the best buns ever put in my mouth

What day is it??!
i think it's almost december.
(the christmas music is everywhere!)

Joel has been jobless for one month now.   he's really digging it.  he's really good at it, too.  I'm so happy for, and proud of him!  he definitely keeps busy still.  he enjoys his projects.

He and Andy finished their goat shelter on Sunday.  The following day he helped Lou begin to go through and clean out his giant pole barn/shed.  Yesterday those two used more pallets to cut and screw together a feeding apparatus for the goats.  It holds their hay up off the ground and they LOVE IT.  Lou said goats don't usually eat off the ground, they don't like it.  So he made something more to their goaty liking, and now they're eating it up like it's about to go out of style.  This afternoon, Andy asked Joel if he'd be up for putting together one more goat shelter.

The guys don't want us to leave, ever.  it's so funny!  we spend a bit of time alone in the camper in the evening sometimes, but for the most part, we all hang out a lot, work on stuff, play with the kids, and eat most meals together, like a family.  it's just so cute.  and they want us to stay, if not forever, then just another 6 months.  HAHA   -i don't think we're gonna last that long.
it will be something to leave here, that's for sure.  off into the great unknown!  more on our own.  we look forward to it.  we'll stay with the guys for maybe another week or so.? ?   it has been such a comfortable and convenient blessing to hang out here.  in this warmer than MN weather, we've been afforded perfect time to get all set up, and ready to hit the road to off-grid places.   I am eager to get out hiking, or finally take our bikes out from the back of the truck, and just get more exercise in general.  Other than taking an occasional waltz through the woods, the farmstead has been very much for hammocking, reading by the fire, and taking it easy, for me anyway, HEE HEE! (lovin' it.)

This last week we've been decorating and arranging inside the camper.  We have most of our pictures hung up, as well as our l.e.d. string lights, which we'll probably run off our solar power in the evenings.  The solar panels are working well.  It still blows me away that Joel and his brother assembled all these wires and panels and the batteries together.  It is a sight to behold!  Our own internet connection is up and running now too.  We have mifi, a wiboost, and an antenna.  Joel drilled some holes to run the cable into the camper, then i helped him tie it off all along the underside of the RV, then UP the ladder on the back, where we have a pole attached to it.  The antennea is at the top of the pole, which we'll take on and off, depending on if we are driving.  the mifi and wiboost gadgets are inside.  We will probably also run the wiboost system off our solar panels.

bath day for the camper!

We gave the camper a bath for the first time, on one of our recent sunny, 75 degree days- that was a HOOT!  i had shorts on, both of us were in our bare feet, walking around, carefully, all over the rooftop-  Joel scrubbed while i sprayed.  then we did the sides.  it took us about an hour.  it was a lot of fun!  we both enjoyed seeing it brighten up, and it just felt great to give it all that TLC.  We dumped our tanks for the first time, too.  that went fine.

Today Joel is creating a little desk for in the truck!  It'll attach from the passenger side dash area and fold down, so we can use the laptop and be on the interwebs while we're cruisin' down the road.  (When we're not in the camper using internet, we can use our gadget in the truck as we drive.)   😄   Neato!

it's really looking now like ALL SYSTEMS GO.
altho, baby bunnies are coming soon!  the mommas are due in the next 10ish days.  i have never seen newborn rabbits before.  Andy regularly handled and pet many of them from the last batch.  He's encouraged me to take one down the road with us!  (as well as CHICKENS.  on or in a camper??!!  how could we do that.  HAha!  there's a way.)  it's tempting.  but not yet.  so i am loving up all the ones here while i can before we go.


So, where are we gonna go from here?   I've had snowboarding so hot on my brain, I've been looking into places to park in New Mexico.
but for various reasons, including that fact that, as we take our lives more day by day, our desires and ideas shift often, and we are both feeling pulled to be in Texas for a while.  we have to square away some legal-y things, there is a LOT of free camping land down there, AND hot springs are calling us!  I am really excited to sit my bod in some naturally hot mineral waters again.  i've been to a slew of them out westerly, and it was amazing fun.  i'm ready for more.  snowboarding may very well wait until Flagstaff.  (whenever that is?!)

sourdough "mother"

Mmmm, what else... SOURDOUGH baking.  we've been baking, a LOT.  now that joel isn't at a desk job everyday, he's going to town with trying new sourdough recipes.  he's recently fallen in love with dinner rolls.  he made a huge batch of chocolate chip cookies the day before the guys came back home from the holiday and they're pretty much gone already.   tonight he made a blackberry cobbler with berries we had in our freezer, from his mom's patch outside their house.  and last week he made buns for our Thanksgiving hamburgers.  they turned out good.  but yesterday he asked if i would kindly make another batch, while he continued to help Lou in the shed, so we could have them ready in time for dinner.
i was hesitant.  sometimes i don't get a very good rise to happen and i didn't want them to flop!  i realized how i simply had little faith in myself.  but that's how ya get better with sourdough things- just keep doing it and ya figure out the right ratios as you go.  every batch is different, depending on the thickness of your mom.
SO- i did it.  i made the hamburger buns.  i forgot to take a picture.  that's what happens when HEAVEN WASHES OVER YOU!!!  and Immediacy kicks in.
they were AMAZEBALLS!!!!!!!!!!!   they were, no kidding, the best buns i've ever put into my mouth.  and i could make various silly jokes from here about great-tasting buns in my mouth, but i won't--  i'm serious--  my grandmother's were comparable.  but i think mine may had been better!!    they had incredible flavor.  they were nice and fluffy.  oh my gosh- the flavor.   WHOA.  sourdough is so fun.  baking with yeast from grabbed out of the air is, rather than adding it from a packet, is just so much fun!

i finished reading a book called Big Magic, written by the Eat, pray, love author.   a sweet friend of mine gave it to me the day before we moved out of the city.  it was a fun read.  Gonna pass it to a Free Little Library when we leave here.  and now Andy suggested one my way- some science fiction.  I'm rather new to this genre as far as books go  (does Stranger in a Strange Land count?  that was so long ago.) and i am all game.  i'm off on new adventures in all sorts of ways!

We've been in with the goats more.  The slender and tiny, deerlike Adora was actually PAWING at and trying to climb up on me the other day!  Andy said "yeah, she's like that.  she's like a puppy.".  She nuzzles and licks, and sniffs at my ears when i hang out squatted down on the ground.  It totally tickles.   And now 9 times out of 10, if we go inside for a while and come back out later, all 4 of them come galloping and running over to us.  It's hilarious!  I giggle about them so much every day.  A couple of them talk A LOT, and i'll go back and forth with them sometimes.  I have my two greatest goat pictures yet to leave you with.  such great timing.   ...to capture that sweet spot, to a really great picture.  EVERYTHING is about timing, really.  everything in life is a rendezvous... the merging of an incomprehensible amount of different factors, into this precious point in space and time, where we are choosing to hold our focus.

That smiley, zen smirk just takes the cake!
Ah, GOATS.

AAah, YOU.

We are rendevousing, you and I, together right now.
I do hope you're enjoying it  :)     

    ~TALLY HO

Adora

Thanksgiving day

GOBBLE GOBBLE, 2017!  Happy holiday to everyone who is gathering with folks to eat food and hopefully laugh and smile lots and have a hoot of a time.  HI!

just hangin' out.

Joel and I have been home alone all week.  The family we are staying with went to Indiana for the holiday and will return in a couple more days.  We considered scooting into some small town that was serving up turkey meals, but we've chosen to stay in and make hamburgers.  So we're just hangin' out, here on the farmstead.  It's been chillier and windier this week than last, so we've been in their house quite a bit these last few days.  with the fireplace going (YUM!) 😃  One day we vegged out watching Star Wars flicks THE WHOLE TIME- it was glorious.  I've been reading.  We did some more cleaning and picking up around the yard.  Played with the goats in their pen again.  we are daily attacked by puppies and their kisses and soft fur.  sometimes i sit in the rabbit pen and pet the 2 bunnies that are left.  we've also each spent quite a bit of time researching various, and sometimes the same, things on the laptop:

• how to locate proper boondocking spots  (googlemaps is the bomb)
• places to go snowboarding in New Mexico/when they open (mid Dec.)/can i be an instructor? (with certification, i guess.)
• regional burns (the AZ one is in April, plenty of time to plan on it- i'm STOKED)
• RVer club memberships
• how to become a resident/establish a new domicile (we are leaning toward TX)
• Lyra.  i wanna start playing with an ariel hoop.  i want my own.  and get my body into WAY DIFFERENT, way better shape.  (i'm suddenly obsessed about finally starting this.  It's because of this giant tree outside our window... has me inspired to hang down and play under it!)

Well, we got a bit of a hanging-down-under-a-tree fix, from digging out our hammocks and hung them up near the goat pen.  it's heavenly, so comfortable outside again today.  Joel crafted a new shelf for us in the bathroom, too, and currently he's installing an inverter switch inside the RV, so we can flip our solar power on and off.  Speaking of solar power...

we spent a few hours in the RV this afternoon and used our stored solar power for the very first time.  We juiced a few different activities, and so far, so good!  i ran the food processor, been charging our phone, joel was shop-vac-ing and running some power tool, and for the last couple hours testing out the string of lights that grace our living room area.  all courtesy of the sun!!! 🌞  GIVING THANKS TO THE SUN. 

Giving thanks for...  where do i begin???  and it never ends.  it's all a circle, all connected, and eternal.  Aho!

Have a wonderful holiday, everyone.  We love you.  

the puppies say hi.

(now i should probably go call my mother.

  😆 )

Day 7

we've been camped out, helping out, and immensely enjoying Running Turtle Acres for a week now.  It's been a hoot getting to know our friends better.  We all gel together so easy.  We've felt like part of the family and household from day 1.  We eat all our dinners together, and share the cooking, making many a tasty meal!  I made a ham hock soup with lentils for the first time one night, just winging it, and i was STOKED with how it turned out.  
WOOT.

Sunday morning (and most of the day)

We have more gorgeous weather today, and
I just adore that we've all been outside since morning- hanging around a fire, laughing, playing, doing some new things, doing some usual things, in the sunshine and cool breeze, under a bright blue sky...

Joel was up and getting a smokey bonfire going before 9am.  He has to dry his deer hide once more since soaking it in salt water, which draws out various impurities.  Lou was inside packing a big suitcase full of the boys' clothing, as they are all taking off in the morning for Indiana to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with family.  Joel and I will be home alone here, for a week. 

We've done a lot since arriving a week ago!  Thrown straw and hay bales, tinkered with the tractor, cleaned-up, moved and salvaged through a pile of wood and scrap metal.

Building a goat shelter

Yesterday Andy and Joel processed a dozen rabbits together, finished half the additional goat shelter structure, then we went for a hike with the boys to seek out
some fatwood. (succesfully!)

Today the guys spent the morning processing quail for the first time, and since they had a fire goin', they threw on some bacon, cooked up eggs, and we ate breakfast outside, as well as lunch: quail, rabbit, and sliced zucchini also over the fire.
i'm starting to feel like a caveman out here.

The puppies are already noticeably bigger.  
It amazes me how much they appear to have grown in only 7 days.  Oi!

kittens.

Searching for "fatwood"

Life is good.  and i think we'll stick around here for a while.

and HEY!  BTW- it looks to me like the blog postings i am publishing do not look the same as i create and save them.  this blogging platform seems to have a mind of it's own.  just sayin'  😉 

Friday, the KICKER

Friday, one workweek on the farm...

was a stellar day outside.  it got up to 81!  and there are regular, gusty winds on a daily basis, but today it was calm.  it was sunny.  i ran around in a dress.  and i asked Joel:
"Will you come into the goat pen with me today?!"  to which he replied "Yes!  My love!"  and in we went  😁  for the first time, we finally decided to get up close and personal.

It was great fun.  NEW FUN!!!

When we first walked in tho, we were cautious.  not in fear, but just wanting to be smart.  they have horns.  they are animals.  and i'd never hung out with goats before, so i walked gingerly, toward the tiny Adora.  Then the others started coming up closer.

They are SO SWEET!  all of them.  there are 4 total now. 
the very smallest, Adora, 1 of the 2 females, looks like a little deer.  At one point when Joel was petting her, she started leaning her head into his leg, just standing there wanting more.  THAT was really funny.  Also, the boys will put a leash on her at times and walk all around the farm with them.  she is very chill.  they all are pretty chill!  Except for the Adam, the original male.  he's still establishing his place with the new male.  they all get along fine more often than not, tho. 

Pretty soon we were touching and petting them all a little bit.  the longer we stood around, the more used to us they became, moving near to check us out, letting us stroke their sides.  i decided to wander away and see what would happen.  Joel came with me and Adora followed, like a puppy.  all their tails even wag like one.

We climbed up onto a fallen tree and Adora walked around below us.   Adam was off playing with the tire swing, pushing it with his head, hooking one of his horns into a hole he knew of in the bottom and whirling it around.  The other two, the newer ones, were just laying down, looking around.  When we left the log, Adora followed Joel again, all the way back to the entrance, where Andy had walked out to and was watching us- all smiley! about us being in there, and about his goats.  he loves them to bits.  he's always going on about how cute they are!


















Spending time with Joel in this way was an actual vision of mine come true.  so satisfying.  funnest time on the farm YET

Hot Water

Monday...

the kids all went to school.  They were gone (early) before we came inside to say good morning to Andy.  It was a chill day.  I sipped coffee in the rustic, log-cabin-feeling living room of the house, with the fireplace on, and began this blog site, while Andy worked (remotely) on his laptop.
Tanning a deer skin is also kinda chill... rather mellow activity, at times.  Joel began his several-day process of tanning the deer hide we brought home from hunting, just before leaving MN.  I will make a separate post solely about that.

This was also the day Joel got our hot water up and running for the first time.  what a treat!  I loved washing our dishes.  Looking out the big window over our kitchen sink, watching the goats wander around and bleat their funny noises.  Dish washing was never so much fun!
We also used our shower for the first time.  That was really nice, and so convenient.  It feels like our home is fully up and running now.
Only things left to tinker with for their use in the future, are our solar panels & batteries, and our own internet signal.  we picked up an antennae and mifi before we left MN, that i reckon we'll  get that set up and running in a few more days.

Overall, this week was spent tanning deer hide, going for walks in the woods, playing with puppies, hearty family meals, cleaning around the yard, kitchen duty, bonfires most nights, hula hooping, and i've been doing some reading:  HeeHeeeeeee!!!   LOOK AT THIS book that jumped out at me (literally) yesterday:

It came from Andy's bookshelf.  it's all of what's been hot on my mind these last few weeks, Months, YEARS: more wondrous adventures, enhanced curiosity, travel & journeys, and all that fun stuff.  has anyone else read it?  is this a popular book??  it's been great for the imagination.  i am tickled it found me.  and tickled by the whole week.

Altho, Friday was the real KICKER 😄

a walk in the woods.

Hookups

Sunday...

a lot happened 🌞  It was Lou's birthday!  the guys had a planned pick-up and bringing home of 2 new goats that afternoon, and we needed to move our rig out of the driveway to our hookup spot. 

We slept great in the camper through the night.  We didn't need to run the heater- LOVE THAT!!  Went into the house for showers, and discovered pancakes in the making-  Andy was flipping away for for his boys.  and the one girl (me).  

Joel and I ran around outside right after breakfast to see everything in the daylight.  They've got quite the cute set-up, and happy animals all over!
We also walked to the back of their land to see the pond.  Andy talks of perhaps bringing in sand some day, to make a safer/beach area for the kiddos to play in.

Next on the agenda: getting our RV situated and opened up.
Now check this out- they have full hook-ups for us.  Water.  Electricity.  How convenient is THAT?!!  We were so meant to end up here.  Life lead us all to meet years ago, each of us birthing new desires and preferences in the meantime, then brought us to this very moment and place together.  It's so friggin' cool.

It looked like there was a large branch in the way of our proposed path of backing-in the camper, so Lou ran his red tractor up to it while Joel chainsawed some limps down from the bucket.  It worked pretty slick 👍  So we got our rig backed-up, detached the truck, got stabilized, hooked up, slid-out, and WHEEEEE!!!!   we started pulling things out of their going-down-the-road places and began settling in.  Most of the pictures we hung were still stuck to the walls.  We have some fixing and enhancing/decorating left to do tho.

We made a run into town for some supplies.  Lou took off at the same time to fetch the new goats.  And we all arrived back at the house at the same time!  The goats were unloaded into their pen with the two other goats they already have.  Somewhere in all this activity, Andy was making candied lemons for the first time, and baking Lou's bday cake.  I spent some time with the boys, painting rocks together.

New goat arrival!

Lou grilled steaks for his bday dinner, Andy's cake was amazeballs, and finally after ALL DAY LONG of the kids asking me "what is the fire hoop?  Can we see the fire hoop?!", we all went outside and i lit up/did a little show.  It was fuuun.  i need more practice tho.  LOTS more time for practicing ahead of me.  YUM.  YUM!!!!!  i'm gonna get so much better.  i'm gonna learn NEW things.  and i will get better at THOSE.  and there's just so much Life Force energy (God) that wants to move through us!  i intend to allow it.  I welcome it.  


After fire play, the kids were getting tucked into bed as Joel and I tinkered around our camper, creating our evening ambiance, with the soft warm glow of string lights, candles, and music.  I mulled some cider on our 3-burner stove then the guys came out for the home-tour.  (I will make a page on this blog sometime to tour the rest of you.)  Lou said he had enjoyed his birthday.  

It was great getting hooked up today, and spending time in our nest on wheels.  Hot water was next on the agenda.  Perhaps tomorrow...

            Until next time... Tally ho!

Andy's first time making candied lemons

 morning view from our new spot

the Farmstead

Saturday, November 11th...

drove 444 miles to arrive at land that some friends bought and moved onto, only 3 short months ago.  They were living in MN for a number of years, married, and adopted 4 children, the oldest being 7.  Joel befriended Andy at their place of work a few years ago.  I met Andy and his husband Lou at a Christmas party they hosted, and saw them at a few other parties they invited us to.  They are wonderful guys, and I was looking forward to seeing them again.

There is a house on their land.  Half of it is  really old, and the other was an addition.  It's a funky hodgepodge of building, with two "birds nest" balconies on both ends of the house, some open rafters in the ceiling, and lots of wood.  I love it.  There is a lot of work they want to do on the  inside.  There is a lot of work to do around the outside, as well.  They've ALREADY been doing and constructing  a lot, to properly accommodate their critter collection.  There is a TON more they want to do tho.  That's where Joel and I come in 😉

We pulled into Andy and Lou's around 7pm Saturday night to excited, screaming children jumping up and down on the front porch, spilling out into the yard.  There was a nice warmth to the air as we stepped out of the truck.  Lou told us to just leave ourselves parked where we were, then Andy came wandering up as well.  We were all SO HAPPY to see each other! 

Now, ever since Joel and I have been together, we've talked about having a little hobby farm.  He LOVES goats.  (Who doesn't? In this day and age!)   I love rabbits.  I want a dog one day.  We want our own chickens, for their eggs, and to bond with.  Maybe a dairy cow, or sheep, for yummy raw milk and butter and cheeses.   We enjoy growing food, and fermenting.  Etc.
These are all things that Andy and Lou have a passion for and an interest in as well.  In fact, it was Andy that got Joel growing oyster mushrooms inside our home this year!
So when Joel came home from work one day to announce that our friends found land to move onto and start really living this dream, i was so overjoyed for them!
And now here we are  😁

We didn't even wait until daylight- the guys gave us flashlights and toured us around to see the goat pen, the chicken coup, the quail sleeping in an arranged, perfect circle in their cage, the many rabbits in their "tractor" (this clever cage, that has wheels on one end, so you can pull it onto a fresh patch of grass every day.), and the two little Pyrenees puppies.  They showed us their tractor, their well, and the field that spreads over to the (fishing) pond we'd walk to the next day.  It was so thrilling to see it all, even in the dark!

Eventually we made it inside, had the house tour, and then they offered us dinner.  I was hungry!  And actually intrigued by what they had on the menu for us that night:  rabbit soup.
If you know me, you know i love to cuddle bunnies!  But Joel and I have "bunnysat" their first 3 rabbits a couple different times, while their family had to make long journeys and couldn't take the with them. So I knew what i was in store for:  they were raising rabbits for their own source of meat.  I had tried rabbit at a restaurant before and it reminded me much of chicken.  It was good.  So i opted in, saying yes to the rabbit soup.
And it was delicious.  with chucks of potato and carrot and celery... it was a hearty, warming meal, much appreciated. 

We sat up chatting enthusiastically in the living room for another hour or so, then started feeling ready to turn in.   We were offered a bed, but with the warmer temps outside, we were all about sleeping in our own bed out in the camper.  But before we made it out the door for the night, Lou handed us each a key to the house.  They figured we are staying a while!!  I laughed.  We could be.

 
When we went outside we could hear coyotes howling and yipping.  They did not sound very far away.  Andy and Lou's critters have been safe for the most part.  The puppies are outdoor dogs only, but they are kept in their doghouse overnight, until they get older and can better defend themselves.  Right now they're just cute fluffy balls of love!  They are growing FAST now tho, Lou says.

We hear the coyotes every night.  As they just begin to start hollering, making a ruckus, then turning into howls, I always pause and wonder momentarily, "is that a FRAT PARTY??  Sounds like a bunch of drunk college guys."  !!!   Oi.

The following day, we move and situate our home for our stay.

BLAST OFF!!

October 31st...
was our last day in our apartment in Richfield, MN.

I LOVE Halloween.  In fact, last year was THE BEST ONE OF MY LIFE!  so far.  Joel and I made some incredible costumes that totally weirded out, frightened, and intrigued people in a way that delighted me to my core.  It was amazeballs.  This year's holiday was a complete contrast, as we spent it scrubbing and cleaning out our city home, whilst moving our pared-down belongings into the 5th wheel RV parked in the driveway.

From here, we trucked our rig 40ish miles north to my parents house, kinda out in the boonies, where we got ready to go up North deer hunting with my father.  We had a wonderful weekend catching up with family we see seldom throughout the year, and a safe hunt, yielding us 6 critters total from our whole party.  Joel and I got to bring one home for ourselves.

He and my father processed the deer one evening, saving the hide, and stocking up our tiny, little camper freezer with venison.  He also made jerky the following day, and I sold my car.  The weather had turned very cold, the wind biting and uncomfortable the morning we packed in and prepared our RV & truck for leaving MN on Friday, Nov. 10th.  We were very eager and ready to get heading south finally!!!

Our first stop was 222 miles away, spent overnight in Waterloo, Iowa, with my dear friend/best lady from my wedding, Callie, and her family.  We slept inside her (warm!) house then took off again at 10am on Saturday morning.  Next stop: Kansas.