Welcoming The New Year

Last night we managed to stay up until midnight to welcome in the New Year, even though I whined a bit about it (I am NOT a late-night-person).

Our New House!

2013 was a year that saw a lot of changes for us, and I think 2014 will continue that trend.

For me, the big highlights from 2013 were that we completed the designs for our new house, and I shot my very first deer!

But in 2013 I also got my very first pressure canner and learned how to use it, I learned how to make my own vinegar from scratch, I picked (and ate) my first foraged mushrooms, we killed our aging duck flock, and I started my first mushroom-growing-system, which will hopefully provide Shiitake mushrooms for years.

Also, let's not forget the Vitamix!!  ;-)

As for 2014, by all accounts we should end next year with a brand-new house!  It's crazy that something as complex as a HOUSE can be built in under a year.

There are a lot of possibilities for 2014 that depend on how the house-building progress.  For example, if enough land is cleared and is sufficiently out of the way of the construction then I could start planting some of our fruit trees and shrubs.  Also I could start putting in some of the infrastructure for the new garden - fencing, raised beds, etc.

I suspect that planting a few fruit trees might be more possible than the garden area.  I want the garden area pretty close behind the house in the area of maximum sun, and they'll probably use that area for construction-stuff right up until the house is finished.

But still, the house should be done sometime vaguely around the fall / winter of 2014, so it could still happen in this coming year!

Similarly is the set up of our meat rabbits.  I've heard that rabbits are easily startled, so to avoid unduly stressing them I'll wait until after the house is done to get some.  But as soon as enough land is free (I'm sensing a trend here, aren't you?) I'll start building their hutches!

I've been told that only around a 1/2 acre of land will be cleared during the process of building the new house.  There are SO MANY things I want to do that all require cleared land that a measly 1/2 acre seems like almost nothing.  But we can always clear more land later, and it will give me enough room to get started with a few things.

One of the really nice things about meat rabbits is that their hutch doesn't actually take up very much room at all.  So I'll definitely squeeze in the meat rabbits, some ducks, a garden, and at least a few of the fruit plantings in the newly cleared space.  Oh yeah, and a HOUSE.

I'm excited about what 2014 will bring!  I hope it's a great year for all of us.

Happy New Year!