Five years ago today....we bought a farm and had a baby on the same day.

Good morning Friends of North Mountain Pastures,

Five years ago today, we bought a farm and had a baby on the same day.

(I wouldn't recommend it.)

Here we are, 30 minutes after the birth of Leila, signing the closing documents with our attorney.

We had waited many unsure months to close on this farm, and felt that we just had to do it when it was scheduled. I thought that the stress of buying the farm would somehow protect me from having the baby until after we closed. Never did I guess that I would go into labor at midnight the night before the closing!

So then, suddenly, we had this:

and this:

and there was lots of this (makeshift sheltering and fencing):

and this (garden plowing by pigs):

There was also suddenly the need for lots of this (trenching):

more trenching:

and this (more trenching):

We also had to get started on this (gutting the old farm house):

And so much more of that:

I should look at these pictures when I feel like the house is too big of a mess:

Progress was made on the house, by Brooks with some help from others, in chunks and spurts in the evenings and late evenings and late late evenings (spray foam insulation):

Walls were knocked down, and spaces changed:

Eventually, me and the babes could help a bit:

Meanwhile, farm production, farmer's market, and CSA deliveries continued despite the chaos: