Lately we have been busy packing things up in preparation for a move from Southern Nevada, to Idaho.  There are a few good reasons for doing this move!  A couple of the big ones is that my grandparents are living on their own in Idaho, and it is not a great situation for them as they are getting to where they cannot properly look after themselves, including driving safely.  I won’t dwell on this reason, even though I could!  Another reason is that at the moment, the economy in southern Nevada is still in bad shape from the recession / depression, or whatever you want to call it according to how badly it affected you and your family!  Our community here is small, far away from any other, and doing its best not to grow, which combine for a perfect storm of poverty.  The opportunity to go to Idaho puts us in a place with far better potential for so many reasons, including a better job market, being closer to several communities, and instead of sand, fertile ground that can grow anything from grass to support the horses, to vegetables for us, or fruit as well! 

Oh yeah!  This is the middle of May!  MAY!  June, July, and August all have hotter temperatures in store!  They are all out to kick our butts!  Yet, you can see the current temperatures at the top for locations I have family in.  Mind you, this was taken at 9AM!

As the weather has been getting warmer here, there is less that anyone wants to do outside.  Ever since the horses and some of the chickens were taken up to Idaho at Spring Break we have had only the goats and the chickens and four kittens to look after outside.  It’s made it easy enough for one of the boys to do of a morning and after school. 

Meanwhile, up in Idaho, Grandma is getting the garden ready by fencing it off from the chickens, and planting some seeds.  I don’t think anybody is expecting a big harvest this year, but that’s okay!  We will have Bountiful Baskets to help out to start with, and then next year we will hopefully be planting more food than we can shake a stick at. 

First goals upon arrival is to pen the goats in someplace safe, and provide them with a shelter.  The chickens have a temporary place to live, and they should be fine there for as long as need be.  The horses are already there, and at the moment they are in a field full of cows that a man raises on lease terms.  The lease terms provide a cow for the family.  So, a second and third goal will likely be to stock up some food for the animals in winter, and get some milking animals; either a cow, or a goat, or both.

I can’t tell you enough how excited I am to get the move done!  Whenever we have sent chickens up to Idaho, they have been able to feed mostly off grass and bugs, which keeps feed prices to a minimum, and they look so healthy!  Of course, that could be because of the small numbers there at a time, and not fighting.  But that may also be because they are free ranging very naturally too.  That question will get an answer before the end of summer! 

The moving truck is booked for the day before our boys fly back to England on their summer holiday, and Missus and I will have their help to load it, then we will drop them off at the airport and drive right up to Idaho.  In the mean time, we have lots of packing and preparing to do to be sure that everything that is going will fit into a moving truck!  That’s both what we have been up to, and what we will be up to over the next few weeks!  I am looking forward to really launching this site after we get moved!  I think that Idaho will really provide the opportunity to do what I have intended for this site!