A Land Update!

Warning: This is long and has lots of pictures, including two non-vegetarian photos.

Welcome to
Merrick (the non-existent town) Valley Farm

I will do a separate post regarding the interior of the Ahlgren Jungle Hut of Adventure (aka Casual Cottage) at a later date. So for now here are some pictures of a wee litl' bit of the land we have been so bountifully blessed with!
We have a mailbox! :) And it gets mail! Across from our place is big cattle operation. Lilian and I love going up to get the mail and she talks to the cows and makes them stampede and it's so incredible to be still and listen to the thunder of their hooves and yes I know this is a run-on sentence. Sunsets are so pretty from here! This is the view of our driveway from the road. It's a circle drive once you get down in there. This spring we will be planting "something" to block the view of pretty much anything from the road. We want the drive to be thick trees etc. and then once you get down in the land, BOOM, it's opens up to the valley! Lili Bug literally just hanging out!Further down the drive. Shop on the left, house on the right. Annnnnnnd... our favorite view! Our partially cleared valley! This picture doesn't even begin to do it justice! This was right around the most beautiful time when the sun inflames the tops of the cottonwoods and the trees on the hill! It is SO beautiful! Oh how we praise God for blessing us with the beauty of His creation all around us! This was taken from the front porch, and like I said, it doesn't begin to communicate how lovely it can be! And this is what it looks like now.This pic, from a few months ago, is the same area where the hammocks are in the picture above!
And this is across the burm into the valley looking south.
And this is looking southeast.
Clearing, burning, clearing, burning...

God has enabled us to make so much progress! It's amazing to look at old pictures and see what He has done! My wonderful Man is such a hard worker and he LOVES working outside! There is so much potential! We can't wait til this spring!
Here is Lilian's first time to swing (thank you neighbors for the swing!) and a view of the south end of the porch.

Here's a view from the north end to the south.
Burning a BIG pile of brush. David thought it was getting out of hand and tried to call the fire department and couldn't get a signal! But with much prayer we beat the spreading flames to death. Here's the big kid mentioned previously. The building is our goat shed. It was originally built in the 1930's on the state capitol grounds (for oil rig tools). The previous owner got the building in the 60's or 70's and my amazing skilled-in-practically-every-area-of-life husband welded the pieces up for a little shelter! Here you can see the goat shed in the valley, the house on the right, clothesline in the middle.
We let a friend hunt and he got a doe. David and I helped him track it for 572-3 yards! It was a lot of challenging fun and the meat was tasty(thank you Micah!)!
David had a run in with a hog while deer hunting a month or so ago. He won.David discing an area in the valley in front of the house for some some wheat. The front of our home! Don't worry, it's not a blue roof! The porch doesn't have the (green) metal on it yet. The house isn't sided here either.Hope you enjoyed this little virtual "tour" of a wee bit of our new land! Praise the Lord for His good gifts and His enabling power to take dominion for His glory!