Hello again, dear readers!

Today I am writing from Montana: the treasure state!  Jef and I drove up to Sheridan, WY yesterday to get some work done at a Starbucks.  That evening the magnetic draw of the border became too strong, so we headed off for Montana! We slept at a rather bleak rest stop and now we're in Billings.  Billings isn't the most lovely city --driving in we saw a huge oil refinery on the outskirts.  The downtown area appears to have once been very quaint and lovely, but sadly seems like its on a decline now as the city expands in other areas.  Nevertheless, we've found a nice little coffee shop with a shady outdoor patio, and that is where I'm writing now.

We spent the past 3 (glorious) nights at a KOA campground.  These are private campgrounds that offer wifi, showers, an outdoor cooking area (known as the "Kampers Kitchen"--where we spent a great deal of time), and a swimming pool, which we, stupidly, never used.  We spent almost all of our time there working--first photographing clothes, then making listings.  We got a lot of work done, but there is still so much to do!

The highlight of our three day stint came on Friday when we took a walk to a nearby gas station to get some drinks.  Jef went inside while I waited outside with Olive.  There was a lovely gurgling brook next to the station and I followed it back behind the building where I found, much to my surprise, a pony!!  He was just standing there, eating grass behind the gas station! Olive was tremendously excited,  I had to exercise great strength to keep her from bounding over to the poor creature.  When Jef came back out, I had him hold Olive back while I went to greet the pony.  He sure was a little guy, his back probably came to my thigh. I saw that he was tethered, so we think his owner must have left him there for a reason--perhaps to take care of the tall grasses back there.  I got to stroke his forehead and he obliged so we let Olive come closer to have a sniff, which, happily, he didn't seem to mind.  We went back the next day with our camera but unfortunately he was gone.  (There was a large pasture full of horses a few yards back and we think the pony belonged to that same rancher).


We spent yesterday doing work in Sheridan and in the late afternoon we took Olive to a little dog park. I snapped a couple of pictures around town so you all could see what I mean about this place--such adorable little houses!

Look at those trees! Lovely.

A wild, beautiful garden we saw behind somebody's house. 

 So many of the Wyoming landscapes remind me of those beautiful, haunting Andrew Wyeth paintings

Unfortunately, the camera just cannot do justice to these beautiful vistas.  In reality, the mountains in the background were so much more colorful and brilliant! 

Our last Wyoming sunset. 

In other news: we've had a slight change of itinerary --it appears that we'll be going to work on a little organic farm here in Montana for a week or two before heading to Yellowstone.  We knew we had wanted to WWOOF (Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms) at some point on this trip, but we weren't sure when.  We happened to stumble across this place, Chimerical Farm, a couple days ago and the people seem really nice.  Since they were so close to where we are, we decided it'd be a good way to hang out here for a bit, for free!  Here is the description of the farm from the wwoofing website:

Our farm is located in Miles City, MT, a town of 8,000 people. The land is on the edge of town about two blocks off the confluence of the Yellowstone and Tongue Rivers. We have two houses with 7 acres, pasture, an acre garden, large tree groves, a young fruit tree orchard and a couple drought withstanding ponds. We are also in the process of some additional buildings to suite farm guests. Chimerical Farms is home to chickens, ducks, turkeys, goats, and horses, and plan to buy more, we are building hoop houses, tilling with the tractor, planting, harvesting etc. Our goal is to plant as much variety as possible and stretch the limits of our climate using permaculture techniques and green houses.We hope to start a CSA this year and get our farm infrastructure laid out. Soil mending is a main priority as we hope to turn the earth into black gold dirt. All the goodies are on the property, but like most land things need to be mixed, turned, and moved around. We are trying to create the most biodiverse farm possible using intensive companion and interplanting systems. Our focus is providing local sustainable food to the surrounding communities. It seems in the future we may introduce a few more animals like pigs and sheep for various farm tasks and to help us eat up all the garden treats. We have 30 fruit trees and want to make ciders in the fall and develop a greater product line throughout the year. Length of stay is optional. We appreciate any help and will take great care of our farm guests! People eat very well here and we are allowed to take special time to prepare very exotic foods with our own products. Goat frozen yogurts, gelato, cheeses soft and firm, baked goods, charcuterie, salads, stocks, stews, and home brews are just some of the fundamentals arounds here. We usually dine with our volunteers, but people are welcome to make their own dishes if they have any particular wishes to accommodate. Hosting is possible here anytime of the year. Thanks for reading, we hope to hear form you! 

I broached the topic of making goats milk soap to Charles and he was really interested, so I'm crossing my fingers that I get to work on that project.  Also, animal lovers should be envious--they currently have SEVEN baby goats!! If you've never experienced the utter adorability of baby goats, you must watch this video now to understand:

Anyhow, more than likely they'll have us harvesting vegetables and fruit and maybe helping out with some building/restoration project.  

Well, I suppose that's about all for now.  I'll update you about the farm as soon as I can!

YEEHAW!