Greetings from WV | New Member Introduction | Forums

I don't think I've introduced myself yet...I am Nancy from WV. We moved here from my home state of California almost 15 years ago (I can't believe it's been that long!) We bought 40 acres, with an adjoining 50 we lease and HOPE to buy if the man ever decided to sell. We built our own house from scratch, at first using items bought at garage sales and ads (toilet, sinks, windows, etc.) We've come a long way since then, regrettably doing a large remodel and putting ourselves deeper in debt, though we're doing OK. My husband is disabled (he hurt himself badly while in the military and it's all catching up now) so it's a little hard to get projects done like we need, though 2 of our older daughters are going to move home soon.

We have 4 "biological" children, 3 girls and one boy, but May 1st 2011 our son was killed while working on a gas drilling rig. Not to be a downer, but our lives have never been the same, and I feel like we're just now starting to poke our heads out of our shells. We are raising his 2 kids, a boy and girl, ages 4 and 6, and this gives us some hope. We are homeschooling them (we homeschooled all of our kids) so it's great to include them more and more in the running of the farm as they get older and are able to do more things.

On top of it all, we are foster parents and have been for about 13 years I think. It has not been easy, and I would like to elaborate on it more in another post, because there are a lot of positives to it also (help, a little bit of income, but also the good karma from giving back to society and trying to help a kid who's had a lot of problems) but I'll save that for later.

At this time we have our 2 grandkids, 4 foster children, and a daughter we adopted who is 17. Believe it or not she likes "farming" and can work a tractor as good as most men. We sell at the farmer's market each summer, and I make things with my sheep's wool and sell it on Etsy. http://www.etsy.com/.....tleymutton Do most of you know about Etsy? It's a huge site where you can sell handmade items (as well as vintage finds) online. I've sold my silly little creations all over the world and although I know it's probably not a permanent income, it sure helps. So, as you can see we have a lot of stuff going on. I'm amazed how much information is on this site,...so much knowledge to share! Sorry this was so long. I look forward to learning much more.