Moving in and taking stock

I officially took over the farm on Wednesday. It has been an exhausting week and it's not over yet. I am not actually staying at the farm because my Mom is out of town and my Dad doesn't want to be alone. He says it's because he is worried about me being alone at the farm, but I know the truth.

I don't yet have a truck- the 'one step forward- two step back' dance that has been going on in regards to purchasing a truck is too intricate and annoying to go into details. I could tell you all about it, but I'll spare you the confusion and myself the stress. Bottom line is that I should be borrowing my Mom's car for the week and getting my truck next week. It's being delivered from another dealership to the one near the farm. It will be a Toyota Tacoma 2014 with the SR5 4x4 package. Originally I was looking at used Tacomas from about 8 years ago but then I had to get my Dad to co-sign the loan (so embarrassing but thank GOD he's totally happy and able to do it) so when my Dad got into researching the Tacoma, he wanted me to have the newest one I could and has gotten me a very, very sweet deal on a 2014. What would I do without him?! My Dad rules. He's a born researcher, prone to worrying (hey that's where I get it from!) but he's a dedicated Dad. Anyhow, the color choice I have for the truck seems to change so often, that at this point, it could be neon pink and I'd take it; just to be done with the whole process. Once I get it, I'll post some photos. I might be crying in disbelief and joy in those photos.

The farm is in need of a deep clean. The people who moved out did clean it, but I want to do my own cleaning to really make sure I'm starting fresh. Also, I want to toss all the old junk that was left in the barns and around the property. For example, there is a box of rusty nails and screws, a jar caked in mud with a weird pipe cleaner doll jammed inside it and a spool of twine that some creature has gnawed through half of.

The one major bummer about me not living on the farm this past week is that I had planned to be painting all this week in preparation for my furniture arriving next week. But now I will have to paint with all my stuff piled up in the center of the rooms. So it goes.... not much else I can do about it.

Wednesday my Dad and I drove to the farm with Wiley. He just about lost his little doggie brain over being free to run all over the place and pee everywhere. We unpacked a bunch of stuff and while my Dad checked around the house and studio, I went to take care of the cats and chickens. I also had to clean out the pool filter. First thing, I want to grade the ground between the barn and the main house! I almost broke my ankle in a few hidden ruts.

The chickens (AKA The Ladies, AKA My Girls) were doing fine even if they look like someone has been exposing them to radioactive material. They are elderly hens and are loosing some of their feathers. Well, A LOT of their feather.... but I don't judge! I don't need pretty hens! They give me eggs and make lovely silly noises at me and what else can I ask for? There is one who is missing almost all of her neck feathers and another who is missing quite a few tail feathers .. poor old things. But the one who has it worst is the hen with a missing eye.... (I'm laughing so hard right now at how my chickens must sound to you all....) She has to be kept separate from the rest of the flock because if the others got a hold of her they would murder her. MURDER! I was told that they would just peck her to death. Chickens are not... smart. Though, maybe they are very smart. Maybe it's that they would kill the weakest of them so as not to attract attention from predators and risk the whole flock being massacred. Hmm... perhaps my old girls are wiser than I was lead to believe.

In any case, they gave me about 15 eggs over two days! My Dad and I are enjoying the farm fresh eggs quite a bit. Today they just pooped out 2 eggs. Out of about 8 old hens, that's not so bad in my book. Eventually I am going to build them a much better hen house. Better for them, better for me to stand in. I can't keep stooping.

The cats are good. The littlest one, who came to us with the name Daisy, is the queen. She rules over her compatriots with an iron fist. I am thinking of re-naming her Hilda. There are two yellow cats that I can only remember one's name. Lucy. Her brother... he might be Carl. In any case they are big and don't look so bright. I think of them as the Goon Squad. The last cat is a beautiful Himalayan with blue eyes. I don't know if it's a girl or boy but she's noisy and Hilda (Daisy) likes to give her the ol' "What For!?".

Eventually I'd like to create a nicer space for them in the barn. Right now it's pretty crappy and sad looking.... a lot like the hen house. Wiley wants to play with the cats and they seem to think that's not a good idea. But they DO enjoy teasing him and he enjoys chasing after them and then whining when they go to places he can't reach.

This whole week I have not seen the Guinea fowl at all and was worried that they had become someone's dinner or that they decided to go elsewhere. Wednesday night there was a big storm and the half dead tree that they roost in, cracked at the base and fell. Luckily no structure was affected and no animal was injured. But today, while walking the top field with Wiley, we spied the Guineas! They were all freaked out and hid when they saw us, but I'm so glad to see that they are OK and still hanging around. After seeing them, I did a closer look around the tree that fell to try and figure out where they are now roosting. Turns out- they are in the section of the barn next to the cats! Smart Guineas! It's a much better deal for them. It's dry and safe with the cat security next door.

Across the street from the farm is an old black walnut tree. I've been collecting the nuts and have them in a bucket. Last night I watched a video on how to harvest them. It's intricate and takes a few weeks, but sounds like it's really worth it. These trees only produce fruit every other year so it's smart to take what you can when they drop. The key is to use gloves that will protect you hands from getting stained. I thought the gloves I had grabbed were good enough. NOPE. First my fingers turned weirdly yellow and then black. Because I stopped and scrubbed quickly, it doesn't look so bad. Tomorrow I'll use better gloves and wear an apron. But from what I have read and watched, the black walnut is very difficult to crack- you have to use a hammer and even then you have to do more work for the nut flesh. They will last me 2 years if I keep them in the freezer tightly packed. The flavor should be very different from the English walnut- which is the one that most people think of when you say 'walnut'. That one has an easier shell to crack and a more mild flavor. I'm looking forward to baking with this native North American nut. I bet they'd be great in zucchini bread.

The news back in Knoxville is that I'm getting Wiley and Scout (my parent's 18 year old Main Coon) to be more used to each other. Tonight I got Scout to chill with me and Wiley on my bed. Both animals were calm and no issues arose! My Dad is at a play that I was supposed to go with him to but I got home so late and was so tired that I stayed behind to rest. I wanted to see this play, but it was not meant to be this time around. There was a lot of traffic tonight on my way back to my parent's house and what should have taken me just under an hour, took two hours.

OH!!! AND LASTLY!

I won an aquaponics system!!! I got a call from Randy at Today's Green Acres where I took the aquaponics course in September and he told me that I won the contest for the 64 sq foot system. I am so excited! I'm going to pick it up next week. All I will have to add is water, fish and seeds! Aaron is equally excited as we were planning on building a system that size as our testing station.

I think that's it.... My furniture should arrive Sunday or Monday, My Mom comes back on Tuesday, My Grandma Faye arrives on Wednesday.... I think. I might have days mixed up.

A lot is happening this month.