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Every night just before dusk kicks in the fireflies start to come out. First they're just above the lawn flickering their lights and when it's slowly gets dark they are moving up and lighting up the trees as if it were Christmas. I can't get enough of it. We sit out on the porch and watch until our eyes get heavy and we need to get some sleep. Carl and Laura have created an amazing place. I'm 42 so most of you would say I'm too old to believe in fairy tales but in my humble opinion I'm in a magical place right now…… and it's called Simple Dream Farm.
We are in our second week and I can begin to tell you what we've learned so far. Carl manages the farm and is eager to share his knowledge with us and learn us all sorts of new kinds of skills. As long as we are willing Carl makes the effort. On my first day the needed to chop up a tree that had fallen in one of the pastures due to a storm so the cows won't be bothered by it. They took the tractor and some chainsaws and explained what needed to be done. Well I'm a bit of a clumsy person but the man gave me a chainsaw and of I went:-) All went well or else I wouldn't be writing this…..
This is a small self-sustaining farm which means that they depend on their animals and own work to provide for them. Because they are a small farm Laura also works a regular job. Carl is tending to the farm full time and very active in this farming community. Every day, in the morning and evening, there are chores to be done which return on a daily basis mostly concerning the animals. The rest of the day can't be planned because life on a farm means that you improvise. It all depends on the weather, the animals or just a simple thing like hay that needs to be collected. Anything can happen during the day.
In the mean time we've fixed up a shed, painted the porch, tended to the animals, helped inseminate a cow, rode the tractor, worked with their honey bees, fenced of pastures and the list goes on and on. Can't believe what I'm learning here and what they let me do. In the evenings we are playing corn hole or giant jenga out on the patio or in spite of the heat having a fire in the fire pit just because we can:-)
Now you're probably thinking….. yeah, yeah, that's great but what about super cooper? What's that all about? Well last Sunday we were invited to a bbq at Carl and Laura's neighbours, Paul and Chrissy. They have a dog called Cooper. He looks a bit like a basset but isn't pure bread so I can't tell for sure. It's a funny looking little guy though. You will love him on the spot. He's just not listening that well…… Because they live on a farm Paul and Chrissy felt that Cooper should be able to run around as he pleases. Cooper decided otherwise…. He wanted to explore and ran of all the time. They put a shock collar around his neck and buried 2 electric wires at the end of their property in the ground so that when he tried to leave the farm he would get a little shock and would stay. No for the super part…… Cooper soon ran in to the 2 wires and experienced the shock the collar gave him. At the first shock he started to howl like a wolf but bravely went on to only find the second wire……. He ran straight through it, fell to the ground, howled like crazy and ran straight for the neighbours. The wires are still there, the collar is gone and Super Cooper is freely running around visiting every neighbour around. The bbq was great though, we had a some genuine chilli dogs. Tasted good!
They days start early and are intense but I just love it here. Farm life suits me. This was just our first week and we don't know how long we are here for. We'll just see what happens.
- comments
Toos Wat mooi dat jullie alles mogen en kunnen leren. En ook dapper dat jullie het ook aandurven pakken. Veel plezier op de "Dream Farm"
Roelien Heerlijke verhalen en wat mooi dat wij mogen meegenieten! Heel veel plezier en een leerzame tijd gewenst!
Klaas Heerema Jan en Jane, mooi om te lezen dat jullie genieten van jullie unieke reis. Wij wensen jullie nog vele mooie avonturen, vriendelijke groet Tatiana en Klaas