Dog Bite!
The homestead at LaBeste Farms, where I moved in June (see Suddenly, I'm a Farmer), is a mile and half from the nearest convenience store. On nice days I often take that walk down the winding country road through the Pacific Northwest forest, for the joy of it more than the energy drink or other snack I intend to buy at the store.
Most of the time the road is deserted, and I'm enjoying the cool shade beneath the canopy and checking out the neighbors' livestock and setups in the little clearings.
This morning a couple little ankle biters were out in the road on my way back to the farm. Nothing I could do but walk past them, and one of the little buggers got me in the calf. Twice. It looked like a cross between a chihuahua and a boxer, so it was large for an ankle biter, and boy, it was fierce. It bit clean through my jeans and long johns. Barely broke the skin though.
There's a bicycle here that I have the use of; I just need to replace the inner tube and then I can ride past those little dogs. I do like the walk though, so I might just continue to brave the gauntlet. Of the dozens of times I've walked that road since June this is the first time I've had any real encounter with dogs.
Life on the Farm
Four and a half months into my new lifestyle and I have to say I'm still transitioning. It's been a surprise how long the transition period has lasted, but I had been living in an apartment in small town Hoquiam for 12 years before making the move out here. It's a fairly radical departure from that rhythm.
There's no such thing as a day off; the animals need food and water every day, of course. It took a couple of months to learn how to completely relax in my downtime between my food and water routines. At first I always found myself keyed up or in gear, even though I spent most of the day not working. At this point, I'm able to just chill in between, and feel like I'm having a day off even though I put in about two hours of animal care off and on throughout the day.
I'm still learning or sorting out whether or not I want to take days off. There's always work to be done. I'm in the middle of a half a dozen projects, most of which I find enjoyable. There's firewood to cut for sale, a 600 foot strip of underbrush and small trees we're clearing to make an apple orchard, trees in the goat pen that can be cleared to allow more sunlight on the grass, grass to mow (even in October in the PNW), the trailer to winterize, and always fences to mend, it seems. So do I really need or want to take a day off for binge watching TV or reading?
I do feel more energized after a day off, so I guess I think it's an important thing to add to the routine. Today is such a day, and it's nice to just chill (after getting chased by the dogs, haha) and work on a blog post.
The goat herd keen to see if I'm bringing corn. There are fifteen goats in the herd at present; seven of them are potentially bred, so we could see a large expansion come May or June.
Writing
I continue to find time to write while farming, though I've slowed down a bit from my pace before the move. I have a couple short stories in progress, and I'm expanding my publication opportunities by submitting work for publications outside of Hive. Thankfully, with the days getting shorter here in the Northern Hemisphere, I'm finding more time to write. I don't do much farm work in the dark, so evenings and mornings are turning into writing time.
My short-term dream is to publish in a literary journal and then release that story or poem on Hive afterward. That's appealing to me in two ways: I can promote Hive in my bio for the journal, and bring a sort of credentialled work of art to my blog.
Sherlock, one of the two dozen chickens here on the farm. I call him Sherlock because he's fairly smart for a chicken. He figured out the time of day that I go to the barn to get corn for the pigs, and has occasionally started meeting me at the door of my trailer when it's time. Even on days he doesn't meet me at the trailer, he shows up in the barn at corn time. I treat him to a handful of corn every morning and night, which he eats out of my hand.
The boys. These six males were born in June and just weaned in the last two weeks. Three of them are sold, pending butchering. We can sell them, butchered, at this size for around $50 or $75 each.
The Adventure Continues
Nothing too grand in this little report, but, I received so much support and encouragement on my first post about the farm, that I wanted to give a little update.
There are so many little anecdotes from farm life that can be shared. Part of the transition is learning how to include more frequent updates in my weekly routine.
Thanks for reading!
The babies. Three girls and a boy (the boy is sticking his head forward). This was taken midsummer; they're nearly full size now.
Text and cell phone photography by @cliffagreen without the use of AI.
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