On the Farm

We are in the midst of our fourth week on the farm (if you were getting worried about us, we've survived so far...).

Our first day on the farm was quite a shock. As we drove south into Texas, the temperature kept rising - until it hit 101. Our shack was stiflingly hot and the mosquitoes were brutal even with the heat. We procured a broom and a mosquito net, as well as an extension cord to connect a small light and fan. We were feeling a little better about the accommodations as we drifted off to sleep beneath our mosquito net. Sometime in the middle of that night we awoke to crashing and thrashing back and forth across the floor of our hut. Chris jumped out of the net to figure out what creature had invaded our hut (a snake? or raccoon? or a giant beetle???). It turns out that our cat, Bella, had somehow gotten herself stuck in fly tape and was running around the hut wildly trying to free herself only to make the entire length of adhesive stick to her backside. We pulled the tape off and spent the next two hours of the night combing the glue out of her fur. Good times.

We are still adjusting to life on a farm and living in simulated 3rd world housing. We've been fully welcomed into a thriving community of smart and engaging people who have helped us to plunge into daily tasks on the farm. So far we have milked goats, pulled weeds and worked in the garden planting seeds and harvesting veggies. Chris is also working on restoring a commercial stove for the farm kitchen. In our spare time we adopted an abandoned kitten who is thriving as a farm cat and apparently enjoys sleeping in the executive director's chair in his office upstairs while we are out working on the farm. (That might change when he comes back from vacation).

We hope to update this blog more frequently now that we are a bit more settled. We miss New York and we miss all our pals. Please drop us a line if you get a chance.

Waco Bound

I knew this was going to happen.... I got lazy and haven't posted the rest of our cross country driving pix. We had a great drive through Virginia, West Virginia, Tenessee, Arkansas and Oklahoma. We were glad to arrive at my parents house to hang out with our family and enjoy nicer ammenities. (We were tired of drying off with oversized dishtowels at our "budget concious" motels). Tomorrow we take off again - FOR WACO!!! I was looking over the volunteer orientation packet for the farm this week and there is a section with a chore list on the list there are two curious bullet points that I will list here:

"Keep composting toliet trashcans filled with sawdust"

and

"Clean bathrooms once a week: men's (remember to push poop down the chute regularly)

I have no idea what this means. But if I have to "push poop down the chute" I suppose it will make for humorous blog material. I guess we will find out soon enough....

The Drive - Part 2

Last night we stayed in The Super 8 Motel somewhere in southern Virginia.  I decided upon The Super 8 because it was a cost effective option.  "Cost effective" = slightly scary in this scenario.  We pulled in to the motel late that night and the clerk at the front desk asked if I would mind a room on the first floor.  I shrugged - no problem, I was just interested in a flat surface I could sleep on.  She mentioned cheerfully, "Some people don't feel safe on the first floor".  I replied, "Do you have anything on the 2nd floor".....  

After looking at the bathtub, Chris decided it would be best if we didn't shower here and to keep Fuzzy from drinking the dripping water from the faucet.  So, after a somewhat restless night of sleep, we changed our undies and off we went again.

The Drive - Part 1

    So, we headed out of Astoria with a jammed packed car and heavy hearts.  Our car was packed with our most valuable and necessary items, which is why under the seats of our car Chris had stuffed 00 Flour and Italian olive oil.  We had just left our home of 8 years, and incredible friends who actually helped us clean coagulated goo from our refrigerator in preparation to move.

   

    Our first stop was our nation's capitol: Washington D.C..  We thought we were through with confusing and frustrating street parking scenarios, but to our dismay we encountered Washington D.C. parking nightmares when we pulled into our New Hampshire Avenue hotel at 10 o'clock at night only to discover that the parking lot that consisted of 7 spaces was completely full.  In true New York style, Chris managed to wedge the car into a space not too far from the hotel and schlep our cat, Bella, and all of our possessions to the hotel. 

           

                                                               The following day we decided to take in some sights, so we packed up Fuzzy into a duffel bag style carrier for kitties and proceeded to several monuments. As he usually does wherever he is, Chris managed to locate someone distributing controversial literature to add to his collection.

  

By the time we made our way through the Filipino cultural festival in front of the Capitol, we were hungry, grumpy and Fuzzy was panting strangely from being stuffed in her bag for a little bit too long.  It was time to hit the road again...