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There have been requests to update my foot photos (after my bunionectomy and osteotomy in February) so I grabbed my camera this morning and snapped a couple:
Pardon the chipped polish... I've been swimming and biking a lot lately (hooray!). That also explains why my second toe is a bit swollen this morning - 7am spinning class.
I am very pleased with my progress and healing. I have had a couple of 'ouch' days... Monday's 15-mile bike ride (after 7am spinning, mind you) found me climbing a hill that my foot did not like. But I finished the ride and propped it up when I got home and all is well. Here is a recap of before and during pics:
A friend of mine just sent this article to me. A Philadelphia firm, that I once knew, designed a milking + teaching barn for Cornell... pretty great stuff!
As many of you know, and as I just mentioned in the "back at it" post, I have been working with the College of St Joseph to get a farm started on campus! With limited resources of various natures (labor + money being the foremost), I have to be keen and scrappy - two important farming skills!
So, last week I headed out to collect some old fencing from a house near the school. Equipped with my trusty Ford F150, a good pair of gloves, and a healthy breakfast, I was able to load the fencing into the bed and haul it to the farm all by myself! One thing I didn't have with me, however, was flagging... though it was a short drive, I was still concerned about the fencing hanging out of the back of the truck bed.
Luckily, I did have a TJMaxx bag in the cab - red as red can be! So, now you can consider this fashionista's must-have a farmonista's must-have!
Oh my, how long have I been away from this blog... too long, indeed!
So much is going on right now, its hard to know where to pick back up. How about an update/review:
My foot has healed really well. I am actually looking forward to getting the left foot fixed in the fall. I wouldn't say that I am 100%, but I'm close. I should really post a picture... I will try to do so soon. I've been hiking and biking, swimming and doing yoga, I've even been working some long days both indoors and out! It is certainly weird to not be farming right now, at least not in an official way.
I did spend this past Friday helping Radical Roots Farm with some harvesting for market and restaurant sales. Pat and I belong to their CSA (yes, it is weird to be a CSA member!) and I happily jumped at the request for some help this week. It was hot and sticky, sweaty and grimy and I LOVED every moment. I really miss working on the farm. But.... I might not be that far from it!
I have been talking (and meeting and designing, and networking, and thinking...) with the College of St Joseph, here in Rutland, to start a farm on campus! We have been meeting since December and I was hired in April to create a feasibility study about a farm on campus. I have worked through budgets and schematics and have written a few proposals and philosophy statements and have now been given the 'OK' to start to work the physical land a bit. The plan, of course, is to start small and expand over time. I have been doing some preliminary work - gathering scrap fencing and cardboard - and today Pat and I truly surveyed the land with his civil engineering equipment. It is really exciting to be starting from scratch and in such a deliberate way. There is a TON of potential in this project and I am anxious to see it develop. But, if farming has taught me anything, it is patience. So, I will plod forward, gathering the materials I can and working at an appropriate pace. I will also do my best to keep it all posted to this diary of sorts I call a blog!
