Wow. It’s really been almost two years since I posted. I had plans for this site. Then I changed them. And changed them again. And again.

My effort to move to Texas has been … complicated. After I got screwed on the job offer in 2021, I got a trucking job and did that for just over a year. I made a few more trips to Texas during that time and I bought a 75-acre ranch with my mom and stepfather. I’m in the process of moving there. This will be a family property, not just mine, though it will be just mine at some point. That day can wait as long as possible; I’m very happy to be sharing it.

I’ve been delayed by the mechanic ‘fixing’ my truck and the resulting financial issues. I’m basically splitting my time between South Texas and the PNW, loving one and increasingly hating the other. I was also delayed by breeding season and the weather. I don’t want to move my animals from the cool northwest directly into 100° temps and high humidity, though I’m less concerned about that than I am the conditions they’d be exposed to in transit. This is especially an issue for the pig. And on top of that, I have ducks, geese, and turkeys nesting, which I am allowing partly because it’s hard to stop them and partly because when I get to Texas I might take an initial hit from predators while I’m getting my dog program in gear, and I don’t want to lose my genetics. I also haven’t put up my barn or pigeon lofts in Texas yet, or put in the new fencing I need.

I bought a 16’ moving van. It’s at a shop in southwest Colorado awaiting repairs — almost made it. I have my car, a non-running truck that I bought for parts at an auction in Houston, and a brand new livestock trailer in Texas. My pickup still needs work but I’m driving it, in the NW. My cargo van is at the mechanic’s shop but I’m not having any work done because I’m out of money and I’m not happy with his other work. I will trailer it out of there soon.

I have at least four more trips to make to Texas. On the last trip I started planting the permaculture garden, a project that will be ongoing, the plan being to use it as a corridor between the existing house and a new one that I will build. Before I returned to the NW I set up a makeshift watering system that I hope will keep everything alive while I’m away. Future plans include lots more trees, hugels, and a couple small ponds — one for koi and one where I’ll try my hand at growing rice.

The garden will be a mix of food plants and ornamentals. Right now I have a navel orange and a Meyer lemon tree, a couple avocados, some figs, a strawberry tree, a magnolia, some sago palms (cycads), Washingtonia palms, chaste trees, Esperanza, Ixora, hardy hibiscus, an ice cream banana, an azalea, and various ice plants and sedums. I’m sure I’m forgetting some things. I still have a bunch of potted dogwoods and redbuds that I got from Arbor Day and vowed that they would stay potted until they were in Texas, and I took some monkey puzzle seedlings down to see how they like the heat and humidity. They nearly doubled in size in the two weeks I was there, but I wouldn’t take their vigor as seedlings as an indication that they’ll thrive there as mature trees. Time will tell.

The property is crawling with wildlife, which I’m working out how to preserve while still raising my livestock. Compromises will have to be made. Hopefully the deer will stay. The coyotes, cougars, bobcats, and raccoons should stay next door. The scorpions are free to leave, or at least stay out of my bed and shoes. The javelina are welcome, but I’m not sure how they’ll get past my new fences once they’re up; I don’t think they’re great climbers. I’ve set up a bait station for feral hogs, but it’s been a few weeks and no takers. If they do show up and start taking the bait, I will construct a trap. If they don’t ever come, I’ll put a sorting pen in that location and try baiting a lower, more wooded area.

I was feeding a feral cat on my porch on my last trip down. He was getting pretty bold and if he’s still around when I go back, I’ll continue to feed him, eventually trap him, get him neutered, and probably move him into the house. (I think its a male because it has a fat head.) I have another feral cat here that I’ll be taking with me — she’s been getting less fearful as well, though it’s taking her longer. She had kittens in my barn; I trapped all of them and got them into rescue, and got the mother cat spayed. She’s been a great rat killer for me here, but I’m nervous about having her outside in a new place, and I don’t want her wiping out the bird life on the ranch.

This site is going away. I’m working on a few different things to replace it: a blog about hot sauce and spicy food; a podcast where I can spout off about whatever; other things I’m not ready to discuss. It’ll be a little bit before I get any of that up and running so for whoever reads this, it’ll be here for at least another month, but I’m probably not going to post anymore until I get the new site up. I might use this same site/template and just replace what’s here now — I started working on it with Squarespace but I’m not liking the templates even a little bit. Every one of them crops my banner for the mobile version, and I don’t want my goddamn banner cropped.