Ian McGimsey

Evenings from my living room or deck are spectacular. The bats come out. We get painted skies. Crickets singing, turkeys letting everyone know they are roosting, owls hooting and screeching. Chickens shut up, ducks get quiet, pigs start squealing, and now the goats are baaaaaaahing. I wouldn't have it any other way. It is a wonderful time at the end of each day to be thankful for the life I have with my incredible family. It has taken a lot of work to get us here, and it is so much work to sustain life out here in the sticks, but evenings are a great way to sit back and be thankful.

Saturday morning, I spent a couple of hours at the local cemetery cleaning up for the Memorial Day ceremony. I am a member of the American Legion, so it was me and a few other veterans weed-eating, placing flags on the headstones of our fallen brothers and sisters, as well as lining the driveway through the cemetery with flags. This is such an honor to be part of. During the parade on Monday, I will be carrying the American Flag. The top honor. I can't describe the emotions...

I missed the hike with the class last Thursday. We did get our goats! Our family has been taking "Goat walks" after dinner to acquaint them with the property and all of the new vegetation. This is a pic of my kids walking with them last night, the first time off the leashes! They love my son. He is the Goatfather.

Pigs slept in this morning. They got up at 2:45 instead of 12:45 or 1:15, which has been their pattern the last several days. I am close to having their outside sleeping area almost completed! just in time for the goats to arrive in a couple of weeks...

I am not the biggest fan of technology. Sitting in front of the computer is difficult for me. It drives me crazy when I see people hiking with headphones on. Enjoy the natural sounds. I will only wear earbuds outside If I am mowing, weed-eating, or using my chainsaw. -only loud activities. Otherwise, I love the quiet. I love the birds. I love the crickets. No tech in the wild!

I have the luxury of living in my own greenspace. Yesterday, for Mother's Day, my wife wanted to go for a long hike on our property to collect wildflowers. My daughter was carrying the flower basket, I was in charge of snake watch, and my son was... with us. It is so amazing to find the tiniest flowers that most will just walk past, along with the larger flowers that are often taken for granted.
I do spend a lot of time outside, a majority of which is to do animal chores. I finally installed an electric fence to keep the pigs contained so I won't get calls from my neighbors anymore! They have a large area with shade from some white oaks, tall grass to graze and sleep in, and their favorite snacks, acorns!

I am really being challenged by my environment out here in the hills the last couple of days. I spent a good chunk of my day yesterday taking apart my 2024 Outback to find whatever had died inside it. With most of the center console apart, and 6 dead pinkie mice later, I thought I had it all. Time to call it a day and take my daughter on a date. She was very helpful with searching the car, and since Mommy and big brother have been out of town for a week, it was time for some fun.

Got home from dinner and dessert to find that we had left the chickens out. Our dogs have been pretty good at protecting them. We have 10 alive, 6 dead, and 2 missing. None were eaten. No bite marks or blood. They were chased, I know that much. We are down to 3 roosters and 7 hens. See below for an example of the eggs we were getting.

This morning, after hiking up and down the hills in one specific area looking for any more chickens, I went back to work on the car. I was planning on putting it back together and getting some schoolwork done. I ended up with almost the entire dash removed and more of the console to find 3 more pinkies. I'm glad my wife is out of town so she doesn't have to deal with any of this. She will be quite pleased when she gets home, and her car is detailed down to every piece! At least the dash and console. Dog hair is a permanent fixture in all vehicles...

I have burned so much of my own energy on chickens and mice. The solar batteries are completely full because I haven't been inside to do laundry or anything. We have also had some decently sunny days to help with that. My family is really good about not turning things on unless necessary, like early mornings or evenings. Isn't this the topic? Energy?

So, I have 2 free-roaming pigs that I usually go and hunt down in the late afternoons in my UTV so I can wrangle them back to the house. In the past week, I have been doing it on foot to lessen the emissions from the engine and to get more exercise. I also enjoy getting out and walking through areas of my property that I haven't been through yet, even though I know the pigs aren't there...