Note: This blog post was mostly written in 2019 and my farm system has changed quite a bit I’ve been thinking about the intersection of my love of recreational farming and my career in technology. A big part of it is analyzing and setting up systems. To be clear I don’t think I’ve stumbled across…… Continue reading On Farming, Systems Thinking and Being an Agricultural Architect
Note: This premise does not always hold-up when there are strong power dynamics at play. Imagine you are in a situation where you really need to do something. You potentially need someone’s help or simply want their advice. You go and explain the situation and their response is “no”. Can you picture a time where…… Continue reading The Law of “No”
I’ve participated in a variety of free culture organizations over the years and most go through a phase where they state they make decisions by consensus. This is often okay for low stakes decisions or obvious decisions, but when conflict arises it becomes an issue.
Every so often someone will say to me “you should have been a vet.” Usually, it is because of some random animal fact I know.
Often when people find out we have a farm with a bunch of animals they ask about all the work it is to care for those animals. What people usually don’t ask about is the interactions between the various species of animals that happen sometimes in unexpected ways. We have a Jersey cow, Rosie. When…… Continue reading Rosie the Guard Cow
In school, I spent a total of six years studying German. This was quite some time ago, my last class would have been almost twenty years ago. In that time I have traveled to German-speaking countries six or seven times. The times I have gone recently it was really difficult to understand and speak any…… Continue reading Muddled Language Brain
I was reading with mild interest an article in the New York Times on how the U.S. fertility rate is down, but more women are mothers. Analysis of census data by the Pew Research Center looks at how 86 percent of women ages 40 to 44 have are mothers. To each there own, I respect…… Continue reading Completing Fertility? – Parenthood Not Required
Moving states in May last year I’ve been working on becoming knowledgeable about state and local politics in the area. Lewis County where I’ve moved has had some governance issues. Including a lawsuit because the County Commissioners violated the Washington State Open Public Meetings Act. Another group, One Lewis County (organized by the local Chamber of Commerce)…… Continue reading Home Rule in Government?
Today I was gathering ingredients to bake cookies and I was thinking about butter. Prior to moving to the West Coast of the US, I had visited many times. One thing I never noticed was that the butter shapes are different. Perhaps this isn’t surprising, how often do you buy butter when you are merely…… Continue reading East vs. West Coast Butter
The other day I was happily watching videos on Youtube. Then I got the warning that only 10% of my high-speed allowance for using my phone as a hotspot was left. Shortly after that I was also warned that our Mifi was in a similar situation. Then yesterday the dreaded notification that for the rest…… Continue reading Time Again for the Monthly Internet Drought
Kate Chapman aka Wonderchook 