Jennifer's youngest daughter is almost four — as old as Jen was when we moved here in '76. Paul was two then, and he could walk under the pull-out chop board in the kitchen. Now he's 6-ft-1 and drives a Honda Element to service his wholesale clients.
I saved the doorjam with marks of their childhood growth through the years. Now I am ready to move from this home that has served us so well and on to the next era.
Mike was born in Oakridge, just 35 mi from our farm. So this move is a return to his roots, and a parallel to mine in east Texas.
Our alpaca farm, near the tiny town of Goshen, used to be called Goshen Hole Farm, so we're trying to learn more about it. The house and barn were built around 1900. Mike has been investigating (online) the little towns near our farm and gleaning some of their history. Goshen was originally a stage coach stop, and later a train depot. Interesting stuff...
There's a long, chatty article about the Goshen Truckstop Cafe, and another one about a local truck driver, Main Street Mahlon.
One of our neighbors lives on property that once belonged to her grandparents, and she remembers coming to visit the lady who lived in our farmhouse, her grandma's friend. She recalls lots of colorful carnival glass pieces in the windows, catching the sunlight. The farm lady gifted her with one of them that Sandy still has in her china hutch.
The next little town 5 miles south is Creswell, population ~4500. I've learned about going to the recycle center/dump that will become part of our routine. I intend to go to the library and do some 'hard copy' research of the area. We made friends with owners Kent & Laurie of The Coffee House, where we'd go to hook up to WiFi and check our email before we set up DSL at the farmhouse. Very welcoming folks!
And 14 miles south of our farm is Cottage Grove, the area I'd first centered on for alpaca farm possibilities. Actually, there was a 60-acre farm there that was just beyond our financial reach, but the exquisite old home and barn beckoned us. Whenever we'd go to look for property, we'd stay in Cottage Grove to 'test drive' the commute to Eugene. It wasn't bad, but the short 5-mile drive is so much easier now that we found our place. And that much more convenient to veterinarians and other services we'll need, too.
I've arranged to have our hay field mowed. The next time I'm there, I plan to have the Lane County Extension Agent out to make recommendations of where to plant fruit trees, garden, grape vines, and where to locate the poop pile/compost, according the the drainage pattern of our land. We are watershed-conscious and want to ecology of our land to work for us and for our neighbors.
Today we are taking a break from packing/planning to make a batch of 'Son of Toad Spit' stout beer. At least that's the name on the recipe, but we're calling it Movin' Out Stout.' We'd already bought the ingredients (from the Homebrew Store in Eugene) and need to use them. I joke that "it's a beer kit, you just add water" — the right amount of water at the right temperature for the right amount of time (the recipe is included with each batch of ingredients). Now we're waiting for the 1-hr boil before proceeding to the next step: cooling and decanting into the carboy with yeast for fermentation. I love the smell of the hops in our kitchen! It will be fun to baptize the farm kitchen with it, too. We may just have to grow some hops...
And we need to transplant a few rose bushes that grow along a fence where we want to fill in with hedge. They'll go nicely in our former vegetable garden in the back yard, a nice sunny spot making the yard a bit more formal. It's progress towards that carrot!
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