There's No Escaping Nature (Tent Life Update)

Oh precious babies, you can't live in our Nook because that's our home, too. You count four eggs, but there were five...

Goodness, where to even start? There's a mix of things I want to tell you all because it feels like so much is happening all at once. I'll start by updating you all on The Tent Life.

We've not been in the tent since last Tuesday, we've instead been staying either at Ryan's grandmother's house or at my parent's. We could handle staying in the tent through the cold, the heat, through the sickness and the constant rain. We were determined, we were strong!

...and then the spiders came...

Of course, there are spiders everywhere. In The Nook, in our cars, in our beds at night when we're unaware, in our basements, etc. There were even large daddy-long-legs in the tent, as well as smaller, brown and black spiders, but that was ok. I felt like I was confronting my arachnophobia with this new lifestyle. It wasn't until Ryan approached me with the news that he killed the mother of all spiders! (In my opinion, anyway.)

We're not sure what type of spider it is, but this is it at the base of our tent, squished and dead. Thus, drawing an end to our temporary Tent Life.

As the battle between spider and man ensued, the mother gave birth to her young, spawning fear and frustration as Ryan quickly tried to stomp them all dead.

When Ryan told me about his encounter with the spider little did I know there was change in the air concerning more than just this.
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This is just the basic plan for our Nook as well as what will be added on.

A huge thank you to my father-in-law, Keith, for helping Ryan level the ground, work on the road, and finish the shed so we may be able to get into The Nook quicker! I'm so excited that everything is coming together, and that possibly very soon The Nook will sit proudly in its spot surrounded by nature, cut off from the rest of the world.

Ryan and his father spray painted the floor plan and Ryan took me through it. Reader, in the main room, can you see a little wood burning stove sitting far left? And what about the bathroom? Well, I don't want to give too much away in this post, but Ryan may have brilliantly made a way for us to take showers with water pressure without even needing plumbing! There'll be a loft where Ryan and I sleep up in the top of the main room; also, a book shelf at the top, stretching around the entire room. Those are just a few of our dreams and schemes when it comes to our new home...

Yesterday evening, Ryan and I were busy cleaning out The Nook and moving items that weren't ours from The Nook to the shed, when a nest fell.

I tried to identify the eggs, they look like Chickadee eggs. I gave Ryan the nest to relocate, as we've done with a few other nests in the place. There are openings that the birds come in and build tiny homes to lay their babies in but this is a problem for us as this is soon to be our home, too. I went back to the site where the best was to move the object it was on when I saw him...
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Poor little prematurely hatched baby!

First off, I felt responsible. Completely awful, and feeling like I'll burn eternally in Hell if I don't attempt to rescue the little guy, I freaked out. The fall had cracked his shell in two and he had fallen out. I alerted Ryan to the dilemma and tried getting in contact with a friend of mine who works for the wildlife division in this area - she's a game warden, I believe. I tried and tried but couldn't get a hold of her.

Okay, now what? Research!

Ryan had already built the baby a nest and placed him into it. (Okay, okay, I know it may or may not be a boy but for our sake we are calling him Alfred. Ryan chose the name.) To be honest, Ryan's showing signs of him being ready for kids. Instead of freaking out like I did - "I don't know what to do! I never asked for this! I don't want to be a mom yet!" - he helped me research what they eat and how to take care of them until we get help. He went out and found a few insects for me to squish up and feed little Alfred.

We eventually heard from my friend and learned that it would be a slim chance of anyone taking him in or him even surviving! So now it's up to us to be his mommy, since the momma bird didn't show signs of taking him back. (We tried giving him back - that doesn't always work.)
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I've been posting his little journey on Snapchat.

It's all at once, and there's little chance he'll survive, but someone told me today that it's more of a chance he'll have by us helping him rather than him being on his own. Thank you for that encouragement, sir, my nerves have been shot all day.

When I'm not praying for him, I'm thinking about him. Ryan is with him right now, and we're learning how and what to feed him, how to keep his little body warm, etc. It's all up to God whether he lives or not, but I pray that he does. Bentley is a big bubbie and Ryan a good bird-daddy, I'm thankful for my little family.

It seems like everything is happening all at once this semester...and there's no escaping nature!
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