PASS ON THE CHALUPA

Last night I had a Spanish language practice meet-up. We meet every other week in the evening at Panera Bread in Braintree.  We had some new people there and some regulars.  A few meetings ago I mentioned the Argentine version of the game TABU that I simply love playing when I am in Buenos Aires.  It is great for practicing Spanish.  I left it behind for others to play while I am away so one of our group's members from Mexico brought a game called LOTERIA.  It is like bingo.  Many of the words needed to be explained as they were Mexican.  All Spanish countries have a different twist on their language.

One word was chalupa, a small boat.  Some of us had heard that word before at TACO BELL for a food item so as I was in the midst of driving all over the place today after seeing a client and going back to AAA for maps the word chalupa was on my mind.  My stomach was screaming at me and TACO BELL was just way too convenient.  I rarely eat fast drive thru food but I didn't know when I would be getting back to the house to cook.  I caved.  My first DO NEW of the day was a TB CHALUPA.  Terrible Terrible Terrible.  Not me - the chalupa.  Chalk that one up to experienced and never order it again.

There - that covered the DO NEWS.  Now for an update.  Last night before bed I received an email from the farm in Wisconsin inviting me to stay.  The dates slightly overlap the farm commitment in West Virgina but by the time I closed my netbook for the  night we had worked it out.  This is going to be fun.  Maybe I will even learn to flip pizza pie in the air when I am not milking something.

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We are a 200 acre pasture based dairy sheep operation (100 acres dedicated to wildlife refuge) located in lake country (8 small lakes within two miles of farm), 10 miles south of the Crex Meadows 30,000 acre wildlife refuge and five miles from Governor Knowles state forest. Our farm is low tech and predator friendly..this style of farming has worked well for us for the past 20 years. We farm with approx 8 livestock guardian dogs for sheep protection, and border collies used for herding sheep. Daily chores would include milking dairy sheep, and help moving sheep to pastures ..need to like working with dogs but don't need to be an expert, just need to be willing, and help preparing meals when needed. Also, we make amazing artisan wood fired pizza on a weekly basis, if you would like to help with the pizza or in the house that is also possible. We raise the sheep organically on an almost exclusive pasture grazing basis.  A month would be great, longer is possible too. 

We are a single family farm and there is always something to do, any interested helper needs to be self motivated (when the task is understood), have a sense of humor and be non judgmental ....patience and even temperament with animals is essential. If you aren't into farming but are good with tools and construction, and you like to eat well, you are also welcome! If you like doing housework...you are MORE than welcome ! :-)

We speak English, and really butcher the heck out of Portuguese and Spanish (nothing to rely on !) As far as diet goes, we eat almost anything (as long as it tastes really good) and also know how to cook for a wheat free diet. We are known for our raw milk cave aged cheese...we are REALLY into flavor!!! Lacto-Ovo vegetarians thrive here,(as do meat eaters) but Vegans would find it challenging. We have two bedrooms each with a double sized bed, and one bedroom with a single bed and a chaise lounge, so we can house three volunteers or three couples (now wouldn't that be a riot?!?) and of course meals. This is a pretty rustic old home, in fact, this is a pretty rustic old farm no matter how you look at it but we like it that way and we are always looking for ways to reuse or recycle something into another life form.

Home is an old farmhouse (with a couple of old coots included ) and one bath (however we do have an outdoor composting outhouse as backup!) Camping on the property would be possible if desired. We run a very relaxed operation but we are always in motion. Because of the livestock we have a No Pet policy. Due to food processing and the need to keep you safe our policy is No Drugs, No Indoor Smoking...but we do drink wine on occasion and we make AWESOME popcorn:-) Great outdoor recreational area, even in the winter !!!

If it gets hot we all go swimming, if it rains or if it is cold...Netflix time! (yes, we do have a T.V!)although poker games have been rumored to spontaneously materialize.

We have DSL internet with remote access/WI-FI. but you need to bring your own laptop.
Great area for hiking, canoeing, kayaking, fishing, swimming, jogging, and biking (dedicated bike trails 8 miles away)
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Now I have some more things to take care of plus if I don't move around this terrible chalupa is going to turn to cement in my gut.

I hope you are all having a great DO NEW week.  Keep exploring your world!