Well, fall has hit, the leaves are falling, and we've had some frosty nights... and mornings for that matter. My wood stove has been consuming his/her fair share of sustainable fuel (pc language around these here parts ;-) and I'll need to start acquiring some cords of wood here pretty soon. It actually really feels good to go out and chop up kindling & split wood for my nightly fires... something so very basic, wholesome and fulfilling about it. I've so far managed to be able to keep coals alive until morning to try and keep the chill off and keep my water warm for shaving... And sometimes even hot enough to make coffee. But any way... I wanted to share with you some more pic's of the property, etc., because... they're there I guess. Like I mentioned earlier, I've committed to staying the winter here on the farm, and I think it'll be a time to sort of 'hunker down' and continue to read & learn & expand upon this path I've been trying to follow now for years. My neighbor Anita... an old school hippie, astrologer, and good friend has been lending me books here and there, and many are quite fascinating. Like "Pronoia" How the universe is conspiring to shower you with abundance. Some Buddhists stuff... if I can hold onto to them long enough before I have to get rid of them... ;-) and others... I'll pass them along as I read them if you would like. Other than that, work has been stable, handball has been increasing (I'll try and post a small video next time) and I've got a lead on a Unity Church nearby run by the father of one of my other neighbor's. I'm not that into the 'Church' aspect of it necessarily, but the... as my lovely Mimi calls it, "that new age stuff" they teach... The least it will do is lead me to the next step. And so for your viewing enjoyment...
There's a very cool coffee company called Raven's Brew that roasts in Alaska & WA. Great marketing and pretty good joe. So far I've tried the 'Deadman's Reach' & 'Wicked Wolf'... both are good, but I think the 'Three Peckered Goat' will be the winner.
These next few are of... clearly, a hippied out school bus... and has been home to many over the years. I just love this thing... it embodies such a feeling of... I don't know... good old fashioned, lovin' times...
On the far left you can just see the stove pipe for the wood burning stove sticking up through the bushes... I've heard though that, in the winter, there's just too much uninsulated area's inside and that it is basically unbearable... That came from an outdoor survival coach who's used to rough'n it... I'll definitely take his word for it.
And inside the lovely shangra la... (sp?) Front door up far right & wood stove up far left.
Much of the farm is of course made up of farm land. This field is in between the hillside/mountainside and the river. It's home to the sheep and the goats as they get rotated around to let the pasture recover... off to the left about 100 yards is the Nooksack River, or as it's also know as... the beach.
Taken from the same place, this shot is off to the right. You can see our green house in the distance... that's where some of the 'starter plants' are..... started :-/ and our peppers, tomatoes and parsley, etc... live.
A quick shot of the inside... maybe exciting to some... maybe not ;-)
I tried this coffee mainly because of my Bailey... but of course, it was just to cool not to try for the hell of it...
These next few shots are follow ups to my place... This is the end of my porch, with a huge Cedar growing along side. Well to be more accurate... a big cedar that the house was built next to.
And on the very back porch is an outdoor pantry in progress... the owner is in the process of wrapping the shelves in some sort of flexible, sheet metal to mouse proof it , and then he'll add some see-through doors, etc. It will work well because much of the year, it'll be cool enough to store food, grains, etc. And as it gets colder, it can serve as a refrigerator. Currently all I'm storing is a jar of Chinese Garlic & Chili sauce... the ultimate bachelor's 'all spice'...
This is one of two military diesel generators that Doug has acquired in lew (sp?) of monetary payment for the work he does with the native tribes. They're like 50,000 volts and could light up our entire street I guess. Let's hope we don't have to find out.
Just a partial view off my front porch... just beyond the mountain tree line, you can just barely make out 'The Twin Sisters' mountains.
A little while ago, an old Alder tree fell across my road from the heavy winds we had. My luck, it was dry, but sawing by hand was a b__ch. And as of this writing, it has since returned from which he/she had come... ashes to ashes...
Isn't that the truth... well, except for love of course... but this one you can still buy on the street corner and not end up in jail.
Here's a shot of the workshop building. The doors on the right are for the wood shop, and on the right is the metal shop. Don't know if you can tell but, the top two yellow hinges on the left door are cut from steel metal plate, in the shape of an eagle and a salmon... pretty cool.
The back wall of the wood shop is a..... wall. It was someone's start of building a... wall made of hay bales, that are then plastered over. Very economical as my friend Eli knows well and they serve as wonderful insulation. Don't know if the builder & artist are one and the same... but it's a beautiful sight to take in...
And these next few shots are a panorama of the inside of my friend Anita's yurt. Kind of like when I house sat for the Yoga studio people a while back... every square inch of this place is also decorated... just in a more homey... hippy sort of way. But I really, really like this place... I could live here easily.
Front door, kitchen on the left...
Great view of a meadow outside, plus a tiny, tiny balcony for her plants.
Coming around... back wall, with another small bedroom and ball & claw tub in the back. This place heats up well with her wood stove and it's just cozy being there... It/she reminds me of an aunt I had in Paris long ago. She was an eclectic, hip and solitary spirit... and to me, she was the kind of person whom I would imagine Don Juan, in my favorite Castaneda books would be like. Mystical, mischievous, and fleeting.. Though that might mean little to most, those who've read him would understand. I guess it's not polite to use an obscure author... but.... oh well ;-)
So life on the farm... I fill in my community hours with the manly, labor stuff... but have yet to spend a lot of time with the group on a whole. This month I'm going to try and change that a bit, but I have a feeling that there will be some who feel I should be more visible... Though I don't think in the near future that I'll be sitting around the canning party, or the cooking party, or the... well... what-ever party, kibitzing about how the kids are doing, or how so & so upset me, etc... But I'll deal with that when I get there. I am learning a lot of little things about how people view the environment, ecology, land & resource sustainability, but I don't think it's going to be my 'fight'. The more I learn about the world 'I live in', the more detached I become... For me it truly is, all an illusion. Though I do admittedly have to fine tune that a bit. I think I'd like to be more like Billy Jack... except more as a lover, not a fighter. I've got the solitary spirit, the hippie commune, and the jeep... I'm more than half way there ;-)
As always... In every moment... Please take very good care of you and yours... Alexis
