The new job at the Freeman's Journal/Hometown Oneonta weekly newspaper(s) is going well, even though it is only about 20 hours a week. My job is simply to create ads. I don't do all of them, and most of them use existing templates, but I am starting to see a difference—all the vast improvements I have made (hehe). The real benefit is that I am learning InDesign and how to work on a PC. Being a Quark girl who has only dabbled in ID, and only ever worked on a Mac, I felt like I had moved to a foreign country and had to learn a new language, or 2. Almost 3 months in, I am feeling a bit more comfortable.
Goats and pigs and chickens are all thriving, although the hens are either taking a winter vacation from laying eggs or are back to hiding them or eating them. The Husband and I have searched everywhere, and have yet to find the buried treasure chest. We were collecting 7 to 9 eggs a day in the summer; now it's 2, maybe 4 on a good day. My one little araucana who lays blue eggs hasn't given one up in a month.
The Wood Man is settling in. As long as he gets a good run, or 5, he is a happy well behaved dog (mostly) but there are those days where he is just not satisfied with the world. When I was on the phone with Verizon for an hour trying to get the new modem connected, he barked/howled almost the entire time. When I let him outside to try to get some peace, he jumped the back fence and ran like a kook through the back 40—and that was after he had already been out there for a good run just a few minutes before the phone call.
I am currently reading The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, by David Wroblewski. I am hoping to learn some of Edgar's dog whispering techniques by the time I finish. Problem is, it's hard to whisper and be heard over a howling hound! Here he is, the Wood Man himself, in a more peaceful moment. Quite the handsome boy when he settles down...
