Down on the Farm!

    So, I joined this group that my friend told me about called WWOOF.  It stands for World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms.  Basically you pay a nominal fee to be a part of the organization.  This fee gives you access to make a profile and search for farms around the country that are willing to host members of this organization, which we call WWOOFERS. =)  This is a world wide organization, it's just that each country has their own site with their own fee.  I have only joined the U.S.A.  
    So, you contact a farm that sounds good to you, whether its a vegetable only farm, a small farm, a huge farm with animals, a cow farm, a wine-making farm, whatever you fancy.  You email them to tell them a bit about you and what you're interested in, if they have a vacancy for you to come, etc.  You send some emails back and forth and set up a time that you'll be there.  You're supposed to give them x amount of time (usually 4-6 hours a day) and they are supposed to provide you with room and board for the duration of your time on the farm.  It sounds like a pretty awesome things, and now that I've returned from my first woofing experience, I can definitely say, it is a really cool thing. =)

  I ended up choosing a farm that wasn't very far from where I lived, about 3 hours away, in Pennsylvania.  The name of the farm is Jamboree Farm in Legonier, PA.  They grow vegetables and have some animals on their farm.  It is also a fairly small farm.  You can find some information about their farm here.

A picture of some of their land

My hosts were Todd and Beth, and there was also another WWOOFER there, named Derek.  Derek had already been staying and working with them for about 2 months!  I was only going to stay for a week.  

Todd, Beth, and Derek were all outgoing and friendly people who made my time at Jamboree Farm fun and memorable.  

I knew nothing about farming walking into it, but I walked away with a lot more knowledge then I came in with!

We had morning chores each morning where we would let all the free range chickens, guineas, and turkeys out.  We went around and fed all the animals as well as filled all their water containers for the day.  We would also fill pools of water for the alpacas, chickens and make sure the pig's wallow hole was filled with water.
We would collect eggs from the chicken coop, wash them and put them in containers to be sold.  All in all they had about 12-14 layer chickens, 12-14 guineas, 12-14 turkeys, 80 small chicken peeps that would be meat birds, 1 mama pig with 7 piglets, 4 alpacas, and 1 small horse. 

    During my time on the farm we tended to the animals, the garden, doing planting, weeding, mowing.  We went on a nature walk and learned some of the native plants, invasive plants, different weeds.  We cleared some plants/weeds on their land.  We tilled up land and planted grass seeds in bare spots.  We moved fences to allow these animals to graze on different areas.  We started a whole new garden plot while I was there, and I used various farming tools to till up the land and make it seed ready.  

Peeps - the baby chickens

Guineas

Alpacas!

Beckham - the pony

Water break

Collecting chicken eggs from the coop

  Farmers work hard and long hours.  There's always something to do on a farm.  Starting one project will inevitably create more projects.  Todd and Beth are extremely knowledgeable and very big on fixing their own equipment, tools, house projects, plumbing, electric, cars, etc.  If you're going to own a farm you need to know how to fix your own equipment so you don't have to pay someone else to fix it.  It was awesome to be around them for the week.  It allowed me to see a lot of their skills in play.  It was nice to stay for a week to get a general feel of how things run on their farm.  

Mornings - feeding the animals

Working hard on the land

     We also had some fun on the farm as well.  Derek and I went several times to hang out with our camping chairs in the little creek that is on part of their property.  We went into town one night and had dinner at a lovely local restaurant.  We also went to the Legonier Farmers market on Saturday morning, which was filled with craft vendors, local meat and produce, and delicious food trucks!  

Legonier Farmers market

CHICKEN...

Climbing into the danger zone

Derek and a turkey!

Me and a turkey =)

Wwoofer friends!

June Lee - Derek's dog, one of the best dogs ever, I absolutely adore her!

Alpaca love!

All in all, it was an awesome, educational, and fun week.  I hope to be able to do another WWOOF experience in the future.  I learned a lot and spent some time with some fantastic people!

Back in Ohio!

Well it's been awhile, I still have some California and Chicago to catch up on, but I figured I would write today as I sit and drink my coffee and the house is stirring with activity for the holiday meal.

I'm back in Brunswick, Ohio, which is near Cleveland, Ohio.  I've been home for about a week and I'm having a fabulous time.  We're on a 2 week layoff from tour.  We just finished two weeks in Chicago, and I will return to Charlotte, North Carolina.

The week has been filled with dancing, friends, family, and cooking!

Today, I'm writing about my fabulous Saturday I had yesterday.

I went with my friend, CW, to the Cleveland Natural History Museum.  We saw dinosaur bones, and live animals, and lots of artifacts from Native American tribes, African cultures, etc.  There was also a special exhibit on mating and sex throughout the animal kingdom.  It was very interesting.  We also saw one of my favorite things to see, Balto the sled Dog (stuffed of course)  I was doing a little research and found out that it really is Balto!  (I loved that movie as a kid) 

Like I said, I saw live animals too which was quite a pleasant surprise.  They had owls, deers, foxes, a bald eagle, bobcats, vultures, and my absolute favorite, a very active River Otter!  I watched the Otter for a long long time. =)

Afterwards I took a few pictures by a beautiful lake setting behind the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Then  I returned home, did a few errands, had a few ciders in my parents new back porch and started the evening.  My Mother and I colored eggs together and I made carrot cake cupcakes.  

It was a fun filled Saturday in Ohio!

Airports

Well, today I traveled from Utica, NY to St. Louis, MO.  We have our first split week of the tour, split week meaning we do 2 cities this week.  We did two shoes in Utica and we will be having a 5 show weekend in St. Louis.

I've been to St. Louis many times and I've played here numerous times.  It's a great city if you ever get a chance to visit.  The St. Louis Arch is a must!  I have also taken the Budweiser Brewery tour in the past, and that was an absolute blast.  There are tons of great places to eat and excellent beer to drink in St. Louis.  

Anyways, back to the name of the post, "Airports."  I have a love/hate relationship with airports.  I hate that it's a 4 hour process for a 1 hour flight.  I hate security and I hate long lines.  These days it seems that there are more delays than ever. The food is way overpriced and you have to pay because there's nothing else to eat.  These are the less fun things about airports. 

That being said, my favorite thing about airports is the people watching! This is precisely what I did today for a long time while we waited for our flight.  There are so many interesting and different types of people to watch.  You really get a chance to see how different and alike we all are.  There are so many different types of styles, bodies, hair styles, heights, expressions and you can see them all at an airport.  You get to watch people walk by who are just traveling in comfort, pajamas almost.  Then there's the business folk, and the young punk folk, and the people who are just super dressed to the nines and you can't understand why anyone would want to fly in 5" heels.  There's the people who are in love, the crying children, and the people who are running like hell to catch their flight.

I get to see what's in fashion, what looks good on people, what things I might not want to wear, etc.  I don't openly make fun of or criticize anyone, that's not what it's about, and I hope you don't take the away from this rant.  I just am amused and content sitting there watching the people go by.

Do you enjoy people watching at the airport?

Well, now that my airport experience for the week is over and done with, I think I'll go out and enjoy St. Louis a little bit!

Happy Valentine's Day

Hope everyone has a lovely Valentine's Day!

Whether you are with your sweetheart or just friends, remember that you do you have people in your life that love you and that you love as well.  Also remember to love yourself because you are special and you ARE worth it.

I have many friends and family who are very dear to me, and this Valentine's Day I send my love to all them from across the miles.

On one of the sites I visit, there was a post for Valentine's Day asking people to write three things that they love about themselves.

I ask you to remind yourself of three things that you love about yourself.  Share them here or keep them to yourself, but something makes you special, and take note of that on all days.  

DC

Alright, so right now I'm at the end of the 2nd week in DC.  I only have 1 week left, but what an amazing time it's been so far.  There is so much to do in DC!  I've been enjoying the night life, the monuments and memorials, and all the MUSEUMS!  The Smithsonian museums are all free, and there is SO MUCH information in all of them. 
One of the first few days here, I walked down and saw the Lincoln Memorial, the Korean War Memorial, the WWII Memorial, and the Washington Monument.

The Lincoln Memorial

The Washington Monument

Korean War Memorial

We got much closer to the Washington Monument.

WWII Memorial

The American History Museum: DC

The American History Museum is one of the Smithsonian Museums, and one of the first ones I went to while here in DC.  Like I said before, all the Smithsonian Museums have SO MUCH information.  I always start off strong, and then a few hours in, my mind is just overwhelmed with information.
They have a really awesome exhibit happening right now all about the flag that inspired the Star Spangled Banner.  It's the original flag that was made and flew over the fort where Francis Scott Key is said to have watched from a far as he wrote the lyrics to our national anthem.  The flag is not in great shape, and is in really low lighting to help preserve it.  It was a HUGE flag.  You couldn't take pictures, which is why I don't have any to show you, but it was a pretty cool museum.

They had lots of items on display from our pop culture.  I saw a puppet of Kermit, Bob Dylan's jacket, costumes and props from various popular America movies.  They had a lot of information on different wars with lots and lots of uniforms, weapons, etc.  Lots of information on all of our Presidents, all sorts of different, very interesting exhibits.

The Ruby Slippers from the Wizard of Oz

Kermit!

It's cool, Bill Clinton was just playing some cards on my birthday back in 1998. 

One of my favorite exhibits in the museum was the one they had on the First Ladies.  They had a ton of the Ladies Inauguration Dresses on Display.  That was really fun to see!  Michelle Obama's was stunning!

First Lady Lincoln's dress

A very cool museum, and definitely worth a visit!