Mikal-Heine-Kautz State Park

This week our home has felt more like a State Park than a homestead... The campground began to take shape when Mark, Judy & Miles arrived and set up their new family tent for the holiday weekend! It had only been three weeks since I'd seen them, but it felt like Miles had added months worth of new accomplishments and personality developments. Penny was super happy to have her best friend here, and she woke up each morning with an excited "DEE!!" when she heard his little (or not so little) cry from across the yard. She happily shared her tub with him and they made it through the hottest weekend yet with temperatures in the high 90's the whole time. Yikes.

My parents made the epic journey towing thier camper from Chicago to California and arrived on the 4th of July. If two tents and camper weren't enough to make it feel like a KOA, there was the nightly sound of Aerosmith and Springstein echoing up the valley each night as our neighbors celebrated Independence Day. All we were missing was the shower house and pit toilets....and those would have been welcomed luxuries. I know that we have chosen a challenging lifestyle, but I'm really impressed by our families' abilities to put up with all our discomforts. It has been crazy hot... and we have no shower and no airconditioning. The guys have been out working hard to build our electrical service and dig the 4 foot deep trench to the utilities. Mark spent two days digging and pouring concrete with Scott, my dad and Scott have spent the week picking and shoveling a chest deep trench in hard-pan red clay... long hard hours of work. And mind you, baby-care in 90 degree heat is no easy task either. My mom has been entertaining Penny while I'm at work, making trips to McDonald's or the hardware store, just to find some relief in the air conditioning. Daily walks down to our cold local creek have been refreshing and downright crucial.

But this one week full of extra hands and help has brought us to a major milestone. Our first permanent structure... The next step is to have the county inspector check it out. If we pass inspection, then we can fill in the trench and have the electric company come out to pull the wire. It there will still be one more inspection after that, too, so actual power is still a way off, but hey...it looks a lot like progress!

Here we are surveying our accomplishments thus far...notice the two meter sockets on our elelctric panel. There will be copious amounts of available electricity, but the idea is that eventually one of those meters will spin backwards!

Yard Sale!!

Yes, we are alive and well and full time residents of Nevada City, California!! Apologies for leaving everyone in suspense. We completed the move on June 12th, and have been buried in bins and baby toys for the past couple of weeks. I (Annie) started full time work on June 15th, and the job is all I had hoped it would be. Scott and Penny have been setting up house in our little tent and have become super buddies.
Of course, I am writing this on a hot, sunny Saturday. Baby is napping in the shade, dishes are done, tent is swept, diapers washed and hanging on the line. All is finally in order and we have worked out so many of the little systems and routines required for daily living. I shouldn't understate, though how challenging this has been. We had been lovingly referring to our homestead as the "yard sale".... possessions strewn about, hanging on the tent rails, cars and chairs and tools and pots all a jumble in the yard... I am a neat and tidy kind of person, and the stress of the disorganization combined with my anxiety over being away from Penny and the simple newness of EVERYTHING!!!! Well, it's been tough. Now, exactly three weeks after moving day, I am starting to feel like I'm getting the hang of living again.

Scott, on the other hand, has been experiencing pure delight in being in this place with his daughter... and he's much more tolerant of the yard sale. The challenge for him has been to adjust to the slower pace and accept the fact that little, if anything, gets accomplished while doing full time baby care. Daily chores and tent-keeping is really all he is able to do during the day. Building research and projects have been relegated to nights and weekends. I'm sure this will not always be the case, and we have lots of help coming! My brother was here last weekend, Scott's brother & family are here this weekend, and my parents will be here for a week and a half after that!

So, everyone we talk to want so know the logistics. You know the Details. Yes, we sleep in the tent, but how do we cook? Is there running water? Where do we shower or, you know, go to the bathroom? There's an explanation and a really hilarious story to go with each answer, though I don't think I'll have the time to recount them all in this post. Here's the quick version, just to relieve those nagging questions in the back of your mind.... Cooking: We have a propane grill that we use just like a regular gas stove... We cook not only burgers, but pasta, eggs, fajitas, and even Scott's world famous chocolate chip cookies!
Water: We have running water at the street. Scott has been making one trip a day with Penny and the wagon to haul water back in our 5 gallon jug. Five gallons! That's all we need for drinking, cooking dishes, and bathing the baby. Scott usually walks down to Deer Creek (just a few hundred yards down the hill), for a bone chilling scrub in the river. I, however, have opted for the luxury of the local health club. Hey- don't judge.

As for other bathroom necessities... there is a port-o-potty at our neighbor's construction site...

Oh! I almost forgot. Electricity: The electric panel is still not completed, though we finally acquired the last of the necessary materials today. We lived for the first 10 days without any electricity...candles in the evening, and only buying fresh food that would be eaten the same day...until our neighbors generously offered to run an extension cord from their yard. Though I was initially opposed, wanting to be self-reliant and not impose on others, it turns out that a refrigerator is THE basic technology needed for civilized life. Box milk for Penny, mooshy butter, questionable cheese, and warm drinks on a hot day....I'm really, really thankful for that little cord running to my mini-fridge.