Tuesday, August 27, 2013

The Dog Days of Summer...

Wow...

The first month of my internship *flew* by and is almost over, and then on to September.  Time feels extremely warped here.  As the weekdays fly by, you begin to realize that you've gotten so behind on posting and telling friends and loved one's about ALL of the incredible experiences and adventures you're having, you don't post enough to Facebook, you're behind on laundry (this is nothing new, though), and you haven't mailed out all of those letters that you thought you would.  Oh yeah, and all of that reading you thought you would get done --- ha, that's funny... that hasn't happened yet either.  But so many other things have, and I'm going to try my hardest to keep up so that you all can follow along!

Here's a sneak peek into some of the "family fun" happening at Vegan House (one of the two intern houses).  Pizza night with homemade banana and peanut butter ice cream topped with crumbled nutter butter bars (Keebler makes as awesome vegan version) as a topper for dessert!

Top row (from left to right): Puppy (or Poppy as we call her for now), Shelly, and Amy
Bottom: Hazel and I



Wednesday, August 14, 2013

The Frat House

One of our after work duties involves "Closing Sheds", which means you go around to a handful of small barns/sheds and slowly round up the appropriate animals into the shed and then count them all in order to insure that everyone's in safely for the night.  This activity includes herding in chickens, ducks, roosters, and turkeys.  It's always an entertaining adventure. One shed in particular always proves to be a particularly exciting event every night that you visit it.  This past Sunday proved to be no different.  I deemed this shed, "The Frat House"...

In this particular shed, all of the ducks and roosters are male.  Testosterone flows throughout this shed like cheap beer at a field party.  The boys are rude, rowdy, and unpredictable. 


Monday, August 12, 2013

Wednesday, August 07, 2013

Joey and Meg vs. The Porcupine Mountains - Part IV - The Porkies

Alright, Destination 4; the main focus of our trip...

This is going to be a LOT of pictures because, as we've previously addressed, I have a problem.

The Porcupine Mountains (The Porkies) in the Upper Penninsula of Michigan did not dissappoint.  We WAY underestimated the bugs (the flies drew blood in swarms, folks.... they were waiting for our bodies to feast upon), but besides that, the landscape and the nature was breathtaking!

We camped at the "rustic" Presque Isle campground.  Here there was no running water (only a hand pump off in the woods) and no electricity or plumbing.  That meant no showers, but there were non-plumbing bathroms (like a porta-potty type structure, but prettier than a porta-potty).  It was quiet, beautiful, the campers were all very respectful, and it was very close (within walking distance) to some of the most amazing trails in the park.



Tuesday, August 06, 2013

Welcome to the Farm!

*Ok, there will be a random post soon, finishing up our trip to the Porcupine Mountains.  I haven't had the time to finish uploading pictures/writing the post, but I'm CLOSE...so close!  Stay tuned...

Helloooooo!

So sorry that it has taken me SO long to put up my first post about the farm, but it has been a *whirlwind* of information, hard manual labor, and lots and lots of introductions... of both human and animal individuals; oh, and yeah... there was also a Hoe Down.

Needless to say, it's been a very exciting time so far!  Being away from Joey and my ladies, friends, and family has been extremely tough.  However, when I find myself feeling really homesick, or just wanting to see Joey's face and hear his voice, I feel a nudge against my side, or find a cat curling up in my lap, or a chicken cooing at me through their hospital cage and I feel an instant sense of relief.  Hanging out in the sheep barn and having a group of 5 sheep walk up to you, wanting love and attention, is just *too* much to handle.  I spend a portion of my workday squeezing in time to hug a sheep... it's incredible.

So, working here is LONG and HARD, but the feeling at the end of a long workday, after you've kicked your boots off and fall into a comfy chair for the first time all day, is completely worth it... in fact, it's ecstasy. Finding time to write and upload pictures has been challenging, but I think I've devised a system.  I will try to post on Monday's, Wednesday's, and Friday's.  This week I'm obviously not on schedule, but I'll get there.  If I don't, please don't yell at me...

Here are some pictures from around the farm and here at Vegan House (one of two intern houses).  It's going to be a mish-mash of pictures, but other posts will be more specific.  Enjoy!

 the drive to the farm...

 the hills of Watkins Glen...

 Sophia, my NY cuddle buddy...

Snacking and games at Vegan House.  Brought to you by Beyond Meat Chicken Strips (SO GOOD), delicious soft herbed "cheese", and "The Dr. Laura Game"... yes... we will be playing this soon :).

Joey, the goat... he gets lots of extra love from me ;)

 Elliott, the goat.

And, the pigs...


 The Doctor... such an awesome dude.

 Harry, the floppy-eared pig.

 Marge, who lives right across from our house and who will come trotting up to us when we visit.

Pig Butt.

And, the piglets Ruby (right), and Winston (left).  These two are trouble and constantly making work on the farm twice as hard as it already is.  It's ok though, because they're adorable :).


I can't wait to share more with you as time passes and I'm able to upload more pictures!

Happy Tuesday!