Wow! That year went fast. So let me refresh your memory. We closed on September 14, 2020, and this land officially became ours. We were all here until about October something and Chris returned to Washington to continue work. The boys and I stayed here and we had lots of visitors and achieved more than we imagined. The day after Thanksgiving we all returned to Washington. In April we returned to HKA and after a week of achieving even more, the boys and I returned to WA while Chris stayed here and began his internship with Vulcraft. Finally, on June 18th, we left Washington and returned to Haulin Kuester Acres for good.
A visual recount of all our accomplishments
Here’s a little reminder of all the changes we have made in the first year. Man, no wonder I’m tired.
You can see some of my previous posts about what it looked like in the beginning and projects we have taken on in the past year.
Enjoy this gallery of pictures. As we say, It’s better than it was Yesterday.
Lamp post before
Image 1 of 54
This lamp was not connected to electricity and there was a solar light stuck in the top of it.
Thank you!
A big thank you to all our family and friends for the labor you have provided, your ideas, your visits, your laughter, and your joy. Thank you for those who have prayed us through this process and will continue to encourage us. We’re excited to see what’s next…
What is next?
We have met with a draftsman for a house plan
Plans for a new garage
Refurbishing the front gates so they can be used
Finish the pump house and add a water filtration system
We have a saying here at Haulin Kuester Acres; It’s better than it was yesterday. With every change, even the smallest changes we feel like we are heading in the right direction. The father of soil conservation and a renowned soil scientist, Hugh Hammond Bennett is credited with saying, “Take care of the land and the land will take care of you.” We believe this place landed in our laps because it needed us to rescue it. It was neglected, abused, and harmed. We are just trying to make our corner of the world a little better and hopefully, that means this land will in a way take care of us. The Bible tells us that everything belongs to the Lord, even the land. We approach this place as a gift from God and the best way to honor what he has given us is to rehabilitate this place.
The cat shed
A couple of weeks ago, we started the process of tearing down what we have labeled the cat shed. We’ve dissected it to try and determine how, when, and why it was built. The back of the structure had small rooms with cages. The previous owner told us that the owner before her rescued wayward cats and housed them in the building. At one time, she claims there were up to 50 cats in the shed. The main part of the building is solid. The rafters are what look like logs. There is only a gravel floor. In some parts of the building, the floor is elevated with wood pallets. It’s an unsightly mess. See my previous blog post about the wacky outbuildings https://missykuester.com/renovation-update-outbuildings/. It will take a couple more weekends and another dumpster to completely dismantle it. So check back!
A marathon, not a sprint renovation
As I walk around I walk with my head down, looking for bits of junk. I kid you not, you can come across tools that somehow work their way out of the soil. And just to annoy me, are the bits of crunched-up plastic in the driveway and yard. I have no idea what it is or where it comes from but it irritates me. The previous owners shared how they loved living here. Some days it’s hard to see where the love was.
I will admit I watch videos and read blogs about people who have done similar clean-ups. This renovation is one of the worst but it inspires me. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-Q5nCK3kZk
We will never run out of projects. But I keep reminding myself, it’s a marathon, not a sprint.
Happy New Year! We are excited about 2021. I wanted to update all of you on our farm. Ideally, I consider it a hobby farm as we don’t plan on using it for large farming or animals. As a family, we decided to name it Haulin Kuester Acres. It was the name all 5 of us could agree on. You offered many amazing suggestions. We felt this best reflected our homestead and would maybe help people remember the correct pronunciation of our last name. Thank you for sharing in our enthusiasm and watching along. Due to weather and other commitments we are not currently undertaking any projects until the weather improves. Also, we currently maintain two households so fiscally we are trying to be responsible.
Additionally, my talented sister, Larissa designed our logo. We wanted a logo that could stand on its own but also be identifiable and unique. She accomplished that. Next up will be to get some swag with our new logo.
Recently, I went to my Facebook audience to crowdsource names for our new farm in Utah. I was blown away by the suggestions. Quite frankly, you are all very creative. I wanted to document the name decision so here is the process, chronicled for years to come. It’s not easy to pick the perfect farm name.
Round One
This is the initial list we got from Facebook:
Kuester Acres
haulinkuester Acres
The Best is Yet to Come
Next Chapter Farm
Prayer Walk/ Road
Stars and Stripes
Rocking M Farm
Condiment Farm
M and M Farm
New Journey
Kamp Kuester
Kuester Corral
A Wing and a Prayer
Kozy Kuester Kabin
Princess Missy Farm
M Squared Ranch
Scrabble Ranch
Muddy Paws Ranch
Kuester Kingdom
After AF Farm
Kuester Retreat
Beautiful Acres
Chez nous
Greener Pastures
Places des Grand Hommes
Magnum Way
Black Dog Fields
Magnum Acres
Where the Pavement Ends Farm
Where the Road Ends Farm
The Haven
Kuester Krossing
Wabatucky West
Mis Mag + 3 Farm
The Destination
Kind Kuester Korner
Omega Alpha Acres
Kilo 5 Ranch
Wallis-Frome-Kuester Farm
End of the Line Farm
The Open Commissary
Hallelujah Hollow
Delilah Downs
Magnum Manor
Missy’s Family Farm
New Beginnings
Kuester Homestead
Haulin Farms
End of the Road Farm
Delilah’s Boys’ Farm
Delilah’s Farm
Road’s End Farm
Flying K
Lazy K
Crazy K
Magnum Farm
Answered Prayers
Rest Your Kuester Farm
Where my Kuester Farm
Wonderland
Topshelf Farm
Kuester Downs
Kuester Hole
Green Acres
Pretty Acres
Peaceful Valley
My 3 Sons
Joyful Acres
Kickin’ Kuester Farm
Hidden Treasures
Kick in the Kuester
Kuester Ranch
Fly Over Farm
Golden Acres Retirement Home
M+M Family Farm
Permission to Land Farm
The Forever Homestead
The Sanctuary
New Chievres
It Ain’t Wabash
Delilah’s Playground
Delilah’s Ranch
Red Devil Pastures
Destination Acres
Wild Blue Yonder
Final Flight Plan
Flight Plan
Kuester Korner
Mountain Ridge
Done haulin Farm
Kuester Lane
New Life Farms
Circle K Farms
Aim High Farm
Nua Farms
That Last Stop Farm
Sit on your Kuester Farm
ChrisMis Farm
Lazy M Ranch
Kuester Horizon Estate
DD-214 Acres
Retired Homestead
Rustic Kuester Ranch
Missy’s Meadows
Place for Kuesters
Delilah’s Family Farm
The Lord’s Bounty Farm
Test and Peaceful Farm
Thanksgiving Farm
The Forever Home and Farm
Kuester’s Resting
Dirty Kuester Ranch
Heaven Homestead
Water Well Acres
Lost in time Farm
Three Magnums Farm
Hoosierville
Almost Wabash
Kuester Kurve Farm
Secondhand Farm
LaVraie Montagne
The World’s End
Where the Pavement Ends Farm
Red Devil Acres
Round Two:
This is what is left after the first cut of names:
Kuester Acres
Wild Blue Yonder
haulinkuester Acres
haulin farm
End of the Road Farm
New Beginnings Farm
Kuester Homestead
Next Chapter Farm
Circle K Farm
Aim High Farm
The Last Stop Farm
Where the Road Ends Farm
Where the Pavement Ends Farm
Kuester Korner
Round Three:
We lost some good ones…
Kamp Kuester
Kuester Corral
Flying K
ChrisMis Farm
Kuester Ranch
Fly Over Farm
Permission to Land Farm (bar name)
M squared Ranch (Math!)
Muddy Paws Ranch
Greener Pastures
Kuester Retreat
Kuester Krossing
Omega Alpha Acres
Done haulin Acres
Wild Blue Yonder Acres
haulin Farm
End of the Road Farm
Circle K Farm
Aim High Farm
Where the Road Ends Farm
Final Approach Farm
haulinkuester Acres
Flying K Farm
ChrisMis Farm
Fly Over Farm
Permission to Land Farm (Bar name?)
Final Flight Plan Farm
Stay tuned as we dwindle down more names on our way to finding the perfect name for our farm. And thank you for helping!
