Above: Henwen, Cooper, and the outdoor wood stove.
We've been staying with a couple in south-central Tennessee. Surprisingly, Pulaski -- the town -- is on the map. They live outside of town, on a 37-acre parcel of land, in a 4000 sq. ft. house, which use to be a retirement home that was renovated by the guy who wrote all those awful Y2K books. The house is enormous and not very well built, but there are some interesting aspects to it. The hot water and forced hot air is energized from an outdoor wood stove. Although it gives off lots of smoke, it is after all a renewable source of energy. The fire box is about 4x4 and heats a 750-gallon drum right above it. The house also came with solar panels and a diesel generator. The were big enough to electrify maybe one floor, so they sold them. It appears the builders or electricians didn't understand the size of house they needed to power using the alternative energies. The idea was that the house could withstand the "Y2K disaster," but when nothing happened and the house withstood it in stellar form, they moved out. Ron and Karen moved in.
About 60 farm animals roam around the lawn and in one of four fenced-in areas. They have: horses, sheep, goats, pigs, Jersey cows, Angora rabbits, ducks, chickens, Guinea hens, dogs and cats.
There are three lamb that bounce around the lawn chasing after each other. The young cow, Zero, a boy is super affectionate. Cooper, the obese Potbelly pig moves every once in awhile in search for food. She can't see much. Henwen, the other pig is one of the loudest creature on the farm. She's always begging for food or affection. Perhaps, the loudest creature on the farm is the protector, Dexter, a female Pyrenees. All night she barks at predators protecting her herd. She's constantly barking at something that no human could see or hear. Maybe it's nothing.
We've stayed her for about a week, but alas, it's time for us to move on. I think we'll head northwest through Tennessee.
