek maybe since he knew how much I wanted one. “OK”, he said. “Now you have to keep your eyes closed!” “What?” “Too hard? OK, I'll tie my bandana around your eyes then you won't be tempted to peek!” Good grief! OK I'll play along. He's such a sweetie that I can do this to make him happy I sat there blindfolded, hanging onto the side of the seat. I could tell that we were climbing a little steeper place. Linc started describing what was happening. “OK, we've turned up our driveway. Now we are turning east toward the house, or where the house might be, if you like the spot.” The wagon came to a stop and Linc gently removed the bandana from my eyes. I looked and gasped. “Oh Linc! Apple trees, four apple trees with apples on them!” Tears welled up in my eyes. We wouldn't have to wait for years for fresh apples! What a blessing! Everybody else was out of their wagons, exclaiming about the apple trees. “Actually there are five trees but there must have been a huge wind storm because part of one tree broke off and fell across another tree. I think we can salvage both of them with some good pruning for the next few years.” “So this was an old homestead” I said, looking around. I saw two small log buildings that were mostly rotted down. They had large flat rocks stacked for foundations. I peeked inside and saw black dirt. They must have been some kind of animal pen and that was composted manure. Those big rocks would come in handy for our cabin foundations, and the compost would be great in the greenhouse. We were all carefully poking around, watching for snakes while trying to explore the immediate area. Suddenly I realized I could hear water. Fast moving water. A creek? I whirled around looking for it. I took off following the sound. Linc followed me. I found it about 50 feet from the apple trees, a rushing mountain creek with moss-covered boulders, ferns growing in pockets made by the boulders jostled against each other and the creek bank. It was gorgeous! I stood transfixed just taking it all in. I felt Linc's arm slip around my waist and turned to him. “It's beautiful”, I whispered. His arm tightened. “I knew you'd like it!”.

Wednesday, August 10 The men came home yesterday evening! We sure were happy to see them. Carrie had a pot of lentil stew and a pan of cornbread ready to eat so there was plenty for them as well as us. We peppered them with so many questions they could hardly eat. Now that we knew they were safe, we wanted to know all about the places they had looked at and if they found “our” land. They told us about several different areas they had looked at and discussed the pros and cons of each place. We all wanted to be close together. We ladies were excited and wanted to keep talking but the men were tired and wanted to sleep. Lisa was overjoyed to see her brother. I know she missed him. Her normal stream of chatter had slowed to a trickle while he was gone. Linc hinted that he had a surprise for me that I would really be happy about but wouldn't give me any further information. I probably won't be able to sleep tonight from wondering what it is and thinking about getting settled on our land. Thursday, August 11 Right after breakfast, the men went to the Lodge to talk to the landowners about our claims, look at the maps, etc. Mom decided that she did want her 40 acres after all and Anne will get hers also. I walked with Nell to her cousin Frank's cabin. I had promised him two kiwis, a male and a female. I explained how to trellis and prune them (like grapes). His wife, Janet, gave me an aloe vera plant. Frank suggested that I put up a sign at the Lodge if I had more kiwis to trade. Janet gave me a sheet of paper and I made a sign: For Barter- hardy kiwi, 3 year old plants, male and female; red and white currants. Would like: quilts, herb plants, yarn. As Nell and I walked back to our camp, we stopped by the Lodge and put up the sign. We wandered around a bit until we found our men in a meeting room with the landowners. Linc saw us and motioned for us to come in. “Are you OK with us picking out the claims or do you ladies want to see them first?” Nell spoke up, “I trust you men. You know what we need.” I agreed. “Just as long we have a creek and we can build our cabins pretty close to each other, I'll be happy.” Linc laughed. “Well, you are going to be very happy then!” “Have you talked to the others?” I asked. Paul and Rick said that they had talked to their wives, Mom and Anne. Nell and I left them to complete the paper work and walked back to camp. We found Carrie, Anne and Lena busily rearranging stuff in the wagons so we could repack. It seems that we are going to pull out in the morning. I can hardly wait to see what is in store for us!

Daylily, maybe your group will take over Mother's spread? This post has been edited by Leah: Apr 9 2010, 10:02 PM Leah, I'm sorry, I didn't see that you had added this comment in! That thought had crossed my mind too but maybe they will have to come back so we'll find our own place. Thanks for thinking of us though:)

August 9 It's been 5 days since the men left to check out the Valley for suitable homesteads for us. We've stayed busy taking care of the cow, the chickens, the dogs, and cats; watering the plants, cooking, cleaning up after meals, doing laundry, and making lists. We've spent some time in the library too. They have lots of good books in there. Lena's foot is mostly better now. She kept it up for a couple of days. Nell has been able to visit with her cousin and his family who had come in on the first wagon train. They've built a cabin here in the settlement. They've been good to us, explaining to us how the whole thing works about staking out a claim, getting the deed, etc. We heard rumors about a family group leaving the Valley. Mr Hughes and Chef went to meet them as they left and came back looking quite sad. Apparently they left crops in the field and some of their possessions that they didn't have room to take. I am concerned about our men. I hope they get back soon. We need to be getting our cabins and out buildings built and some fall crops planted. It frustrates me to basically just sit here doing nothing toward preparing for winter. Well, some of us have been knitting or crocheting afghans so I guess we are preparing a little bit. I could really work myself into a panic thinking about us women being left here for ever but I won't think about it! I think we are all getting a little antsy and wishing they would hurry up.

Quilty, please write more!!

I know it!!! And I didn't even get to the Valley in time to "meet" her and her family!

We are all glad to be safely down off that cliff!! It was fun to see family members greeting each other and reminded me how thankful I am that all my immediate family is here with us. I could understand the tears of joy I was seeing on the faces of new friends as they hugged and kissed family that they hadn't seen for months. We were all introducing ourselves and trying to keep up with new names and faces. I don't know if I'll ever keep everybody straight!! But I guess we have the rest of our lives to get acquainted! Our trip on to the Lodge was uneventful, if the gorgeous scenery could be called uneventful We didn't know quite what to do when we got there but Mr Hughes helped us find a place to “park”. We decided to pull the wagons up in a circle not too far from the Lodge so we could use the big kitchen. We didn't want to have to unpack too much of our stuff because we hoped to hurry up and get settled on our homesteads. The men fixed up some tarps overhead so we would have kind of a sitting area between the wagons. A nice man came and took us on a tour of the area. The Lodge is really nice. It has a huge kitchen area and a dining room area that they also use for meetings. There are also bedrooms, a medical building with two sleeping rooms and two bedrooms. There is a library!!!! There is an area where we can get cleaned up and do our laundry. We have to heat our own water though. And there are outhouses which we ladies were very pleased to see. After we got the wagons situated, the men put the horses and the cow in the corral. Loren took the chicken cage off the wagon and set it on the grass. We had talked it over and decided that it would be best if we ladies stayed here at the Lodge and the men went exploring and and scoping out the land. Our husbands all know what we want in a home site and we trust them to make good decisions They plan to leave early in the morning and are taking food for several days just in case. David hung around looking sad until Linc said, “David have you got your bedroll packed?” David's head snapped up instantly. “Do you mean I can go?” “Well sure you can go! You've got to help pick out our homestead!” He was a very happy boy! Later that night I said to Linc, “Are you sure you should take him? He's only 13.” Linc replied, “Now Mom! He's plenty old enough to be part of this expedition. He'll be fine. Don't spoil it for him by worrying so.” Well, OK I won't say anything but I can't promise I won't worry. I'll worry about all of them!

OVER THE HILL August 4th Our group is to be the second group going down the hill. (I don't know why they call it a “hill”. It's more like a cliff!). The first group made it down OK. Mom asked what all the hollering was about so I had to tell her what was happening, everybody hollering instructions back and forth.. She looked a little worried but didn't say much. Lisa stuck right with Mom. David wanted to see everything that was going on. He was careful to stay out of the way. I didn't want to watch but I couldn't stop watching. I guess sort of like the old snake charmers. I was scared but fascinated by the whole process. After getting the first group down, they switched out the horses to give the first teams a chance to rest; the men switched out too. Looks like Lena is going to be holding the teams at the top. Oh good, somebody is going to help her. They are taking our piano-cook stove wagon down now. Rick and Linc are going down with it. I can't watch this!! I'll just crawl into another wagon and ......CRRRACKKK!!!! What was that? I stuck my head out of the wagon just in time to see the team Lena was holding rear up. What ever made that horrible crack must have scared them. One of them came down awfully close to her but she managed to roll out of the way. Those two brothers, P & N ran light a streak of lightening to get to Lena. I've never seen humans move so fast!! They got the horses under control and calmed them down. Carrie, Nell, Anne and I all ran to see how Lena was. Poor Rick is part way down the hill and can't leave his post of duty to get to her. I don't even know if he realized that she might be hurt. Her foot is hurt but we don't know how badly. Nell is checking to see if she can tell if it's broken. I went to find out what the loud noise was. It seems that one of the logs got wedged against a boulder and broke. The men were able to keep the wagon from sliding but some of them got some rope burns on their hands. Nothing too serious, I don't believe. They had extras logs in case something like this happened and quickly got another one in place. I had to run and reassure Mom that everything was OK. As quick as our piano wagon was on fairly level ground, Mr Hughes told Rick to come back up and check on Lena. He didn't know what had happened to her and was pretty upset until he realized she was OK. Nell doesn't think her foot is broken but it's bruised. Paul and Fred will help with the next wagon to give Rick and Linc a break. Then I think Loren and a young man named Jerry will take Loren's wagon down. That leaves 3 more for our group plus the farm wagon and David's little cart. I hope we all get to the bottom so we can all be together tonight. We ladies need to get some food ready. All this hard work will make everybody hungry. I'll be so glad when this is over!

THE HILL We are here! It's just daylight enough for me to see to write. I hear folks stirring around outside so I need to get up and get breakfast going. Good, looks like Linc has a fire going and Paul is working on breakfast. He, Linc, and Carrie are our expert camp fire cooks. We ended up pushing on and getting here late yesterday evening. It was getting too dark to see much so I'm eager to get out there and look around. Breakfast is over and everyone is packed up and ready to go. Mr Hughes showed us a system of cables and pulleys they've fixed to lower the wagons over the cliff. I barely peeped over the edge and it made my knees and stomach hurt! They actually plan to hook each wagon to the cables and have a team of horses on the opposite end to pull backwards to slow down the descent. They'll have to put timbers through the wheels to slow the wagons down. This is too scary for me. I don't even want to think about it! Our men are all standing around Mr Hughes getting further details and they actually look a little excited! I think they thrive on challenges! Nell doesn't seem too worried. She always takes things in stride. Carrie, Anne, and Lena look a bit nervous. It's probably a good thing Mom can't really see the set-up. She wouldn't like it! Lisa is sitting in the wagon with Mom and David is over with the men. Lisa's chatter will keep Mom occupied I tried to look past the cliff out into the Valley and think about the future, not the immediate present! What a view!! I see a lake with rivers going into and out of it. It looks like smaller rivers or creeks here and there too. I sure hope we get one! Looks like some rocky cliffs on the far side of the valley. I can see the dark green of evergreen trees and looks like patches of deciduous trees scattered around too. I don't know who is going down first. I don't know whether to hope we do and get it over with or hope it's somebody else so we can see how it's done. Whichever it is, I don't think I want to watch. OK, it looks like we are not going down first but they are unhitching the Belgians from the farm wagon. They must be planning to use them as part of the counterbalancing teams. I think it's time for Mom and me to take a walk!

THE END OF THE TRAIL (Almost) Here we are nearly to the end of our journey. Tomorrow we should arrive at the “cliff”. Mr Hughes said that there would be folks there to help us down. He made a little talk about it and said stuff about cables and teams pulling backwards or something. It sounds a little scary to me. I decided to let the men worry about it and sort of tuned him out. The other wagon trains have made it down OK evidently and I pray we will too. After the hectic days of getting packed, traveling by truck and getting re-organized at the Ranch, the trail seemed restful to me. Sure, it was tiring but not as stressful. Mom had told me that she wanted to walk a bit every day to build up her muscles. One of us always walked with her and held onto one arm because with her vision problems, she isn't able to see the humps and bumps of the ground. The first day, she only walked about 50 steps and was exhausted. She felt bad for us having to stop and let her get back into the wagon so soon but we told her it only took a minute and we wanted her to be strong and healthy. Now, after 3 weeks of walking as far as she could every day and sometimes several times a day, she is up to 6 or 7 miles at a time. We are so proud of her! she feels so much better and I'm sure she's lost weight. We have no way of weighing her but her clothes are getting too big. She's had to pin her pants to tighten them up. Anne will have to take them up as soon as we get set up on our homestead. I've enjoyed the bird watching from the wagon seat or the trail. We've all had plenty of turns driving the teams. David and Lisa seem to be doing well and are getting stronger. We often hear them singing and harmonizing as they drive along. (IRL DS and DDs used to do this when we traveled. They would even hum in harmony). They were both so excited when they found out that we had a piano! Sometimes I ride along with Linc and we daydream about what our homestead will be like. I always remind him that I want a creek! Lady and Turbo have had a great time. Thankfully, they are well trained and won't take off hunting unless we tell them they can. Mom's little terrier always walked when Mom walked but otherwise rode in the wagon. Well, it's bedtime. We have an early start tomorrow.

Sunday, July 18 Linc walked David and Lisa back to the Rocks' house after our sing-along last night. We were a bit surprised at their musical talent. When Linc got back to our tent, I was already in bed. We lay there and talked about the kids for some time. He told me he'd had a long talk with the Rocks after the kids went upstairs to bed. Mr Rock told him that David had shown him their birth certificates and they were 13 and 10. Mr Rock had an attorney friend checking to see if he could locate the grandmother or any other family members. This morning, right after breakfast, David was here hanging around with our guys, trying to help them. Loren showed him how to brush the horses and let him use one of his curry combs to brush his pony. Linc helped him patch up his cart and make it more road worthy. Fred showed him how to carve a whistle out of a piece of wood. He asked Rick if he could teach him to play the guitar. He watched Paul cleaning his guns. Lisa was definitely the more talkative of the two. She chattered away while Carrie and I were doing laundry. She told us their daddy was a minister and their mommy was a nurse. They had had music lessons since they were six years old. The pony, whose name was Gracie, had belonged to Mama B. She asked if she could brush Lady. She'd had a dog that looked like Lady but her name was Missy. She didn't know what happened to Missy after the car accident. My list of things we needed to do today included: bake cornbread and biscuits, cook a pot of beans, get the rest of our frozen foods out of the semi refrigerator, make sure everything is loaded and the stuff we will need for the trip is easily accessible, take showers, park the semi and horse trailer where the Rocks want them to be, load the heating stove and drying racks. I think everything has been checked off The wagon train plans to pull out early tomorrow, the 19th. I am getting excited. I've hardly had any time to bird watch but I'm hoping to get in some birding as we travel. I'm eager to get to the Valley and pick out our homestead. I hope there is a creek. I grew up on a creek and so did our kids. I really hope there is a creek! I finally remembered to open the package. There were two books on natural dyeing for Anne, along with some alum and some seeds of plants that were used for dyeing, two packets of some kind of pastes, a tea ball and some herbal teas, a dental mirror and pick, a dental emergency repair kit (her sister is a dental hygienist), two solar lights. two fleece blankets, and a multi-year calendar. Bless her heart! Anne said she had asked for the address before they left that night they came to tell us goodbye. She must have mailed the package as they drove through Montana for it to get here so quickly. I hoped they made it safely to their ranch. Just as we were thinking of turning in for the night, we saw Jacob Rock and Mr Hughes walking toward our camp. Mr Hughes told us the planned leaving time was 10 am. That would give everybody time to cook and eat breakfast, get tents packed up, teams hitched up, etc. In future days, we would probably be pulling out earlier when we had all gotten used to the routine. Mr Rock told us that his attorney friend had found out that David and Lisa's grandmother really was dead and they had no living relatives. Lisa cried when he told them. David was stoic. David had asked Mr Rock not to send them back to the foster home. He had asked David what he wanted to do and David had told him he wanted to go with Linc's family! We sat in stunned silence. Mr Rock said, “Of course, if you don't want them to go we will make other arrangements.” “No, no!” Linc stammered. “We do want them to go, don't we?” He turned to me. “I..I.. of course we do! But ...but....do they have any clothes? I don't have clothes to fit them. I don't have quilts for extra beds! I don't have extra beds!” My mind was racing with all the potential problems and I felt the panic rising up in my chest, threatening to overwhelm me. “Well”, Mr Rock broke in. “Why don't you two go over to the barn and look in those boxes on their cart and see what they have? Joy might have some clothes our kids have outgrown too.” That's what we did. I felt bad going through other people's stuff but the kids were already asleep and with us leaving in the morning, I didn't have much choice. We found a few family pictures, some school books from a Christian school, Bibles with their names engraved on the front, some stuffed animals and finally a box of clothes. It was mostly winter clothes: down coats, hats, boots, jeans, shirts, underwear, socks, tennis shoes. There was a couple more boxes that looked like they had clothes too. The light was still on at the Rocks' house so Linc and I walked over to report what we'd found. Joy had rounded up a few clothing items too, along with two small pillows and two quilts. I thanked her. She replied, “I'm just thankful you're taking these children! I just didn't know what to do!” We heard a noise and there stood David and Lisa at the top of the stairs, watching us. Had they heard our conversation? Joy called to them, “Come on down!” They came slowly down the stairs, looking from one to the other of us. Finally, I said, “David, Lisa, would you like to live with us?” Their eyes widened and David broke into a grin. Lisa jumped up and down and shouted, “Oh goody, goody!” So it's settled. We have two children. I'm excited and scared at the same time. It's been a LONG time since we've had children around! Linc said he would get up early and secure a cover over David's cart to keep their things dry in case of rain. Joy had told us to gather some fresh vegetables from her garden before we left. I think they truly are grateful that we are taking the kids and are willing to help out in any way they can.