Turns Out You CAN Go Home Again

Some would say that you can't go home again...and I understand their meaning...nothing stays the same and though familiar, "home" is different.

Early in 2015, Farm Chick phoned Pop and asked him if she and seven of her "closest friends" could move back to Four Sisters Farm for a while.  With Pop and I it was a no-brainer.  We had lived with The Growing Table family before out at Four Sisters Farm and we knew we could do it again.

The plan was for Farm Chick and EJ to list their "city" home and build their barnhouse on EJ's family land while living at Four Sisters Farm.  They estimated it would be from the end of April to mid July but we weren't holding them to it...construction projects never go quite as intended, right?

What was different this time was that when we lived together before, EJ and Farm Chick only had two...then three children.  Farm Chick and I enjoyed our time together before with a ready coffee drinking female close by and a Grammy and Pop always happy to see some grandkids so we proceeded.

Pop and I moved back to the basement apartment where we lived before.  We tried to make room for a family of 8 on the main floor which is three bedrooms and two bathrooms.  It was good timing with the spring, then summer weather so the kids could get out and run...and run they did!  The backyard at the city house was spacious but not as spacious as Four Sisters Farm!

Pop and I had some travel scheduled during that time and it was a great fit having someone at the farm to feed cats and watch over things.  We didn't get to help much on the build which made us sad but when it was all said and done, EJ earned the respect of all.  He slept at the farm but between working his full-time job and putting in MANY hours at the barnhouse, we rarely saw him!

Farm Chick stayed REALLY busy with running her household with much less help from EJ and making decisions about the house.

God truly blessed our time together and blessed EJ and Farm Chick as they built their barnhouse.  There is really no explanation for the build going as well as it did except for being in God's favor...and Dennis the handyman which would be a whole other story which would like likely be called, "Two Story Stories"!

Head on over to The Growing Table if you want to know more about their fabulous new living space.

Now...to the other Four Sisters...who wants to see if they can go home again?  Pop and I love you all!

Trash to Temporary Treasure

Several of my farmhands spotted a treasure in a corner of a field at Four Sisters Farm that had been used as a dumping ground years ago...long before the Four Sisters Farm family arrived here.

It was on the top of the pile...sitting on the rusted bed of an old pick up truck...past the poison ivy and the ancient Frigidaire.  A rusted old Radio Flyer Red Wagon with parts badly bent.  So badly bent, the wheels were completely out of alignment.

We hopped into Pop's pick up to go rescue it and only got a few feet down the lane through the field when Grammy got the pick up stuck in the mud.

We didn't stop to photograph the junk pile because I keeping three farmhands out of poison ivy and barbed wire isn't an easy thing.

We left the truck and detoured past the pond on foot.  After we checked out how the recent rain had filled the pond, we marched on to liberate our treasure.

The farmhands took turns helping me carry the wagon back to the farm where we looked it over.  Handy Grammy has some skills from living out on the farm but deemed the wagon a task for Pop.

I tried hard to get the truck out of the mud, but was not successful.  The fellows found the task boring but found a nearby dirt pile to pass the time.  Farm Chick offered a hand and moral support but in the end, Pop and his tractor were the solution.  Easy peasy for Pop.
Several days later while I was gone, Pop and the farmhands went to work on straightening the wagon out....and several more days later, Lil Ruthie helped me sand, clean, prime, and paint the inside of the wagon so it could be ridden in without ruining kids' clothing.

Like many of the of the things that get done at Four Sisters Farm, we all had a hand in making something usable out of something discarded.  We retained the popular "vintage" appeal of the Radio Flyer but made it useful again.  

While the paint dried, Lil Ruthie decided to sweep part of  the garage and driveway to surprise Pop.  

She said he might yell or he might be mad or he might be so happy he'd cry.  Farm Chick says some of the people in her life live in  glass case of emotion and apparently Ruthie knows all the possibilities!