Hi, you guys.
I'm on the other coast, now. I can be reached at
250-539-9859, snail mail welcome, and more likely than usual to get a response (i bought stamps and everything!). 380 Campbell Bay Rd, Mayne Island, BC, V0N 2J1. Canada (obvi).
The last couple of weeks have been full to bursting.
Between filing taxes and packing (tiresome but necessary) I squeezed in some baby sister time (I think it's fair to say we were meant for each other). She's 13 or so months old now, and likes kale and rice and smelling flowers and stomping her feet.
Went to my big sister Emily's wedding. She suprised me by having me get up and give a speech on behalf of our family. Ting, if you're reading this, that was supposed to be you. Everyone else, if you ever want me to make a speech, I'd be much happier with at least 24 hours notice. That sounds like I'm bitter...I'm not, just a bit embarrassed. The wedding was super swell. Everyone looked beautiful, the vows were meaningful and moving, the DJ made us all work on the dance floor and I'm delighted to have such a ballsy bunch of in-laws :)
For those of you in need of those pesky details, I'm doing an internship on a small organic farm on Mayne Island until mid-August, working at the affiliated store and pursuing midwifery connections to get some volunteering/childbirth ed classes in.
I live in a delightful cob house (truly hobbit-fairytale), with an outdoor shower and a swallow's nest just outside, in view of my bed.
My days go something like this:
Wake up spontaneously around seven, without the irritation of an alarm clock.
Eat some breakfast in my unbelievable mosaic-covered kitchen.
Go move the meat chickens to greener pastures. Feed them. Remove the bodies of any victims of predators or fate (fate a.k.a. genes bred for such rapid growth that sometimes the cardiovascular system can't keep up and just quits)
Prune/trellis tomato plants for a while.
Weed the vegetables or something. Kill slugs. Kill caterpillars. Kill grubs.
Break for lunch. I am paid in food which comes from the farm and the farm store. I cook it myself. Perfect.
Work some more. Maybe pick some wool clean for processing or feed the skittish sheep some grain to get through their heads that humans=friends.
Maybe play a quick game of croquet with my fellow farmhand and Shanti, my farmer lady.
Have a quick snack.
Go for a bike-ride or a run or something (I'm seriously entertaining the idea of doing a half-marathon in November- the loop I've run a couple of times this week is a mountainous 5.6 miles. Totally doable, but a far cry from 13.1....)
Me time: gather herbs or dig up roots, tinker with bikes, sew, read, work on tanning the deer hides that fell into my lap last week (I watched a youtube video, otherwise have no clue what I'm doing. Going ok so far, though. Right now I have well-scraped rawhide).
Dinner- today was beef stew (with a bone with marrow in it and everything) with red orach, which looks and tastes a lot like lamb's quarters- I'd never had it before. The cows on the farm are tasty too. One gave birth today. Girl-baby, which means there is no need to chase it down and castrate, for which we are all grateful.
Bedtime is often accompanied by some letter-writing and a fire in my woodstove- I'm regretting packing mostly summer clothes.
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| Orach (pronounced orack) |
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| Mum, sister, brother....My favourite moment of the evening may have been head-banging with the best man and my bro. |
There you have it.
