I am happy to say that I will never need to worry again about having enough wildlife in my wild life. We discovered a whole colony of wild honeybees inhabiting the wall of our shed, merrily pollinating the hazelnut orchards with a flight path aiming right out over the tops of the trees. Since I have been an aspiring bee keeper for some time, and still working through my discomfort with being stung, this seems to be the perfect arrangement for now. The bees have a home to make their honey and do their thing, I get to observe them and contribute to providing refuge for pollinators, and should I ever decide to set up my top bar hive beside the shed, it might just become inhabited. I couldn’t be more pleased by this turn of events.
I am also happy to say that I now live somewhere wild enough where there are bears. I buried some roast chicken drippings in the compost the other night, and ended up inadvertently having one of my furry neighbors over for dinner. I knew right away when I saw the compost pile all torn up and the fence bent down that the bears had been up to their shenanigans in my very own yard. I’m sure there will be some considerations I’ll need to figure out with garbage, compost and chicken safety, but I’m feeling very certain I’ve arrived in exactly the right place for me to live. My partner and I also sighted the local elk herd grazing in the neighbor’s pasture above our woods the first night we stayed in the house, so between them and the bears, I’m feeling thoroughly welcomed.
It’s good to be home.
Wow! How far out is out in the country? I'd love to catch up, if you are interested.
It's about 45 minutes out. I've been keeping really busy juggling the different jobs I'm doing with the new homestead, but once things settle in a little I'll have more visiting time.