Daily lives of an ordinary family, getting on with life, raising kids, living on a farm in the beautiful State of West Virginia. Kids, family, pets, livestock and gardens are just a few of the things we like having in our lives. Self sufficiency is one of our biggest interests. Visit us sometimes and see what we might be getting into here... on Horse Fork Farm!

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

The Old Spring House

100_0014 by linger.kathy
100_0014, a photo by linger.kathy on Flickr.

This is our old original spring that we still use for most of our water. The water is sooo cold even in the middle of summer. I look inside and visualize another woman years ago storing her fresh milk, butter and other perishables down in here. Love the old ways..... Our drinking water gets run thru a British Berkefeld filter just in case theres Crypto or other nasties in there now. I doubt it but you never know!

Daisy 8/9/11

Daisy 8/9/11 by linger.kathy
Daisy 8/9/11, a photo by linger.kathy on Flickr.

My goat girlie.... fresh milk and goat cheese extraordinaire!

CHICKEN MUSHROOMS

Picture 410 by linger.kathy
Picture 410, a photo bykathy on Flickr.
Some lovely colored chicken mushrooms with bits of greenery growing up through them. Found in early Summer.

CHANTERELLES

Picture 417 by linger.kathy
Picture 417, a photo by kathy on Flickr.
This is a skillet FULL of Chanterelles we picked about mid-Summer. The season lasted about 12 weeks here, with several large flushes of these. Fry in butter, or saute in butter and red wine for a yummy treat!

Home Improvement 011

Home Improvement 011 by linger.kathy
Home Improvement 011, a photo by linger.kathy on Flickr.

The new addition for Mom & Doug... day 1 of building.

MUSHROOMS!

Home Improvement 034 by linger.kathy
Home Improvement 034, a photo by  on Flickr.
One of the many and various species of edible mushrooms we have growing here. This one is a cauliflower mushroom we found on the hill.

Things We Did Over the Summer.....

One of the high points of Summer this year was having an "apartment" added on to the back of our house for my Mom and brother. We all wanted to live together on this beautiful piece of property, but realized we would all need the privacy we had been used to sometimes. So after much debating and plan drawing, changes and add on ideas, we came up with a house plan we all thought was appropriate!

Things literally went as slow as molasses from that point onward. It seems that it's much harder than you would think to find people who are actually wanting to work for their money! That being the case, we've slogged our way through a lot of the detail work. We were able, however, to find and hire a gentleman from Ohio to come here with an Amish crew and build the outer shell of the add-on. It was a real experience to sit back and watch the Amish guys as they put it all up from scratch.

There were only five guys on the crew, they came by way of a driver, whose only job it was to be their chauffeur. They brought with them all the necessary lumber and roofing supplies needed for the shell. We also had them to put up board and batten siding for us while they were here. I LOVE THIS SIDING!!! It is all knotty pine, which incidentally we have got to get sealed before old man Winter makes his first visit.

What we thought could be done in a few short weeks has turned into a bit of a nightmare for us. Truly nobody we know seems to want to be hired! In this economy this is somewhat of a surprise to all of us. I can't imagine turning my nose up at good money for honest work but that is exactly what has happened over and over. So... my 13 year old son, Ethan, has decided he is grown up enough to do things like hanging insulation, laying tiles, and generally doing anything he is capable of! He's doing a wonderful job so far, and is earning some honest money from honest work. He is learning the value of a job well done, he is learning about work ethics, and learning that getting filthy while working is a perfectly natural and acceptable way to earn a living. Most importantly, he is learning that family is one of  the most important responsibilities you have while on this Earth.