With much reluctance and apprehension I have finally decided to start this blog. I love reading about other people's adventures and their advice they have to give but have shied away from sharing mine. I'm not a great writer so I apologize in advance.
For almost 13 years my husband and I have enjoyed the excitement and culture of living in south Louisiana. We bought a house, had two beautiful daughters, made great friends but longed to return home to the quite life in rural north Louisiana. In the summer of 2012 we took the plunge and moved.
With a purchase of a new-to-us Ford F250 for pulling the trailer (a 20' car hauler) and a Toyota Prius, for great gas mileage, we were ready! We took our time moving and on our first trip to the new-to-us house, a surprise awaited us. Come to find out that it had been taken over by the biggest, meanest, angriest red wasps I had EVER seen! In my life! The house was infested with them. James and I battled them day and night. I was terrified that one of us would get stung. You would hit them with the wasp spray and it had no affect on them whatsoever and we would RUN for our lives. After finding a spray that worked, sorta, I ran around armed with a can in each hand every time I went outside. Amazingly, the only person that got stung was my father-in-law and that's because he can't hear them coming. (He's totally deaf in one ear and hard of hearing in the other.) They buzz loudly as the come in for the attack! I have developed a deep and unnatural fear of the these flying monsters which will probably require years of therapy to overcome. (My husband thinks I'm ridiculous but it can't be helped)
The house was in much need of repair. The septic tank and plumbing and the electrical need help. No running toilet, yikes. With a house built in the 1950's and hadn't been occupied in almost 20 years you could only just image the work required to make it livable again. The kitchen was nonexistent. There was no flooring in the living room. I could go on and on but I won't. Slowly, things have gotten better and it doesn't feel like we're camping so much and living in a real house. It has been almost 2 yrs since we had moved into the house and finally we have a second bathroom completed, almost. I have to say it is my favorite room in the house!
My biggest adventure has been my collection of animals and honestly, I've always wanted to live on a farm. My father-in-law says that I love anything that has four legs and fur, and he's just about right, with the exception of raccoons, they are not my friends. I really started when were living in Baton Rouge and I ordered 5 chickens from mypetchicken.com. They were about 16 months old when I successfully moved them to the farm (a four hour drive)in the August heat. Almost immediately I lost one to a stray dog but managed to keep the other four safe, for a while. I have bought and hatched at least 100 chickens so far! Some I given away, some we've eaten, a lot have been killed by raccoons and stray dogs. Right now I'm down to about 20 hens and 5 roosters. (Too many roosters, they are so noisy!) Of the original five hens, only one has survived and she be 3 yrs old the end of March. I also have 7 ducks, 5 donkeys and 7 horses and 2 cats. Oh, and one baby calf! Needless to say, I am very busy trying to keep them all feed but I love it and so do my girls.
So far it has been a fun ride and I hope that you enjoy reading about our all our many new adventures.
Many blessing, Angela
