Shy Guy is the smartest of our little flock, which means he and Mike have quite the adversarial relationship. Smart=Trouble. He always leads the charge on escapes from their paddock, and isn’t nearly as “cuddly” as the others. No touchee, he says. He’s one independent little goat. But I think he’s warming up to us, as during their free range time, he always comes up the stairs to the front door. On this particular day, we had the screen door open, and….
Archive for September, 2011
Why a Yurt?
Yurts have been around for thousands of years, but they mainly hung out in Mongolia and hippie communes until fairly recently. Their march into the quasi mainstream started with state parks that wanted an alternative to log cabins and tent camping. Quick to build (usually a day once you have deck and kit ready), easy to keep warm, moveable if needed and “quirky” – they were an instant hit. This is how we learned about the “thing” that is a yurt.
The Big News!
In the last three months, we’ve bounced from one vision of our future to another to another. We have some pretty firm ideas of what we want to end up with – lots of farm animals, peace and quiet and the opportunity to share our new life with others (both virtually and in person). And I think that is what kept us sane through the onslaught of finding a rental in an area where there really aren’t any, looking at homes, applying for a mortgage and so on.
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Break From Regular Programming…
I was minding my own business, peeling some candy stripe beets, and whamo (or is “whack” more appropriate?), the stupid SHARP serrated peeler went right into my finger, instead of the intended beet. It dug deep too. Grr! Good thing I was making a low maintenance dinner – Alton Brown baked potatoes, caramelized onions with thyme & rosemary, roasted beets and a big salad.
Playtime for the Sheep & Goats
Friday was a long work day, with lots of strings to untangle and such…so around 5, I clocked out and went out to visit our “barnyard”. They never fail to put a smile on my face, well…unless it’s the GOATS, and they’ve escaped, and it’s raining. That is NOT smile inducing. But it was a pretty, cool fall afternoon, and I decided to take them on a free range jaunt. And so I set all four free from their Jurassic Park electric enclosure, and we took a walk.
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Instagram Magic, Tadah!
Do you have an expensive camera? Yes? How nice. Put it away, you won’t need it today. But you will need an iPhone…my apologies to those Droid and such users, don’t hurt the messenger! So for those lucky Apple-fans, take out your flashy, snazzy iPhone and start snapping some pictures…your toes, a little dirt pile in the corner, a shiny apple…whatever you want. And then download this FREE app to your phone or iTunes.
~Three Month Anniversary~
Would you believe it? It’s been three months since we first arrived in VA! How wild is that? In some ways it feels like we’ve been here MUCH longer, in other ways…well, we’re not quite as far along as hoped. But that’s what happens when you dream big, right? Anyhow, what better way to celebrate something exciting than with party hats! Am I right?
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Watch Your Fingers!
It’s a feeding frenzy!! So…want to know a little country wisdom? Free of charge. Yes? OK, here goes. Sweet feed is like crack to farm animals. They will do…anything…for sweet feed. Including biting poor unsuspecting fingers off. Ouch. I bought some for bribery purposes, but we also give them a little bowlful every morning and night. Makes ‘em perk right up when they see us come outside. “Is it sweet feed time??? Is it? Is it? Pretty, pretty please!!!”
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Good morning, Ladies & Mr. Rooster!
Mike very kindly captured his early morning chicken chores for you (and me, since I’m usually still asleep, whoops!). I’ll let him speak for himself in ze video! Side note – Blair Witch flashbacks anyone? No? Just me? OK, OK…it’s just 7AM is a pretty scary concept for me. Add in the hoodie and queue creepy, scary movie music!
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A New Morning Alarm
So, you know how we said we had 7 HENS? Um. Well. Apparently, mix chicken was actually a rooster masquerading as a hen. We feel so wronged, so violated. Yesterday morning, we were happily making our breakfast and pouring our coffee….and we heard a rusty, tiny crowing coming from outside. Mike – “what is THAT?” Me – “sounds like a rooster” Mike – “but we don’t HAVE a rooster!!?” Me – “Um, maybe we do?”
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