I have been properly and lovingly scolded by some dear friends and family members about not having kept the blog up to date for several months. It’s true. I’m sorry.

One the one hand, it’s seemed like not a whole lot of major progress or interesting adventures to report. On the other hand, we’ve been thoroughly disrupted and very busy, even though Calvin and I haven’t been together for months!

Here’s the recap:

In August 2022, Calvin’s mom and sister-in-law suffered major health crises at the same time and his family was overwhelmed. As Calvin had just finished a major work project and didn’t have another gig lined up yet, and we were moving into the major interior construction part of the bus, which is mostly my area, we got him a one-way ticket to Seattle so that he could help his family. He left September 3, 2022. Except for my quick pop over to the Pacific Northwest for a few days in early December, we haven’t seen each other for six months! Good news, his mom and sister-in-law are doing much better, and in fact his mom and sis are moving to Texas now to be closer to us! Yay! They’ll be arriving in March, and I’m super excited that Calvin is finally coming come!

Being solo on this end meant I needed to juggle several more plates that I normally would have shared with Calvin. The bus build was 100% on me at that point, as was getting our property ready to move onto after he gets back, plus other projects that either got squeezed into the priority list, or, as in maintaining the blog, squeezed out entirely. I also started a new graphic arts venture during this time, as if I didn’t have enough going on, right?

The bus is looking very cool and is almost livable. I’ve been putting off some final touches, like trim, upper shelves and finishing the couch, as Calvin is the electrical genius and he was unable to finish the electrical stuff before he left. I can do a great many things, but me and wiring are not friends.

I have also camped on our property a couple of times getting that ready to move to. That is an entirely new adventure! It’s a beautiful place that I thoroughly enjoy spending time at. Most of my work there has been expanding the driveway to handle big rigs, starting rainwater collection, and studying the lay of the land for our homestead permaculture design.

We have seemingly contradictory passions for being both nomads and homesteaders; what we’re hoping to create is the best of both: a completely self-sufficient, low-maintenance perennial food forest homestead that will be our home-base and a welcoming place for friends to gather, and when we want to travel, the ability to just start up the house and adventure for as long as we want. Who says you can’t have it all?

So that’s the quick update. Off to take a kitty to the vet and get back to work on the bus. Lot’s of pics next post, I promise. Until then, the adventure continues.

JoDana