December 2022 I “retired” from the business Pennye & I started some 17 years earlier. This left open a world of possibilities.
What to do, what to do, what to do…………
Cooking ~ start testing all those recipes I’d bookmarked since forever
Finish removing all non native plants and replacing them with native pollinators
Set up a hydroponic system for growing vegetables.
Volunteer with animal rescue groups. Ah that’s the ticket. Lets volunteer
I decided to volunteer with Poplar Springs Animal Sanctuary. I had been following for years the postings of a good friend that volunteered there. Laughing at the stories of the pigs, cows, goats and especially of the bird that landed on her head when she arrived. Sounded oh so wonderful and bucolic. And such a good and unselfish thing to do.
Pennye & I had talked on and off for years about purchasing a property with acreage and having animals. She wants horses I want pigs. House would have a huge kitchen, a stream or pond I would grow shi-shi vegetables that I, of course would create these amazing meals with. All these thoughts were going through my head on the long drive to the sanctuary.
I make arrangements to go to Poplar Spring with my friend so she could show me the ropes. The day we went was a dreary, cold, drizzly day typical January weather. Animals need tending, need feeding, stalls need mucking and on and on and on. Never saw so much shit in my life. I moved endless piles of poop in all sorts of shapes ~ turds, hockey puck size plops to dinner plate size plops. Poop in the field, poop mixed with hay. Wet poops, dry poops. Who new there is an art to separating goat turds from hay before putting down fresh hay? There is !!!
By the end of our 4-5 hour shift I was wiped out and covered head to toe in red mud and who knows what else. I could barely lift my arms and walking was difficult.
So much for what I had envisioned my Martha Steward magazine cover country life would be. Does she deal with poop?
I still want the house with land, the kitchen, garden and maybe just a few dogs & a few cats and couple of pigs ~ I LOVE pigs. I guess a horse or two for Pennye. And goats ~ they are awfully cute.