Archive for the ‘Chronicle’ Category
Perfectly Special
Cyndie and our Realtor, Patti, walking the property on our very first visit here.
When Cyndie and I were on the hunt for horse property late last summer, our priorities became evident after walking just the first two showings our realtor took us to see. It wasn’t the house that mattered the most. By the third property, as the realtor headed to unlock the front door, Cyndie and I were headed the other way, in opposite directions. She would be looking at the barn and I would be surveying the land.
We wanted enough acreage to support 4 horses, and facilities already in place to shelter them. A house for us was something we both already had history managing, and felt we could take care of, or fix up, whatever building was on our perfect choice of property. This land in Wisconsin was in our sights from the first moment we began watching properties. It was just the right size and had a barn that was ready to go. The fact that the house was an incredibly beautiful log home was well beyond our dreams and wishes.
Since the time when snowy cold and darkness of winter settled upon us, we have been spending more and more time snuggled inside the house. In fact, just the other day we were talking about the fact that we have yet to make any strides toward organizing and setting up the barn in preparation for its future residents. Meanwhile, we continue to tweak things around the house. It is, quite simply, an incredible, charming, invigorating, inspiring, comforting domicile that is somehow both energizing and calming at the same time.
As special as this house is, we find it even more so, because of the fact we were not looking for anything along these lines, during our hunt for horse property.
Enjoying ourselves immensely here, I think I’m still in a little bit of shock over the dwelling, and will look up at a door or other small feature and just feel overwhelmed at how perfectly special it really is. It is humbling. And, it is a joy to behold.
Unknown Outcomes
I used to live in the suburbs. I don’t live there anymore. Now I live on a hill overlooking 20 acres of woods and pasture, surrounded by more woods and some farm fields. I used to live in a house with one cat, but I didn’t really want to have a cat in the house.
Now I live with two cats, and reveal how fond of them I am by my feeble attempts to complain about them.
I successfully convinced my family that we shouldn’t have a dog in a place where it would always be on a leash and we would be required to pick up its excrement, not to mention that our lifestyle didn’t align with the time and availability demands of properly caring for such a pet. Now we are pondering getting two dogs. I still don’t see how we will be fitting that time requirement into our plans to be getting horses, while still working day-jobs, off-site.
Of course, the long-term plan is to grow into a system of generating income from Cyndie’s training and consulting expertise, using the horses as guides in lessons. I have no guess how long it will take to reach that goal, and even less of an idea how we will acquire and care for dogs and horses in preparation toward getting there.
Isn’t this a great adventure! If you had asked me 27-years ago, how I was going to raise two children, in the suburbs, while we both worked, and keep our marriage together, I wouldn’t have had a clue. But we did so, and are healthier and happier on the back side of that stage of our lives.
Imagine what we have in store for the next stage.
Everything Serves
We were out for our half-hour therapeutic exercise walk yesterday afternoon, when a car went past that we didn’t recognize. We could see the driver wave, and then heard a toot of the horn, expressing a friendly hello. It was pretty convincing that this was a neighbor to whom we had probably introduced ourselves in the last couple of months.
It provided a pleasant feeling of belonging. That’s valuable to us, because we still feel a bit unsettled into our life here.
Other than the walk, we weren’t outside for anything more than filling one bird feeder, and the day disappeared into a couple of computing projects we each found ourselves buried under. The reward for each of our efforts was frustratingly lacking. I accept that there will be days like this. We are each doing our best to frame it in a positive mindset, and recognize that even the struggles of the day serve a greater good of informing us. What we choose to do with the information is essential to the success of achieving our ongoing goals.
Here’s to continuing progress of health, happiness, and Wintervale projects, even after a day of not so much!
Big Accomplishment
The big accomplishment achieved yesterday is the removal of two windows from the wall between the kitchen/dining room and the sun room. Early in our days of settling in here, we felt there was potential for having those spaces opened up.
The front sun room is an add-on to what was once an outside wall. That wall had very nice windows that were meant to keep the elements out. They were the style that crank out to open. With our little breakfast table under the window, it wasn’t conducive to having the windows open, but we both were wishing the space between the kitchen sink and our breakfast table was open for passing things through, or just chatting back and forth.
Yesterday, with the help of our friends Greg and Mel, the window over the sink was removed. The result was pleasing enough that we just kept on going and pulled out the bigger window by the dining table, as well.
I feel like we haven’t been here that long, and we are making some dramatic changes, even though we were thrilled with the place just as it was when we bought it. Each step is creating an increasing feeling of the place becoming more ‘ours.’
In this shot from Thanksgiving, you can see how it looked when the windows were in place:
Latest Minutia
Today dawns with a change in weather, with the rain and fog of the previous few days ended. Overnight, it became windy and this morning we are enjoying some bursts of beautiful sno-globe snow falling. We live where winter usually means snow country, and there is nothing worse for snow-related activities than rain. There is a certain exciting drama to rain events during winter, and I admit to appreciating the thrill of that, but it really wreaks havoc on any sport or adventure that depends on the snow. Lucky for me, I don’t have any plan to be out playing in the snow cover that we have remaining.
I am saddled with the aftermath of my little cold and fever, which for me commonly means lung congestion. I end up wheezing and coughing for weeks afterward, to clear up what accumulated during the illness. I am not inspired to start an outdoor project with any gusto. I do have plenty of firewood that needs to be moved and stacked. We have a trail to finish cutting through the woods. I had hoped to try making a ski trail, and there is always the allure of building an igloo. Pretty much not gonna happen in the immediate future.
Cyndie is reviewing dog breeds again, and checking local providers, perusing what is available. We are still waiting for the arrival of materials that have been ordered for construction of the paddock fencing. This afternoon we will again be hosting visitors, who have offered to provide some labor and expertise toward chores on our list. We welcome the help.
When I was starting to come down with my recent illness, Cyndie decided we should restrict the cats from having access to our bedroom. That turned out to be easier said than done. I learned that our bedroom door doesn’t latch. They quickly learned it was easy to push the door open. Overall, I would say that they were doing pretty well at respecting our wishes, but it was proving to be an unwelcome inconvenience to us to have that door closed all the time. Last night we gave in and opened up the room to them again.
They paid us back by being total nuisances this morning, licking Cyndie’s eyelid, pushing a cold, wet nose against mine, and picking at the bed cover with their claws. Well, that’s not totally accurate: I should not be using “they” here, as these behaviors are almost exclusively attributable to the wee female, Pequenita. I think she was just so happy to be back in our bedroom, she couldn’t help herself from showing it.
That’s the latest news from Wintervale. Stay tuned to see what the weekend brings!
Enjoying Everything
After spending a day in bed, recuperating from a fever, it feels odd to step out onto our property again. Just one day, and I feel like a stranger. Maybe spending much of that time buried in a book that describes a farm in the Shenandoah Valley contributes to my feeling alienated. That, and the fact I have been busying myself with visualizations of what our place will become over time, based on the inspirations and energy of Joel Salatin’s writing.
Cyndie, poking at the embers in the smoldering brush pile
When I stepped out yesterday evening, I was back to the place with the fence project in limbo. We have provided funds for the purchase of material for the two paddocks. We now await arrival of the boards, posts, wire, and accessories, and then we hope for good weather and available laborers.
One thing I am okay practicing is, patience. We haven’t even been here 3-months yet. I still don’t know what the property will be like during the spring thaw. We hope to be here for many years, so taking our time to get these fences just right is very important to us. I want to remember to be patient about accomplishing all the things we are envisioning. I also want to be cognizant of the many possibilities that we haven’t even thought of yet.
In this moment, I am back at the day-job, striving to return to normal function. As always, things are moving fast, and also moving slow. We are where we always are, right in the middle, …enjoying everything about it.
Embarrassingly Easy
I have now successfully edited my posts going all the way back to November 30, to fix the missing links that allow viewing the images in their full-size. I find it a bit embarrassing to admit that the solution was always available in the form of a button to click, which creates the link. I guess the link was previously a default situation when I uploaded my images, and became a selectable option when the software was updated.
I let myself think I was too busy to pay attention to this level of detail. Funny how the mind works when it comes to things like this.
Not as embarrassing, but unquestionably easy, was our decision to purchase a share in Walker Farms CSA yesterday. They are our neighbors, and represent many of the philosophies that appeal to us. We came home with eggs, chicken, ground beef, ground pork, ham, and even some lamb weenies, from free-range, grass-fed animals that are not fed systemic antibiotics or any type of hormone, and are raised in a sustainable environment. 
That isn’t all we came home with… They loaned us the book, “The Sheer Ecstasy of Being a Lunatic Farmer,” by Joel Salatin. I recognized having seen at least one of the documentary movies that are referenced on the back cover of the book, featuring Joel and his family farm. After reading just the introduction of the book, I am enthralled by it.
It immediately brought to my mind, the friend I consider a mentor, Ian Rowcliffe, in Portugal. Ian, you are so not alone in your visions and energies to improve our fates by altering the direction of so many aspects of the ways of the modern world. Visiting with our neighbors at Walker Farms, and discovering the writings of Joel Salatin from his Polyface Farms, has expanded my understanding of my own reasons this adventure that Cyndie and I are undertaking feels so right. Ian’s Forest Garden Estate fits right in with it all, and remains one of my primary inspirations.
It really is about more than just the horses, even though that is the primary focus I have been referencing for our reason for moving here. We are trying to figure out fences right now, for the horses, but fences lead to, and are connected with, all aspects of our future operation here. Managing manure is leading to reasons we might want to have chickens. Testimony from the Walkers offered good evidence of the value of chickens, and the introduction of Joel’s book pretty much cements it for us.
There are an amazing number of things for us to discover related to accomplishing all the things we hope to achieve here. As difficult as that seems to be sometimes, it is also surprisingly easy. You could say, embarrassingly easy… because we tend to embarrass ourselves over and over with each lesson we encounter.
Unfortunately, none of them are as simple as finding out the solution is just a click of a button.
Fancying Fire
It being a Saturday, I slept in. It felt great because my health is feeling a bit off kilter. I’m not certain whether it is a viral bug intruding on my system, or the result of a bit too much exposure to smoke from the bonfires I have been playing around the previous two days. If it is the smoke, that’s unfortunate, because all I want to do is go back down there and play with more fire.
There are two piles, and they are really big. The majority of what they are trying to burn is so green that it is reluctant to ignite. I expect we will have remnants of these piles around for quite a while, before fully incinerating the wood and re-distributing the dirt and rubble.
It has been a long time since I spent time around a bonfire. I am finding great fascination with the behavior of fire and how it seems to take on a personality of its own. There is an incredible difference in the dynamics of flames and embers. At times, it seems as though the embers have all the energy, and dole it out in a long, slow process. During those moments, the flames tend to look like mere decorations around the fringe.
After moving things around a bit, the flames will suddenly come to life with a roar that totally eclipses the previous power the embers appeared to hold. With the addition of a little movement of wind, the flames can take on a threatening demeanor that is in stark contrast to the calm energy that radiates from the coals.
I am very happy to have the burning happen when the region is frozen and covered with snow. I am also very happy to be able to make use of the very fine tool that Mary and Tim gave us as a house-warming gift. A 60″ log grabber! Thanks, you two! It works great!
New View
Long ago, I posted an overhead view of our new property that I captured from the Google satellite view. Here it is again:
Compare that with the new view I discovered over the weekend that Google has updated:
We’re Off!
We are off to a walloping start for the new year at our place. We took care of some details that have been lingering unaddressed during the time we were overly focused on our open house/party, and the Christmas and New Year holidays. Cyndie now has Wisconsin license plates for her car, and I learned that our energy company does the billing for electric and propane, independently. I applied for auto-pay, but it only went into effect for the electric bill. I was past due on the propane, because I needed to apply for that separately. Who knew? It’s all taken care of now.
We made some great progress in designing the layout of our future horse spaces, and the fencing that will define it. Our special friends, Barb and Mike, were here to ring in the new year, and helped us identify a miscalculation (confusing ‘feet’ for ‘yards’ in our numbers), which allowed us to move past a stumbling block that was truly foiling our attempts to plan. Then they graciously accompanied us in trudging through the snow to ‘test’ our layout in real scale.
I remain pleasantly encouraged that we have plenty of space to accommodate what we currently have in mind. It’s not a perfect science, since we don’t know which of our potential plans will actually be achieved, in the long run, but the possibilities appear to allow room for us to fit any of the variety of visions that are floating in and out of our dreams.
The owners of the fencing company came to our house on the afternoon of the New Year holiday, to consult on the current status and future planning. We came a couple of steps closer to choosing the type of fence, and are now leaning toward a vinyl-coated high tensile wire strung between wood posts. It will help keep the total cost of this phase of our project down in a range that almost fits our budget.
They will be pounding some stakes and stringing temporary lines to help us visualize how the fences for two paddocks around the barn will look.
These are significant steps for us. In the month-plus since we started talking with this company about our wishes, the progress has felt rather hobbled. There is a very good aspect to the delay of progress, in that, we have had time to adjust our perceptions and work on our imaginings of what we wish to create.
I take it as a good sign, that none of the changes that have evolved are very significant. Overall, it is pretty much on plan with our combined visions.
On top of the energy we felt from working on that project, our inspirations were led to spend some time together exploring the possibilities for a dog, or dogs, that will be good companions for horses, and visitors, and our cats, and us! We share a feeling of attraction to certain, but not all, herders, for our situation. We like the Belgian Shepherd, Australian Shepherd, Sheltie, and Great Pyrenees. All tend to have similar benefits/challenges. It will be a tough choice.
There is plenty ahead for us in 2013. It feels like we have picked up right where we left off in 2012, and we got a pretty good start on day one. Hang on for another wild ride!
