Reflections

first winter 2013

We have been reflecting on the progress of our farm. It has been 5 yrs this month since we signed papers for ownership on Ozark Serenity Acres. November will mark 5 yrs since we moved in!
Time is flying by...https://adventures--of--life.blogspot.com/2013/11/catching-up.html
We thought it would be kind of fun to reflect on what we have accomplished in these 5 yrs. For those who are not aware, Mountain Man was laid up with a knee injury for at least the first year which did not slow him down too much but it did slow him down some. Then for 2.5 yrs he worked out on the riverboats. This means he was gone for a month and home for a month. So really, he was gone for a little over a year if you add all those months together. Nothing got done during that years time.
We lived in the front portion, built with a couple add ons to a log house built years and years ago. The inside of the front reflects the many add ons and how people just made it work. Using cubicle dividers as the ceiling and placing it according to the dive of the house. It inclines to one direction where the foundation (I use that loosely) is busted out on the southwest corner of the house. Stacked rock foundation with a thin cement facade on it. The wood trim is cut according to this dive as well. The bowing walls are finished according to the effects that this lean is going. Been standing a long, long, long time so why change it! I will also mention that it is FULL OF MOLD! The front half is coming down, hopefully this year! (crossing my fingers)
First of many projects we started was the little change to the bathroom. Painted and floors got a face lift.

https://adventures--of--life.blogspot.com/2013/11/temporary-fix.html

Ha Ha! Remember this...Oh how we forget how raw this land was!! Before the garden! Wow!!

 Mountain Man my mighty warrior worked on all of this despite the pain he was enduring due to a knee cave-in at the ranch. He continued to work while waiting for a surgery date.
https://adventures--of--life.blogspot.com/2014/04/hit-ground-runnin.html

Then there is the shop

Chicken pens

 Pasture pens

Garden Area

And then there is the inside the house. We tore out the floors until you could see ground. Replaced every single joist in the back half of the house. Wiggling, pounding and manipulating every board until it was into place. Then adding the subfloor so we could build the little place we call home. 576 sq. ft of living space. Enough for two!

We have been reflecting on all the changes and want to thank all the ones who have helped us along the way as well! Friends, family and those who were hired to do those jobs we could not! You all have been a part of making our farm, our land, our serenity spot a glorious place to be!
This is our "Happy" place! The more we reflect on what we have accomplished from the ground up, the more we are amazed at ourselves! We folks, are homesteaders! We always will be I suppose!
Our goals for the upcoming year:
Finish the shop (blacksmith, leather, outside cover, doors, concrete floors)
Finish the inside of house(chink the wood, trim, repaint, remodel the bathroom)
Finish the siding on inside of porch
Tear down the front half of (old) house
Side the front side of the current house
Build a guest cabin
Make a compost area
Finish the storage container area
Build farrier shop off back of shop

Thank you for  riding along! If you get bored take a look at our first year here, we did!


Copyright © 2018 M.E. Masterson All Photographs Copyright © 2018 M.E. Masterson