I am still here…flying around and the last two weeks visiting with my mom and now with my best friend out here in New Bern. Where I have been helping her prepare for a 6 month old cow while her husband was away on a ski trip with his buddies. As a whole family we were able to go and pick her up last night and bring her back to the homestead.

Kelsey and I prepared an area close but far enough away to where the house is at on the land with an electric wire fence. We are not so concerned so much for Bella getting out but for the few animals that are out here that could potentially get Bella.

Before getting the fence up we had to clear some of the smaller trees in the vicinity. Both of us stopped at one point and had a moment ‘did ya ever think we would ever be ones to cut down trees?’ but there we were cutting down trees making way for a calf, neither one of us thought we would cut tree felling for this moment.

I should say that Kelsey has had her idea’s for this cow for sometime now. She has been rather excited to get a calf out on the land as soon as she could. I never thought that I would be this excited for a cow but here we are a cow out on the homestead and myself not wanting to fly back to Utah to get back to work.

We have put in some work this week for Bella besides trying to come up with names for her. Which we decided to keep the name that the couple that we got her from had named her. Bella is a very fitting name for her.

The world seems to be crashing down all around us and at this point all I want to do is sip my coffee in the early morning talking with Bella after feeding her and making sure she has her water.

Watching my best-friend and her husband make this journey of the homestead and sometimes being able to be a part of it has reminded me of my own roots. How much I miss the country, how much i miss small towns, how much I miss the simplicity rather than the chaos of the city. homesteading is hard work, dedication and so much learning as you go but so so so gratifying when it starts to come together.

I love to travel, I love exploring but there is something to putting your hands into the earth and watching things grow. The older I get the more I that I want to watch things grow. the more the need of wanting to root somewhere.

It was peaceful. Sitting out there watching Bella as the warm morning sun came stretching through the trees out to our faces. A calmness that sometimes seems to be tougher to come by these days.

More than just the milk that Bella will eventually produce along with the cheese, yogurt and other dairy products she really just becomes our emotional support cow who gets hugs in the morning and at night and a whole lot of attention through out the day.

with love,

jess

P.S. you can follow along with the Clifty homestead over on youtube @Cliftyfarm. Kelsey has been putting up videos as they get their new home all ready for move in.