And we're off!!

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "Command the sons of Israel and say to them, 'When you enter the land of Canaan, this is the land that shall fall to you as an inheritance, even the land of Canaan according to is borders.'" Numbers 34:1-2

This marks the final post for awhile. Later today, our computer gets packed away for probably a month. At this point, we have no idea what internet service we'll use. There are not many options in the wide-open spaces!! We plan to leave WA Monday as soon as the PODS are carted away. We'd like to travel south to the redwoods in CA, then across to Arches Nat'l Park in UT. We've also heard the CO Monument is quite stunning. Wanted to do the Grand Canyon, but there's just not enough time. If you lives close to any of this and wants to grab us as we pass through, please phone me at 253-951-9485. I'd love to see you!! (Sue, how close are you to the redwoods?)
Here's an aerial view of our 80 acres in KS. The pond is larger than our entire piece of property here in WA! Eric and I walked around the property the other night and found more sand plums than I'll know what to do with. Take jelly to all my neighbors, I suppose!! It was late evening about an hour before sunset and the weather was perfect. So peaceful and so quiet. We are very anxious to get settled. We truly see this as our Canaan from the bountiful hand of God.

Happy blogging! I'll visit when I have internet connection again!!

Filling the holes

"...After him Meshullam the son of Berechiah carried out repairs in front of his own quarters." Nehemiah 3:30b
This is what my walls looked like when I was repairing nail holes (in virtually every room of the house). Apparently, we had many more items on the walls that I realized. Because the wall color was so light, I marked each repair with a sticky flag. This eliminated guessing where I needed to touch-up later!!

Why are there so many holes above the arch, you ask? That's from nailing a blanket over the doorway during several days of no power. We wanted to direct the heat from the fireplace back to the bedrooms rather than out to the garage. Doesn't everyone do this? :-}

Moving everything!

"The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps." Proverbs 16:9

Remember when we had big plans for our yard? Well, moving kind of put a kink in our plans! Now, what to do with the remaining supplies? Hmmm. What about Craig's List? Never tried it, but I'll give it a whirl.





















Listed our supplies and had responses almost immediately. One guy purchased all the flagstone and two others purchased all the timbers.Because I was selling to the public, I was a bit concerned about what kind of people would be coming to my house. You see, Eric moved to KS about two months ago and now I'm here by myself. He moved the href="http://homesteading-in-the-nw.blogspot.com/2008/02/ok-how-much-is-this-going-to-cost.html">weekend my brother flew in to roof the house.

However, God was my Protector and sent very nice, seemingly-upstanding people. One man even brought his wife every time he came for a load. I appreciated that. Now everything's gone and my dear, sweet neighbor helped me clean the yard. Except, we still have no grass! Oh well, that will have to wait for another day - or another owner!!

Brilliant colors

"The foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation stone was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald; the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst." Revelation 21:19-20
Amazing, isn't it? The colors were even more brilliant in person. Everything you see is blown glass which has been turned, twisted, spiraled - you name it. It cascades down from the ceiling in the mall and can be seen from all levels which allows for some pretty amazing photos. The colors simply take your breath away.
This fountain is on the ground floor of the same mall. More blown glass. Notice the wall of water? It, also, starts from pretty much the ceiling and flows down several stories. I'm not sure how many pictures I took, but it certainly was a challenge selecting only two! (PS - I'm quite sure the head band is not part of the display.)

Here's a photo of the entire hanging sculpture. Incredible!

(PPS - these photos were taken at Lincoln Square in Bellevue WA during Thanksgiving weekend.)

Our little piece of Canaan

"And I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God." Genesis 17:8
Here's a sneak peek of our land in KS. Eighty acres of wonderfully rolling ground: 40 acres of tillable land (currently planted in wheat), 30 acres of pasture, 3 acre pond, a house, and a quonset shed. The pond is larger than our entire piece of property in WA!! If you notice, it's been dammed at the north end to capture water from the running creek. Eric thinks it stocked, but we're not certain. We are really looking forward to working this place. Get some chickens running around. Add small animals such as goats, sheep, pigs. Throw in a few ducks & geese. Let's not forget about the fish!! With the water running through, we truly feel this land is our little piece of Canaan.

Currently, there's no basement under the house - seems a bit odd in tornado country. However, we're not too concerned as we have plans to demo the house and rebuild. We are thankful, though, to have residency on-site until our new house is complete.

Our dream is to inspire our family to accept God's magnificent grace & mercy through life on the land with hopes that they would pass that awareness onto their families.

Move date is scheduled for the last full week in April, but who knows when our stuff will actually get there. We've rented a PODS unit and having it transported from WA to KS. We'll keep you posted!

Creative packing materials

"And those slaves went out into the streets, and gathered together all they found, both evil and good; and the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests." Matthew 22:10

If you've moved before, you know full well that not all items fit into a neat square/rectangle box. Sometimes, we have weird spaces left and simply cannot find the appropriate item to fill it.
Unless you shop at Sam's and buy in bulk!! See this empty space? Take a guess at what I filled it with. Rather than going into the streets, I went into my storage closet...

...that is filled with - yep, toilet paper.

It was a perfect fit! Plus, it provides cushioning!!

And there's more where that came from.

Rolls of paper towels, packages of toilet paper & napkins!!

I've even used sweaters to wrap glass platters and such.
Works just fine!