Joy and I are in Missouri visiting some of her family members: Robbie, her brother and his wonderful family in Osceola. Now we are visiting Lisa, her sister, farther up north, another very loving and welcoming bunch!
So much to be told of Robbie, Laura, Phillip and Gordon. They have bought land and begun from ‘scratch’ to build a home/life close to nature. Last year they endured winter in an old trailer left on the property with very little heat. They survived and thrived. I have heard no complaints from any of them. If fact, I imagine they viewed that time as an adventure. Several springs make creeks and several other creeks cross their land, some frozen 12 inches deep at times.
During the last year they have learned large scale gardening, poultry raising, house building (really a shop house that will serve as guest quarters in the future). While we were there Robbie and Joy built a well house and I helped on inside finish out. Joy and I slept in the trailer. I was amazed how warm and comfortable 47 degrees can be under 6 inches of blankets. Good sleeping!
Phillip and Gordon take keen interest in the full spectrum of farm life. They love chickens, fresh vegetables and , of course, watermelon. Next year’s planting is on their mind and seed catalogs are marked for new varieties. You can keep up with them at www.reynoldsacres.com.
It is mid October and we are now at Lisa and Eddie’s home in Greenwood Mo. Outside has remained in the 40s and 50s with cloud cover and drizzle. The warm, loving home atmosphere and great food balances out any cold outside.
They too plan to move out to nature on a large piece of land 20 minutes out of town, very beautiful. In preparation Eddie has found a used, huge bulldozer (really a track loader), 28,000 pounds of earth moving machine. Earnest and his father rebuilt the machine and offered it at a fantastic price.
An unplanned event occurred when it was being delivered to the site, which surprised everyone! The machine, after being started and just before backing off the trailer, decided to slide sideways, falling off the trailer and, lucky for Earnest (who was operating it) settled on the safety canopy structure. Earnest was OK but quite shaken and sore afterwards. The outcome could have been disastrous. Wrecker was called to flip the machine back over (see movie clip below) and it was determined that all will be OK, with only a rebuild of the canopy to bring all back to excellent condition.
We will be here a few more days and then off to Central Texas to scope out sites for Joy. She is building a dream in her mind and hopes to find just the right place to put her energy into for a home of her own. I hope to be there to enjoy it with her.
AMAZING… and a little freightening! Glad all went ok in the end, Joy, I wish you well in your search. Hope is is closer to us (I miss the pumpkin),
Stary warm and happy.
Thinking of you all,
Hugs