Stories of the Farm

A little bit about the fam. Bokka is originally from Prague and Roy is from London, but they've lived here in Ireland the past 20 years. Their house is split up into chunks, but the main cottage where the kitchen, storage room, and living room are is over 200 years old! It was built from rocks and earth right around this area. That's it. And then they have a separate area where they all sleep that's like a non moveable trailer. Roy is deaf in one ear (from antibiotics), can't use the bones in his left hand due to an accident during childhood, and his left eye is almost completely red from a side effect of the warfarin (anticoagulant) he's on. Not only that but he has to go into Dublin three times a week for three and a half hours of dialysis. Man, the guy doesn't have it easy but he's still killin it on the farm working hard! Hearing about the side effects of the prescription meds just reinforces my passion for always taking the holistic approach. Bokka has more energy than me it's unreal! She is full of energy and passionate about gardening and tending to the many different jobs everyday. Nicolas is a funny guy! He hates the cold so sometimes I'll wake up in the morning and hear a running sound and it's him running to the cottage.

The dogs are Mandie, Glennie, Whinnie, Molly, & Annie. And the cat is named Henry. Apparently they found a baby kitten in a split open tree right on the side of their driveway. Such a cute little fella. And a story about Glennie. He was owned by a local farmer in the area and he was keeping him locked away in his shed with no windows and was not feeding him much food. The neighbor became aware of this and would secretly feed Glennie bread and milk and finally one day when the owner left out of town he went in and took him to the vet. At that same time Roy was taking one of his dogs to the same vet and offered to take him in because they were going to put him down. I feel bad for Glennie seeing him struggle around the place! He can barely walk and just kind of mopes around. Also he will literally eat anything they give to him, even onions.

The place where I sleep is an old camper, and it's more than enough although it is somethin else ha. The roof is wavy because the rain has been wearing it down for years. There are big cracks at certain spots, like near my bed, where critters of all sorts can get in. And who knows there is probably a spider nest under the couch. The other day I woke up from a nap and there was a big fat juicy spider a few feet above me. I tried to kill it but it was an epic fail and so left it until later. When I came back in that night it was waiting for me right by my pillow on the wall. And then another day I went on a killing spree and killed more than five big spiders in one go, and then talking to myself I was like watch there is gonna be another one under my covers. There was! Like hahah! There are also slugs on some of the walls and a snail has posted up above me. I really don't care about any of the critters but I'm not gonna cuddle with some spiders at night!

After a week and a half of walking around 24/7 I was finally able to wash my clothes. I've never been so happy to have clean socks. I was resorting to wearing them inside out to reduce foot odor, and I already lost a pair so I'm down to three. Oh, and a shower sure feels good after a few days without one. Things like this deepen appreciation.

The food tastes good for the most part, but my body is still adjusting to all this cooked food, wheat and pasteurized dairy products. I'm used to eating 50-60% raw so it's a big change (I miss all those enzymes!) but is well worth the sacrifice to be able to experience this. Everyday during lunch the geese come up to the cottage door because they feed them bread. Goofy animals ha, slopping around with their feet and they hiss when you get close. I just hiss back that works out for me good.

The first day I arrived, when Roy was taking me around on the golf cart he told me about his two sons, and one of them passed away a while back, but before he did Roy asked him what his favorite tree was and he said Oak, so they have an Oak tree on their land in remembrance of him. Experiences like that, and just getting out into the world gives one a better understanding of the collective human experience. I could be out here and focus on how we're so different but I choose to see how we are all the same.