For our first work party, some fabulous and hard-working folk from Vancouver came and Moved Lots of Stuff From One Place To Another.
We cleaned out most of the big stuff from the foundation, including some bees.
We found some treasures.
And then: moved more stuff.
All in all, a lovely time with good people. Thanks, guys!
A little while ago, Christiana and I got the opportunity to learn how to milk cows. Initially, the cows were a little intimidating, but as we learned how things worked and got to know the cows individually, the cows seemed to shrink in size and grow in personality and intelligence.
When one is milking, one is not only getting something from the cow, one is also giving ease from a full udder. The cows sighed, and moved their feet as we asked them to so that we could help them become more comfortable. They’re eager to come into the milking parlour, and not only for the small portions of grain that they’re allowed.
The milk is collected in a giant metal can, and then poured through a filter and into jars.
There’s a lot of steps, in milking, to keep the milk clean and the cows healthy. We wash the teats, wash our hands, wash the parlour, wash All The Things.
Eventually, as we get better at this, we’re hoping to get our milk for the week in under 90 minutes. We belong to a full cow-share, where we all split the cost and care of the cow and we each take home whatever milk is available on the day we milk. It’s such a wonderful opportunity, to be able to try out cow-ownership with only 1/7 the cost and effort. I have no idea whether a family cow is in our future, but it certainly seems more possible now than it did two weeks ago. And given the sparkle in Christiana’s eye whenever we talk about milking day, I suspect that some kind of milk-beast will come home with us, sooner rather than later.
Surprise! We discovered yesterday that we have been incorporated since early April! The mad scramble is on, to make sure that all our ducks are in a row for the closing date of tomorrow.
But here are a few of us, cheerfully assuming that it will all work out:
I have a fervent desire to bring you more interesting news, in the coming months, with pictures of houses being built, fences erected, and Baby Animals snuggled (though I have it upon good authority that once they become Annoying Teenaged Animals it’s pretty easy to decide who gets eaten).
Onwards!
It seems like a simple thing, to put a tiny button that allows people to know when we’ve written something new.
Yes.. sort of. We have a button, but I’m not yet sure how it works. If you want to sign up while we’re sorting it out, be welcome.. and let us know if it doesn’t work. Thanks!
Hello world!
This is intended to be a way for the various people that we have connected through this crazy project to see what we’re doing, and how things are going. Welcome.