Family Farm

October 2010-March 2011

So, in 2010 I ran into a little problem, my landlords needed to sell their house, in which I was renting a room. My roommate and I quickly found a great new place to stay, but due to technical issues, my room wouldn't be available until January 2011 and I needed to be out by October 2010.

The thing of it was, I'd been meaning to head down to Texas to visit with family and friends for a while, but the timing never seemed right, so it occurred to me that visiting Texas in the fall/winter seemed like a good idea. I contacted my parents, made sure that the timing would be good for them, and voila, I have a place to stay while my new room gets fixed up.

I did have to quit my job, they weren't keen on me going on a leave of absence for three months, and during the busiest shopping days, no less, but two years in a job with no real advancement opportunities and unimpressive hourly wages was enough for me anyhow.

So down I went. I won't lie, I enjoyed the change of scenery, seeing friends. But it wasn't all relaxation, I got a bit done too:

I started by making a place to hang some tools

And putting up some shelves in the garage

It may not look like much, but all of those shelves were hand screwed in, so believe me when I tell you: OUCH. I got some fun blisters out of that.

Then my dad and I built a woodshed.

It wouldn't have been nearly this well made if I'd tried to do it myself

Then my mother had a doctor's appointment that didn't turn out to be as routine as we hoped. Long and short of it, she needed surgery. My dad arranged to take some time off work so he could take care of her, but that took both of them off the farm. I extended my stay so I could take care of the animals and give them one less thing to worry about.

Then things got more complicated. I won't get into it, but I went from extending my stay an extra week or two, to staying until the end of March.

Thankfully, my mother made a full recover (thank you God), and I put my time on the farm to good use.

I made some shelves

I put together some mulch piles

I got wood out of the debris pile

I put together some chicken nests

I didn't work myself to death or anything. I still had time to do some writing, I got about eight short stories written, and I got to spend more than a little time enjoying myself.

Took a lot of walks in the pecan orchard

And I spent a lot of time just enjoying the farm

I could have done without the health scare for my mother, but other than that, I had a fantastic time.

I even got to meet my sister's new boyfriend, when they flew in from San Francisco to visit us.

Well, no you're up to date, I'm sure you were dying to know all that about my time in Texas.