Captain Crook- ameraucana hen with crooked beak, from our first batch of chicks. She can't eat so well with her beak but she's done pretty well so far! The dogs with a little visitor friend.
Days have been rolling by and I woke up this morning thinking it was Sunday but its actually monday and I had a bunch of emails to wake up to this morning regarding things I need to get my ass onto this week. I've been working pretty long days with the animals being integrated, property repairs and getting an online gallery for my artwork going- so photography sessions in the evening, with extra lighting and then computer editing and formating- all stuff I'm no expert at, so its all around, an OK job I'm doing- it'll get the point across.... kind of like my handyman workmanship around the property- I'm no expert buts its ok- it gets the job done. The money I've spent having other people build the initial housing for the animals has already seen its wear and tear...... so after I got over the sickened feeling of having people not give me their best and take all the money I had for those projects, I started collecting the scrap pieces of wood and fencing around the garden and fixing all the damage the goats, sheep and horses have done in the barn. Also had a new poultry barn door built by my friend, but he made a really disfunctional door locker, that only works from the outside- you cannot close it from the inside, but he put in fancy windows on it for added ventilation in the summer months- well the horses broke the door lock off in a day and the fancy window fell off on its own, so I had to take the latches off the gates for the pastures- workmen had bent them out of shape and sheepishly left them there- so I had to hammer them back straight and unscrew them to change the door up.... to end this story short the door functions but still needs a cinder block on one side in order for it to remain shut securely - so no horses or goats can break in............ I long for sacred geometry in my buildings ...... this just sucks, I couldn't get the drill to get these last two screws in- damaged 4 screws before I gave up with one of them stuck in the door still..... things like that make me so mad its crazy. The window I screwed back on- it had only been stapled in......... so of course it popped out in a month....... so its been pretty tiring getting these boring things taken care of aswell as having to keep an eagle on on the farm during this important integration time.
I found a postcard my mum wrote to me as a child- and part of it wrote- hope you are eating and gaining weight. Somethings never change, I'm almost 6ft tall now and I weigh 136lbs... Most food does not interest me too much that I keep around and I realize if I don't start stocking the pantry with foods I look forward to eating and keep myself fed - this aint going to work...
While there still is lots of talk of all the things to come here, everyday I have to decide what to prioritize to get done here. Its been really on going......
one thing I've been doing is shepherding the animals around the property to retrain them to graze more. Otherwise they wait around for grains and hay and chew on the house to get me to come out and feed them, or chew on the poultry barn door because they know sweet feed is in there.... so letting them out every morning and spending a good hour just walking the property slowly to let the grazers to do their thing, I find a trail of animals following me slowly- dogs, sheep, cows, goats and horses. When I'm not around Flossy will still chase the cows away. I've been talking about getting something arranged to have horse feed closer to where I feed the horses away from the other animals by the house. And god damn it I haven't done it yet - two days ago while walking with sweet feed to feed the two mares and of course feeding time is an absolutely freezy..... imagine telling horses, cows, goats, sheep and poultry to sit and wait....... they go nuts when they see anything regarding getting extra grains- the sheep alone can sometimes knock you over for grain so this time round Flossy ran infront of me and in a quick flash bucked in excitement and kicked my stomach and my right hand. Luckily I do not shoe my horses, the metal shoes would have done a lot of damage especially to my right hand. Thankfully the alien-ness that people talk about me having seems to carry an immortal gene - no bruises, no injury to me... I did chase Flossy around the entire 5 acres, flying kicked her twice on her big butt and hurled the feed scoop at her. She is a very stubborn and fearless horse and is hardly affected by it all- which is why she needs it , now I have a little more respect from her.... Paikea does not need any disciplining like this, she is so gentle and settles in so easily with all the new animals. But she is also just as inquisitive and the two of them are always first to see what I'm doing. So right now while I type outdoors in the hammock the two of them were first up to come check it out and try to play with it- pushing me like someone making you swing... but them they start trying to pull the hammock off, take my computer, bang each other around right next to me- so I told them to leave and like big children the went over to disturb Harold and Yusin the two goats, who were nestled in a little spot nearby me. So the goats left, followed by the horses and i was left to type here with only the dogs- Sam playing with a stick with Ophelia and Benji chews on Moonie like she's a giant chew toy- irritates the hell out of me because he makes me so much more work in terms of grooming out knots from her hair but atleast he's not disturbing me- he's a rescue dog and very intelligent but needy so it can get tiring, basic dog psychology doesn't work with Benji. he has finally started eating outside though without me which is really good. He was too scared too before and you'd have to sit by him. For a week i used the time to meditate- sitting amongst chomping dry dog food, thinking about manifesting more madness.......in lotus position, different mudras, bound lotus- oh benji just eaattt your fucking food already!-, so today the fact he ate outside with the other dogs- without me is amazing. Moonie mistook the two goats from a distance as strangers and started barking and ran right over to them. As she was running over she realized they were our dear friends and pretended there was still something dangerous around them,so she shut up but sniffed the area carefully and looked at me to see if i was watching- I quickly looked away and just walked off like an asshole- strange watching animals and know what they are thinking all the time. They are just like people.
The two cows and one of my ducks are sitting near me now, the dogs are coming and going. The cows seek out my presence and when I'm in the house they will rest near the house like the other small animals, which is really cute to see. Sometimes they get spooked and start running- fast and like the horses kick their heels up and all the smaller animals get out of the way. They are definitely intelligent creatures and thrive on human and interspecies interaction. They are inquitive too and the first day the hammock came up, you should have seen all the animals coming up to see what this is all about. They are all so so endearing.
The youngest batch of chicks are now completely feathered and the size of small bantams. They have started to explore the outdoors a little, following me nervously to the wooded patches. Second time around they started playing, flying all over the place, play fighting and coming over to me for cuddles inbetween- yes my baby chicks come up for cuddles, it is the cutest thing when the little juveniles come up and push their bodies into me for a cuddle. The little minorcas, brabanters and russian orloffs just might be my favourite breeds, they are such sweethearts. The minorcas are jetblack and big wily birds. They will be good hawk deterrents. This morning a small hawk came by. The birds must've known as I was inside still but I had opened up the door to let the babies out and I saw this hawk swoop at an adult hen by the front door of the house but as it was a smaller hawk, so she defended herself and saw it off. It alighted in a pine tree and waited. I brought the dogs out and went to check out the scenario. All the babies were in the coop along with the majority of the hens and all the bantams. They weren't risking it! When they saw me they all looked very relieved and came back outside to forage. Good having smart birds.
Its so awful to think what our modern day livestock go through now. And its so awful to see what people go through today aswell.... I believe the knowledge is inherent in our hands to be farmers tending some livestock and some plants- knowing them all individually, bringing in the higher consciousness, of a life that can be lived not depleting the planet's life force. Unfortunately modern man is a huge depletion on the planet's energy because we are not "awake" to the full reality of the cosmos. How can you function properly when one knows so little about the immediate environment around them. Do you know the plants you can eat and cannot in your environment? Do you know what animals use the same streets and paths and land you do? See indigenous peoples grow up being taught about all the creatures and plants around them and the way THEIR universe works, so they live as one breathing organism with their loved habitat. Somewhere along the lines, we've gone off track in our quest for more wealth and power. But this does seem to be nature's evolution. Also in the evolutionary cycles of life, is change- its coming folks and you better wake up to the reality of the life around you, if you are to become part of life on this amazing wondrous planet and be vibrant. When you are awake and talk to nature, you'll find a language available for dialogue in the subtle body for one to communicate with the bigger picture -"god" You'll find space in your body and each breathe will taste new and you will feel deeper, your connection to the rest of the planet and know you share the same dna that makes us human, makes all the other animals and physical manifestations on the planet, we are all the same, brothers and sisters. Equals for god's love.
Definitely equal for god's love is the goat..... the one wily creature who will live where no other animal will and eat what no other animal will eat. Goats are lovely creatures, reverting back to feral states with remarkable ease but at the same time when in relationship with man, they demand a relationship! Few animals love as strongly as a goat does. They hate being contained, infact Harold my buck will find his way out of any pasture to be by my side. Goat behaviour has been challenging. yusin my little inbred nigerian dwarf doe is tiny , looks like she will be the smallest in the flock. She's not too happy about the new does, she cares more for me and harold. harold of course loves new women but he introduced himself shyly first which was really cute to watch. I have to tie him up when visitors come onto the farm though because he'll start harassing the does more probably because he thinks someone might challenge him for his harem. I challenged him for his harem and won so he respects me and when I tell him "no" he listens like a dog. But when new people come, he's impossible, so its best just to put him on a leash when visitors come. He's a little pest, if he can't follow me around then he'll go hang out with the horses, and they look like the odd herd- two light coloured horses with a little white buck with floppy ears and a waggy tail next to them. So with my farming practices- Harold runs free with the flock of does- most people keep bucks separate, for a number of reasons. In the wild, bucks have their harem. I know some forest tribes that don't allow the women to sleep at night with the men even when they are married...... but I know those men sit there and think about their wives at night. In winter Harold was a real pain, and he had to be leashed to an area so Yusin could escape his advances but still come in at night to close up the barn and find them snuggled together for warmth. There is something really nice about waking up with a partner- not alone. I feel strongly the animals feel the same way and for them to always have company is very important. harold for the most part though, has a second love - that is me, he tries to court me when he can and has to be tied up when anyone is around mainly because he cannot stand seeing anyone even near me- he has to stand between us and headbutt you if you get too close to me! But like I said, alone he's very enjoyable not disturbing me- only to come gently lay down next to me when I'm reading in the garden- him and Yusin- she tries to hop in my lap. Goats are very very emotional creatures- do not get them if you do not plan to really get involved!
Stick to icelandic sheep if you want something less intense, they are still inquisitive but not as ridiculous as the goats, this month the farm expects two ewes to lamb- so its an exciting month! Primitive sheep are very athletic and you best be their friend- good thing is they are pigs and love treats so a line of friendship is easily run here and they soon recognize and will trust their owners whilst remaining wary of strangers somewhat. No one can touch the sheep outside though one ewe loves for me to pet her- you can't get near them- unlike the goats they'll run up to say hello to everyone. Well I better get to some planting and barn mucking. Its lovely weather for it today - 76'F.
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