A Beautiful Sunny Day

Would you like to take a walk with me around the new homestead?

We'll start with the north side of the property, where the magic begins.
 This is where the chickens free range.

This coop was the old pump house.

The pastures were our flock roams.

Next, we'll take a stroll out back.
Most of the property is fenced pens, that were used for alpacas.
There are some neat perks though, like this greenhouse.

The property actually has three greenhouses of various sizes, this one being the industrial one.
We are in negotiations regarding names to distinguish between them. I've submitted that it might be fun to adopt a naming system like Starbucks has for its drinks, i.e. this greenhouse would be known as "Venti".

Behind this greenhouse is a pond, created by the previous owner to drain the property.  The pond feeds into the creek the next lot over and runs into Newalkum Cr.

Doesn't this just scream for ducks??

 The area with the pond is also fenced and along these fencelines are planted blueberries, a plant that loves wet feet, and apple trees.  From the pond is the best view of Rainier, so i was thinking this might be a good place to try to grow a fruit tree arbour like Sharon Lovejoy suggests in one of her garden books.

From pond

 We'll walk back toward the house and see the garden, shed, and the chicken coop beyond.

Boy, the house sure has a great profile from the back!

On to the other two greenhouses

Grande

Short

 Short has all the bells and whistles.  He has grow lights and a seed starting bench.  Today we found out he also has an automatic fan that comes on when the indoor temp reaches 95 degrees. :)

To end our tour, here is the shoppe.
This used to be the home of Thunder Mountain Farms, famous for their herbs and starts.

Walking through the gate and down the path

you'll find the shoppe

which we someday hope to use as a farm stand.

This would be my commute.

 Tough one, eh?

In front of these little shoppe is a nicely landscaped area with hazelnut, gingko, and pine trees, witch hazels, and a pond surrounded by alpine strawberries.  Also an arbour supporting kiwis.

Oh look, Moose is back with lunch--burgers from the local pub and grill in honour of our 11th anniversary.

 The timing of this move couldn't be better, as Moose and i really didn't have a clue as to what to get each other for our anniversary this year. :)  Now, he'll say "Happy Anniversary, i bought you a house."  To which i reply, "Oh isn't that funny?!?  I got you the same thing!"  And in a few months, i'll be saying, "Happy Birthday, i bought you a house."  And a couple months after that he'll say the same to me.  And so on.  And so on.  I'm thinking we're good on gifts until at least Christmas 2013.  :)