I’m sitting down to write this on a glorious sunny morning; the fifth in a row of its kind. I’m itching to get outside to tame more of the property, but structure is important to me. And while this routine of bi-monthly blog posts was made and could be broken by me, I know that sticking to routine is good for my mental health. I’m sure many of you out there developed your own routines during the pandemic that helped you stay sane and move forward. For me, knowing what day of the week it was and setting out tasks for those days each week gave me a sense of control and comfort. Now that we’ve moved from the city and our lifestyle has changed (quite a lot!), I’m revisiting those routines to see what still serves me. In a spooky and convenient turn, I read an article in the NY Times this morning about “fresh starts,” and it motivated me to really examine what practices are helping me and what I’d like to let go of. After a weekend of wonderful yet overly-indulged bonding with my band mates while they visited us at the house, I’m acknowledging that my coronavirus comfort-drinking has got to be reined in. Like so many people shut up in their houses in 2020, we got really good at creating adventure and diversion through things like cooking and cocktails. (Not that I regret any of this- I can now make pizza, risotto, three-tier cakes, and negronis like nobody’s business.) But there are healthier ways for me to spend my evenings and mornings-after now…and so many things needing my full attention!

Which brings me to the first update- the ducks! If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll have seen my almost-daily stories on the quickly growing fuzzy ladies. (I knew I’d be camera-happy with them and I sure lived up to it.) They never quite got used to being lifted out of their crate and into the tub every day, but they otherwise settled into a gentle routine. My husband took morning duty and swept their old bedding (first pine shavings, then straw), into a bin and took it out to the compost. Side note about the compost pile: it’s doing so well! It’s certainly gotten a lot fuller since the ducks’ daily contribution, but it’s also heating up, as we can tell when we turn it and see the steam rising up. I’m hoping to spread it over the future vegetable garden this fall, to prep the soil for next year’s plantings. But we’re talking about setting up a second and even third compost pile, since the first one is almost overflowing. Now back to the ducks- their previous nicknames of “Pushy Patty,” “Middle Maxine,” and “Little Laverne” got updated. They’re now “Poopie Patty,” “Mellow Maxine,” and “Loud Laverne.” These sobriquets seemed appropriate after we noticed some patterns during their twice daily move from brooder to tub during cleaning times. Patty pooped the second you’d put her down, clearly nervous after the traumatic experience of being moved the five feet across the room (insert eye roll). Maxine would duck (lol), and dodge our hands, but for the most part accepted this necessary nuisance. Laverne…screamed bloody murder. Whether she was the first to move, the last to move, or even in the middle, she’d run from wall to wall, screaming about injustice and poor treatment. (If any of you are worried, don’t be. I’ve read that certain ducks don’t like to be held and ours seem to fall into that category. I promise we’re gentle and swift and don’t subject them to more holding than absolutely necessary.)

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We kept an eye on the weather, since that indicates when they can move outside more accurately than how old they are. At 8 weeks they’re fully feathered and some people choose to wait until then, but we figured the girls were pretty hardy and their coop is very cozy, anyway. Plus…we wanted our bathroom back! We started by bringing them out only during the day, usually from about 12-5. Their run gets direct sunlight, which kept them warm and encouraged them to move around and explore. Which they did! The second day, as they felt a little more confident, they’d get a sudden burst of zoomies and go running in zigzags across their pen. These would, of course, get Sadie riled up and she’d run back and forth along the other side of the fence. We’re not going to let them ever meet without some sort of a fence in between, but we’d like to think that Sadie is starting to get the idea that they’re part of the family, not wild animals for her to hunt. She’s already caught three chipmunks, a baby bunny, and chased a fox off the property last week. So it’s best not to risk any accidental (or intentional!), harm from her enthusiastic attention.

Moving the ducks back inside every evening proved challenging, as they now had much more space in which to run away from us! We found that the best method was to corner them and then grab them as quickly as we could. If this sounds a little stressful, then you’re right. For the ducks and for me! After 4 days of this and noticing that the overnight temps were looking promising, we finally cut the cord and let them sleep in their coop last night! They’d already spent most of the day in there with the windows open, so we could get them used to the new space. If a duck can appear happy, they sure seemed to be, so we felt assured that they wouldn’t panic sleeping somewhere other than down the hall from us. We brought out their heating plate and set it up just on the other side of the low fence we have in the coop. And there are about 3 inches of straw on the floor, which allows them to burrow for extra warmth. When my husband went out to check them today he said they seemed totally fine and immediately demanded breakfast. I came outside shortly after and we lured them with more food down the ramp from their coop to their run- a wobbly first attempt but still a success! Now they’re happily foraging in the dirt and the weeds looking for insects to eat. If we happen to get within sighting distance of them, however, they come running! I guess they know where the food comes from- and they do really like to eat. Their feathers are starting to come in as well, which is so fun to watch. From sunup to sundown I can swear they get more feathers and look more grown up overall. Which is insane, since they’re only turning 4 weeks old on Thursday!

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I suspect that now the ducks are outside full time, we’ll settle into a new routine there as well. My husband will do the morning duty as usual, followed by watering all the new plants spread out over the property. I’ll do the late morning check-in on ducks and plants, and put in a few hours cleaning up and weeding out the gardens. Believe it or not, even with all the hours we’ve already put in (not to mention the 2 days of professional gardener help), there’s still more to do. The well-established weeds are not going down without a fight, and even the flowering plants have spread so much that they’re choking each other out. It’s hard to have to make those tough decisions about culling certain plants, or risk moving them to a new location where they might not survive. I’m doing my best to learn as I go and not get too hung up on perfection (my new favorite motto: “Perfect is the enemy of good!”). Some plants may not thrive under our care, but I hope that this property is already better for us having taken stewardship of it. We’ve both admitted to each other we’ve felt a subtle bending of the land to us, which I think makes sense. Gardens, like a house, want to be tended. So whether that means hours of weeding, planting, or planning out future vegetable plots, we’re putting in the time. And I’m so excited to see the explosion of color and fruit in hopefully just a few weeks!

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And now for some fun music updates- my band, The Buttery Barmaids, had our first live gig in 15 months! My band mates were coming up to stay for a long weekend anyway, since we were well overdue for some tuning up and checking in. Now that we’re all vaccinated, being in the same space (especially while singing), wouldn’t stir up the same risks and anxiety that put us on hiatus for over a year. So since they were coming anyway, and I knew we’d be itching to get in front of an audience ASAP, I pitched us to a local beer garden. We played there for about an hour this past Saturday and probably had more fun than even the audience did, since there really is nothing like singing with people you love. And the best part is that we got asked to come back this summer- and we hope it will be on a regular basis! Our plan at the moment is to stack as many gigs as we can into one weekend a month between bars, farmers markets, coffee shops, and festivals. Since the other ladies live in NYC and Brooklyn, traveling up here more than once a month would be pretty exhausting and expensive.

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Before moving up here, I had a few anxious moments of wondering how I’d introduce myself (once that was safe again). My husband’s job would stay the same, so things wouldn’t be all that different for him on an identity level. But for me… what would I say? Trained actor/singer who had some great experiences on stage and screen but now…? Of course I hoped that I would find music outlets in my new region, but I wasn’t sure how I would see myself, let alone new acquaintances. My husband joked that I’d be a singing farmer, taking care of my plants and animals during the day and singing jazz at night and on the weekends. Back in Brooklyn that had felt intriguing, but overwhelming and unrealistic. But, piece by piece it’s coming together. We’re coming up on 5 months of living here and it doesn’t feel like a fairytale or an extended Air Bnb vacation anymore. We’re truly putting down roots in every sense of the phrase, and it feels right. Even the band said that while this goal hadn’t been on our radar before, now it makes so much sense. And it’s within our grasp. The ladies also found some fantastic resources for me to learn more about forgotten indigenous plants in this region, and want to fund an apple tree to add to our tiny (but growing!), orchard. Which I hope will be added incentive for them to come back regularly, so they can check on its progress and reap the rewards!

Thank you to all of you who take the time to read this. While I sometimes get stressed out by the prospect of reflecting on and transcribing my recent updates and feelings, I’m always glad to have done it. And I love knowing that I’m somehow sharing it with those of you following along.