Our Mountain Adventure Begins

 August 21st was our 1st night in the mountains. We were living with a house full of boxes and rumbling tummies so I scrounged up a light supper. We wanted to commemorate the occasion with a toast, but were unable to locate the box with the wine opener so DH improvised and wine was decanted

And we had our first meal out on the deck

DH was up early the next morning (some things never change 😉) fixing breakfast

And once again, we convened out on the deck

And consequentially, we've eaten every single meal out on that deck since. Only when the weather chases us indoors, will we gather around the dining room table which actually has the same view.

Yes, thank you Jesus for bringing us here!

I will say that I've never worked this hard or been this tired. I'm chalking it up to a combination of general moving challenges, age, a lot of physical labor, and the change in altitude. We're 1600' higher here. The first few days we worked on putting up a temporary fence for the horses.

My job was to clear a path for the fence which included lots of sawing with a pretty view

Then we worked another 4 days picking up and rolling up old abandoned fence across the property so the horses wouldn't get cut and tangled up in it.

We did spend one afternoon exploring and picking our way across an old road in the UTV that is really no longer traveled. It took us over an hour to travel 9 miles.

Then I helped DH put up a temporary electric fence around the headquarters to keep the horses out of that area. 

The skid steer has already proven to be invaluable

And the horses are now much happier now that they are no longer cooped up in a tiny paddock.

Any and every other spare moment was spent taking apart these barbed wire cages the previous owners had put up around trees they had planted. They had put them up to keep their horses from eating the trees. There were 10 cages protecting 10 little trees, but we put up a fence surrounding the headquarters so we removed the individual fences in order to clean things up.

Anyone interested in a barbed wire wreath made by old, tired hands?

My hands were SO sore! And then we had to pull all of the posts and they were cemented in.

The previous owners are the dearest couple and they offered to pay for a couple of dumpsters to be delivered so we could clean up things they had left behind. So that's an ongoing project as we clean out the barn and shops.

They left us 2 chickens and a very sweet rooster 

And our chickens and guineas got along with them instantly. There are two old abandoned chicken coops that DH crushed and put in the dumpster. We are currently using a coop that was built into one of the horse stalls but a new coop and chicken yard is on the list.

We've also inherited a herd of hummingbirds that may eat us out of house and home, but we love these incredible little birds and will enjoy them until they migrate south in a few short weeks.

So, needless to say, the house, that is really nice and clean, hasn't been getting much attention. Boxes are only getting unpacked as we hunt for things we need as we need them because we are working outside all the time. 

I've managed to cobble together kitchen necessities and am cooking simple meals that will give us leftovers. 

This Bacon Green Chile Quiche was delicious. I made 2 because the previous owners have been making trips back to pick up some outdoor equipment and it's always good to be prepared.

I also made a batch of Rice Krispie Treats and when I turned around for literally 2 seconds, they were gone. I laughed and said, "Tell me you didn't bring those out onto the deck", as I walked outside. DH's answer, "They'll cool off faster out here". 😄

We are working hard, but we begin and end each day out on the deck and we're so tired when we come inside, it's all we can do to take showers and fall into bed. There is the most amazing bathtub here, but I'm afraid to use it because I'm pretty sure I'll fall asleep and DH will be asleep so he won't hear if I go under. 😂

So we're excited, exhausted and  extremely grateful. We've had mountain showers many afternoons and the first morning we woke up to a rainbow as we lingered over a 2nd cup of coffee and tea. I'd say that's a pretty darn good way to begin this journey.