Pea Update

Remember those Maestro peas I planted long, long ago? Well, three of them are flowering!

Phew! AKA Portland part 1

I have inexcusably not posted since I left for Portland. Well, now I'm back to tell you guys everything I did.
On Sunday, I got up early and went to the Japanese garden, which was very beautiful. My favorite thing in that garden was a beautiful waterfall, with a pond at the bottom and so many varieties of colorful trees all around it. My least favorite part was that, unlike the San Francisco garden, the tea house was not open to the public! I walked around the entire garden three times and it was amazing, with twisting paths and so much GREEN! One thing about Portland: it is probably the greenest city I've ever seen.
Next up on Sunday's schedule was the Oregon zoo. There, I saw some amazing animals. There were so many that I can't even remember, let alone write about, so I'll just write about my favorites, in chronological order. First, there were juvenile lions with their mom, which was very cute and sweet, but they weren't very close to me, so it was hard to see them. Then there was the cheetahs with their coconut, and that was cool. Since I visited the zoo on Easter, all the animals got little presents for Easter, and the cheetahs had gotten an empty coconut shell to gnaw on. It was right near the window, so the cheetahs were very close, and as one walked by and I squatted down, in a breathless moment I was face to face with the very top of the African food chain. It was amazing, because I was literally three feet and a sheet of glass away from this amazing predator. After that, I saw the bats. I was amazed because there were hundreds of the little monkeys with wings and they were all flying around because it was their feeding times. Let me just say: I love bats. Other people are disgusted by them, but I feel gratitude and awe when I see one swooping around the night sky. If it weren't for that bat you saw last night, you would have a whole lot more of flies on your food and mosquito bites on your arms. And if you watch a bat's flight patterns, you would be amazed, too. So you can imagine that I was delighted to watch them in a feeding frenzy. But all of the things I said before - they were good, but not the best part of the zoo. The best part was watching the antics of a baby De Brazza's monkey, named Auggie. It was very interesting to watch this monkey interact with the humans behind the glass. You could tell that the monkey just wanted to play with everybody. He was literally bouncing off the walls to see people come over and watch his little performance. One time, when a man put his hands on the glass between the monkey and the people, the little monkey jumped over and put his hands on the glass, too, in the exact same spot. All that separated man and monkey was glass. Then the silly monkey got a cardboard box and tried to fit himself into it. It was hilarious. Finally, I had to leave because the zoo was closing, but not before I got to see a gigantic Polar Bear.
For dinner on Sunday, I went to a small café called Laughing Planet and got a bowl of veggies with free range beef. The beef was delicious. The veggies were OK, I've never been a big fan of Kale. I also had a very good smoothie there.
Finally, to wrap up Sunday, I went to an amazing ice cream parlor called Salt and Straw. If anyone reading this ever goes to Portland, GO THERE. On the menu were creative and exotic flavors such as Pear with Blue Cheese, Chimi Churro, and Honey Balsamic Strawberry with Cracked Black Pepper. Me? I had Woodblock Chocolate Sorbet as the base for a double scoop, with the top flavor being Honey Lavender. I have never had such creamy, flavorful, amzing ice cream. Plus, to top it all off, they try to make all their ingredients local. Once again, if you go to Portland, it is worth the line around the block to go to Salt and Straw.
On second thought, this post should be divided into parts. Part two and pictures will be coming soon.

Going

For the next day I probably won't be posting until 8:30 to 9, because I am gettin' on a plane and going to Portland!

Story Time?

So recently I've had this idea that the short story (which isn't very short, but definitely isn't a book) that I've been writing should be published. It is about a young princess, and I don't want to spoil anything, but she's sort of a rebel. Just to give you an idea of her character, she carries a dagger around everywhere she goes, hidden in her skirts. So, does anybody want to hear a story?

Western

So today I tried Western. Let me tell you: IT.IS. HARD. Here is the story of my Western encounter:
When I walked into the barn, Dolly, my horse, had not been tacked up, so I had to help put on her saddle while one of the instructors showed me how to put on Western tack. It was heavy. When it was on Dolly, finally, I looked at it and thought "that looks pretty comfortable." Then I got on Dolly. The saddle was so big. The stirrups seemed much too long. And the saddle was hard. I was terrified. The stirrups were going to come off my feet any second. "OK, ride her down to the arena" the instructor, well, instructed. I was very scared to ride in this unfamiliar tack on my own. I felt unbalanced. But I put a smile on my face and rode down to the barn. There, I was instructed by the person who owned the barn, my usual instructor, to "walk her around a few times and then we'll trot" Trot? I could barely take the walk, let alone the trot. And I knew that in Western riding, you sat the trot. I suck at sitting the trot - I bounce about a foot out of the saddle usually. Before I knew it, I was in for a bumpy ride. My instructor said "Trot!" I kicked Dolly. I bounced and rubbed against the uncomfortable saddle. My feet tried their hardest to come out of the stirrups, or so it seemed. I was tense. The saddle rubbed my butt and upper thighs,so now they're probably sore. Did I mention that I was scared out of my wits? I was kind of glad when the strenuous lesson ended, but I still want to give Western a few more chances. One thing that's for sure is, it is so different from English. Is anybody reading a pretty experienced Western rider?

Classic

When I set my bucket of chicken feed down on the other side of the fence and rested for a second, with crab apple blossoms everywhere, Snow White discovered it and started eating out of my metal bucket (no, she couldn't eat out of the feeder, had to eat out of the bucket.)I let her be out of curiosity and soon, the others joined her. Then, I realized that some farmer 100 years ago might have found entertainment, also, in watching chickens eat out of a metal bucket. I just stood there pondering it a minute before I snapped back to reality, went through the gate, and poured the feed into the feeder. Talk about a sense of perspective!

Sunday

Sunday is the day that I do all my dirty work for the week. I plant seeds, put new bedding in the chicken coop, weed things, water things, and attempt to find the time to bake bread. I try to post on this blog a lot today too, although sometimes I fail that goal, so I apologize for that. Sunday is the day before Monday, a last desperate chance for a bird to fly before it gets captured and thrown into the whirling business of Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. So today I try to be a blur of happy, homesteading action today. Goodbye, time to attempt that.

Blehck

I got halfway through my morning run and had to stop because I was hyperventilating and it felt like my knees would give out. I am in such bad shape! I still feel dizzy about an hour later.

Ease Into 5K

I just had the strange and dangerous notion to get into better shape, so I've started my first day of the app "Ease Into 5K." I've never really enjoyed running except for sprinting really fast, but I decided to at least give it a go, and even though I am sweating, out of breath, and tired, I actually feel great, if that makes any sense. I feel a sense of accomplishment after my 1.9 mile running and walking cycle. So yeah. Let's see how this goes.

Ma Horse Gear

What I wear each week for horse riding (from head to toe)

Troxel Helmet
T shirt
Kerrits English riding pants (breeches, whatever, I don't really know what they're called)
"Zocks" blue or pink horse riding polyester socks
Ariat paddock boots

More horse-related news: next week I start Western riding lessons! I basically know nothing about Western riding, so it should be interesting! Wish me luck!

The Instrument of Grating

It looks pretty cool, am I right or am I correct? Any guesses as to what era it's from? I'm guessing somewhere around the forties, but I'm certainly no expert, so feel free to correct me, because, I assure you that if you have any experience at all with antiques, your guess is much, much better than mine. No matter what era it's from, this little treasure is not going very far from me or my home  any time soon. Well, it's not a treasure, I doubt that a lot. But it's my treasure. If that makes any sense. Which it probably does not.

The Antiques

At the antique mall, I got:
A sign that says "Farms Life" with a picture of a hen and chicks - a useless piece of junk but I couldn't help myself.
a really cool old cheese grater - I'll post pictures later
And, even though I don't like Tractor Supply Co. much since they are probably putting all the small feed stores within 50 miles out of business, I stopped there just to see what all the fuss was about. It. Is. Huge. Since they don't stock magazines at the other local feed stores, I caved and bought 1 issue of "Chickens" magazine
 and 1 of "Dairy Goat Journal"
I didn't like the dairy goat magazine much, it seemed sort of unprofessional and un-n00b-friendly. However, I liked "Chickens" very much. It seemed informative, and I understood most of what they were talking about. I got some great ideas for improving my chickens' already pampered life. ( :

Sorry!

I've been super busy lately with really boring stuff that you don't even want to hear about, so I haven't posted! EEK! I'm about to go antiquing, and if I have any luck I'll post on here with pictures of my finds. I'm looking for a nice bucket, since all I have to get feed and water to the chickens is a small plastic measuring cup. I don't want to buy new because for one, antiques are generally better quality than newer things, two, it's eco-friendly to get "new-to-you" items, and three, I love to imagine the story behind my stuff. It's amusing and amazing to wonder if a farmer with 500 acres once held this bucket with callused hands and lugged it up to his horses or sheep. This is why I love old stuff. I have an old hand wringer, which I keep forgetting to oil so I can't use it, but someday I hope that after I do my laundry by hand, with my small hand washer (that looks like a toilet plunger) I will wring the clothes quickly and efficiently with the old contraption. I have a cast iron skillet that I will soon cook on my wood stove with, probably making something in much the same way as someone before me, somebody like Ma in the Laura Ingalls Wilder series. It is so interesting to imagine the stories of these items that will likely live longer than myself. Anyway, I'm rambling, so I'm off to go look at old stuff.

Quitting

I'm quitting. Quitting farming, quitting being anything other than average. I will never see another chicken, udder, or homestead in my life. I'm moving to New York, where I will get a job as a lawyer. No more farming for this girl, and I'm happy about it!

































April Fools. I'm way too stubborn to do that.