Frozen Farm

So maybe I jumped the gun a bit when I said I was ready to be posting regularly again.

I feel I’ve got a good handle on my classes, now it’s just my living situation I need to figure out. I’m in the process of moving into the converted barn on the ranch and spending several days a week at it. It’s absolutely gorgeous and something of an adventure, but half the things that make it the latter are causing me no few problems.

There’s limited electricity from the barn itself. What little there is fluctuates so that the lights flicker and dim constantly. We’ve jury rigged an extension cord from the house the main house, where the lady we just closed the deal with is still living, and that works beautifully, but only for so many items. At night I have to pick between having light or charging my computer.

But the biggest issue is the heat. The warmest it’s been since I’ve come up here is maybe fifty, but spends most of its time fluctuating from upper thirties to lower forties. Which wouldn’t be so bad if the barn didn’t somehow manage to get colder than the outside. Stone floors, uninsulated metal roof, fire-stove that can’t properly expel the smoke up through the flu pipe, and a heater that blows out the electricity all combine to keep the interior five degrees colder than outside at any given time. And it rained all day yesterday so no opening windows.

I’m loving it.

Half the time I can’t feel my fingers, which makes writing a huge challenge, but I’m adjusting. As I said earlier this is an adventure and an absolutely gorgeous one at that. Let me walk you through my morning.

• Got up, took the dog for a long walk through the pastures.
• Got back to the barn, ate breakfast, read, planned a little for the day and talked to a friend of mine about a problem they’ve had with their writing.
• Went back out in the pastures, explored, found a log to sit on and wrote in a notebook
• Found the horses and fed them carrots
• Came home, showered, ate lunch, and now on to school work, blogging and more writing.

Life is cold but life is good.