What just happened?

So that was weird.

Now we are in an Earthship out in the middle of the sage, soaking up the sun...those healing rays. Let's just say the last few months were a test of the mountain, and let's agree that if we look at it from a spiritual perspective, it was one major lesson in creation and psychic vampirism (more on that later).

So, now, the chickens and the llamas and the dogs and the kids all have a place to run and romp and be who they are. We are indeed lucky to have found this place...or to have this place find us. The owner of this magnificent house lives in Australia and has agreed to rent it to us at a price we can afford. Remarkable. Thanks A.

And, when we were moving in, some guys from Earthship Biotecture were out working on the windows...replacing some rotted trim boards and replacing the flashing. Very nice and helpful guys who understand my love of the Earthship. Now...this is more like it, I have to say, and these are more like-minded people, and everything is going to be just fine now.

Earthship kitchen

The sage is grounding. The house is grounding with mud floors and earth plastered walls. I sit in my big old arm chair facing the windows and watch the sky. A lot. I watch the clouds come and go. I wait for the sun in the morning and wait for the darkness in the evening. This is the most wonderful and beautiful place.

Living room mud floor with rock left in...very grounding.

The house is heated by the sun. There is one wood stove in the living room and we have used it several times, especially when the snow storms move in. The day time temperatures get up to about 85 F in the house and down to around 60F at night. It is a perpetual summer place. It took about a week to acclimatize, but now, we are all adapted. It is like those hot summer days and cool summer nights and I swear I feel like I'm camping again, or living in my tent (archaeology field school, summer 2000). I take showers in the sunshine...in the south facing bathroom with windows looking out at the sage and the mountains in the background. We had to buy a stock water dish for the kids to take a bath...there is no bathtub in this water conscious house.

Little boy in the bath.

The house sits on 20 acres in a sustainable community (although I think the residents might have some differing opinions about the definition of sustainable). The house relies completely on solar energy for power, and although the system was recently updated and probably adequate for commuters, we have lost power twice, during two periods of cloudy days. Richard's work computer is an energy hog, but we are lucky he gets to work from home. So we sacrifice. I don't use any electricity at night when he's working. We light the house by candles and battery run camp lanterns. We hardly ever watched TV anyway, so that was easy to abandon. All of the electrical appliances are a no-no, unless we really need that Kitchen Aid, which we can run in the middle of  the day with full sun shining. Mostly, we enjoy the natural beauty and try to get by. The stove and hot water are on propane...there's a tank behind the house. And we are lucky to have a septic system in our off-grid house.

Solar panels behind E-ship

We are learning. And, we are searching for our own piece of affordable land to build our own off-grid house. I'm still having trouble trying to find a place big enough to have the animals and keep nosy neighbors minding their own business. What is with people? Bored? There was a rumor our chickens were too loud...the nearest house is what 20, 30 acres away? Whatever. Release and move on.

Coop with E-ship in background

Richard built a passive solar coop for the chickens. We are trying to downsize our flock as there doesn't seem to be the interest in eggs here that there was in our small community in Colorado.

There is a little snake that lives above the front door. It turns out there are at least two...I saw them yesterday...two little heads poking out, they just hang out and watch and smell with their little red tongues. I think they are bull snakes or maybe garter snakes. I can't ever really see enough to tell for sure. They are pretty small. The snake represents healing and transformation. We are okay with them living up there. They are the guardians of this house...here before we came.

There are also two ravens that hang out in the south meadow. Magic and creation. It is all good here.

Now, we conserve energy like crazy. We came in with our freezer (unplugged after first power outage) and our big fridge (unplugged after second power outage) and now we use the little two compressor energy Vestfrost fridge that was here. It isn't big enough, but we are learning. We keep a lot of food in the pantry...potatoes, apples, tomatoes, jars of pickles, and our jars of flours around the corner from the kitchen (it gets too hot), and our bread in a drawer under the cabinets. Richard goes out and manually moves the solar panels with the sun every few hours to get the maximum input. And we are researching and talking with our landlord about more solar panels and possible a wind turbine. If he's not up to it, but lets us install them, we can always take them with us when we move to our own piece of land and build our own off-grid house.

We also conserve water like mad. The house is on two cisterns from water catchment off the roof. We have reduced our showers and baths down to about twice a week.

Perpetual camping. We are tuning to the rhythms of the house and the rhythms of nature, as Michael Reynolds, the designer of Earthships (and yes, he designed, but did not build, this house we are in) intended. These are houses for "direct living" as he explains in his A Comimg of Wizards book (very good, spiritual book, by-the-way) and an opportunity for people to live simpler, get closer to nature and evolve into the spiritual beings we are. Wonderful.

I am in love with this house and the landscape surrounding it. And now, we are living more responsibly, being the change, and reducing our carbon footprint by remarkable amounts. So glad to be here and thankful every single day!

Moving back to Toas...the Universe is talking to me

My own silence weighs on me with the burden of a necessary self-examination. Trust your intuition, even if it appears there are no options. When your body and emotions are telling you something is not right, when your kids are acting crazier than normal, and your dog/puppy has turned into a psychotic attack dog, when your house plants are suddenly all sick and dying, and the recently (past two and a half years) quiet parrot has started screaming like a banshee again, when you're afraid to go outside and feel like a prisoner in a strange house, maybe it's time to listen to what the Universe is saying.

We moved the farm to New Mexico over the past two months. We are just outside of Taos in a place that is not unfamiliar, but strange with the taint of money. Is all of Taos like this? I just don't remember. Maybe I didn't care.

Tipped trailer, surprisingly not damaged...except the hitch.

On the move, I wrecked the trailer on La Veta Pass...flipped it on its side on a patch of ice...thought I was going to flip the car too, but managed not to. And as we came to a stop facing the wrong direction on the wrong side of the road, facing the guard rail a few feet away, my adrenaline shooting through my veins, it did not occur to me how close to death I had brought my children and myself, but how that damn pass seemed to have it in for me. It was on the other side, heading up from Taos that I hit a deer some years ago and trashed the front end of my Xterra to the tune of five grand. Lucky for me no one was hurt in either of my La Veta Pass adventures, but I sure have a hard time driving through there now without a full blown panic attack coming on.

E-ship shell, sage and Taos Mountain

But now we have landed in northern NM and the weekend we had to build a chicken coop was one of the coldest all year. The arrangement we have now puts the llamas and chickens some miles away at another property until we can build them fences and shelters here near the house we are renting. They are in the shell of a burned out Earthship on the north side of Taos, but you can't see them from anywhere, unless you are really looking for them.

Passive solar chicken coop in Earthship shell

We managed to get the coop built and everyone arranged, but it still took several lights for warmth and a few weeks for our hens to start laying normally again. I guess they are traumatized too. We did lose a few to coyotes, I'm guessing. All we found was a mess of feathers that might have once belonged to one of the four missing hens. Now, the chickens are guarded by llamas who are enclosed with electric wire.

Nothing is ideal, but we are getting by. We have found a few egg customers already and Richard touched base with some old co-workers at the Corps.

Taos is Taos...so much the same but with more people now. There are places built up here too, just like in the big cities. There are kiddie car shopping carts here too, but some of these have their own bumper stickers, reminding the young drivers to treat everyone with kindness. There is an Occupy Movement here too, but I have not met anyone or gotten involved yet. It seems I'm too caught up in the drama of my own life. I was reading Howard Zinn's A Peoples History of the United States... and got way too angry with the founding peoples of America to continue, convinced that we are now in some strange tenant farmer situation, and I'm angry and disappointed at the elitist, judgmental folks who run the world. (Yes, I have been examining my anger issues and trying to release my need to draw these situations into my life.) It would seem that 1% of the white and powerful, the rich and corrupt, have been doing bad in this country since it's very beginning.

I am driven more than ever now to find a community of like-minded folks who want to be the positive change this planet needs to survive the coming downfall of the powerful American reign. I think a lot of the west gorge area and the mesa where people seem to make their own rules. I long to meet and talk with some of these open minded folks to see how their community differs so vastly from the mainstream world where resources are hoarded and people are exploited to gain more.

We are still searching for our piece of land to build our little sustainable farm, and I'm afraid that the place we are now is not really doable for more than the very short term. It is an emotional minefield of some variety, and the energy is wrong. I'd love to have some peace and not have to worry about my dogs and where Richard left something, and how the llamas and chickens are so far away.

Since we moved into this house, I have been dreaming of Paris. Weird. At night I dream of moving to France...packing, getting on a plane, making all of the arrangements. Can't figure it out. When we lived in Portland, Oregon for a total of four miserable months, I dreamed of Africa. I never did figure that out either, but I'm guessing it has something to do with being in an unhappy situation and looking for a way out.

I certainly don't want to offend anyone, and hope I don't, but when the kids, the dogs, the bird, the houseplants and my dreams are all telling me that something is not right, shouldn't I do something about it?

Maybe the Mountain is testing me again. But you know what...I won't be chased off this time. It doesn't even matter. I won't go back to a house that is on the verge of falling into an old mine shaft because of earth tremors caused by fracking. No way.

I made it back to my beloved NM and I'm not leaving. Stay tuned though. We may end up out in the sage sooner rather than later.

This is my new kitchen view.

An Arroyo Seco sunset through trees...another view  from the house.

Nothing beats a New Mexican sunset when the sky is on fire and the day goes out like a fresh painting. I have come home to the land of art, where every scene is a magnificent creation by the Master Artist.

Magical Chicken Days

The Chicken Class was a big success. We had a couple of cancellations in the morning, but everyone else that signed up showed up. Thanks guys! Richard did a wonderful job. I think he's a natural born teacher. Me...I freeze in front of a crowd, so I'm better left to the writing side of things...or the sign making, which I can usually pull off on short notice.

Copied chicken, bad cut and paste

This picture does not have the chicken's feet, so when I was free handing a bigger version of this onto poster board, I had to do a little research on chicken feet. Handy if you happen to have a flock of chickens in your backyard!

chicken foot (hen)

During this class, my little ones and I were entertaining my mother and sister (who came for a short visit), on the other side of the house.

This past week sure was all about chickens... moving them around, drawing them, teaching about them, chasing them back into their yards after discovering they can fit under the gate.

New Hampshire Reds go for a walk

It was also about learning, and how life is full of lessons every single day. I learned that our farm can not accommodate dogs, so please leave them at home if you come to visit. I learned how to draw chicken feet and how to fit ten extra people comfortably in our kitchen. I also learned that miracles still happen, and when I asked for one a few days ago, in relation to our farm location situation, I never expected it to show up in the form of a jolly man who might just be the answer to my prayers. And the new adventure may just involve that old sleeping dream of living in an Earthship. How about that?

Maybe the serendipity, the synchronicity, the magic of intention and the power of the good old Universe has come knocking on my door, or maybe the wind has blown some of the dust residue from NM and Susan's good luck into my mountain valley. I can't wait to see how this all plays out.

Moving past the Holidays

The Holidays are a crazy time with senseless shopping, running around delivering gifts, trying to make sure everything is just right for that "big" day. And for what? The opening of presents. That's all that seems to matter. But, here in our house, we wait until after breakfast to calm the frenzy. It wasn't too bad this year...not many unthoughtful gifts. In fact, my second eldest daughter came home and stayed overnight. She helped with dinner and everything was nice. Family time. And then it was over. After dinner, my sweet older girl hightailed it out of here with any ride she could find. She had things to do, man. And I thought, "Thank God Christmas is over!" Another year survived.

We stayed up and watched the eclipse on December 21, the Winter Solstice, and that seemed more real to me than "Christmas." The moon turned red, or more like a faint peach color, glowing in the night sky. It was pretty cool, and although I was more caught up in the color and shape of the moon, seeing it from an artist's perspective, I realized that the short dark days were coming to an end, and that this moon, this solstice, ushered in a new era of more enlightened thinking for our planet, for our culture...I hope.


I have been noticing the lengthening of days already, even by a mere few minutes a week, and it lifts my spirit as another Christmas fades into the past. My darkest hour. It sure feels like it sometimes. I took the tree down this year two days after the big event. Some years it comes down the day after. To my surprise, some of my family members are still giving gifts. What? It's over! Let it be over! I don't want to shop anymore. I have a huge family and feel inclined to give after receiving. I know it's nonsense. The whole thing is nonsensical really. Back to the pagan holiday of Yule- giving a "gift" was supposed to be a moment of joy, of brightness to ward off the oppressiveness of the long, dark nights. We bought the little ones flashlights for Christmas, and they love them more than anything else and they have been warding off the darkness nonstop. Some of the gifts we get at this time of the year make me think of a commercialized society. Token gifts. Why bother? I have to figure out how to turn this thing around so it becomes more about time spent together...good food, good music, good conversation. Let's lesson the hectic pace of Christmas just a bit.

We also closed on our house in the Springs this week, and as I signed the papers and handed over the keys, I tried not to cry as I said goodbye to my old Victorian girl. She's a beautiful house. Wrong place and way too expensive for us, but I loved her dearly while we were enclosed in her warm safe, homey arms. Great memories. But now, we can focus on our little farm here and move in another direction.

Chicken fort

Richard has been moving chickens around. For Christmas, I got the stinky baby chicks out of my "studio" (spare bedroom, storage, office), which is a delightful thing. The babies in the big coop moved up to the chicken fort in the upper garden, and the little babies, including my white silkie moved down to the "brooder" in the big coop. Musical chickens.

chicken house in chicken fort

 

Reds in new chicken fort

This new chicken yard gives us the ability to separate flocks. The new babies will comprise a new flock of twelve. The older chickens in the big coop are still having issues with plucking each other and a general bad attitude since I had those lavender guineas in with them, and even though the guineas are gone, the weird behavior continues. I don't want any of my new chickens picking up these bad habits. The chicken fort in the upper garden will allow us to use the chickens in that garden for bug control and fertilizer.

We are still working on fencing and hope to get the north east corner of our property done with the pallets to allow the chickens in the lower garden, the aggressive poultry, more room to roam. Maybe if they have more to do, they will stop beating on each other. Maybe they are fighting over Charlie the Roo. Maybe I should take him out of the picture. Who knows.

On a side note, the two little fuzzy chicks are still tiny in comparison to the faster growing standard size layers. I've had them separated by twos in their respective rubbermaids in my office. The little black and white Cochin is the tiniest of all, but carries the biggest attitude. I wonder if it is a rooster. Ever since I've had him, when I change out food and water, he/she attacks my hand, and not just a pecking, but a hold on and tear off the skin kind of attack. He/she is a little pit bull of chickens. I was thinking of allowing him to grow enough to turn into dinner maybe, but when I moved all of my youngest chicks down to the brooder, the little Cochin Napolean seems to be getting his own dose of abuse--getting stepped on and chased by his new/old chicken room mates. And I, being who I am can only feel sorry for the little guy. Is it his fault he's smaller than anyone else on the farm? I suppose that would give anyone an attitude problem. His future remains open as we wait and watch the chicken antics in establishing a pecking order. The little white Silkie is still the cutest thing, her feathers growing over her eyes like some crazy Andy Warhol hairdo. I love her, still.

So, with the hectic holidays, we are trying to play catch up. It might snow tonight, believe it or not, so we are trying to get the animals and the farm ready for the storm and the very cold temperatures that are predicted. We have to hook up some sort of heat for my two remaining guineas, who ideally should be warmer than chickens, so Richard is on his way into town to get some hay for the llamas and extension cord for a heat lamp for my pet fowl. I really don't like cold, or snow, but we sure need the moisture. We had a weird day last week when it rained all evening and never turned to snow. In Colorado? Weird. It felt like some Spring or Fall night when I went out to put the chickens to bed. Warm. Odd weather is a comin' and we better get used to it, I think

Other news? Well, we took the Billy and Lily the goats back to their home. Breeding time is over and hopefully all the girls will have babies in the Spring. We have to order more kid jammies for the little ones that will be coming. Goat pajamas are the cutest. We sent out a flyer on the CSA with Christmas cards but still have no takers, yet. We are still trying to rouse enough interest locally to purchase a dairy cow communally, sharing milk, expenses and chores. If we could afford to buy the cow outright, we would and just sell extra shares, but we don't have the $1300 a local dairy is asking for their bred yearling Jersey. So, we may have to wait on a dairy cow. And we are working on turning the dining area of our kitchen into a more friendly public space to hold classes in the future.

We recycled some dressers and found some cheap plywood that will be stained to make into a desk/counter/workspace area. I'd like to get real cabinets, upper and lower to hold our canning supplies, dairy supplies, soap making supplies, etc.

Also thinking of putting in a three compartment sink. It is so difficult to wash those big cheese and canning pots in a standard kitchen sink. Would it look too weird, I wonder? Planning a greenhouse on our patio, on the south side of our house. If we could turn it into an enclosed space, it would get solar gain to let heat into the house and we could of course grow our plant starts out there. I'd like the south side of our modular to turn into the front face of an Earthship. Wouldn't that be something?

Found some leather scraps to sew on the bottom of my felt slippers. We did finish a tin can man which we gave to my mother for Christmas. It's a big hit, but I forgot to take pictures. Working on another. Always staying busy here on the farm. So much to do with kids, animals, crafts, gardens to plan and remodel projects. The next year will be full of wonderful things!