In brief, I’ve moved from Hailey, Idaho to southeastern Pennsylvania, nearby Chatham and Unionville. (Just Google it) My boyfriend Michael Wickes’ family has given us a piece of land on the family farm. And for a variety of reasons, including the incredibly lucky one of succeeding in his house sale in Idaho, we arrived roughly 1 month ago after 5 days on the road. Thank you to anyone who patiently waited to pass us on Highways 80 and 90 during the first week of August ‘08; our Prius and Teardrop trailer and Land Rover with Airstream (and two full coolers of frozen elk additionally weighing it down) chugged the whole way with only one brake problem and for a clear passage we are eternally grateful.
The bountiful verdant landscape and market stands were welcome sights (and large factors in the decision to move back East), and having landed smack in the middle of one of the world’s largest mushroom producing areas doesn’t hurt. So let’s get on with the story. We’re on a 150-acre horse focused farm, and are in the process of deciding whether to renovate a stone farm house from 1750, or build a new structure. Here is the old house:
And as this Web site aims to, amongst other things, address our efforts at living sustainably, I must make first mention of the reality of arriving at one’s new land and life. As much as it can be, this land (known under the previous generation’s guidance as Carters’ Thicket) is ready for us, ready to plant gardens, tend goats and erect greenhouses. But that does not mean it was ready for our ’stuff.’ No, to accommodate the many items we couldn’t leave in Idaho, our first project upon arrival was to clean out a barn.
And what a beautiful barn it is! A horse racing trainer and stabler currently rents the bottom, which creates a beautiful morning ritual as jockeys ride the numerous thoroughbreds out to exercise every morning at 7 a.m., and further barn workers wash and groom them afterward.
No matter how simple we live, unloading a trailer and a half of stuff reminded us exactly how much more we have (never can say own, it’s too presumptuous, especially when everything was just at the whim of 2700 trucking miles) than, say, friends made during world travels.
Here is a shot of a corner of the barn we cleaned out to shove our stuff into (and no, the beautiful furniture piece is not for sale): 
Not so bad you say? well, from the depths that my photography skills do not indicate here, emerged a 20 cubic yard dumpster full of dilapidated furniture and any mix of odd ‘keep it in case it is useful’ farm accoutrement.
