Chores

For years my morning routine has been to get to work.  I heat up a big bowl of raw milk and put a shot of espresso in it and sit down to study, prepare lectures, translate.  Now with Ancient Ponies Farm, this is all changing.  Now there are morning chores.   So far the chores are pretty easy for me but I am looking forward to more as the farm takes shape.  For now, I get up before the birds (which moved from 4:30 when I first moved in to 5:15 in such a short time!) and walk out to the barn to give the horses their morning grain.  With all the grass here, they don’t actually need the grain but I give them a token amount so we have some morning and evening routine together.  Then I have to muck the stalls.   This takes less than 20 minutes I would say.   Continue reading “Chores”

Other Dark Friends are Here Too

Black Trumpets

Last year there was a drought.  I went out to my secret places regularly but never found a single black trumpet.  The year before, my friend Danielle and I found more than 30 pounds of them but last year, nothing.  So, when I came upon a colony of them, imagine my happiness!  It had been nearly two years since I’d seen them, my friends.  Plus, there is something very happy about a village of black trumpets.  I cut them with scissors so as not to disturb the root that connects the flower to the mycelium below and cut judiciously, just enough to eat and some to give away. Continue reading “Other Dark Friends are Here Too”

They are Here!

Yes! They are here! Jasper and Spencer are here at the farm finally. It only took six weeks from the closing for the barn and pasture to be ready for them.  It only took 60 years to have this dream come true!

I arranged with a friend to go with me to pick them up, but at the last minute, she could not go with me. I have to admit to being just a bit intimidated by trailering two big horses by myself. The whole thing is intense. Everything is so BIG – the truck, the trailer, the horses….but I did it! At first, I couldn’t get the trailer hooked onto the truck because the trailer’s support had sunk into the dirt. I had to put the mounting block under the support so I could bring up the wheel off the ground and then get a good big rock under it. Then I could jack it up to hook it to the truck. There is something about driving the truck with the trailer hooked on the back that makes me feel so small! Little me controlling this big equipment. Continue reading “They are Here!”

Making progress

Day by day this place is transforming.  Hay was delivered which felt like a big step…that the horses are really coming.

The edges of the fields and the hedges in the swale have been bush-hogged so the pastures are open.  I can now see from the house all the way to the garden area.

Flowers keep appearing in the perenial gardens.  New jewels, gifts each day.

 

Settling In: Summer Solstice

I had a feeling yesterday that struck me in its simplicity.  I was taking a walk with the dogs to the little swimming hole a minute from here.   It is a place where the brook turns and deepens against some moss covered rocks.  There is a sandy shore to invite one into the water, which is waist deep at the deepest part.  The dogs waded and swam and I thought, “I live here.”  It was the first time I felt that this is my home.  I think I’ve landed.

Meanwhile, Dan came over with his backhoe and cleared the wall of invasives off of the stone wall in front of the barn.  One would never have known there was a stone wall there and now, there it is and there the barn is, much more visible.  The backhoe is so powerful, pushing huge stones around, ripping out bushes.  Luke came as well to plan the shed at the back of the barn that will house my tractor.  It will just be a roof with open sides.  They are going to dig down after the shed to create a lower area onto which I can put the cart for the manure.  This way, it is an easy shot with a wheel barrow from the barn out to the dumping area.  Plus it will be easy to pull the manure cart from the barn to the garden area.  It’s amazing to watch the vision come into being.

Edward, the Welsh fence guy comes next week to start the pasture fence.
This is the road to the north side of the pasture and to the gardens.  I can’t get there through the pasture yet but will be able to once Edward does the fences and Bush Hogs the pasture.  For now we walk the long way.

baby pears

There are three types of fruit showing up this year on the fruit trees; pear, cherry and peach.  It’s all such a surprise to see what is coming!  There are other fruit trees that have not given fruit yet so the suprises will keep coming.  Already I feel a sense of abundance here.

I had my first dinner party, sitting out on the lawn over looking the view to the west.  Joan, Josette, Lisa and Kirsch came.  There are still no mosquitos which I think is due to the abundance of swallows.  They are constantly swooping and turning.  Of all the song birds, swallows and martins spend the most time on the wing.  The barn swallow may be the fastest swallow. It’s been clocked flying 46 m.p.h.  So beautiful!   Many of my windows don’t have screens now and yet, there have not been mosquitos.  Well done little bird.

One important indicator that I have actually moved in here is that I finally got work done.  I so love to study and prepare the classes.

 

Phew, moved in….

The closing was already almost two weeks ago. The move was like entering a vortex like that old TV show, The Time Machine. I was spun around for ten days or so and then spit out into this new world, my new home.

Moving at age 60 is so different than my last move was, almost 20 years ago. My body complained! Last Thursday I finally went for some acupuncture and moxa with Jennifer and felt so much better. Before the acupuncture, my low back, legs, feet, arms and neck all felt like a twisted up towel.
All movement was stiff like my limbs were made of cardboard. And, speaking of cardboard, it is piled in the garage waiting for me to use in the garden. These boxes filled with stuff. So much stuff!

Much love to my friends for helping: Molly, Phyllis, Emily and Danielle gave me brawn and moral support. Many thanks to Daniel and Rose, the extreme cleaners, and to Ideal Movers. Continue reading “Phew, moved in….”

Two more days….

I close on the house in two days. Tuesday morning I’ll do the walk-through at 9:15 with Judy Rivard and then we’ll head over to Bob Spencer’s office. We’ll sign the papers, hand over the bank checks and so it will be done. This land, barn, brook and home will be mine.

I find I still don’t quite know what to make of this all. On the one hand, I have been moving toward and wanting to simplify life. I had dreams of buying a cabin on an Adirondack lake, living a life of solitude and reflection. I’ve had the idea of disappearing into the great vastness more and more, at once getting smaller and smaller and yet expanding into nature, into spirit. Shrinking the social engagement, the pressured physical world and resting into a flow. So, here I am purchasing a 13-acre farm that will demand so much of my ageing body and my pocketbook. And filling that pocketbook back up is a big demand as well. It feels like the best-laid plan is usurped by what wants to come. Continue reading “Two more days….”