Moving in to the New House!

Moving in to the New House!, a set on Flickr.

How to Make Friends

Moving is a great opportunity to have a fresh start. And so I'm making a resolution to actually make friends in our new town. Friends that aren't either family or work related. But I haven't really made friends since I was in grade school. I have a couple of close friends and that has suited me pretty well, but now that I'm moving 8 hours away from the few friends I have, its time that I make some new friends. But...how does a self employed adult make friends? I don't have co-workers or classmates, and I don't have kids yet so I can't rely on meeting other moms through kids' activities. Other than knitting groups (which can be hit or miss) where else can I find people to be my friend?

Structural Engineering

A week ago we had the new house inspected as part of the regular due diligence you have to go through when buying a house. In general everything was fine but there were a couple of things that could be signs that water was seeping under the house and undermining the foundation, causing the house to sink. Nothing so serious that the house would fall apart on us anytime soon, but our concern was that it could cause us problems re-selling the house after Chris's residency is done in 4 years. So we decided to have a structural engineer come look at the house. He went out to the house yesterday and while we are still waiting on the official report the word is that the "signs" we saw in the initial inspection were just part of how the house was built and not cause for alarm. There are still a few things that need to be done by the current owners before we close on the house, but nothing that will cause problems in the future. Yesterday we also had the termite inspection done and termites were found, so the whole house will need to be treated before closing.

Overall inspections went well and didn't uncover any problems that will prevent us from buying the house. And we are very glad that we had them done because even though its all minor stuff, the cost of fixing everything properly is going to add up and we are glad that it will be the current owner's responsibility and not ours. Now we just have to cross our fingers that he will actually get everything fixed like he is supposed to. With less than 2 weeks till closing that doesn't give him much time!

Fencing

Fencing is one of, if not the, biggest expense in setting up a farm. Our farm already has 4-board wood fencing around part of the perimeter which is great but its really meant for horses and probably isn't enough for sheep and pigs. And the rest of the fencing is woven wire. Which might be perfect but unfortunately we didn't pay close attention to it and can't remember what the spacing on the wire fencing is. Hopefully the wire fencing is in good shape -- if so then we won't have to spend thousands of dollars on fencing, yippee! We won't be able to inspect the fencing ourselves until we go up for closing on the 22nd, but assuming its in good shape all we'll need to add is woven wire to the front line of fencing, since its the wood board type. Then we'll need install electric net fencing to divide the pasture in half. This is so that the sheep can eat the grass down in one part while new grass is growing in the other part. We may be able to wait until next summer to install this fencing, though, since this summer we'll only have 3 sheep and so they won't eat the grass down as much.

Then we'll need some electric fencing to separate the pigs from the sheep. Pigs don't require much fencing because they have short stubby legs and aren't good at climbing or jumping, BUT sheep really like to eat pig grain and it makes them sick, so we have to keep them separate with 36" electric netting.

Since we haven't found the perfect pigs yet and since they will require additional fencing, which is an extra expense, we may start with the sheep and get them settled before adding the pigs to the mix.

We have graduation, a wedding and two festivals in May so we will be driving back and forth between KY and NC all month but will finally be done and ready to spend all our time on the farm after the Carolina Fiber Fest at the end of May, so hopefully we can pick up our sheep that week. Now we just need to figure out how to get the sheep from NC to KY since we don't own a livestock trailer!!!

Sheep

Today, just before a huge storm swept in, we visited the sheep farm. I should clarify, this isn't just any sheep farm its one of my favorites. The farm, Rarefind Farm is owned by Lynn and her husband and they raise the most beautiful Shetland sheep. They are as friendly as dogs and come racing over when Lynn calls for them-- they get so excited that even the pregnant ewes leap like little lambs! And their fleeces. wow. Several years ago when I first had my hands on yarn made from Lynn's fleeces I couldn't believe it was Shetland. I thought she must have snuck some merino in it was so soft! All my previous experiences with Shetland fleece had been a bit, well, "rustic" would be the nice way to put it. I had no idea that Shetland wool could be so fine. She doesn't have a sheep in the flock with a micron count of more than 30, and her average is around 22 (I think that's what she said-- I should have been taking notes). Perfect for hand spinning and the type of wool you'd want to have against your skin.

Because Shetland sheep are so small they are perfect for our small farm. We are planning to start with three this year but we'll breed them in the fall and lamb in the spring, so we'll have more next summer (and the next, and the next...) but they are small enough that it'll take a while before we run out of space. And they are small enough that I can handle them on my own-- larger breeds are surprisingly strong and when they are stubborn can be too much for someone my size/strength to handle. Plus they don't eat as much as larger breeds which will be nice on our wallets!

After talking to Lynn I think our best choice is to buy three adult ewes who have already had at least one baby. This way we will know that they are good, healthy animals and they shouldn't have problems with lambing. Sometimes new moms take a while to realize that the tiny creature following them around is their responsability, and they can have more trouble birthing, so a proven ewe will make things simpler for us and take away some of the stress of our first lambing!

I'd like to bring them to the farm in late May or early June. That will give us the summer to get to know them and get them settled in before breeding in the fall. Of course, that means that we'll have to have the farm ready for them. Thankfully our trip to Lynn's reassured me that setting our farm up for sheep is within our capabilities.

My dad has already told my mom that she can have a sheep...which would live at our farm, of course!

Pig Pictures from yesterday's visit to Cane Creek

Mud Room

Did I tell you that our new house has a mud room? I have always wanted a mud room but didn't think we'd actually find a house that we liked that had one! And this is what I want my mudroom to look like. Just Like This. Photo from the Martha Stewart website.