Breaking up is hard to do...

It has been busy at the homestead.


(Esso signs off of the shed)

A huge thank you goes out to everyone who came out to our Demo-Party last month. A mighty crew, armed with a few tools and their brute strength, dismantled the old well house and an Esso sign shed, to make room for the plumbing from the new well to the house. To show our gratitude, we cooked up some bratwurst to feed the hungry crowd.


(The "after" photo of where the old well house had been. There is no "before" because we blinked and the building was gone!)


(Here is a "before" photo of the Esso sign shed with just one wall down)


(...and then with the whole crew gathered to watch it fall.)


(The edge of the roof landed just inches from the new well!)


A special thank you Rose (age 10) for photo documenting the Demo-Party.

Late breaking news: We now have temporary power! Next, the pump can be added to our new well and we will have running water! (...by the end of next week.)

Florida Sunshine!

During a cold wet weekend in April, Team Jones headed South to sunny Florida!

We visited with Amanda's Aunt Joyce who lives on Siesta Key and enjoyed a local brunch of bloody marys and sauerkraut hot dogs before heading to Saint Petersburg for Derrick and Megan's wedding.

Derrick and Megan had their wedding in the beautiful Sunken Gardens in St. Pete. We had a lot of fun celebrating with their family and friends. Here is a photo of Sue, Derrick and Joe who had a mini gamecock reunion during the reception.

We stayed at the Inn at the Bay in St. Petersburg. We chose this bed and breakfast because of its two course gourmet breakfast, and we were not disappointed. The first morning we had a crab cake with lemon sauce and young asparagus tips, followed by coconut cranberry pancakes. It was exquisite. Breakfast the second day had a tough act to follow, but it was delicious with an egg benedict, followed by a berry crumble. So good.

The Inn at the Bay was located just two blocks from the beach and walking distance to everything downtown. We walked everywhere, and one of us had the blisters to prove it after sprinting to Derrick and Megan's rehearsal dinner, in heels. The dinner was at a fabulous Cuban restaurant at the end of the pier. Again, the food, and the sangria, were amazing. We did arrive and check into our room with plenty of time to spare, but we were running late because the feather bed in our room was too comfy and we were lulled into a nap.

While in St. Pete. we enjoyed the beaches, strolled through an art festival and had some delicious gelato for lunch. I know... Gelato? ...for lunch? Yes! It was our vacation.

Even better than the food was the time we were able to spend with friends, both old and new. Two warm and interesting people we met were Derrick's best man and neighbor, Kevin and his wife, Laurel. Kevin and Laurel keep bees and invited us to check out their hives before driving back to South Carolina. This was an opportunity we could not pass up. Here is Kevin and Joe dressed in bee keeper gear.

We learned a lot and were even sent home with some yummy honey.
Thank you Kevin and Laurel!
On the drive back we stopped and bought some Florida grapefruit.
We couldn't pass up the opportunity to buy fresh citrus.
It was a great trip filled with family, friends, delicious food, and sunshine.

Here is the bee version of "Where's Waldo." Do you see the queen?

Our First Goats!

Welcome Willow and Lyra.

After extensive searching, Kristen and I brought home our first goats, which we purchased from Holly Ridge Farm in Salley, SC. The one in the foreground is my goat, Willow, who is a Pygmy/Nigerian mix. Next to her, is Kristen's goat, Lyra, an unregistered Pygmy. They are 8 weeks old. Since they are herd animals and like the company of other goats, they are temporarily bunking together at
Kristen and Ben's farm (Five Leaves Farm). Luckily, we only live 1/2 mile apart and can spend a lot of time bonding with our mini dairy goats. This is the first time they have eaten the food we offered to them (day 2), though they have been browsing in their pen.

Kristen takes a turn feeding the babies. This is also the first time they have been willing to come up to us. Can you tell we are relieved!?

Maaaaaa!

A picture of Joe watching the goat show, and Willow showing off.

Here they are next to a 5 gallon bucket, for scale. When full grown we think their shoulders will be at about knee height.
The End (for now)