Relic River Ranch (2024)

17/02/2024

[justin] So our toilet started leaking at the base, so I went crawling under the house again. This time Ellie wanted to come see. So I got to show her how plumbing and gas lines work: and show her the bottom of the 150 year old floors and the old filled in cobblestone cistern under the house. I love when she gets in explorer mode!

[ellie!] I was super scared. I was real scared. And dad took a picture. And we were under there for like a minute. I saw lots of spider webs and this house is really old. And I’m pretty sure I saw a huge spider that wasn’t moving.

17/01/2024

[chels here] We’ve got a seasonal pond that shows up with the rain and stays until spring and our fields get super muddy.

On Sunday we actually had a beautiful sunny day, so Jus and Ellie made it a mud day! It was so fun to watch them!

[ellie!] we got the black truck stuck, we fixed the fence with two holes, we rode on the motor bike and went fast and crazy while I said beep beep! so the goats would get out of the way, dad rode around the pond while I was playing in the mud and then we played together and found a baseball! And we had lots of fun and then mom came out with sissy!

16/10/2023

[chels here] over the weekend we got to process a total of 55 birds (10 of which were ours) with some new friends thanks to the knowledge and know how of !

Ya’ll, something that I never thought I would ever do. But here we are!

It’s an honor and privilege to be able to care for and love some of God’s creations and then be able to use every piece (just about) as nourishing food for our bodies. And an even bigger blessing to do with friends.

We know the lives of these chickens, what they were fed and how they were processed and packaged.

Looking forward to eating our first one!

23/08/2023

[chels here] Ellie and I planted a ton of wildflowers and a bunch of sunflowers.

Did we see any of them? A couple wild flowers maybe, but otherwise no.

Did Ellie throw a ton of bird seed in the driveway for the chickens and birds to eat?

Yes.

Did one of those seeds stick and turn into corn stalks in our gravel driveway unintentionally?

Also yes.

Did we give the goats and chickens lots of squash and watermelon and pumpkin and did it turn into whatever this will be also in the gravel driveway?

Ughh yes.

And did both randomly pop up and grow without any human intervention?

Yuuup.

Wild ya’ll. Can’t wait to harvest! Lol!

22/08/2023

So we accidentally started homeschooling Ellie in April. And by accidentally, I really mean kind of unintentionally?

This girl wakes up one morning and is like “I want to learn to read” and so we taught her the things we know about reading.

We used our porcelain fridge as our large whiteboard and every day wrote words on it and then that turned into putting up math problems (because she loves math) and then it got to the point where we were like, what’s next? Wish we had some sort of plan to go off of instead of just winging it!

And so we bought a homeschool curriculum.

AND THEN, we were like, what about history?? And who would be a better history teacher than Justin?! So once a week, Ellie sits down with Jus and they learn about something in history.

Well long story short, Ellie just finished her kindergarten curriculum and is starting 1st grade today because this girl LOVES TO LEARN.

Homeschool is weird ya’ll. You basically make the rules for what it looks like and it gets tailored to each kid.

It takes us just under 2 hours to complete all her school work for the entire day and the rest is free for trips to the library or playing or roller skating or swim lessons or helping daddy work or learning about our bees or whatever! We can take vacations and delivery/pickup trips when we want to or just spend the day doing errands with daddy.

And I’m loving every single minute of it. I love sitting with her and seeing her curiosity for the world and all her what’s, why’s and how’s. I love that I get to see her learning first hand.

I especially love that when the baby comes, we can take time off of school to adjust and just be as a family before getting back into the routine of things (and realistically slowing down a bit).

It honestly makes a lot of sense we’re homeschooling, it meshes with our lifestyle so well. I can’t imagine it any other way now.

Anyway, so proud of this girl!

17/08/2023

[chels here] We (Jus) got tired of moving our big heavy tables every time we needed to mow, so we thought, why not put a concrete slab there that we can mow around?!

Great idea!

And why not also add more concrete to the barn for all the work being done at the same time?!

Another great idea!!

But when did it all come to fruition for prep? On the first record breaking hottest day ever!

And when did the concrete go in? The literal next day when we had the second day of record breaking heat (photos of that later).

So thankful for and all the things he does working his ass off around here to make things easier/better in the long run.

And thankful to because he’s pretty much the only person I know that can mostly keep up with Jus and makes it so it’s not me having to help. Especially in my condition (pregnant lol).

Thanks Jus and Bryce! You’re the best!

16/08/2023

[chels here] I really love how Jus teaches our girl to work hard.

Jus works hard and quick and Ellie is learning right alongside him which means it slows him down a bit (which is good for him) but it also makes her quicker (which is good for her).

I can’t say that Ellie did a lot of work on this, because she didn’t lol but her hands are definitely on it too! From holding screws to Home Depot trips to carrying heavy wood to measuring and marking her measurements to sharing in the joy of it being completed.

I love it so much.

15/08/2023

[chels here] we are super excited about this new venture of ours! A cute little rentable vintage trailer!! Just think how cute this would be to serve desserts out of at your wedding or as a c**ktail bar at some event or a merch booth for your vending spot?! I’m so in love with it and wish I had (yet another) side hustle to be able to use this! Oooo like some homemade cinnamon rolls to serve up!

[Justin] This is our flagship rental trailer! It's a
1966 Aljo and it's ready for your event! Works great for a c**ktail bar, a beer bar with keg, a concession booth, a merch booth, or any kind of small business vending!
It's equipped with a large sliding window, pop up counter, large prep area, whiteboards, couch, refrigerator with keg tap line, and sink with hardline hookup. Other add on accessories available as well.
Rentals within Douglas county are $250 a day dropped off and picked up with $1.50 a mile delivery fee from Wilbur, Oregon. Get it booked through our DMs

01/08/2023

[chels here] it’s crazy how quickly things happen around here and how late I always am to letting everyone know…

But anyways! Bees! We got bees!

We met Rachal our new bee lady friend at swim lessons and she came out to look at the property and brought bee boxes and then brought bees all within about a couple weeks from meeting her!

We’re starting off with a total of 5 boxes. 4 are in our back corner and 1 is by our old coop and is Ellie’s (more on that later).

We’ll keep the 5 for a year and see how well they do and then up it to hopefully quite a bit more!

We’re really excited about this because we’ve been wanting bees for awhile. Jus had even put up an ad asking for someone to come put their bees here lol.

It’s going to be a lot of fun! We just ordered Jus and Ellie their own bee suits and Rachal is going to come out and teach them all about bees and how to take care of them and how to harvest honey and is there anything better than fresh honey?!

And will there be anything cuter than a 5 year old in a bee suit?!

The answer is nope to both lol

🐝

19/07/2023

Living here is picking up your chicks at the post office and then having to bring them to swim lessons and a lady saying “hey, whatcha got in that box?” and having a long conversation about raising animals and butchering them and then walking away with each others numbers so she can put bees in your fields.

Good day!

26/05/2023

[Justin] This is the part Instagram homesteaders don't show ya. Me wheezing and hacking for an hour trying to muck out a seriously saturated goat stall from this seasons kidding. 6" hay/Pee/poop clay in 92 degree heat is no bueno. And it took just as long to unload it. Lol

24/05/2023

[Justin] It's so cool to be able to be surprised by animals and nature on our property. I find myself constantly telling "Ellie come here I have something to show you!"

Even if the frogs specifically are becoming a minor nuisance in my shop...

Alternate caption: “Frogs!” Lol

16/05/2023

[chels here] this area of the yard once had blackberry bushes and a weird fence and lots of pokey plants and the grass was crazy tall.

Now this area is perfect for this.

Running through the sprinklers, picnics, laying around, giving the dog a bath, eating snacks, getting away from the sun and reading books.

So thankful.

09/05/2023

[chels here] boy oh boy, this girl and her dog! And oh how they both want to join in on EVERYTHING that Jus is doing.

Tractor ride? Yes!
Working in the shop? Of course!
Ride on the Cushman scooter? Ha! Bo wishes lol.

05/05/2023

[Justin] Spring has sprung! We have lots going on with our livestock.

We got 6 chicks to put under 2 broody hens and only 2 made it, but they are thriving. And we just got our new c**k of the walk, a blue Andalusian rooster named Andy - and I think he is the most gorgeous bird I have ever seen.

In addition to the 5 kids born this season, we are now fielding our friends 14 sheep in addition to our own herd of 5.

It's a full field...

[Ellie] thank you very much daddy for letting us get another rooster and baby chicks!

04/05/2023

[Justin] I love having new and courage stretching opportunities for our daughter. She's always wanting to come along to do whatever and wherever I'm doing something.
The new IH tractor on the farm is way taller than our old case, and she can't climb down it the same. So I set her on the tire, while I hop down and grab her. Looking back up I was just really thankful. And shocked at how much she's grown so fast.

[Ellie] Daddy was finding a way for me to get down and set me on the tire then he got off the tractor. It was an easier way for him to get down first then me. When I was on the tire he took the picture of me and I was scared and then daddy got me down and I was safe. The tire was dirty and greasy. And it was a fun tractor ride. Oh! And when he turned the tractor on, it bumped and it was silly and I was happy.

03/05/2023

Just a girl and her dog

28/04/2023

[chels here] today is another great day for the books.

It’s wonderful having the sun out and seeing the trees and flowers blossom and our lives working at a slower pace as the days get longer.

I feel like this time of year does that for us.

Slows us down.

Maybe that’s just an illusion.

Maybe with the days being longer we just have more time to do all the trillions of things we normally would do but then have extra time to relax?

Whatever it is, I’m here for it and I’m so thankful for it.

Side note: reminiscing about what this property used to look like and it feels good to be where we’re at.

I am, however, a dreamer. And there’s so many things I still want to do!

But focusing on rhythms that are sustainable is what comes first right now.

And it’s good. So good.

25/04/2023

[Justin] The girls are enjoying fake spring, but the travelall is still hibernating with a blown engine.

[chels here] fake Spring is the worst. Today should be a really nice day and what actual spring should look like, but later in the week it gets up to 89 degrees! And the following week is all rain. Whyyyy.

And can’t wait to be cruising in the travelall again. I sure do miss it!

11/04/2023

We have 4 purebred oberhasli kids from a really good line.

Buckling kid and doe born Born feb 23 and now grazing. Non polled.

2 bucklings born April 8 and would be bottle babies if taken now. Can also hold until weaning age with deposit.

Let us know! Our buck Vince has been busy!

27/03/2023

[Justin here] We needed a place to remind me why we moved out to the country. A place where my normal life wasn't visible and I could just listen to the breeze and look at nature and connect with the God that made them. So when a good friend dropped off some free live edge lumber I knew what I was going to do with it. This is our "chapel" tucked back in the trees on our back acre.

20/03/2023

[chels here] found an old picture of the house from when we were first looking at the house. And dang. We wanted to live here??

Swipe over to see it now!

It’s amazing how much (to oversimplify) some yard work and paint will do lol.

17/03/2023

[chels here] back in September we got a buck and named him Vincent Van Goat, but Ellie INSISTED we call him lover.

Fast forward to 5 months later and what do we find?? Not just one baby goat, but THREE.

Apparently Lover was a good name for him after all.

Mama June and babies are doing well and are now about 3 weeks old and we’re all pretty dang good at milking goats now lol.

13/03/2023

[Justin] Kitchen Reno done! Knocked out cabs for bar seating, knocked out the divider wall next to fridge, redrywalled, removed all the 90s cabinet doors and made new hardwood flat ones, added doors For the trash and microwave, vented sink doors, retrimmed all The cabinets, sanded, painted, new counter lighting, new hardware. Just Waiting on a new kitchen light and all the floor tile! $200 and a couple days can do so much!

[chels here] I may have been hibernating (from instagram) but that hasn’t stopped things from happening around here!

We’d been wanting to redo the kitchen for awhile and was on a “for later” list until we started hosting our small group at our house and we realized we also needed a little more room!

Well it all quickly turned into a huge list of things! New color and bar section wasn’t in the original plans, but definitely made it cozier and gave us more room for seating which we needed.

Jus said “the only reason you want a darker green is so it matches all your plants!” And I said it wasn’t my intention, but since he mentioned it! It confirmed the color lol

25/05/2022

[chels here] It’s good to look back on where we started.

Sometimes it feels like progress has slowed, but then I remember what it looked like when we started and I’m reminded how we didn’t just magically get here. It took little by little every day.

We want instant gratification and Jus would say, “this isn’t Amazon.”

(I think even Amazon is learning that their 1 day shipping wasn’t sustainable lol)

It takes WORK from the before to after.

So here’s to the people doing the work. May you take joy in each step you take!

Side note: We aren’t finished here yet, but it’s definitely a functioning space!

10/05/2022

[chels here] jus loved the picture of him and Ellie in the yellow chair, but I know he was also bummed that you didn’t get the full effect.

So here’s the yellow chair as it looked when we first brought it in.

I think the previous owners would love that it has a home that gives it so much more attention than this photo looks.

With sleepy cats.
Kids looking out the window.
Friends old and new.
A place to put your boots on.
Daddy daughter devotionals.
A hiding place.

Though this is a great photo to highlight the chair, the beauty is found in its use.

Instagram is a curated feed of intentionally placed photos.

Which is no slight to Justin for wanting to show you the chair because it’s really cool (and in the other photo of it, you don’t get to see the detail) or to people who put a lot of time in creating visually stunning content.

Just a reminder that life is meant to be lived and can often be messy.

Love you all.

07/05/2022

[chels here] Spring weather is weird here.

Day 1: sunny - shorts and a tank
Day 2: rainy - coat and boots
Day 3: sunny - buy shorts
Day 4: rainy - and warm
Day 5: sunny - and chilly

And so on.

Weirder than that (or maybe not) I kind of enjoy it.

It’s great to be outside to picnic and play and mow the lawn (which I get a wonderful enjoyment out of) and then following it up the next day with being rainy and “stuck” inside being cuddly, is like peace for my soul.

29/03/2022

[Ellie here!] That's my sheep Frisbee! He looks giiiiant in the picture but he is small. He is the best! I love him!

[chels here] thank you to our sweet friends Wayne and Angela for giving us this little derpy dwarf sheep. We OF COURSE had to add a bell because her stuffed sheepy has one.

Welcome to the farm Frisbee.

26/03/2022

[chels here] can I just take a picture of every sunset I ever see?

Yes? Okay, thanks!

24/03/2022

[chels here] Jus thinks I post too many pictures of him on this account, so here's a picture of Thomas the turkey in all his, uh, glory.

But also, can someone please explain to me what made people think, I'm gonna try eating that thing???

Relic River Ranch