Well, it's been a while! We have been living in Wallowa County for about a month and half now and I think we're adjusting to country life really well!
While we have been here we have gone to 2 barn dances-one was a fundraiser for
Wallowa Resources that ended with sore feet running back up to the dance floor while the band blasted out
Footlose-the song we'd been waiting all night to dance to! The second was an old school square dance/contra dance. We really had no idea what we were doing, but that didn't stop us from participating in a few dances. The best part of that night was that I picked up a vintage dress to wear to the next barn dance for $2.50!
We also had the hospital benefit to go to, which is
the fancy dress event of the year (at least for us!). It was a great time! We ended up winning what sounds like is going to be an amazing brunch with the rest of the people at our table...I'm just not sure when the brunch will actually happen! The biggest ticket item was a deer tag to hunt on nature conservatory land-for $1700!!
We are settling into not moving every 3 days! The inside of the house is mostly painted and we're almost unpacked-it will get done eventually. We don't have enough furniture for our house, but still, no hurry! The view from our house is pretty amazing and it changes so much depending on the weather:
But let's get to the good stuff....I milked a cow today! Let me say that again: I milked a cow today! Oh yes, I'm prepping for when we get goats (in a couple years)! With the help of our friend Jesse, we milked Belle, whose owners are out of town for a couple days.
Jesse has a few months of milking experience and I could not have done it with out her! She got Belle all set up in the milking stall stocked with grain and hay and we were ready to go! Thankfully Belle didn't kick that much and we didn't get a lot of milk, but enough to make me want to go back and do it again!
After I milked Belle, Keith and I met up to go over to his MA's house and pick up some lamb that her husband just slaughtered, including a massive leg of lamb...I love it here! Almost all the fruit, veggies, and meat we eat is locally grown (or hunted-after you eat an elk burger you become very pro-hunting!). Actually, until we get our garden/greenhouse going-which hopefully will be soon!-almost all our veggies still come from our backyard, as the local organic farmer grows most of she sells at the farmers market in our backyard! Next week is that last farmers market of the season...I'm so sad! It's become such a routine to get everything we need for delicious burgers in one place-I guess we'll just have to get a quarter cow soon. We also know some people who will have some pigs ready to slaughter soon... I'm dreaming of fresh ribs and bacon. I'm also dreaming of my little seedlings of spinach, endive, and other greens being delicious fresh greens in the middle of winter-I really hope that works out!
Generally so far I'd say we're loving it here, I'll love it more when we get chickens in the spring!
