What a mess

Moving is such a pain in the ***. I have moved many, many times and I still haven't gotten used to it. The house is a mess. I know it will look better after the 'stuff' is in the truck but until then I have to live in the clutter and confusion.

I am worried that some important document will be lost or mislaid some how and I will be in a panic trying to find it.

Details, lots and lots of details, I have to close accounts and change addresses in so many places and of course it all has to be done now. Aaack, where's my panic button! Of course I have already packed stuff that I shouldn't have ....yadda yadda ....sigh I guess it all will work out somehow, it always does. I am having my last photo taken today in uniform. This is like my graduation photo, like when you graduate from school or military training, it marks the passing of time and events.

Tomorrow I return my government property and sign out for the last time. Once the big doors click and lock behind me that is it, the career is all over. All the sweat, work, worry, striving is past, gone and my memory there will quickly fade.

My official first day of retirement will be Sunday January 1st 2006. I think it will be like any other day. I will be still packing and cleaning up flitting about until Monday when I pick up the truck, load, clean house and then....Tuesday am hopefully early am on the road to Kentucky. And another adventure begins.

What is essential??

I have been reading in the news about how many people feel that you need to be connected with technology these days. How odd that I am stepping back from all this ipod, tivo, cable tv and living without electricity. I am living without the flush toilet also. Am I in my own "survivor program"?

No, I don't think so, I am taking the farm just as it is and will put my own mark on it. I have found that I have become to obsessed with the internet. As a tool it is useful, but a lot of time is wasted looking at none essential things and just wasting time. As a communication tool email is very useful and as a research tool the computer does make the world more accessible. The problem is that I use it and then don't stop and do something else; you find more and more things to look up and it just keeps on going like the energizer bunny, going and going. The next thing I know the room is dark and hours have past. I will be restricted for a while, using the computer at the library to catch up on my mail and shopping etc.

I will have a telephone, as an emergency communications device, and to stay in touch with family and friends. One day I may have a solar power source to run the lap top computer; just not pleased with the looks of those photovoltic panels. I am sure I will get over that and get something to power the computer.

On this farm there will be lots to do, as on any farm, wood needs to be stacked, chopped and carried inside, animals fed and cared for, gardening, repairs to the house and fences, finnishing off the upstairs bedrooms, daily chores (cooking,cleaning,washing), seasonal chores (planting,harvesting,canning,birthing,haying) I must not forget egg gathering and milking :)
That is just the essentials; oops forgot taking a nap and reading the latest bestseller playing with the pets, daydreaming and trying to remember what it was I went into the room for (?).

Oh, ya, I was talking about the things that are essential. Food, water, and shelter are essential; I will learn what else is essential as I go along.

My Barn

I have been thinking about my barn lately. My thoughts are how I am going to use this barn? I have been thinking about getting live stock and I have made contact with a lady about buying some icelandic sheep, they don't need a barn just a shed to keep out of the wind and some shade when it is hot. I have also been looking into getting either milk goats or a cow.

Now I know getting a cow is a big proposition; they are a lot of work. Once they have a calf and you get them milking it is a twice a day thing until you dry them off months later. Some cows give more milk than a family can use; so when I came across a breed that is small and gives less milk than the larger breeds I began to think of getting one. The breed is called Dexter, they came from Ireland and were bred for the small farms there a long time ago. Of course cows produce more than just milk and its products, they produce manure; lots and lots of manure, as a matter of fact the large ones can produce tons of manure.

This manure thing could be a problem because one has to move it from where it falls to where it will do some good. Now when the cow is in the pasture that is not a big problem the cow just moves around and makes deposits here and there. It is when the cow is in the barn there is a problem. Sooner or later somebody has to shovel it into something and move it. That somebody being me of course and the thing to move it in is called a manure spreader; something else to buy. So, you pile the manure into the spreader and pull this thing around the fields and it throws the manure all over the fields as the wheels turn. My advice is not to get to close to this operation in action; you might get banned from the house till you take your ***** clothes off.

My second choice is a Jersey cow, they are smaller than most of the milk cows but finding one for sale is not easy and they are copious producers of rich milk and cow patties; definitely going to need a manure spreader.......

The goat thing is a whole other story.