Home Sweet Barn

October 1
Lakeville, MN

I've spent my first month in my barn loft apartment and am liking it well. The work exchange for rent is going well too. I am able to deposit my paycheck in the bank, what a novel idea to actually save money instead of spending it all. I have a neighbor John, who rents the apt. in the other side of the loft ( the west wing ). He's a pretty mellow dude. He just got back from spending the summer on a salmon fishing boat in Alaska. In a short while he'll be making a trip to the northwest coast to pick up his share of the catch; 1000 lbs. of frozen cleaned salmon. I wonder if he'll share some with his co-barn dweller...mmm grilled salmon fillets. We work together occasionally on the farm cleaning up, fixing fences, building cages, etc. The goal is to have the farm open to the public by next spring. Terri and Danny, the owners, have quite a variety of wildlife including wolves, cougars, bobcats, foxes, porcupines, badgers, skunks, raccoons, fisher, beaver, woodchucks, as well as some horses.

Work has been going well. I had 25 clients last week, the most so far. Word must be getting around of the awesome new therapist...although my hands are a bit fatigued. One of the other therapists was let go and the spa has yet to hire a new one, so I've been on call pretty much 7 days a week. I haven't had much time to pursue many other interests, but I have been thinking about getting back into music. I also share my room with some unwelcome guests, two mice just scurried across the floor as I write this, perhaps I should get a cat...or maybe a mountain lion would do the trick.

Here are some pictures of the place: including a sunrise from my east-facing window.