Single White Sheep seeks pature mates...

I spend a lot of time learning, reading, and browsing about farm life. Why not, right? I've got plenty of time. Something like 170 days. Honestly, who is counting though? I have received numerous catalogs in the mail for livestock, seeds, gardening, etc etc. My current favorite: Burpee Gardening catalog. I may have to do a blog post on my full on garden plan that I've already devised. In fact, that may be my next post.

Today I took a trip down to the new Orscheln Farm & Home that just expanded & reopened on 23rd Street. I normally visit Orscheln for "Chick Days" every spring to Ooooo and D'awww at all the baby chickens, geese, ducks, etc. Luckily for Hawks, I have some better willpower/self-control these days and have kept myself from buying any as cute as they are.

The above ad was on the Orscheln board at the entrance & I found it so funny & sweet that I had to take a pic for this blog. Who wouldn't want to have a strictly platonic relationship with that cute lil white sheep? Really?

My original reasoning for my browsing trip this morning was to price milk strainers. A strainer is like a very large funnel with a special milk filter attached to the bottom with a metal clip. Most are made of stainless steel, though there are aluminum ones, also. The large capacity strainer generally holds a gallon of milk, and the milk filter papers allow for a very fast flow rate. I've decided that I need one of these bad boys. Not yet, technically, but as you know, I'm a positive thinker & damn it, I'm positive I'll be milking a goat within the year. Sadly Orscheln doesn't carry any milk strainers, for goats or anything actually. Good thing there is the internets. :p

Good news? Mayhapsibly!

I know it's been a couple weeks. Did I mention I was heart broken? Anyroo, I'm not getting my hopes up too high this time but it looks like we still have a chance at getting the farm. I'm not just saying this because it's International Enthusiasm Week either. :p

We were referred to a credit fixing company & well, that process started yesterday. The first wave takes 45 days so I should hopefully see some progress on getting my credit repaired by October 17th. They say the full process takes 3-6 months but are very hopeful that they can get my score to at least 640 so that we can still have our shot at getting the loan. Gosh! I hope so.

Kim & Don are so understanding about all of this too. I've been keeping them informed since I feel like my bad credit let them down after we said we wanted their farm. Wish us luck!

What the Cluck? Exactly!

Kimberlee, the big fat dreamer here...
I need to apologize. I may have gotten ahead of myself, just a little. Okay, fine... a lot! I started this blog in hopes that we'd get this awesome farm that I have my heart set on and we'd blog as a family, share our adventures, start a small farmer's market booth, milk goats, gather eggs, live off the land, join FFA and be country in our forever home.

Well, we've hit a snag, okay it's not a snag, it's a ditch the size of the Grand Canyon. And honestly I have no idea what the cluck to do next or how to fix it. We were denied the home loan.

Let me say that again because it still hasn't sunk in over here: We were denied the home loan.

Kidney punch! So it wasn't really a kidney punch, it was more like my heart being ripped out of my chest, thrown in the dirt, stomped on repeatedly until it sputtered in the dust & eventually croaked.

There is no amount of wishing, hoping, dreaming, promises or anything that can fight the facts and give me my new dream farm. The fact is I was married to an immature, irresponsible, self-centered man for 14 years and he had no respect for responsibility when it came to credit scores or bills. Needless to say, my credit score suffered as well. Everything he put his name on, I'm sure my smiley lil signature shows up right next to his.

Here it is now almost 3 years after the divorce, I've moved on. I've tackled being the single mom of 3 kids thing, barely kept my head above water (while he has dodged child support payments), rented the most basic place(s) we could afford - not too small, not too big - got engaged to the greatest man I've ever known and thought that finally, just finally things are going to be the way they should be. Things are finally going to fall into place & we're going to start new. We're going to be a real family working together on a real farm.

We applied for the home loan, knowing that we still wouldn't be able to officially move in until March 1st and then we waited. Little did I know that my credit score is a disaster! A complete disaster. I'm not even sure disaster is the right word.Tragedy is probably more like it.

What to do? If I try cleaning up my credit, how long will that take? If I clean it up, will my ex will also benefit from it? That will piss me off to no end. Do I file bankruptcy and attempt a clean slate? Do I beg & plead to have family members co-sign on a house that isn't even in a state they live in? Do I ask the current owners to do an inhouse mortgage? Why would they take a chance on us, on me?

I'm heartbroken trying to figure this out, I feel my fiance is disappointed and the worst part of all, my kids are heartbroken too.

I could use a miracle right about now.

Some pics from today...

Tink and her "kids"

Bryan is a chick magnet!

One of many guinea

Tink

Bryan made friends with a hen

Chad with Leo & Simba

The coop

Chad & Bryan walking the trail

Bryan & Ziggy (she likes belly rubs)

The creek that runs through

Progress on the tree/playhouse

The boys heading towards the pasture

Heading Out to the Farm Today...

I'm so excited... Today we're heading back out to the farm to show the boys. They are the only ones who haven't seen it yet. I'm completely stoked to see how much work Don has finished on the playhouse he was building & to take some pics of my own.

 Stay tuned, pics to be uploaded later.

Home Sweet Home - Eventually.

20 acres of the secluded dream life

Almost everyone has the same dream, to live a simple very self sufficient life in the country. This property will allow you to do that. The home has been recently remodeled so that you don’t have to give up any of the creature comforts we’ve all come to expect. But just outside the door of this cozy and comfortable 3Br 2BA home the rural dream life awaits you.

The house sits up on a hill on one corner of the property overlooking a scenic stream valley. The new barn is already set up to accommodate some livestock and equipment, and there is usable chicken coop or shed if you want to raise your own poultry. The sellers of this property had a menagerie of chickens, guineas, goats, cats and dogs. Not to mention the wildlife often deer, turkey, and species of birds to numerous to count that visited each day.

The lush valley floor is perfect for lots of hay, and there is an existing expansive garden for all those fresh vegetables and herbs that make each days meal both refreshing and nutritious. You can watch the hawks soar and wildlife walk by either from your comfortable hammock, or simply look outside the windows in your family room that overlook one of tributaries of your stream.

When you walk the valley floor you can walk through lush meadows which a meandering stream wanders through, separating each meadow with heavy old growth timber perfect for both wildlife and personal serenity. You have the seclusion you’ve always wanted only minutes from the city and shopping, and you have some of the best schools in the state to send your children to. There are very few properties like this that ever come on the market, finally the dream is real and tangible.

 We're a family of 5 (my fiance, me and 3 kids) looking to buy our first house together. After searching under every rock, every feild of cattle, and every last rural acre, we finally found our home sweet home. We won't be moving in until early March this year, but we're so excited.