Cathartic writing

I recently encouraged a friend to write a blog. It's cathartic to write it out. With no filters. Just write. I realized I missed it. So here I am. Currently our area is under massive fire emergencies.  Our property is good but the smoke is thick on the air. We've got hundreds displaced. My county is very rural. The largest town has a population of 3000. It's a lot of ranches and farms and sprawling property. It's also a lot of poor. They depend on their property to sustain them. They grow their own food, well water and many only have rudimentary power access. So now they are left basically destitute. Our rural area also means we are a largely volunteer firefighting zone. With older equipment and lack of easily replacing. Honestly it breaks my heart. I wish I knew how to help.

Gonna give this another shot

I haven't posted here in over a year. Life has gotten crazy and I need a way to let it out, so here goes!
    The bee business has taken off and we are up to 22 hives. We rescued three swarms last year and gained lots and lots of experience. We have plans to double or triple our hives this year and hopefully make some money at this.
   Water is so expensive that a garden might not be a reality any more. I am going to try for a small one and see how it goes.
   I started a new job at a pawn shop and really enjoy it. I have a wonderful boss who has been a friend for years. I can be at work when the kids are in school and home when they are. Even though they are much older now, they still can't be left home alone.
   We have three goats that provide meat and milk for our family. Daisy is the oldest and had twins last year. She and her daughter Rosie are both bred to a boer for kids this summer. Walker is a pet and since we can't eat him he is being trained as a pack goat for hunting season.
   The rabbit situation has changed, I now have satins rather than a bunch of rescued mix breeds. We ate one of last years baby rabbits and the whole family really enjoyed it! We have three purebred, pedigreed satins for the kids to show and one satin mix that I keep because she's such a good mother. Right now I have 12 kits that are a week and a half old. They are just starting to open their eyes and jump around.
 

Dreaming about seeds.

Every morning I wake up and see my land out of my window. No neighbors, no strange cars driving by. Just my fences, my pond, my room to grow. I've started dreaming about gardens and greenhouses. Dreaming about fruit trees that I want to plant and compost. I feel oddly free here. Less stress and worry. Less pain. Less fatigue. I'm ready to be me again.

Rural vrs Urban gun woes in Washington State

I have beautiful acreage. My kids love exploring, even in the snow. My husband is so content, down to his soul. Which is a beautiful change after years of working in a job full of danger and stress and frustration. Years of holding the lives of his friends in his hands and seeing problems no one would solve took a huge toll. So this move was for more than just getting the land we wanted. It was to give him a chance to breathe, to rest, to have some peace.

He has found all of that here. And our girls are thriving. Our teen has blossomed out of her shell into a confident geek. Our little kinder is a huge hearted ball of fire and loving school.

On to me. I love our home, our town. I love looking out at the trees and enjoying the quiet. I've found great doctors so far. The smaller house means more time to write. I found my local RWA chapter so I can connect with other writers. I found a gun club and woman's shooting group.

One interesting tthough. I594. We hadn't closed by election day so I wasn't a Washingtonian yet. The breakdown was interesting. Almost every rural county voted it down and the urban passed it. I think the rurals saw some of the coming problems. And problems are showing themselves as the vague language truly hits home. Road crews, police, large construction sites are impacted because flare guns and certain nail guns fall under the law requiring a background check to transfer. Leagues, ranges, classes are impacted because of the transfer wording.

I think it could get very interesting in this state. Some LEO have said they will not enforce this. We will see I guess.

Homestead time.

Finally am not in limbo an able to share my life again. For a good long while I had to be very mum about things because we were trying to get moves in place and ready on our time frame rather than due to the choices of others.

We are now the happy owners of over 20 acres in North East Washington State. We are within spitting distance of the canadian border. We have pasture and timber. We are withing a few hunderd yards of a large lake. We have a pond. The house is smaller and one story making things much easier on me. We are finally able to really homestead. Grow and raise and make and be. I get to put my knowledge to use. I get to improve my health. I get to get back to writing. My girls are in schools with only 400 kids. The nearest town where they go to school has a population of 3000. It's awesome. So look forward to some posts on my new chapter. I plan to explore so much. Making my own soaps and body products due to my chem sensitivity, growing a garden, canning it all, hunting more, shooting more. Very excited.