how to become a barn mate.

ok, not just any barn mate, my barn mate! 

step 1. look at the photos below & notice if your heart starts beating a little faster
step 2. read about who you'd be living with and the type of person we're looking for
step 3. learn about more tidbits about life at the farm
step 4. fill out a questionnaire
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step 1. look at the photos below & notice if your heart starts beating a little faster
it's a pretty big space that we call the suite. there are two separate rooms connected by a door. we've turned it into a bedroom and living area, but you should feel free to reimagine it and make it your home. (plus, if you need a furnished place...then even better because it's already furnished.) 

amenities include: 2 rooms (each 10x20), private bath with shower stall, washer & dryer, utilities included, access to beautiful garden, only 5 miles from stanford campus.

there's a door that leads directly to the back garden.
shared kitchen (it's separate from the suite, and you get to it by walking through the main barn area)

step 2. read about who you'd be living with and who we're looking for

who we are:

• one family (mom, dad, son-10yo, daughter-5yo)
• one gal (working professional)
• a mini farm (we call it the garden street farm)
• ~8 feral cats
• 12 chickens (11 hens and one lucky rooster)

who i am:

you can read through my blog and get a pretty good sense of me. but the headline is that i'm a fun, 20-something, quirky+particular, active, creative free spirit. i have about 16 bedside books that wait patiently for me to finish them and am curious about everything. i'm a designer at a non-profit by day, a photographer most of the time, and an adventurer at all times.

who you are:

• interested in living in a spiritual community
• is a gal herself (that means, women only)
• likes being around young children (10 and 5 years old)
• enjoys fruit (apricots, plums, cherries, blueberries, rasberries, apples), vegetables, plants, cats, chickens (13), bees, and a prolific garden
• wants to get involved in gardening and farm maintenance
• doesn't mind fresh eggs
• can go with the flow
• lives an active and healthy lifestyle (don't mind the lucky charms cereal box in the earlier photo. oops. how'd that get there?!)
• emotionally stable, honest, able to communicate clearly, keep things real
• okay sharing a kitchen/dining area
• able to pay $1200/month $900/month new amount!
• looking for a longer-term, stable housing situation. (i.e. we're not looking for someone who's in transition.) we'd love for you to become a part of our lives, and for us to become a part of your life. 

step 3. read more snippets about life at the farm
here, here, & here. and this is how i felt when i first moved in. 

step 4. fill out a questionnaire

look forward to hearing from you. we can't wait to find an awesome new barn/community mate!

the farm | these days...

the sunflowers are racing the barn to see who can touch the clouds first.
the blueberries are bubbling.
the new lavender whisper secrets in the breeze.
the path engulfs. 
&
i find myself celebrating my fourth summer here on the farm. i have had the immense privilege to witness exquisite beauty and growth, both around and inside each of us here.

 

there's this room in the barn

it's a square room that sits next to the kitchen.


in its past life,
it used to be the office of the head honcho of a design start-up, who owned the barn. 
then it used to be a bedroom for the head honcho of a local non-profit.
and for the past couple years, it's served as a lonely destination for meals. (aka, dining room)


it felt a bit like a jail. and i don't know what it's like to eat in a jail cell, but i imagine this experience came close. i put up some photos, threw in some plants, got a rug ... but nothing seemed to fit quite right. 


so today, i pushed the dining table aside, rolled up the rug, pulled out my old easel, and set up shop to start painting. 


standing there with my blank canvas,
i felt the breeze wrap around my left arm and hug my chest, 
i watched the golden rays settle, the plums ripen, and shadows whisper by.


instead of forcing the room to be what i thought it should be, it now has a chance to become what it was meant to be. 


i am beginning to see what was there all along...

the tip was frosty cold.

of my nose.

wrapped in my favorite blanket: brown fuzzy & bear-like
i laid there.
on my rooftop.
nose & cheeks, ice cold.
laura veirs playing in the background.
i watched the moon's rays shine through steadily moving clouds - right to left, right to left.

when a patch of emptiness passed, the moon shone clearer & brighter than what our eyes can normally handle when looking straight at a light source.
only to disappear for the next few hours during tonight's total eclipse.

where radiance shines invisibily.

it hides now, only to reveal herself more radiantly when we are all asleep.
mysterious & playful.
curious & bright.

how i saw this space today.

sometimes i lose a sense of appreciation for this property because i live in it.
youknowwhatimean? it's like most things in life that we take for granted.

but every so often, the conditions are just perfect: the light is right, the elements are in place, there's a sense of calm and a slowing down of time (or for some ... perfect conditions mean it's wednesday night). i had one of those moments at the farm this past june.

this past sunday felt more generative than usual. i felt it bubbling inside: ideas. warmth. generosity. love. creativity. :: .a general openness to life. to people. to inspiration. to courageous experiments.

and this is how i saw the space that day.

.fall harvest of green apples.

.the lavender's fragrance is intoxicating.

.they work so hard.

.the half moon is what caught my eye.

ian & georgia mae.
a delight, no doubt. (+2 of the kitties that roam around, reminding me to stay curious and playful.)

the barn: welcome

so it's finally happening. i'm moving.
i figured, get a bunch of friends over and have a painting party on friday and voila, i could move in!

um. it hasn't turned out exactly as i had thought. although the 1st floor isn't that big...there is a lot of surface to cover.

on thursday, i stayed up prepping all of the downstairs and taping the edges so that we could have fun painting the rooms. i figured my friends and i would be done around 6pm if we started around 11ish.

over 10 hours later, only the bathroom is "complete." (it still needs the trim around the door painted). the bedroom's ceiling is complete and the rest of the walls are all primed so that i can paint the room it's actual color.

i have pictures, but will have to post it later. here are a few teasers from today's work-in-progress session.