Burning Questions You Want Answered....

Do you have snow tires?

No, not at this time. When I went to Les Schwab yesterday they were sold out of tires that would work on my little Toyota Yaris. Until then I must become Zen with the road.

Why are you living in a barn?

Funny you should ask that…. I was offered a temporary position back in Spokane at Gonzaga until the end of May. My biggest concern was finding housing for only 5 months. That was when I was offered to housesit the renovated barn until the end of March. The drive is 35 minutes from GU (in good weather, which I haven’t seen in weeks.) and about 15 minutes from the nearest Starbucks or Safeway. When you arrive at the barn, it is a quiet that I have never heard before. There is no sound…completely dead silence.

How are you posting to the blog, if you have no internet?

I type the entries on my laptop prior to coming to work the night before then when I arrive I do a quick post on-line. (The barn does have electricity…just no internet.)

Do the animals live in the same building as you?

No! It is a renovated barn. Key word: Renovated! The animals have their own barn and actually they just seem to spend the majority of their time in the fields. Yes, you read that right: fields.

Any more burning questions? Send them my way…

Day 2: Doe a Deer, A Female Deer

This morning on my way to work (after I fed the animals of course) I came across a rather frightening road obstacle: two deers. I have found the trick to driving safely on sheets of solid ice is to always have your vehicle in perpetual motion. When you, that is when the problems happen. The last thing that I wanted was to stop my car 100% and to get caught in a five foot drift out in the middle of nowhere. (I am not exaggerating about the height of the drifts here, the snow has been pile up….. it has to go somewhere, why not into a five foot drift, right?) Upon approaching the deer in the early morning light I slowed my vehicle down quite a bit but the damn animals kept crossing the road. It was almost as if they could see my white knuckles on the steering wheels. “Oh, this looks like fun. I will go left and you will go right.” One deer said to the other. In the end my little Yaris and the deers coexisted on the country road well together this morning, but next time I will come prepared…with the form of a distraction or two.

Lesson learned: Go slow and carry apples in your car as a means of distraction.

Stuck Behind Two Plow Trucks....

Ahh.... Country Living!

Day 1: We are Not in Seattle Anymore

This is a whole new type of adventure for me…. I am now living in a renovated barn as I keep for two horses, a dog and two cats. To paint the picture, there is no television….limited cell phone range…and no internet. What is a city girl to do? I will say that the surrounding area is just trees---tress and more trees. It looks like a perfect holiday card. I figured starting a blog all about my adventures and mishaps of country living would be a good way to document it all. Although it is not as glamorous or exciting as my life on ships this country lifestyle will allow me to try new things.

Speaking of which, today alone I handled many new tasks this stiletto wearing lady is proud to have accomplished:

1. I drove in snow flurries without spinning or getting stuck, until I hit my drive way. Of course that is where I got stuck, after driving for nearly 90 minutes for a drive that takes about 30. Why wouldn’t I get stuck at the last minute of the drive. Talk about irritating. Then I had to figure out how to actually get my car out of 2-3 inches of snow. Not much, but the ice underneath made the driveway super slick.
2. I successfully used a snowblower! And not one of those hand held kind, oh no imagine a snowblower that is the size and shape of a lawn mower! Here is was with inches of fresh powder trying to steer this huge piece of machinery in the slippery snow and ice. Yes, I wish someone recorded it as it would have been just hilarious.
3. I maneuvered haystacks without them toppling on top of me as I fed the two horses. I put my fear of big animals aside and remembered what Jason told me, “Horses are just like big kittens.” Thinking about that helped as I fed them hay and oats. They haven’t warmed up to me yet, but I bet they will once it is figured out that I am now the new food provider.

After unpacking and kissing my Yaris for getting me to the barn safe and sound, I decided to get settled with my knitting (yes, another new thing…) as I watched a DVD of the television show The Tudors. After my adventures outside (see above) I returned inside to stoke the fire that I had already made. That is when I discovered that for my first night in the barn, I would be left in the dark….literally. The power was out and the sun was quickly setting. Nothing like getting familiar with a new place in the dark, right?

The weather is projected to snow on and off throughout the week. It looks like I am going to be a hermit for New Year’s Eve.