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Re: Farm Life

Posted: Wed May 16, 2018 2:48 pm
by Spiritwind
I'm going to sit and write while my emotions are still close to the surface. Hard to do sometimes, because from the time I get up there are chores (and hungry animals who hear my every move and want me to hurry up and get out there and feed them). And then there are kitties, who want to plant themselves on my lap. I've done the one finger typing, but it's not my favorite.

I have missed a number of things I wanted to be regularly involved in due to transportation problems, again! We barely got the car fixed from the last time when we noticed that it sounded like the brake pads were worn out on the back wheels. Sure enough my husband took it all apart, and of course as is almost always the case, it needs more than just the pads and now we have to order more parts. So I have been mostly home bound again for several weeks. Last night was the monthly held Talking Circle at the Spokane American Indian Community Center, and I didn't want to miss another one. My husband came home from work, grabbed me up, and drove for another hour back to the city. What a good man!

The meeting itself reminded me of a cross between the women's drumming circle I participated in about 20 some years ago, and a group called Stuck to Unstuck. After sharing a meal we all gathered in a circle, smudged with sage, and spoke what was on our hearts as the talking stick was passed around. There were three fully indigenous people there, along with about 11 other men and women. The first woman who spoke mentioned several things going on in the world that we should all be aware of and concerned about, bringing to our attention the recent slaughter of Palestinian people in Israel. That got me emotionally stirred up right there. Then the next woman who spoke was a native woman who works for and with the indigenous people to help bring awareness and much needed assistance, especially to those most marginalized. She had a uniquely Indian perspective that was quite emotionally stirring, and it went on from there. One white woman had a lot to say but she was so emotionally triggered by her sense of guilt about what had been done to the First Nation people that she could barely speak, and as I am hard of hearing I didn't catch most of her words. She would probably benefit from a support group like Stuck to Unstuck, as she seemed to have a lot she needed to get off her shoulders. Most, you could tell, had done a considerable amount of introspecture and had deep concerns about our future on this planet, and knew that crossing those man made boundaries that keep us in a state of separation were paramount to living in the flow of solution oriented community building actions and activities. It's a start.

I was almost the last person to speak and managed to spit out a few words of what was on my heart. I could have droned on for an hour, but managed to keep it fairly short. Since I spoke from a place deep within myself, for once not having the words all laid out in my mind ahead of time, I can barely remember what I said. I think the first thing I mentioned was something about all the radioactive waste still pumping into the ocean from Fukushima, the almost daily chemtrailing activity, the fact that the pipeline that was being protested at Standing Rock has had numerous leaks already, and my dismay over the proposed smelter factory they want to build in my neck of the woods. I know I said several times I want to be part of the solution. And I do.

I also mentioned the fact that every single one of us, who continues to maintain what I call the observer perspective of what is happening on this finite planet, is needed. We need to not loose our faith and our ability to continue to respond in life affirming ways that help rather than harm. It is an awakening process, and all are at different places in their waking up, but we can come together, come to-get-her, in a good way, if we just don't give up. So to those who wonder, why bother, I would say what the voice I hear when I meditate and pray says, just don't give up. Keep being present. All voices of the real people of this world, those who act human, humane, with compassion and true caring, need to keep showing up for life. All voices matter now!

It's interesting, because those very words were ringing in my mind several times as I listened to everyone speak. Then afterwards, a woman came up and introduced herself to me, and said to me "just don't give up"! An affirmation if I ever heard one.

I could write about what is happening on the farm, as there is always something going on. But I will come back to that later. What I wrote above is what is loudly in my mind and heart at the moment, and feel the need to just sit with it a bit, and see what spirit is trying to reveal to me. I have to listen to do that. I don't know what the future has in store for us. One native man that was there talked about all the prophecies for our times, and the coming destruction. It's possible, for sure. But that is only one part of the story. There is still so much good out there, you just have to look a little harder. I won't post the link (cause I'd have to go look for it, LOL), but I saw this wonderful article about a young 23 year old man, who had developed a technology that can clean up our oceans from all the plastic and debris that has accumulated there. Once again, we have to consciously choose to surf the wave that carries the life force energy of creation, and stay the course. So, to all of good heart I wish you an awesome and love/life filled day!

And, thank you so much Steven/LostNFound for your kind words. Your presence here on the forum is so appreciated. Not just your words, but the heart energy you carry and radiate is so wonderful. Would love to see a picture of "Hippo butt" rock!

Re: Farm Life

Posted: Tue May 22, 2018 4:10 pm
by Spiritwind
Greetings all. Today is going to be a day of as little physical activity as possible. I didn't think I worked that hard yesterday, but working in the hot sun doing physical labor has finally caught up to me. I'm seeing one of those little motorized chairs in my mind's eye, LOL!

I guess I'll start with what I thought was a pretty funny story. My long time friend and neighbor up the road that is mentioned often here inherited two cats that were about 6 months old last fall. I've mentioned this, but there has been a new development. We took one in and had her spayed, thinking the other one was a male (I think you know where I'm going with this). We didn't actually pick him up at the time and look closely, but thought from a distance he looked like he was a he. Being on a very tight budget he didn't take him in to be neutered. A little over a couple weeks ago I walked up the road and saw "Buddy", and we talked about how much he was eating, cause he looked kind of fat. For some reason, it just didn't even occur to us. That is, until two weeks ago after the plant sale my neighbor mentioned to me why he was late arriving that morning. He said he let Buddy come in for awhile the evening before and thought he was pooping out his entrails. LOLOLOL! Sorry, but I'm laughing my face off right now. So, Buddy is actually a Buddette, and pooped out five kittens! It looks like I'm going to get another cat or two after all.

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And then the plant sale I was so excited about didn't turn out like I thought. I forgot that when I did this so successfully years ago I lived on Camano Island, on the west coast of Washington State, and the grocery store I had it at actually had people who weren't broke as hell shopping there. I am now on the eastern side of the state, and the store we decided to have our sale at (the only one close to us at all), is nestled between two low income mobile home parks. Plus it was an exceptionally hot spring day and I had my grandson over for the weekend. He was bored in about an hour. We did both sell some plants, but not enough to make it worth the effort of loading it all up, setting up, and then taking most of it back home again. We did discover a few things though. People were most interested in tomato plants.

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An interesting thing did happen there, though. Back in 2002 - 2003 I had a little store called "Spiritwind Astrology and Creative Art Center". I did readings and Reiki, and sold cool stuff like candles, incense, drums, gift type items, and even some arts and crafts on consignment. We also had a large room in the back and had weekly craft workshops. It was a beautiful little store that smelled heavenly. This all came about because a friend of mine at the time talked me and my husband into looking at the space to rent with her, and wanted me to be her business partner. My husband encouraged me, even though I wasn't sure about it at the time. So we remodeled the space and opened our doors in June of 2002. I did know that my business partner had mental health issues, but had no idea how much it really affected her daily life. I guess that is probably often the case, as those close to her did not reveal what I really should have known. Anyway, the relationship unraveled fairly quickly, in ways I won't go into. I was accused of having plotted and schemed to open the store and then take over, which was far from the case. The friendship ended on a very sour note. With my husband's help we kept the store open for a year before events took place that caused us to have to close it. I didn't really make any money, but did break even most months and had great gifts for people for years (not bad for a small town with 19 churches). It was actually a great learning experience where I met a lot of wonderful people. I have no regrets.

But, on this day at the plant sale you'll never guess who actually came up and became my only customer for the day. Yeah, I know. You guessed it. Anyway, she came right over to us and took off her sun glasses and announced who she was. I knew who she was. She then proceeded to tell me that before anything else she wanted to apologize for what happened and explained that she had had a recent diagnoses of being bi-polar and had been receiving various types of medications in their effort to figure out what worked for her. She apologized several times and seemed sincere. I accepted her apology and said she could help make it up to me by buying some plants, and so she did. My only sale of the day. And totally unexpected. Life is strange sometimes (okay, most of the time).

Since I had all these plants left over I decided to take them with me when I went to the Talking Circle last week, and low and behold, they were putting in a community garden that very day, so they found a good home after all. We will probably do a plant sale again next year, but come up with a better location, more variety, maybe some advertising, and now have a better idea of what people want. So in the end, it's all good.

Hay has been an ongoing challenge this year. We ended up having to buy a large bale, about a 1000 pounds, last month. It was first cutting and very unwieldy to work with and even just get off the truck. We went through it way too fast so had to look again. We found some small bales of first cutting and bought 24 bales of that. Unfortunately at least 2/3 of it has almost no leaf in it all all and is quite bleached out. Good for the horse, but the goats wouldn't probably eat it even if they were starving. So a couple days ago we made a long drive to get some 2nd cutting 100 pound bales of alfalfa even though they were kind of spendy. I can let them forage a lot and make it last until hay season begins this year, which should be happening soon.

I sold Coco's two hefty little boys just 4 days after placing the ad last week. Could have sold them sooner if I didn't care that they were going to be eaten. I know there is no guarantees, but I don't make them friendly, get them banded and dehorned, just to have them end up on someone's dinner plate. They were no light weights either. I could barely pick them up. The outstandingly awesome news there is even though Coco hadn't spend hardly any time on a milk stand I was able to milk her the day after they left and will probably get about a quart just milking her once a day. And she milks like a dream, with teats and udder just like her mother : ) I already have one of Arrows two doelings sold to someone next month, so that's exciting too. I'll be able to pay for their hay for a month with that.

I'm so pooped out today because we enlarged the older girls pen on both sides yesterday and had to tear down part of the fence and put it back up again. It wasn't that hard, but for some reason working in the hot sun cooks me these days, and leaves me feeling quite exhausted. I'm quite happy we got this done though, because my goal was to provide them with not only more room, but a larger area out of the sun in the late afternoon. We also loaded up Gladys, our friends goat that they were breeding to Bob, and took her home. Now we can move the other buck, Crispy, over with the other boys, and I'm down to 16 goats. Whew!

I'm sure I'm missing a few details from the last few weeks, but need to get going. I just looked outside to see what the commotion was and discovered our killer cat, Zoey, had caught a bird. It got away, but it's mother/mate (not sure which), is having a fit. I don't mind her catching mice, but I'd rather she didn't catch any birds. Damn!

It looks like it's going to be a hotter summer here than last year, and I'm already on my way to a dark tan this year. I have very fair skin and in previous years when I used to work inside a lot I would burn and barely tan at all. I know people have been hoodwinked into believing that the sun causes cancer, but I'm not sold on that idea at all. I don't use that sunscreen crap at all either, as it has been proven to cause cancer. I just limit my exposure for awhile at first, and then don't worry about it after that and get to where I don't even burn anymore. That's a good thing.

Oh, and one last thing I forgot to mention. My neighbor helped me dig up and prepare an area about 10 x 14 feet for a corn patch. We got a fence up and have already planted about 60 corn seedlings and hope to have it at least knee high by the Fourth of July. I'm stoked about having some fresh non GMO corn to eat! I also have about 2 dozen black oil sunflowers planted too. The bees love them (so do the birds), they'll create a bit of shade for the other plants, they are beautiful, and they are a great source of protein to add to the goats winter diet. All in all, a very productive last few weeks.

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And now, I'm finally done catching up here. Time to get going for sure this time. Love to all...

Re: Farm Life

Posted: Tue May 22, 2018 6:04 pm
by LostNFound
The Kitties are cute, Too funny about being surprised with Mama cat. Camano island was a real nice place to be back in the eighties. I remember building a pool house for a contractor one summer out there. That is when we lived in Arlington and I was one of those contractors myself. What fun it was to raise my two girls up there. So folks are into the tomatoes and isn't that interesting, Those plants are quite popular down hear in the high desert also.
Ah, The spring and summer in the great Northwest. Such wonderful place to be. Real Corn, yum that is going to be good.

Perhaps you could explain to me how to upload a Jpeg. For the life of me I can't figure it out. It could be that I am not allowed to do attachments or some such. I would like to show you that Hippo butt rock.

Thanks for the wonderful update of the farm.
Steven

Re: Farm Life

Posted: Wed May 23, 2018 12:33 pm
by Christine
Spiritwind, Many years ago the "male" calico we named Oscar surprised us by revealing she was female, never changed her name but received an enduring laugh. They are so cute, hopefully they will find good homes or you will end up like us with seven cats.

Steven, The only way to place an image on the forum is to upload it to a free photo uploader site, several are suggested here. Once your photo is uploaded then copy and paste the url, which will looks something like this: https://imageshack.com/a/img924/8713/46o1nk.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and then paste it between the brackets that appear when you press the photo icon at top of bar.

And you will get this:

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Re: Farm Life

Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2018 3:51 pm
by Spiritwind
Nothing really new or exciting has been happening here on the home front. I’ve pretty much planted everything I’m going to this year as I’ve used up all the usable space and then some. Not that there isn’t a whole lot more space, in reality, it just isn’t ready. No fence to keep the goats out and soil that pretty much looks like clay, dust, and cement would be the factors involved here. Plans for expansion next year are already under way though.

In fact, I would say I’m kind of in a lull. Not intentionally, but it seems the off the chart pollen count has us all sneezing, sniffling, and generally feeling sort of like we all have colds, but not. In my husbands case his eyes even swell up. This seems to be accompanied by unusual levels of fatigue. I am pretty much a doer, and so is my husband, so I admit it kind of cramps our style. We are forging ahead anyway, just not quite as fast.

This weekends project has been enlarging the barn by adding another four feet on one end as another birthing stall, and then moving onto the front. I ended up last year making a little cover for the big garbage cans we use for grain, as we had to move them out of the barn for more space. It’s only as tall as a wood pallet and I have to stoop over while I prepare their daily ration of grain. Since I’m starting to walk all hunched over and even have to have my husband try to straighten my back up, we’ve decided to make an addition on the front side too, so I won’t have to bend over in such an awkward position. I have no doubt sometime in the next few years we’ll be making a number of planter boxes high off the ground for the same reason. And paint is on the list to acquire very soon as well. Work work work.

Which brings me to another project. We did make some cannabis oil last year, using Rick Simpson’s recipe. Unfortunately it was quite cold out when we did it and towards the end of the process when we should have been paying close attention we did the opposite. We also used plant material from the year before, so it wasn’t fresh at all either. The end product ended up being very thick. It was like tar, more than oil. I admit, we jump into these things with just our good intentions and minimal knowledge sometimes. But what the hey.

Anyway, since I ran out of my free bottle of the oil I have definitely noticed the difference, enough so that I really want to get some more. The company that put this particular product out uses a process involving CO2 extraction that is supposed to be the best. Unfortunately it takes special equipment. I, personally, can’t afford almost $70 a month for the good stuff. I could become a distributor, and actually would if finances weren’t the issue right now. So, we’re going to try our hand at just making the oil using a double boiler and olive oil. I know another aspect is the quality and type of product used to make the oil. Funny, I’ve smoked the stuff off and on almost my entire adult life, and yet I know so little about some aspects. I figure even if it isn’t as potent as the CO2 extraction product, it should still produce the same effects if I up the dosage. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Our friends that bought the three little orphans from us last year are in for a big surprise this fall. They tried to put Harper, the buck we got early this year, in with a doe they wanted to breed and he kept getting out and has probably bred with all the does, all 7 of them. So they could have anywhere from 12 to 20 kids this fall. They are in no way ready for this and fall is not a good time to try and sell goats. It makes me very thankful that we have set things up so that it is highly unlikely to ever occur to us, even though goats are wily animals and full of surprises. In fact, we’re already figuring we will have to render assistance in some way. As it looks right now, we’ll only have one due to kid in late August (maybe two). Next year ought to be exciting though, as we plan to breed 6 does this fall.

Pretty much every day they get to forage around for about an hour, and run, jump, butt heads, snort and hump each other, and all the other goofy things they do. Goats actually kind of talk to each other in sounds I find hard to imitate (we try anyway, LOL). Right now is the best time of year for them, as there is plenty to eat. I just wished they would leave the tree bark alone. I see I’m going to have to put a guard around a few of them. They really are piglets. I’m not going to say anything about how they haven’t gotten in any of the garden spaces yet, as that would be bad juju.

Wasn’t sure I should write about this, but since I already made a habit of just going for it, might as well continue in that vein. My husband and I are going on a road trip in a few days to see my oldest son who happens to be incarcerated at a state correctional facility. I have written about it before, and won’t say much now, but I haven’t seen him in over a year and it actually means quite a bit to me. Just thinking about it deeply gets the emotions all stirred up. I will actually be able to hug him in person for the first time in over two years. He always wanted to finish his education and has been taking advantage of the opportunity to do so. He will be part of a cap and gown graduation so it’s going to be even more special for me to be able to be there. I know we are his lifeline to the outer world. He has also been part of a dog training program where they take animals from a local shelter and get to work with them and a professional dog trainer. It’s win win all the way around as it helps the animal get placed in a home upon completion and it gives inmates an opportunity to learn something and promotes the development of empathy. It’s so weird to feel such conflicted emotions, on the one hand the sadness I feel over his loss of freedom and the way it came about, and yet the choice he has made to use the opportunities that actually have been made available to him to perhaps in some ways come out a better person. I know I’ve said it before, but will say it again. Life is strange.

I could go on and on about what I think about the prisons for profit thing that has been gaining traction, but won’t. Like health care for profit, they kind of just don’t go together. I don’t know about anyone else, but every once in a while I feel a sense of un-realness about the world. Maybe it’s just a flashback to the old LSD days, but I don’t think so. I almost have to pinch myself to make sure I’m not dreaming it all up. Maybe we all are, and if that’s the case, what does it mean? Yes, I’m waxing philosophical today. Strange note to leave on, and kind of reminds me of an old Jim Morrison and the Doors song from 1967 called “When You’re Strange”. Does anyone else have an internal DJ that just kind of dredges up all kinds of random songs from yesteryear, even getting stuck on the same one sometimes? My mind works this way, and it makes me laugh sometimes.

Oh yeah, and as to seven cats, I’m hoping not : )

Re: Farm Life

Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2018 2:22 am
by LostNFound
Spiritwind wrote, "Does anyone else have an internal DJ that just kind of dredges up all kinds of random songs from yesteryear, even getting stuck on the same one sometimes? My mind works this way, and it makes me laugh sometimes."

Yes dear lady. The DJ plays by the heart strings. There are joyful songs and there are hard core remember songs of sorrow and pain, of lost and lonely, of times of pure happiness. Of loss, Memories all that are buried or locked away until that flash of or turn of the sound, a word, a picture and yes this dream or real or unreal that the DJ plucks from inside. I must say it is so touching to read the depth of your writing and just mentioning that Doors song and asking that question you did at the end of this last post made the DJ jump off the couch and my heart grabbed the music of old when I was young, that still resides in the depths of my being. I am taken back to so much and now I have to search the depths this evening. Do we dream our reality? Do we connect with others that we have dreamed and give them the thread of a made up reality so that this is real then? Okay Maybe the LSD could be talking. Did I ever tell of the first ship I went sailing on? Its designation was the USS San Marcos and it was an LSD or Landing Dock Ship. Well the Number was LSD25. Now hows that for taking a nice trip to the Caribbean and the Mediterranean. Music is a connecting thread, don't you think?

Make that jump and give your boy a hug. Somewhere in time he will have a DJ dredge up a memory or more of this particular time. Give him a big smile and a wonderful moment.

Steven

Re: Farm Life

Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2018 3:40 pm
by Spiritwind
You gotta love the inland northwest. Or, you can hate it and move away, and some do. We had a few 90 degree days in May, and now it’s the middle of June and we had cold enough weather that some folks we know about 9 miles from us had some of their tomato plants freeze. We fired up the wood stove again for a few days too. Fortunately, I have a nice kind of sheltered area that kept the frost off of vulnerable plants so didn’t suffer any losses. Kind of tough if you are trying to grow things like watermelon and cantaloupe who don’t like that kind of cold at all. I basically don’t try to grow them anymore, but my neighbor is persistent in trying to acclimate some of both to this area. He is often not very successful.

In fact, with the sun changing in intensity and the unpredictability of the weather these days I can see we are going to have to get very creative indeed. I have wanted a half dug out and below ground greenhouse for a long time, with sides that slope. Not sure when that is going to happen, but I keep visualizing it, and surprisingly enough that energizes the potential to help draw it into manifestation. Many of the things I used to day dream about almost 40 years ago have actually come to pass in my life, and sometimes in a most surprising way. Our imagination is more powerful than we know. In fact, I tend to think that is why the outside reality show that the current channel is stuck on is so completely captivating for some. They want to use your imagination, especially the part you are unconscious of, to help manifest a reality that is completely at odds with what most of us would really like to see unfolding.

Speaking of folding, I’ve been think about the fabric of reality in a strange way lately. I would actually post the following article in a separate thread, since I feel it is interesting to think about, but it prohibits sharing any part of it without permission. Not even sure how you would get it, since Stephen Hawking has recently passed away. But, in case you need a mind twister to ponder on here ya go: http://www.hawking.org.uk/space-and-time-warps.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
This article will lead you to the concepts regarding the “uncertainty principle” and the “observer effect”. All very interesting to think about. Might have to come back to this later on.

Anyway, sorry for the side trip, but my mind tends to wander all over the place. Now, back to farm life, LOL. It’s funny, but when I look out at the early morning sky as the sun is coming up I always feel a sense of awe about consciousness in form and all that entails, and how my little speck of consciousness fits into the grander scheme of all that is. It makes me feel big and small at the same time. Everything is relative, I guess you could say. It helps keep me from becoming too entrenched and stuck in a certain mindset. It helps keep me humble and filled with a sense of magic at the same time. That’s a good thing I feel.

So, the corn is definitely going to be knee high by the 4th of July, and everything is moving into high production mode in the garden. I find myself mesmerized by the incredible growth that is happening daily. In fact, I get downright excited about all the squash, tomatoes, potatoes, and corn I will get to eat and share in a couple of months. Yum! I didn’t diversify too much this year, as I need to expand the growing area by a lot. I have never grown broccoli before, or cauliflower, but have a few of both just to see how they do. It usually gets too hot too quick, and cauliflower is a favorite of aphids. That’s mainly why I quit trying to grow cabbage. I planted some marigolds along with them to see if that really helps or not. And, of course, I have a ton more mulching to do but find myself dragging my feet lately. It’s bad when you have to crack the whip on yourself.

Three days ago I made the fastest sale I ever have. I put an add on Craigslist for two of Arrow’s kids, one of the doelings and the wether, and they were literally on their way to their new home in three hours from the time of posting. I was shocked. And we had just run out of hay with several days to payday. Now ain’t that something special! I don’t like to cut it that close, and we actually did still have some hay, but it was last years first cutting and has almost zero leaf in it, so while the horse can eat it, the goats almost wouldn’t touch it. All that does is leave me a massive amount of cleanup. And the two kids went to a wonderful home, so the timing must have been just right.

It’s entertaining to watch the herd’s changing dynamics over time. Cookie, a mini Alpine I used to have (Jinjer’s mom), was the herd queen until I sold her. Now, Firefly, who used to be so sweet and docile, has turned into a tyrant and sometimes even acts like a buck. She is quite vigilant about running off those she deems at the bottom of the hierarchical totem pole, which is her daughter Coco who I got back earlier this year, and Ballerina the mini Lamancha I brought home last fall. So when I take them out to browse and forage, Firefly runs them off, and so does her second in command, Miss Cry Baby. Funny thing is, with Ballerina still growing and being smarter than your average goat, I can already see the tables turning in a couple years. I will be keeping Danae, the one that is pregnant, separate from the two older girls here soon, as I don’t want her to get bashed in the side. And she has such short legs she already looks funny when she runs. We’ve joked and wondered about whether her udder is going to drag on the ground and her kids will have to be on their knees to nurse. I don’t think her best buddy Lily took when we tried to mate her, but having just one pregnant goat to worry about is fine by me. Should be some kids by the end of August. Always fun to wonder how many she will have, and what they will look like.

They should be the perfect size for goat yoga. Every single person I talk to about the idea gets a big smile on their face just thinking about it. I think we need more things that just make us smile big. I’m going to have to try and make it happen. There is something alchemical and magical about being truly happy, and having it radiate from the inside out. It’s like an antidote to the sometimes poisonous nature of the construct that has been foisted on us in a most unnatural manner. If you look to all the indigenous peoples throughout the world, which are incidentally being squeezed out of existence as I write, you can learn many things about how to live in a way that moves with nature, and enhances life potential, rather than against it. I know we can’t go back to the way things were, which were never likely idyllic, but we can learn much from observing nature itself, and trying to incorporate these types of knowing into our everyday life. It isn’t hard to do, it just takes some getting used to, and of course, weaning yourself from the mind control of the construct that we have all been indoctrinated in to. I know I’ve said this many times, but will say it again. It’s time to realize that, as Russel means so eloquently said, “we’re all on the reservation now”. Hopefully more and more will begin to awaken to this truth so that we can dream a different dream together. To-get-her.

Re: Farm Life

Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2018 3:53 pm
by Spiritwind
Oh yeah, and I forgot to write about my visit to see my son. All I can say is that is was amazing and wonderful, even though quite emotional at the same time. I know I drone on and on about the system and how horrible it generally is, but can honestly not say a bad thing about my experience. One half the room was filled with parents and loved ones, while we waited for the inmates to file in. Words do not suffice in conveying how I feel. So many everyday people who demonstrated the best of what it means to be human, and showing it by their actions. Everyone involved, from the educators, the various prison personnel, to the inmates themselves, it was clearly a win win all the way around. The first young man who had been incarcerated for 8 years and was one of the first graduates from this program gave a moving speech that brought tears to the eyes of many. And then one of the current graduating inmates followed with another eye watering heartfelt speech about what the program meant to him. It became clear that it wasn’t just the education, it was the teachers themselves whose passion had gotten through to so many in a positive and life changing way. One of the instructors also spoke about this being his last class before retiring and his eyes also welled up with tears. Caring. Such a simple and totally human thing, and yet so lacking in so many peoples reality. It can and does change lives. It was an honor to be there. And seeing my son, well, again, there are no words. Love prevailed that day, even in such a harsh environment. And the cake was great too.

Re: Farm Life

Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2018 4:22 am
by maggie
Spiritwind wrote:Oh yeah, and I forgot to write about my visit to see my son. All I can say is that is was amazing and wonderful, even though quite emotional at the same time. I know I drone on and on about the system and how horrible it generally is, but can honestly not say a bad thing about my experience. One half the room was filled with parents and loved ones, while we waited for the inmates to file in. Words do not suffice in conveying how I feel. So many everyday people who demonstrated the best of what it means to be human, and showing it by their actions. Everyone involved, from the educators, the various prison personnel, to the inmates themselves, it was clearly a win win all the way around. The first young man who had been incarcerated for 8 years and was one of the first graduates from this program gave a moving speech that brought tears to the eyes of many. And then one of the current graduating inmates followed with another eye watering heartfelt speech about what the program meant to him. It became clear that it wasn’t just the education, it was the teachers themselves whose passion had gotten through to so many in a positive and life changing way. One of the instructors also spoke about this being his last class before retiring and his eyes also welled up with tears. Caring. Such a simple and totally human thing, and yet so lacking in so many peoples reality. It can and does change lives. It was an honor to be there. And seeing my son, well, again, there are no words. Love prevailed that day, even in such a harsh environment. And the cake was great too.
I always like reading what you share.
Here is a sweet video you might like.
An underground greenhouse is a great idea for your climate.

[youtube]https://youtu.be/IZghkt5m1uY[/youtube]

I Like the idea of gardening and have plants. I don't like manual labor. I have not been too motivated to dig yet but I will have to dig holes for the tomatoes in pots tomorrow.

This year I have had amazing growth of grass and trees and weeds. I found wild lettuce in several places which was really exciting. I am crazy about wild lettuce. I have a prickly type (Lactuca Serriola)and two others with slightly different leaves and no prickles (lactuca virosa). I have read it is an excellent pain reliever like opium but not narcotic
Off Topic
The whole plant is rich in a milky sap that flows freely from any wounds. This hardens and dries when in contact with the air. The sap contains “lactucarium”, which is used in medicine for its anodyne, antispasmodic, digestive, diuretic, hypnotic, narcotic and sedative properties. Lactucarium has the effects of a feeble opium, but without its tendency to cause digestive upsets, nor is it addictive. It is taken internally in the treatment of insomnia, anxiety, neuroses, hyperactivity in children, dry coughs, whooping cough, rheumatic pain etc.
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My idea for avoiding manual labor would be living in a perennial food forest.

https://permaculturenews.org/2014/04/08 ... te-garden/

[youtube]https://youtu.be/6H9ZeFnJCqY[/youtube]

Loved hearing about visiting your son and YES, I am with you about meeting friendly, helpful,humane beings in places unexpected. IMO that is what is proving goodness here and now.

Re: Farm Life

Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2018 5:13 pm
by Spiritwind
Just a quickie today. Thank you Maggie, for popping in here. You know, I’m actually not as excited about hard physical labor as I once was and like any ideas to reduce the load. I like your idea!

Anyway, just really wanted to wish all the Father’s out there an awesome and Happy Father’s Day. They often don’t get as much recognition as the moms, but I know so many outstanding fathers and step dads out there. My husband is one of them. I hope each and every one of you gets some recognition for your important roles in shaping our future generations. You are appreciated!