As promised, pictures...

There she stands, and there she'll stay. At least for a little while. In the background you can see our wooden pallets and compost pile. I really like our Airstream. and I'm liking it more and more everyday. Dan the handyman says we'll be able to move in by Friday. 
Everything I pulled out, all the bad fixtures, the curtains smelled, and the sofa was scary. 

The front of the house.

The back of the trailer, or our bedroom.
This is our torn up bathroom.
All the little critters, in the interior of the barn, that Ed and I clean everyday. We prepare their food and vitamins, shovel up all the urine-soaked and manure-covered hay and lay down new bedding. Between the two of us, we have a good little system down and we get it all clean in 45 minutes. 
The Nubian goats, Kenny and Barbie. They alway look at me funny.
Welden.
Cha Cha, not a great picture, she kept on moving. Cha Cha is very sweet and she likes me, she'll follow me around, and she lets me brush her.

the Airstream: an update

So last weekend Ed and I drove to Salem to pick up our Airstream. We drove up to Eugene, and stayed with some friends on Friday, and on Saturday morning on the way up to Salem we stopped by Corvallis. An old friend of mine's dad has a deli there and every few years I pop in to say "Hey, where is Ali?" As it happened she was living six blocks away and sprinted over to the deli for a quick hug, then we were off.
This was the first time I had seen the Airstream, the guy at the shop went over what they had fixed and what still needed to happen. It was overwhelming, to say the least. But then again I have been overwhelmingly overwhelmed for the past few months, that sometimes it's hard to tell the difference.
And then we drove back to the farm. Where there had been more gravel spread out over the pad where our little home now stands (We had gravel delivered). And we've had Dan the handyman come by to scope out the project. I was able to release A LOT of aggression taking a hammer to the interior. Well, mainly a screwdriver, and I pulled out all of the hideous vintage 1974 furnishings and decor. Tomorrow I'll take a picture of all of the junk I pulled out and all the the work we've done, and I'll post it for your viewing pleasure. And then we began tearing up the rotted floor. That was lots of fun.
So tonight our airstream stands, half clean, half torn up, with working lights, refrigator and furnace. That's a hella of a lot better than I was expecting. Dan the handyman said he'll have the thing in living condition by the end of the week, and I can't wait to sleep in there. It's actually really cute, or it will be when it's done.
Then also, we are going to build a "carport" over the Airstream, for protection (there is one leaking window that would be rather pricey to fix) and the carport will be used in our water-harvesting program.
Then there is a 16' x 16' slab that we are going to build a room over. This will be used as a office/studio (Ed plays guitar and harmonica).
Then add the fire pit and picnic table, and the little area will be sweet and cozy.

Oregon, Finally

We now have reliable Internet access, so I can start blogging again, before we got here it was just dial up and it sucked.
Well, we are now officially living in Oregon
Through a series of really long days, Ed and I managed to load all of our possessions onto a U-haul truck and while towing the Prius, drive ourselves up to Oregon.
Our Airstream is still being worked on in Salem, so we are living in the house with Grant and Carol. And three small barking dogs, that jump on your legs every time they see you and who are not completely house trained (Ed bought a choke chain and is determined to train them). And a back room full of cats and stinky cat litter boxes. Then there is the bickering of Grant and Carol. And the bickering and the barking dogs.
Also it’s really fucking cold. Like really. Consider this, I’m originally from Arizona, and up until a week ago I was living in 80° Los Angeles weather, the warmest day so far was the day of our arrival, and that was 45°. Today’s high was 37°. I am cold. And I don’t have the best winter wardrobe, or shit clothes for working around the farm.
On the up side, we have been learning to take care of the animals. There are two sheep, two Nubian goats, to Pygmy goats, two miniature horses and three geese. Grant showed us how to clean their stalls, and prepare their food, now Ed and I are going out there and taking care of it before Grant wakes up.
Also, we built our compost heap, lined it with four wooden pallets, and threw on our first pile of horse shit, hay and the tin container I’ve been keeping in the kitchen full of produce scraps. Ed said when we threw it all on, it started steaming. A compost pile will heat up to 130 degrees in the decomposition process.
We are learning our way around the town, well our house is ten miles outside of town, so I’m also learning the way to town.
Plans are in the work, first though we just need to get our trailer and move into it. It is stressful not having our own space. I’m going to get a Jack Russell terrier soon, and I’m looking for name suggestions. My little Jack Russell will follow us around while we take care of the animals and work in the garden. Also he will keep Carol’s three dogs away from me. And my dog will be trained, Ed will see to that.
Tomorrow Carol is going to teach me to trim back the rose and blackberry bushes, they already have grape vines and a plum tree. This land has great potential, and we are going to try to help coax what we can out of it, see if we can make some money off of it. That’s the goal.

leaving LA

Well, Friday was my last day at work, which was surreal to say the least. I said goodbye to the little girl I've been training, good luck, I've done all I can for you. but this world is no longer mine, it's not my life. my journey continues, I still have places to go, and right now that is to Oregon. We are almost all packed, and we pick up the U-haul truck on Wednesday. Amongst the existential angst that will always accompany a life changing move, I think I feel alright. In our good bye to LA I would like to put up a few pictures. First showing where we now inhabit, and as part of the saying goodbye process, on New Years Day, we took a hike in the Glendale foothills. I figured out how to get pictures on the side of the page so look over for our pictorial farewell to LA., and we are disconnecting our Internet today, so the next time I post it'll be from Oregon!