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Published: February 18th 2010
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Approximately three weeks have passed since I last wrote and it has been just enough time to get me going on my redneck identity. Seriously. I now I have my very own John Deere sweatshirt and a camo hat, both of which I wear on a regular basis. I have eaten fried pickles and fried-at-home turkey and learned to shoot a gun and to crack a whip! I’ve hung out with the townies at the local bar and gone “muddin’” on the back roads. What more could a girl ask for?
The 6am chores have not changed, but they have definitely gotten easier- both because I am used to waking up at the crack of dawn and I know how to do all the chores efficiently now. I have been milking Valentine as often as I can (whenever I beat Wayne to the dairy kitchen), getting ready for when we have five or six goats to milk twice a day! Valentine gives about two quarts of milk per day, which we immediately filter and freeze, defrosting milk as we need it for drinking or making cheese. Other than the freezing, the milk is considered raw, meaning that it is
not pasteurized. I had an impression of goat milk before I came here, and it was not a good one, but this goat milk tastes nothing like what you can get in the store. It’s actually really delicious! I encourage you to try to find a local goat farm (I know that’s not a reality for many of you . . .) and try the goat milk. Goat milk is also safe for people who are lactose intolerant, how fun!
The loft is finally finished, as you can see by the “after” photo. I helped run the wires for wireless internet in the loft, wire the electrical outlets, sand and varnish the furniture, paint the walls and hang the cold-block tarps. With Pete’s instruction I made a coffee table for the loft! It is more like a mini picnic table, but whatever, it does the job. The dairy kitchen has also been painted something called “Peach Encounter” and doesn’t look as scary as that sounds, really.
Pete and Wayne taught me to drive and operate the John Deere tractor a few weeks ago. It is similar to driving a manual car, but slower and with way more controls.
My dream is to drive it down a road and be that person on a tractor that cars have to pass, ha! Last Saturday, Julia, Eric, Abby (a wwoofer who has since left) and I drove an hour and a half north to pick up a gander for “Goose”, eight baby mallard ducks and eight baby geese. Conrad, the new gander, and Goose fell in love at first honk and have been inseparable since. The baby ducks and geese live in a heat-lamp nursery in the horse stalls and are growing bigger every day. They now recognize my voice and will come to me when I visit them. In a couple of weeks they will have their second set of feathers to replace the down feathers they have now, and will be ready to go outside! I’m looking forward to showing them the wading pool and introducing them to the rest of the farm.
Last Saturday was my first riding lesson. Julia set me up on the old mare, Jet, and walked me around the yard, practicing going, stopping and turning. A few days ago we saddled up Joe and Jet and took them on a trail ride off
the property together. While I feel fairly confident with the basics, the next skill is learning to post (where you rise up and down in the saddle with the motion of the horse to make trotting, etc easier on you and the horse). After about four attempts at posting all the muscles I didn’t know I had in my hips, butt and thighs were completely fatigued. Talk about out of shape. We’re going to go riding again this weekend when the weather is supposed to be in the upper 60s, so I’m hoping for some posting improvement then.
Other highlights have been my gun lesson with Wayne, where I learned to dry-fire a 9mm Glock semi-automatic 17 pistol and a .22 caliber Smith & Wesson air light double action 8-shot revolver! I’ve been using the plastic practice gun for target practice and plan to go to the shooting range this weekend. Wayne’s friend Tommy was here a few days ago and taught me to crack a whip! Not sure what I need that skill for, but it was fun, except for when I whipped myself in the butt twice. I’m working on avoiding my own butt and adding this
to my redneck resume very soon.
Perhaps the most exciting thing that has happened here since I last wrote is my night out with the local boys! I went out with Ty, a 20something friend of Wayne’s on Friday night. He called before he picked me to say. “I have to stop by my house and take the guns out of the back my truck, then I’ll be by to pick you up”. Well, when I climbed into the back of his truck and asked about the rifle sitting on the seat, he said “Well, I’m not gonna take ALL the guns outta my truck!” Oh, duh! We proceeded to drive to Betty’s, the local dive-bar, park on the lawn in front of the sign to the bar and go inside, where we drank Bud Light and played pool adjacent to the seven-year-old girl who was out-playing her opponents - the old, toothless men! When this lost its appeal, Ty says to me, “We’re fitting to go muddin’” (Or was it, "fixin'"?). What is muddin’ you ask? Well, seeing as it rained heavily that day, the back roads are all muddy and perfect for driving recklessly on, especially if
you have a big truck and a country music sound track to burn! Well, let me say, that was an experience. At one point, Eric, one of Ty’s friends, says to me “How country are you?” After careful consideration, I was still unsure what he meant, but was reassured that if “I can piss in the woods” then I am “country enough”. Thank god! My Yankee-ness didn’t overpower the night and I was invited to go out with the guys again next weekend, yippee!
All in all, things have been good. I’m learning new things every day and really enjoying myself here. Currently there are two other wwoofers, Eric and Joseph. Pete, who has been here off and on for four months, left yesterday but is returning in March, and there is a possibility of new wwoofers arriving in March and April. The weather if finally getting nicer and spring is around the corner. I have Skype and Google Chat now, so if anyone wants to see the farm or video chat, let me know, as my cell phone is mostly useless for communication here. Thanks, xoxox!
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Kelly Baraban
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You ol' country bumpkin!
This was a very interesting funny blog! Best one yet I think! Sounds like you are getting your share of new experiences! Any romance with this new guy??