An Ode to Perfectionism

 

An Ode to Perfectionism 

Hi all! It has been about 2 weeks since I've been on here not because of a lack to write about, but more so just long, busy days! My perfectionism didn't like skipping a week...it said "Stay on track - you have to do it like all the other weeks!" And I told it to relax and allow life to look a little messy and incongruent sometimes. So, here we are! Lots of growth and new things here. 

The past two weeks have been filled with some new activities, some invigorating and beautiful, and others, well to put it delicately, less fun. The first of those less fun activities involved sheering some sheep! There was a total of about 100 sheep and these particular ones didn't need a full shave, just a touch up between the legs/tails and around their eyes. The first step of the process was to prep the area (the old sheep sheering shed; i.e. our bedroom) to clear it out and make sure it was ready for the sheering. The next morning, without given any prior instructions, it was time to move the hundred sheep into the shed area. Connor and I assisted the herding dogs to get all the sheep inside the corralled area inside the shed, which takes a lot of effort as the sheep are a little hesitant being pushed indoors. Much to our surprise, as they finally start to file in, they immediately start to exit out the opposite gate that someone (maybe Connor and I) left open the day prior during prep. Once our "boss" figured out what was happening, a symphony of cuss words both in English and Spanish filled the shed and we knew we were in trouble. Yikes. It all ended up working out fine, we got the sheep back in and started on the sheering process. Connor's role was to grab the sheep from the corral area to bring them over to be sheered - think "Sheep Fight Club." There is always a better technique with these activities rather than using strength and force, so Connor was given the low down on how to properly catch one. You come up on the side of the sheep and turn the head sideways which prompts them to slowly lie down on their sides/backs. Then you take them by their front legs and drag them on their backsides out of the corral. Quite a site to see as Connor wrestles these sheep, at times slipping and sliding on the ground with them, to get them out. I had some good laughs. From there, the boss sheers the wool, cleaning all the "not-so-good-stuff" around the legs and tail area. My job was to stand with a wooden paint stick, and give a dot on the head and on their back to sort which sheep are going where. That was a long, two full days of sheep. And let's just say that outside our room smells a little more "farmy" now. 

Another episode of the incompetent farm "gringos" was when we had to move the pigs by ourselves.  We created a new fenced area for the family of 9 pigs out in the field. This particular field is outside the main gate area of the houses, but it has a lot of fresh, tall grass for them. We were given the okay to move them from their current area, but boy did we underestimate the process. We had our food bucket, I had a stick (just in case,) we were all set. We get the pigs out of the main gate area and they start to follow Connor with the food bucket toward the mesh gate. We had laid a part of it on the ground for them to walk over to be inside the new area. Well, once those pigs got to that mesh gate, they took one look down at it and said "Nope." They proceeded to walk around the whole gated area, down the hill, across a creek, and headed in the vast openness of no return. There may have been some cuss words exchanged between Connor and I as we tried everything to get them back. I ran to get help and Connor continued to try to herd them - using a more successful technique of yelling. The boss "kindly" told us that the pigs aren't going to cross over the mesh fence on the ground because they know it is electric. So all we had to do was open the mesh fence and herd them in. Easy peazy. Lesson learned. 

One of our more fun adventures the last couple weeks was getting to ride horses up the mountain to help move the larger animals (sheep and cattle). This was our first time seeing this process and helped us understand on a more day-to-day level what truly goes in to regenerative farming. But the coolest part was to ride horses through this amazing Patagonia landscape. We were surrounded by a river, mountains, waterfall, and rainbow. Like what? At one point, a bunch of wild horses came running up to meet their friends. My horse would start to follow and trot near them and I was scared that it would take off with them and I would loose control - but it was also so invigorating to be running with the wild horses! What an adventure. 

Other fun things over the past 2 weeks:

• Our fridge broke down in the hut about 2 weeks ago...but who needs a fridge when you have an ice chest and 35 degree weather outside? We still don't have a new one
• Chopping wood is hard, but Connor watched a YouTube video and spent about 5 hours doing it one day so now is a pro
• The gaucho hats that people wear down here look like a French beret
• Connor and I bought a thermos for hot water for mate, so now we are really official and can travel with mate everywhere!
• I was given the opportunity to try and drive a manual truck in the open fields (I used to drive stick in a little family Honda in college) and it did NOT come back to me like riding a bike 

Our time at this location is coming to an end. We have less than one week left here! We have both learned so much and grown in a variety of ways, but feel we are ready for our next step. We will take about a week off to travel a bit/rest a bit before our next WWOOF spot near Cordoba, Argentina. It will be a farm, on a smaller scale, with some animals, garden, and bio construction. The guy there is an ex-monk and a vegetarian - so there will be some big shifts from our current lifestyle! But we are looking forward to components of spirituality and connection with nature and others. 

We love and miss you all! 

Con amor, 

Abby y Connor 

Cheers to mate and quiet mornings

Rainy morning feeding the animals - 

it’s cool when gear works!

Our “fridge”

Driving manual 

The “safety” protocols here are questionable 

Connor building a small “house” for the propane tank

You never know when you might need

 a saw with your ladle 

Again, safety protocols…

Supervising the crane lifting the freezer container onto a truck

Had to take out all the frozen content AGAIN from the freezer container 

- love me some good lamb carcasses

My sweet sweater vest boy enjoying some pisco sour 

(with local Patagonian berries Maqui y Calafate) on our day off in town 

The gaucho hat!

Connor putting in work

Welcome to sheep sheering (the sheep is alive don’t worry) 

Check out our room in the background

You can apparently fall asleep anywhere if you are tired enough

This is my process of wetting the oats everyday for feeding the pigs

A rare day of sun and picnic for lunch!

MATE!

Coolest chainsawer around

Our shed up front; family’s house behind the trees

In the sheep shed - nighttime routine edition 

Eating all the bones while drying all your clothes

Me and all my friends

Moving the cattle