Gabe and David's Blogtastic Extravaganza

{READ IN BRITISH ACCENT}

Today was raw. We floated down Sacremmento river on innertubes and our dear freind The Kerrigander was stranded on a tree branch after being capsized in the rapids! We staged a daring rescue and fought a bearcow. In other news we would like to report that our Work Camp experience was excellent enjoying the times of work and the times of play. we have completed various challenges and risen to glory every time. At our annual Talent no Talent (TNT) competition last night there were performances across the talent spectrum. but as we all know the guys skit (a rendition of asher roth's "i love college" now named "i love work camp") trumped all others. AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT: Gabriel Alexander and David Ayer have succesfully trounced Julie Llanillo in a debate ( for those of you who dont know she is a lawyer and was prior to this incedent invincible in said field of play.) in conclusion its been an awesome week weve all changed, grown and learned many things, we are ready to return home but we will always remember the week we all shared in chico california.

peace out,

D&G

The Work is Done!

We left the Farm Sanctuary. I am so proud of the youth and how hard they worked. We kept a steady pace all week despite the heat. We feel satisfied with our gifts to the Farm and its animals. To the bunnies we leave 10 "bunny boxes" which when stacked create a couple of tunnels, ramps and hiding places. To the Barn Owls, we leave two boxes that will be put high in the rafters of the hay barn. To the goats, we leave a beautiful goat jungle gym (thanks to Mo Wright for helping us with the design!). To the people we leave a series of three compost bins made from pallets and our thanks for their hospitality, their witness to animal rights issues, and their love of the animals at the farm.

My favorite moment today was when Buddy the goat came over to check out the new jungle gym. Mostly, he was drawn to us (an extrovert!) and then rubbed his head on the side of the structure. It was the first contact between the goats and our work and it felt like a blessing. It was great to see many goats hanging out on it later in the day. The structure is incredibly sturdy and we hope will last a long time.

My deepest thanks to all the youth and Alexa, Lea and Julie for working so faithfully this week! We have earned a day of play tomorrow (and sleeping in, Gabe would remind me to tell you). We haven't yet told them what we are doing. But with another 100 degree on the way, you can bet it involves water!

Adam

Alice's farewell to the farm

Today was our very last day working at the Farm Sanctuary. It was very hot, although not the worst day we've had. Amazingly, we actually managed to finish all of our projects. I started out the day putting rabbit "activity centers" together, which involved much pounding of nails.

Then I got to go feed the geriatric cows. They licked fruits and vegetables out of our hands, but managed to knock most of the food on the ground in the process. We left it there, so hopefully they were able to eat it off the ground. Their tongues are very rough, a lot like a big cat's tongue. We also rubbed them again, and were slobbered over again.

After pampering the cows we went to feed goats. Goats are some of the sweetest animals on earth in my opinion. There is a very very social goat named Buddy, who demands attention. I got to play with the goats for a long time, which made me very happy. One of my favorites was a little one named Alicia, who has a twin. I also liked a brown goat named Molly who has a tattered ear. She was the most outgoing female, and she greeted us at the gate when we came with food. After the food was gone the goats decided to taste other things. My camera chord and shorts were both nibbled upon.

We waited in the shade of the barn for a while after the feeding and said hello to the donkeys and sheep that were staying inside. The donkeys have very very soft ears.

We started putting up our jungle gym for the goats later in the morning, and they all seemed very interested, especially Buddy. We had to run a chord for a power drill across the yard, and it was my job to keep Buddy from eating it. He tried a few times, but mostly seemed interested in chewing on the jungle gym. It looked amazing when it was finished, and some of the goats started climbing on it right away. It helped that there was some hay on top of it.

For lunch the interns and some of the staff came and ate cookies left over from the bake sale last night and soy "ice cream" with us. I was surprised that the chocolate "ice cream" was really really really good. After showering we said our last farewells to the farm. I'm not going to miss the prickly plants or the heat, but I am going to miss all of the animals, especially the goats.

Bunny Boxes and Farmer's Market

Today was a really long day. We worked on building bunny boxes and the goat play structure. Alexa and I (Sita) got to work on building the prototype for the bunny boxes. It took a little while to figure out the exact measurements, but we eventually completed the first box. We got to watch the sheep being moved from the barn to the North fields, which was very exciting.

After working for at least four hours we got to eat lunch ang go swimming. The day wasn't as hot as the previous day at the lake, but it was still really nice to be in the water. The day was dry and hot and the water was cool and relaxing.

Today we went to the farmer's market in downtown Chico to work at the Farm Sanctuary's booth. We helped sell vegan desserts to the public and were able to tell them about the food we were selling and our experiences. We all were split up into three groups, each group working an hour shift. After our shirft was over we were allowed to wander throughout the market and find dinner.

Now we are all back at the church and relaxing.

Kerrigan's Insight (again)

Today was quite nice and went by swiftly. I guess the days are still very long, and once evening comes by morning seems like foreverrrr ago. And the next morning, it's as if the previous day never happened. It seems to go by quickly once sleep gets involved. We all must be quite tired after the amount of work.

This morning we went to work at the farm and David and I were sent within the first half-hour to locate a man by the name of 'Fred' somewhere around the farm. Adam didn't specify how much time we had to spend looking for this man, so that plus the vastness of the farm contributed to the amount of time we spent chattering to each other and hollering 'Fred!...Fred!' everywhere we went. Eventually we figured out that they'd found him already and we went back, and then we were sent out to help make a flat area on the hillside of the goat area to place the goat jungle-gyms, which were doing tomorrow. We've got all the different platforms built and they're big! I'm impressed with the progress of myself and my peers.

Later this evening we went to the farmer's market; David and I spent the first hour assisting the FarmSanctuary booth and their bake sale, then we were dispatched to explore the rest of the farmer's market and downtown Chico. We saw many interesting things and people, and had a great time. And now we're here, pretty much exhausted and looking forward to tomorrow. Cheers, everybody! We'll be back soon.

--Kerrigan

Farmers Market

Hey All,

We just returned from the Chico Farmers Market. The animal sanctuary had a cool booth set up. The sanctuary volunteers educated people about factory animal treatment and vegetaranism while we youth worked in shifts to sell baked vegan items (some of which we had made ourselves Wednesday: chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter cups, rice crispy treats...) for a donation of a dollar or two to the sanctuary. The treats turned out to be a delicous bargain if I don't say so myself. It was refreshing to see how interested people were in the sanctuary and chill talking to people about our experiences. After working for an hour we walked around the farmers market, visited other boothes, and got some dinner. We found this UnEnergy drink called "Relax Drank" for when "life comes too fast." It felt like summer and it was good just to hang out with everyone.

Peace and Love, Michael

P.S. Happy 13th Birthday to my bro Patrick

A Midweek Gift

We were all excited to have Lea, Alexa, Lorenzo, Way Way and Joey arrive at the farm this morning. The infusion of their energy helped us get through another hot day. It has been two straight days of 100+ degree. It is amazing how draining working only 8:00am to 12:30pm everyday in this heat can be. But we are getting a lot of work done and remain in good spirits. Lorenzo and the girls will leave tomorrow, but Lea and Alexa will stay through until Sunday. Yeah!

On a side note, we heard about President Obama's Summer of Service and felt a little twinge of pride that we are doing our part this week. Tomorrow, we hope to see a standing goat jungle gym!!! G-night!

Adam