Halloween 2015

Happy Halloween.  Back from the "wild west".  We had an incredible time.  Everything is SO VAST and so diverse and SO beautiful!!   We saw a few sheep and then this one.

It was across from the visitor center at the Colorado National Monument.  First John tried to tell me it was mechanical and then he told me they paid it to stand there.  I saw two more the next day on another rock in another place.  The mule deer out west are heavier looking than our deer here.  We saw a beaver dam and an eagle nest and assorted small animals as well.  The rabbits are really fast.

When we returned, the animals all acted like they did the day I left, over a week previous.  I guess they didn't miss me and were not mad I left because Cathy takes such good care of them.   It is So nice to have a fine farm sitter.

I think it is really important to take vacations and see all the magnificent places there are.  I think there is something special about every place but sometimes you have to look a little harder or deeper.  This vacation I didn't have to do either, we were oohing and awing from the first moment on the train, almost.  We flew into Denver and took a train for 8 hours, along 230+ miles of the Colorado River, through canyons, and along forests and through falling snow.  We got off the train in Grand Junction Colorado and rented a car to explore some of the National Parks of Utah.

I had a few flashbacks to when I was between school and work or work and work and and had time to just wander.  Back then, if I had $200.00 saved up, I felt I could go anywhere I wanted.  Now, most people need a little more security and a little more traveling money, though you can still camp for free in some of the most beautiful places in the world.  

Back at home, it is fall with leaves turning and a nip in the air.  Many fall projects to do, but alas today is Halloween and it is cloudy and nice sitting by the wood stove writing the 6th blog of October (not bad for being gone over a week).

Burrrrr

This morning we woke up to 29 degrees.  The first hard frost of the season.  I even put on my gloves to go down to the barn.  Something felt funny in a couple of the glove fingers and when I investigated I found beach glass.  When was that?

There was frost all over the grass but the water in the buckets was open.  It seems a little early to go into winter mode and after tonight it is suppose to get warmer again, so I won't get the plug-in buckets out yet.

Lyndy came over to work on her house and besides being cold it was windy, so we had to bundle up, but we got some more clapboard up.  I am glad we are almost ready to move inside.  The sheep are loving this weather and have hardly been inside at all for several days.  Sure makes cleaning the barn easy.

The geese don't seem to mind the cold either but I put straw in the barn closet incase they want to get out of the weather.  So why doesn't everyone wear goose down or wool?

Lyndy's Tiny House Update mid October

Lyndy's tiny house has a new look.  Lyndy and
Brook and John of course, put the house wrap

on and then covered it with clapboard. Jerry helped paint the sage clapboards on Saturday.  Door knobs were order, more decisions made,  we are plowing forward again.  The question remains- "will it be ready for Thanksgiving pies?"

 Doesn't it look inviting?  Even the stink bugs and a spider were making them selves at home on the front porch.

Some of the inside is getting done too, but you can't see it here.  That is for the next peek.

Fall on the Farm

YES the sheep still live here.  It seems like all the talk, lately, has been about the chickens and the geese.  I guess that is because the sheep have been behaving better than the birds recently.

It is funny how the geese hang out with the sheep and all get along so well and then they get back to the barnyard and still behavior is good most of the time until the geese decide to harass the sheep for no apparent reason.

A few days ago, Sal was limping and then holding up one of her legs a lot.  I thought, "Oh no, the golden goose again".  She probably got stepped on.

  I consulted with the nature spirits and Sal's spirit guides and ended up giving Sal a homeopathic remedy in her water.  The remedy is used for sprains and strains and dislocations.  The next day she was barely limping and today she seems fine.  I love when things work so well.  I love this picture with every one following me down the pasture and then posing.

Then there are the brown sheep and the grey geese and then a good shot of the white sheep and Charlotte, and of course Zorra gets to be in all the pictures because she is the farm ambassador.  

Another beautiful day and additional small projects completed.  Still lots to do but the weekend looks to be good to polish off a few more.

We may have a tiny house crew this weekend so keep tuned for an update.

Timing and Timelessness

Today, two more things got crossed off the list of farm projects thanks to John.  The hay storage area and the chicken coop have been winterized with that clear wavy panel stuff.  The fall rains have started and the nights are getting cool (mid to low 40's).  Now the chickens will be cozy.  We also got another present for the chickens.  I bought them an automatic door opener so they don't have to wait for me to come down and let them out in the morning.  It also closes at the right time in the evening.  It seems like, this time of year, if I go down to close the coop before dinner, the chickens aren't ready, and after dinner it is dark.  One of the hens is back to sleeping outside of the coop, but at least she has selected a better place than the tree.  So when I go down after dinner, I have to turn on the light in the barn, peek in the closet to see where exactly she is, turn off the light (so as not to rouse her), go back and open the closet door, pick her up, and take her back to the coop.  If I could just get there a couple of minutes earlier, she would still be drowsy and I wouldn't have to turn the light on and off.

This morning I helped John put the big green shutters ( he made for the little church down the road) on to replace the 50+ year old ones that were on it.  The old ones were in rough shape; maybe not the best timing.  I wonder how long the new ones will last.

When it comes to personal timing, I go between thinking, I am doing things at just the right time and feeling that I am dragging my feet.  Sometime, there are moments, however, that seem like time stands still and nothing needs to get done.  This morning, I was waiting at Cedar Hill Church for John to go back up to the house to recut a shutter, when just such a time arrived.  The temperature was perfect, the sun shone  warm on my back, and shadows of turkey vultures glided by on the tree tops.  I was definitely living in the moment.  Then a young woman walked by with a large German Shepherd puppy on a leash.  He/she wanted to come over and see me but the young woman just kept going and barely acknowledged my greeting.  She was tuned in to her headphones but her dog turned around at least a half dozen times before they got to the bend in the road. 

My inspection sticker on my van expired the last day of September.  I knew it was going to expire but then I forgot until Monday.  I didn't get noticed by law enforcement and I pushed my expiration date up an extra month for next year so does that mean I did it at just the right time or I was dragging my feet?

I wish I could have more timelessness in my life.  My short term memory has not been that great lately and I was thinking it might mean that I need to "live in the moment" more, because then I wouldn't have to remember the past moments.  

So what about that dog today and what about the animals at Cabin Spring Farm, do they live in the moment or do they have to worry about timing?

Empty Space

When I look down toward the barnyard, I see Lyndy's Tiny House and have this feeling of …….. longing, is the first word that comes to mind.  And sweetness and specialness and endearment.  Sometimes, I worry that when the tiny house leaves there will be an empty spot in my heart and I wonder what that is about.  I know that the tiny house will  probably only be here 6 more months, so I have to identify what it means to me.

What comes to mind, is hours spent as a child laying on my back thinking of the ceiling as a floor, as a floor of an essentially empty house.  I am sure everyone or as least many have done this.  I am also certain a reoccurring dream I have is an archetypal dream; the one where you find an empty room in a house you have been living in for many years, and you get so excited.  Does it all just mean that we  have become too busy in our lives and we yearn for simplicity.  Or is it about wanting to go in a new direction or discover something new in our lives.

I have alway loved camping; sleeping in a tent, or now sleeping and waking up in my van looking at trees.  I take deep breaths and take in the natural world.  The animals have a great Empty barn they hang out in a lot, sheep napping (the sheep don't sleep there at night).  I love to go down there early in the morning, when they are still out in the pasture, and rake the dirt floor for them.  It makes me feel like I am camping somehow.  At least it gives me that wonderful feeling of simplicity of life, like I had when I lived on a 26 foot Chinese Junk for a year.

I am so happy for Lyndy that she will get to experience that simplicity of life.  I love reading about other people who live in tiny houses and what they treasure about them.

I feel lighter just from getting rid of extraneous clothes and having, now, only clothes that bring me joy.  I went through my books but need to redo that segment of the plan.  I can't wait to be at the end of the paper phase of the process.  And then--- the rest, at which time all of my things may fit in a tiny house but I will be living in a tidy house not a tiny house.

Here are some pictures of Lyndy's Empty House

I guess it isn't really empty; there is a radio, a couple of ladders,  a few tools and some nails.

Knowing Where Your Food Comes From

When I was walking with my walking buddies the other morning, Katie suddenly stopped to pick some wild mustard.  She has written several books on wild edibles and has been gathering since she was 4 years old.  She invited me to stop in to her place for some steamed wild mustard at the end of our 3 miles.  I excitedly accepted her invitation.  Talk about "knowing where your food comes from".  The mustard was superb.  It reminded me of when I lived in corn country in the midwest and everyone said to be really good, you had to eat an ear of corn within an hour of picking it.  The mustard greens were eaten in that time frame.

My brother, John, has shown  me several times what you can eat but I forget.  I asked Katie if she would walk around the farm here and tell me what I should be eating.  She said she would.

  I know a few things that are good for the sheep but they don't last in the pastures because the sheep seem to have no sense of the importance of selective eating to make sure the species survives.  I know it is hard when there are 8 others competing with each sheep but IT'S IMPORTANT.  Now is a good time to plant because there are bare spots and the weather is cooling off so I shall try to plant some new GOOD stuff.  I know I want to plant dandelion (imagine planting dandelion) and wild garlic should be on the list.  What else?  I want to make sure they like what I plant because we all know that just because something is good for us doesn't mean we are going to eat it.  I would say Gretta and Sarah and maybe Annie are the best eaters (willing to try new things) around here.  Even the chickens are fairly selective.  I found out yesterday they don't like raisin bread, or at least not Ezekiel raisin bread.

I wish the few people who read this would make suggestions as to what I should plant for the animals.

The pastor at my church does children's messages about the abundance of wild food that God has planted for us and how if something catastrophic happens, like getting lost in the woods, there is always plenty to eat.  And think how much money can be saved and you don't even have to weed the crop-- usually what you are eating are the weeds.

Bon appétit  and keep those plant suggestions coming in.