The girl team still prevails in the Gentle giant Meadows barnyard. Each morning Grace appears bright and early from the WWOOFER “penthouse” and takes her infusion of caffeine from the largest coffee mug we can muster before she starts her day. Not quite so early…perhaps just as the cuckoo clock prepares for her 7.30 call, a tousled, harried but always cheerful  Laura will appear to snatch her breakfast on the move. Somehow heavily outnumbered in the gender field Greg still manages to keep control over projects chores disasters and successes but cannot manage to get his boots on before the rest of the team have loaded eggs, bags camera various sundry items and one black and white Border Collie into the back of the truck. Invariably our days start giving poor Greg a difficult time for his tardiness as an anxious Bran and we three ladies tap our feet waiting for him to emerge from the garage to start our day.

After a threatening bump appeared in the water hose I knew it was only a matter of time before a little bump grew into a big bump and subsequently into a huge geyser. Sadly I stored my observation in the little “later” compartment in my must do list and casually passed the information on to Greg as a loaded, steaming wheelbarrow was on it’s way to the manure pile. Even more sadly….or maybe not, yesterday the geyser erupted just as poor unsuspecting Laura was about to use it. Fortunately for us Laura has a sense of humour and no offence was taken as we laughed at the dripping wet figure standing forlornly in the barnyard. Poor Laura.

The girls got to perfect their tractor driving skills yesterday as manure was taken to the orchard to ring the fruit trees. Greg had thoughtfully marked the irrigation risers by putting sticks into the ground. Bran clearly appreciated Greg’s thoughtfulness and during the course of the morning the dog enthusiastically collected said sticks to present to Grace in an attempt to instigate a game of fetch….leaving the risers at the mercy of the tractor tires. We have no reason to believe any risers were damaged and even if they were, we (a) blame the dog and (b) call in the no blame policy. Well done the girl team !

On a not so positive note, the hay stacked in the barn usually remains  stacked in nice uniform tidy lines until next Summer. Yesterday I noticed that our hay pile was alarmingly on the move, the nice uniform stack was no longer upright and many of the bales were balancing precariously on the edge of a hay avalanche…..ooops looks like operator error at the stacking stage but no blame policy….right ?

Time to be on the move. Greg is selecting appropriate photos for today’s entry and the cuckoo clock has spoken. Take care, keep safe, M            

I no longer feel quite so inadequate….I’m not alone in my spatial dyslexia. It isn’t only me that always, constantly, without fail turns left instead of right. It’s not only me who sails blissfully past whichever destination my GPS has already directed me to and it isn’t only me who can travel the same road for nine plus years and still doesn’t know the way. It may be that I am worse than others afflicted by “lost syndrome” but I know I am not alone…. And it helps. Our new young WWOOFER Grace was due to arrive on Wednesday and each time Bran the Border Collie raised the alarm indicating a barn visitor (and sounding like said visitor would not make it through the gate alive) I rushed to greet our new volunteer. After the umptyumpth race to the corner to cast a welcoming smile and finding only our black and white dog threatening to kill yet another egg customer I surrendered to the little voice in my head telling me to be patient. Not too good at that ! When I had almost given up and the girl team ( oh, and Greg) had adjourned to the house for a well earned lunch I noticed a car attached to a bicycle with a young lady looking a little concerned at the locked farm gate. Poor Grace had got lost on her drive, which makes me feel a little better, clearly “lost syndrome” isn’t age induced….and that is a good feeling. I know Greg touched on the subject on his last post but belatedly, welcome Grace, our youngest ever volunteer. Grace joined Laura who has been with us a week, a little dynamo who has energetically embraced ranch life and shown a determination to leave Gentle giant Meadows Ranch knowing as much as we do….or more. Grace met the team over lunch and was soon looking every inch the rancher wielding a growling chain saw and splashing in the cool shady creek as the erosion control project began to take shape. If arriving (eventually) at a strange place with a bunch of strange people ( very strange people !) was intimidating, Grace didn’t seem to notice. With a confidence that belies her age and experience she was soon kissing Lady the huge gentle Shire mare, picking out dinner plate sized hooves milking Daisy Mae the Dexter cow, being dribbled on by Misty Moo the Jersey heifer and shmoozing with Charm the golden palomino gelding (aka beauty with lots of attitude ). We are looking forward to introducing her to all the varied experiences on the ranch over the few weeks she is part of our extended ranch family.

Laura as previously mentioned is anxious to have a go at everything and despite her tiny frame is never far from the action…always with a smile on her face and never complaining. Clearly balancing is not Laura’s greatest skill or maybe the clear running creek was just a little too inviting on a steamy hot sunny day but she has the honour of being the first to get dunked when a slippery wet log inconveniently (or conveniently !!) relocated itself. The project isn’t finished yet but thanks to our young helpers it is well on the way and we look forward to it’s efficiency being tested when the Autumn storms arrive.

I would like to saw a HUGE thank you to Grace’s mom who, recognizing my English taste buds sent her lovely daughter off to the farm with a care package for me. DIGESTIVE BISCUITS, lemon curd, strawberry jam marmalade and a wonderful box of P G Tips (tea). Thank you so much, I can’t promise that I will share….but I can promise I will enjoy !!

Finally, we have all heard of “egg on your fade” but poor Greg was the ungrateful recipient of roosters revenge. As he was handling a big white rooster the unappreciative bird directed yucky projectile poo onto his face neck and t shirt. NOT the face mask you would ever aspire to but a great photo opportunity for the ranch paparazzi ( me !!!)

Time to go. The cuckoo clock has spoken, Bran is ready for another day and down at the barn old T Bone will be gnashing his teeth and Starbuck will be slavering in anticipation for breakfast.

Take care, keep safe and cool, M

What a great three weeks I’ve had at GGMR! So many wonderful people, projects, and never-ending learning opportunities.

Just yesterday we finished Part I of a summer project: erosion control on the stream that cuts through the farm from the irrigation pond. I spent a few hot afternoons with Greg and my fellow WWOOFers, pounding metal stakes into the ground, rolling logs into place, and building 5’ wooden boxes that will prevent the stream from aggressively eroding away at the embankments that hold it (see pictures!)

The great thing about these projects is that finishing them (even though, admittedly, this erosion control is still a work in progress) brings a great sense of accomplishment. Those hours of hard work pay off, and the result is an improvement to this farm that I have grown to love!

I have had such a great time here. Greg and Maureen are truly an inspiring couple that greeted us WWOOFers with a smile when we rolled out of bed at 7:00 each morning (and they get up at 5:00!). Through all of our work together, I didn’t hear a single argument or complaint. Only positivity, patience, and a love for their animals and friends. I feel so lucky to have spent this time with them, to have learned from their outlook on life, and to be reminded that life isn’t about money or prestige: it’s about doing what you love, with people that you love.

Maureen—thank you for your kindness, hospitality, and for making me feel at home (including baking me a cake on my birthday!)

Greg—thank you for teaching me so much (tractor-driving, hose-mending, and lumber-sawing, just to name a few) and for your never-ending patience in your explanations and answers to my questions.

To the other WWOOFers I shared this with—Anna, Holly, Laura, and Grace—I am so happy that I got to know you, and I wish you all the best!

Thank you, GGMR, for being so welcoming—I know I’ll be back the next time I come to Seattle! I’m taking with me many fond memories, new skills (power tools!) and these wise words from Maureen: A stranger is a friend you haven’t met yet.

Love,

Katie

As the hot Summer sunshine beats down over Western Washington, the fields are turning from green to brown and the rushing creeks are slowing to a lazy trickle. The horses, cows and sheep spend much of their day in the shade of the towering cedar trees. The young turkeys and the chickens disappear into mud holes long since dug to try to escape from the heat but Tom the turkey is in Turkey Heaven. So many women and they are all his….all attempts of insurrection by the younger males are hastily quelled, Tom isn’t prepared to share his harem. Slowly but deliberately he glides around the pen, wings dropped and tail feathers fanned, his snood constantly changing from white to vibrant red and vivid blue as he poses and courts his ladies.

Sadly Anna left to return to college, we miss her lively personality and quick wit but look forward to her return one day. Katie still lights up the ranch with her easy going manner and her radiant smile and has been joined by new house guest Laura who arrived on Sunday to spend two weeks here at the ranch. Together the two girls have been busily mastering the many varied activities in the barn, orchard and pastures. It is always a pleasure to share the farm with our young friends and….since I’m out of time (once again where does the time go ?) sincerely hope that Greg’s photo selection gets my approval.

Time to go, another hot day down at the barn is waiting. Take care, keep safe, M

And the shuffle continues. We bid Anna a sad farewell. We were sorry to see her go. Then it was a quick bed sheet change and welcomed Laura. Laura's arrival was not without its own share of mishaps though. Laura's bus didn't leave South Dakota when it should have. A day later she was on the road only to have a breakdown in Missoula. Then another delay and finally arrived Sunday morning. Two days late and never a chance to see the countryside since the whole trip was most all in the dark. Laura was glad to be here and we were happy to see her.
Another tour group visited us, this time a group of girl scouts from the east side of Seattle. And as usual Lady, Quest and Misty had everyone in awe. Those creatures never let us down and bring smiles to anyone coming over with a carrot or piece of bread. Lot to be said for treats! Thank you for your very generous donation to our local Food Bank collection, I'm sure our community will be very grateful as are we.
Well there is no rest even after such a long trip. Laura was immediately immersed in our activities.( Thanks to Julie and Bill in South Dakota for taking such great care of our new house guest.)   Construction has started on the erosion control behind the barn. Years of severe erosion has our concern and a caused us to push ahead with an abatement program. the girls were busy practicing their skills putting together some sluice boxes that will help capture some of the gravel heading downstream. Fun project for hot days.
Laura comes to us with some horse skills so got right to it with Starbuck and Lady. Laura had to admit, she had not worked with a horse a big a Lady.
As you can tell, Its not Maureen writing today's entry. Maureen is off baking a birthday cake for Katie. Today is Katie's birthday. We will help her celebrate this special day today with a cake and barbecue later this evening.
Well time to wrap it up and get on with packing the eggs and off to the morning chores. Take care and enjoy the weather and photos. G

Well, after 9 years I thought we had seen everything but clearly not !!! The evening had been designated “Costco night” which meant that I had my statutory five minutes to get a wash, brush up, sprit zed and “citified” and Greg had time to remind me how long I had… and to change his t shirt. “The best laid plans of mice and men….”.  The rather odorous Honey buckets had been cooking in the heat of the sun all weekend and the plan was that the familiar blue plastic structures and their unsavoury contents would leave when the Green River Mountain Men left…sadly, as the last horse was groomed, the flags were lowered, Tiger and Shy the resident mouse catchers curled up for the night on a hay bale and the girl team (and Greg) headed up for the evening, said Honey Buckets were still on location in the barn yard. After a terse phone call, Mr. “I’ve come for them now, I’m not on a schedule and I need to return with 2 Honey Buckets” appeared to complete his invoice,… whether we were home or not. Reluctantly, checking his watch and Costco’s closing time Greg accommodated “Mr. Honey Bucket”. The two Honey Buckets wafted off  and a disgruntled Greg returned to the house to check on the progress of my transformation. With one leg in a pair of jeans and halfway into a clean shirt I happened to notice a strange figure on the wrong side of the fence, wandering through the supposedly padlocked barnyard. “Uh…..someone’s in the barnyard Greg and he doesn’t look like he’s supposed to be there ” . Predictably, yet another deviation to his plans caused Greg to have a semi melt down……the FULL blown meltdown came AFTER his conversation with the aforementioned strange figure. I guess the conversation followed the lines of….”WHY are you in my barnyard when the gate is locked” curiously the very unrepentant and accusative reply was “I was looking for eggs, I have been twice and you had sold out” Greg replied that he could have called the sheriff , the even more curious reply from our middle aged trespasser was, “go for it, call the sheriff, I have been here twice and you were sold out both times”. Oh…right, so he had a valid reason to break in, silly us, we thought a locked gate after a 12 hour day meant we were closed, clearly it means that we aren’t there…. but the eggs may be. Really ? The icing on the farmyard cake came when our un- announced and unwelcome farm visitor announced that he would be looking for a new egg provider…hopefully on his schedule.

Holly returned to the ranch today after several months back in the city. With freshly painted nails and not a hair out of place, our long time WWOOFER volunteer arrive for a few days. If I was a betting woman, I would be happy to wager that, despite pounding posts, weeding the garden and rooting in the creek, Holly will still be impeccably groomed when she heads back to her real life in Seattle. There is just NO justice !!! Welcome home Holly.

Tomorrow is Anna’s last day here, after 6 weeks, it is tough to become fond of our WWOOFER guests only to have to wave them goodbye. Since our dynamic young volunteer is living and studying in Tacoma my guess and hope is that it is au revoir…not goodbye. Thank you Anna, it has been fun having you here. Come back soon !

The girl team, under a scorching Summer sun got to work on erosion control in the creek. Katie, Anna Holly and Greg set out to right what wind and rain had made wrong. All afternoon, the sound of whirring chainsaws and steel pounding steel echoed across the valley and as the evening shadows fell the newly reinforced creek bank looked like it could contain the worst of the Winter flooding. It’s going to be a long term project but we will never forget the team that made it happen.

Well, time to go, it has been a long hot day, we are tired, Bran the dog is tired and the cuckoo clock has spoken. Good night, take care, keep safe, M

Ranch Lessons by our guest editor Anna.

After six weeks at Gentle Giant Meadows, I've been instructed on some of the finer points of life on the ranch. Each day provides challenges and lessons that are unique, and make up the fabric of life here for Maureen, Greg, and the volunteers they welcome into their home. For example, I've learned how to dodge a half-ton cow in season, I've crafted the art of tackling spirited young rams, and overcome fears in facing Hitchcock-esque encounters with turkeys in small, enclosed spaces. Life here on the ranch has had me learning how to confidently grab hold of an animal’s foot whose hoof is the size of my face, and whose back I can’t see over, even on my tiptoes. I've wielded a chainsaw skillfully enough to lower my mother’s blood pressure upon seeing the pictures (hopefully, sorry Mom). And I've learned how not to crash the tractor into various structures around the farm (a skill learned only through experience).

These examples only begin to give you a picture of the lessons learned everyday here on the ranch; however, the biggest lesson I will take away from my time here is how to pursue what you love most with who you love most. Maureen and Greg go on smiling through the horse poop, and the sheep poop, and the cow poop, and ESPECIALLY the chicken poop (that one is hard to smile through), and they do it because they are passionate about their work, and get to spend each day building something with the one they love. It is not often that you get to see two people so genuinely enjoying what they do, and whom they do it with, and that has been an inspiration. Over the last six weeks, with care and thoughtful instruction, I've learned many of the finer points of ranch life, and, through watching the Washington sun set over the pastures and Maureen and Greg live this dream together, I've learned many of the good, simple, points of ranch life too.


Thanks so much to Anna for reflections. As always, time to go, animals waiting for their breakfast. 

In the Gentle Giant Meadows Ranch barnyard Old Glory and the Union Jack drifted lazily in the breeze as the red flag with inlaid Union Jack of the Hudson Bay Company was raised in our back pasture. One by one, white canvas tents, singular in colour ( ok, color) but each with a different character appeared as a historic style campsite marked the site of a re-enactment of a fur trappers gathering. Curls of grey smoke rose from the cooking fires as our ranch drifted back in time to the mid 1800’s and period dressed re-enactors recreated an era in our nations early history. We were hosting a small rendezvous with members of the Green River mountain Men over the weekend and we had an amazing time.

My weekend started at the Blue Willow Lavender Farm where I had a vendors stall and my book “Gertie and Quest, a true story” has found it’s way into other children’s hearts and library shelves. There, in fields of blue, lilac and white waving lavender plants I was able to share the beauty of the farm with the hundreds of visitors who wound their way through the flower beds. Thank you Bill and Tracy for letting me share your weekend and to all the lovely guests who spent time visiting with me.

Back on the ranch, Greg Anna and Katie were initially busy preparing for the Mountain Men’s arrival and subsequently ensuring that our re-en-actors weren't lonely ! Both Anna and Katie shot a black powder rifle kindly loaned by a member and Katie discovered a skill that she didn't know she had…..if Katie has an axe in her hand, please don’t upset her !  Karen thoughtfully provided Katie and I with outfits appropriate for the occasion and Patrick rooted in an old trunk for a shirt which took Greg back in time. The evenings found us around the camp fire where our new friends were happy to ensure that re living the lives of our forefathers was an enlightening and fun experience….oh and our glasses were never empty !

Thank you SO much for letting us share your endless stories and your knowledge, your dedication is an inspiration. WE loved you all.

Time to get back to July 2013…there’s a barn full of animals waiting to be fed. Take care, keep safe and cool, M

Aching old bones crawled out of bed yesterday morning…..bright smiling faces appeared from the WWOOFER headquarters downstairs. In the field, the remaining hay bales lay like corpses awaiting retrieval and in the barn the 600 bales already collected are already filling every corner with the sweet smell of newly cut grass. The girls, Anna and Katie were excited to get to work, Greg and I, with several years of haying history behind us and muscles and bones already complaining were taking a little more persuading. With the sun shining, two smiling WWOOFERS and an over excited Bran in the back of the old Ford farm truck we headed off to finish the job started on Saturday evening, determined to prove that the girl team was just as efficient as Sunday’s boy team ( apologies to Heidi !!)…..and I may be ever so slightly…just a little biased but I reckon we were ! Those young ladies bucked bales like they had done it all their lives and I was so proud of them. As the last bale was squeezed into the last available slot, as dirt and sweat ran down their faces they were still smiling. Haying is tough work…but out there in the pasture surrounded by towering cedar trees in the sunshine I remember thinking….life is good.

Thank you to everyone who took part in this years haying experience…..we try to convince ourselves could have managed it ourselves ( it would have taken us 2 weeks and not been nearly as much fun though!) but wonder if we could book you in advance for next year…same time…same place….please ?

Time to go…irrigation to worry about now !

Take care, keep safe, M

It’s Monday…we got through day 2 of the 9th Annual Hay Experience and with only about 3 loads to bring back to the barn, we can take today a little easier.

Last evening we arrived at Purdy Park and Ride smelly dusty and hot to meet and greet our most recent WWOOFER volunteer, Katy. Welcome to Gentle Giant Meadows Ranch Katy, we hope you leave with many happy memories and many many more new experiences.

It’s official…..we have THE best friends in the world ! On Saturday Chuck began churning out the bales behind his chugging old tractor and the call came to stand by for this years haying extravaganza. Anna had been given the long holiday weekend off in honour of her birthday and Independence Day and Greg and I were “home alone”….but we weren’t alone long. One by one friends and neighbors volunteered their muscles to the cause, we had a total of three bad backs, a bad shoulder a pokey eye and 2 of the best looking young hay buckers in the USA. Thank you William and Johnny. I remember when you were knee high to a grasshopper….are we getting old ? Poor Heidi arrived at the barn with an eye looking like she had been through 5 rounds with Joe Frazier and lost. All afternoon she dragged pulled and bucked hay with a watery red eye and a freely running nose, a scratched cornea didn’t stop Heidi smiling and we want to let her know how much we appreciate her. Patrick and Kelly, thank you for giving up a very hot humid Sunday to help….we love you and hope that you don’t hurt too badly today. It’s hard work…it’s hot and tiring but we had a great time spent with amazing friends under a clear blue sky and it can’t get better than that. Today we take Anna and Katy back to the field for the last bales. It will be their first venture into bucking hay….hopefully they are still smiling when the last of the hay is firmly pushed into place in our big cedar barn. By the time the hay elevator finally grinds to a halt and the little motor falls silent we will have moved 817 bales from the field. We do have THE best friends and neighbors.

Time to go. Animals to feed, stalls to scoop and more hay to move. Take care keep safe. M