Things are going well.
Some recent challenges but they seem to be getting worked out.

I did some touring with the woofers of the lake area and that was ok. I live in such a cool place, I should explore more. I would love a week or two to just travel Michoacan. I have been here 3 years now with never a time free to just go and see places. There are jungles and caves and deserts and cities… so nearby.

Still not caught up on posting old photos. I am getting emails from folks from past festivals or shoots, which is always nice. I have known or met such amazing people. It is nice to hear what they are doing with their lives. Lives are like sculptures.
I heard from my dad, who I don’t talk to much. We don’t talk much since I misplaced my faith. It is a loss for both of us. I am so behind on emails people send, and those who make me think I often am slowest to respond to. His is pretty important to me. I now have 3872 messages in my draft folder which at one time I thought I should respond to. Dang.

All the dogs are fine. They are generally doing well, though one or other always has some injury or issue. It is so nice that they are past the puppy stage.
With the woofers around they have been getting more human attention.
Training needs to happen more. They are all trained not to be bad, but few are trained in any way to be good. And.. they are are times a mob .. a pack.. of dogs. They need some work.

The second kitchen is now cleaned up with good help of wwoofers and we can start making healthy food there. Food situation is improving. I am well fed. The ideal of eating locally grown food, preferably with much grown here, is doing better. I still need to build a root cellar. I am making a list of what is in season when so we can pig out in the ideal ways.

I feel often overwhelmed by all which need to get done,…. but I guess slow progress is just fine.

One guy is working on a wooden skull carving. It is going well. I want to make a mold with it. and make concrete skulls in time for the day of the dead.
Overall things are going well. The rains are falling well… and the collection system seems scaled well this year. I am catching much rain, unlike last year when I lost a lot.

Went today to go try to find locally made cheese in the closest village. The people who did make cheese don’t now. The lady who makes tortillas and bread was not found. Will try again.
I want to go visit the local best cheese guy and learn a little.
I bought his cheese recently and so far as I can tell it is the best cheese made in the state.
(thanks, Jen and others who recommended him!)
I would like to know how to make aged yummy cheese. Not a big priority… but making cheese would be cool. Maybe then I would get goats. More fencing needed first.

Gardens are going well.
I can’t tell what will happen since things are expanded much more from last year. I think I will have a massive surplus of large goards or squash.
I wish I could travel into the future 5 years and them come back and tell myself what I should be doing.

I met her the other day.

I take her home yesterday. She was very very scared. In the car she barfed. Last night I kept her with Mambo. They got along well.
Today she is not so scared. She is being a crazy goofy puppy and less scared with every moment that passes.

She will need a name.

More plant propagation today.

Need to go to town to buy dog food. I forgot earlier.

I went around the lake with the wwoofer and we had a nice time seeing places

Little dog honey cupcake has funny ears.

cutie kitty named Kali spot

Kali Spot is the best kitty. Or at least among the best in the world.
I only know my cats.
I am sleeping in the big cabana tonight. And Kali Spot comes to bug me.
She doesn’t meow, but makes a sound I can’t spell. It is a cute sound.

More Kali pictures here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brianfey/tags/kalispot/

She is extremely affectionate. So much so that sometimes I have to tell her to go away. Often. Especially since I am allergic to cats.
I don’t seem very allergic to her though. Right now she is sitting on my shoulders but that wont’ last long because she always trying to do something like rub on me. I have trained her that it is bad to walk on my keyboard. My keyboard is not a kitty kitty dance dance revolution game.

I have had her since she was a kitten and she seems to like me tons. If she was a woman… hmmm… arg. A previous guest and I were joking about that. She would be a fine and dangerous women. So affectionate. Unfortunately I have to limit my exposure to her since I am allergic to cats, though luckily not super allergic to her.
It is amazing such a complex nice being can be in such a small body. She weighs nothing. I don’t know how a person can be so small. Cats have been genetically selected to be some kinda strange companions to humans. Alien cameras. Sometimes I think I have trained her, but then later I think she is just humoring me.
She lives outside. I don’t know where she sleeps, but there are many good places. And the whole art studio is a safe place for her. No dogs. The dogs do not hurt the cats. The dogs used to carry the cats around in their mouths like puppies when they were all younger, but I stopped that because I was concerned about some kinda incompatability of ways. It was pretty cute though. Dogs and cats sleeping together might be some kinda perversion, but it is cute. And I think for here that dogs should be all trained not to hurt cats. My first cat in my life had to die in the process of me making that work when I got new dogs. Those dogs now don’t hurt cats since last year. And one of those dogs, “Dizzy” might become my favorite dog. Or one of several favorite dogs.
The dog dynamic has changed since Besa is missing. fuck i cna’t even write that and be happy.
Mambo has taken more control. Now he attacks any lower dog who takes what he wants. Not bad attacks. Just standard dominance making.

Kali Spot does tend to slobber on me though. Dusk midnight doesn’ lober on me. She is Like some kinda little St Bernard cat. Or maybe she is marking me. Cats think they own humans. Maybe they do.
I like that she asks to come up on my lap. She puts her paws up and makes her half meow noise.

Even though I know her very well, I can’t really tell what she is thinking. Cats are trickier than dogs.
She and dusk midnight are very very different than the two ninja cats. The ninja cats, who are both named “Nynjah” are like wild tiny black panther cats. They have their own lives and very very rarely do they come and even let me pet them.

Now she is cleaning herself with her tongue. She likes to do that.
Dogs do not do that. Dogs would roll in rotting fish and then run to you and say: “I am wonderful and I smell like perfume! Love me!”
I like dogs. I am a dog person.
But… maybe Kali Spot makes me more a cat person a little.
Now she is doing more weird cat things.
I spit in her mouth and now suddenly she seem content and not bugging me. Now she is mellow. I know that is likely gross, but apparently that is what she wanted. Weirdo cat.

She is not allowed to play with my alpaca sweater. I hid it from her.

Now the birds start to sing. Kali run away.

6:36 am.

I feel sleepy.

Arg. now Kali is back. Looking at me over my screen. What the fuck is she thinking? If she was a panther she would kill me and play with my dying body like a mouse and when I died she would wonder why I am no fun anymore.

Today is an important day.

Today begins this year’s plant propogation cycle. Many new garden spaces are ready to receive cuttings. We can likely do 6,000-7,000 cutting easily each year. My guy is trained from last year and will be able to do this lots, and this year two more guys will do it too.
Many food trees from seed grew well and are ready to go into the forest. The near natives in pots see, quite happy. (of the maybe 20 types I tried, maybe 5 have turned out to like to grow in pots.

I am pleased because I can now see the green future and know that I can cover this place in pretty and useful plants. The experiments of last year have taught me what works, and I will be able to use those systems with more plants. There will be exponential growth in the number of cool plants.

Many of the plants from last year which I thought died, were just dormant and are waking up.

I am a supreme earth plant daddy of greenness!

Tommorrow I go to get blackberries and bamboo.

Day just getting going. Much to do. I want a nap.

Besa Mae Fey is still missing.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/brianfey/tags/besagood/

All four of us looked everywhere for her. It is a big place… she doesn’t even like to walk far at all. She doesn’t really like to go anywhere anymore, except in the mornings sometimes she like to go for a little walk to smell things. But only near the house. I have to encourage her with a leash to go to another building even. She liikes to go on the leash. But she doesn’t like to go anywhere. Where is she then now?

I know all the places on this land. I looked yesterday. We searched today ad hoc, then we searched organized. Up this barranca and that. We searched places she could not be and places she might. She has lots of white fur… hard to miss.
The dogs act like they don’t know anything. But I don’t know how they can’t. They know with their noses where all people go. Maybe they killed her. But even so… there is no where here we have not looked. It is like hide and seek. But not fun.

I guess I will write up her obituary. It may not be time yet for it, and I hope it is not, but when it is I sure wont’ be in the mood to write it if we find her dead. That thought was shaking me up today even though I try to think I have prepared myself for it. I can’t. I was trying to figure out how I can not fall apart in front of my workers if we find her. I know she is “only a dog” but for me she is a better being than most humans I have met. I joke that “dog zen is good zen” but what I really mean is that “Besa Mae zen is good zen”. I have learned some things from her despite being a different species. Regular dogs vary quite a bit just a their “owners” do. She has always been as good or better a being than me. And she did her half the “training”.

I am having enough trouble today controlling my thoughts about her being missing. We will continue and widen the search tommorrow, though… really none of us believe she could have or would have gone far. But what choice is there? And I am just confused. Maybe she knows what she is doing? or? what?

I guess she could have gone off to die, which is an ok choice… but strange. She could be somehow secretly near and laughing an old dog laugh at our search… but we really looked everywhere and she doesn’t have that kind of sense of humor. She is not a sneaky dog. There just is nowhere for her to be. Maybe she was abducted by aliens, though I am not so sure she would be their top choice. Maybe she found Memo’s secret party place and applied for the old bitch discount. She does enjoy a good party. Maybe she misses good parties and went to look for one. I should do the same.
Murder is unlikely. Just as it was with Memo. There is no clear answer. Which is a bad answer for people who like to understand what is going on.

I would like to know. I do not like this kind of mystery. I do not want to play this game. If she came to me one day and looked at me in the eyes and said wither her eyes: “Brian, I am old and tired and want to die now cause I don’t have much interest anymore…” then I would think to help her.. but… and … maybe she did say that to me. maybe she did… she did say things like that to me. I am stupid too like her, but I understand things. She was being slow, and not really caring about things. Maybe she saw all she felt like seeing. Maybe I didn’t have parties and she felt bored.

Maybe I hate death. Maybe death is my friend. Strange friend. Death comes for me as she always has. Death is the fey thing, that fey being waiting…. predestined? not like being predestined is any different than random.
Maybe Besa will magickly show up tommorrow… That would be the usual joke. And laugh and old slow happy bitch laugh at me for thinking all these thoughts. But that reality isn’t her style. Death would laugh, but Besa is not that kinda girl.

I don’t like her to be away from me. I have never left her alone for long since 1994. She is the only being consistant in my adult life and the only being I committed to care for. She is like a child and a friend. And then she became old, which I told her was not allowed, but she didn’t seem to care about that rule.
I think about what might be my fault. I know I am at fault for everything. And there are always a 1000 people to fault a person like my for anyting bad. I get many emails about that. I took good care of her and she always had a magic fun life. Many people who even hated dogs liked her because she was a very good cilvilized an repectful person. Maybe I should not refer to her in the past tense, but where is she? There is no where for her to be.
I wish I was like her. A person people like.

I don’t like her to maybe not be in shelter. In the rain. I would prefer her to be dead than suffering , though I guess I have chosen to continue in the suffering this world which rains ignorance.
She isn’t stupid, though she isn’t smart either. But she doesn’t make mistakes.
She did once eat some raw veal at a barbeque which wasn’t hers… but it wasn’t really her fault. And I guess it wasn’t a mistake on her part. She sure didn’t seem unhappy about it. I secretly thought it was funny, though I did apologize.

I guess I have all these feelings and thoughts. I don’t like all of them.

There is the community sculpture you are part of. We are all creating each other. And ourselves too.

Really I am just now an almost crying almost drunken stupid hermit
And I would just want want my dog, my friend, my fuzzy daughter, my only accomplice, to please come home.
And now crying.

Fuck you. Fuck Death. Even death cannot hide bodies.
Where the fuck is my dog?

I don’t know where else to look.

I looked everywhere.

More pics of fire aftermath. I wonder what is before math?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brianfey/530251656/

The wind has picked up again and there is more smoke. One of the crew went up to see if it is spreading here again. I hope it is not.
This morning all that was left of the fire in my area was small ones like in this photo. The main fire is still going about a mile away. it looks big still but I can’t see that it has spread. Hard to tell.

I got some sleep today.

There is thunder. If I am very lucky there will be rain.

It is a very good thing this didn’t happen last month when things where drier. This place would have all fried.
I am glad I understand better now how fires here work. Some of the things I am doing increase the likelihood of fire and some things are reducing risk. They are not really that dangerous except that they could burn my cabanas.

Here is an example of a simple trail (being watched) is useful as a firebreak. Also helps that the fire was entering my land in the uphill side.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brianfey/530251656/

All the dogs are back and fine. Everything is ok.

The crew spend the day cutting trees. I am going to make some major places where fire cannot cross easy.

UPDATE:

now there is rain… a little
I have never been so happy to hear the sound of rain in my life.
I am laugh crying.

more pics here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/brianfey/tags/forestfire/

Fire under control here. It jumped the road and got on another guys land then came onto mine.
still burning but not spreading more on my land. can’t really tell. it got a coupe acres at most of mine. it is about 1/2 kilometer from cabana.
two guys helped too. they have done this before and i had tools for us all. they are home now and will return in a few hours.

burned fence posts.
Cant really fight the main fire. too hot to get close. fire jacket good but not useful without fire hat. just gott to keep it from jumpint to new place. put out small fires

i think it is ok now. will go check in a coupe hours again.

One of my trails stopped the fire. trails are good.

My new shoes got burn on the bottom

I am not hurt except a small rip on my hand and cut on my leg from barbed wire climging over. I am stil invicinle but i am tired and shaky now. fire is stronger than me.
All dogs except patzari are missing. But I am sure they are ok. I saw them yesterday and they were ok. i lost my tequila somewher

thanks for nice wishes. it wiill be ok. the fire is not very fast. i can’t tell where the fire is. smoke all over in trees liek fog.
sunrise now looks pretty in moke. red.

Here are some thoughts I wrote up about how to do plant cuttings.

——–

This message will teach you how to make new plants by cutting pieces off the parent plant.
That way you can fill up your yard and also make plants to give away.

Look at this happy piece of rosemary:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brianfey/35228647/
One little cutting from the original plant, treated right, makes a new plant! See those roots coming out of the node?

HOW TO MAKE CUTTINGS:
* Select your best plants. Each cutting will create an other plant which is genetically identical to the parent plant. So pick ones with the best flowers, or flavor or whatever. Some plants don’t work with cuttings (bulbs for example) or need other methods that I describe here. But this method covers most.

*Some people are picky about what time of the year to do cuttings, or believe that the cycle of the moon matters… That could be true, but I ignore that and have success.
*Cut pieces of that plant. Some people get very picky and say you have to use scalpel sharp knives and sterilize everything… I don’t worry that much and have great success. Some plants like you to take the new growth, and others the mature growth. A 45 degree angle seems good.
Generally you want a nice clean cut though about 20 millimeters below a “node”. Below a spot where the leaves come out while trying not to rip the plant’s skin off. That node is the spot which the new roots will come out of. Strip off the lower leaves since you will be putting that part in the ground and the leaves would rot. If the stem is long then you can cut the top and make more than one cutting from the same stalk. How you do different kinds of plants will vary, but often a piece about 6 inches long is good. For some plants it can be a good idea to dab a little paint on the top to seal it from drying out. That paint also helps you know which way it up! It may be that cutting the growing end off also makes the plant focus on growing new roots instead of continuing to grow upwards.

*Dab the bottom in Rooting hormone then tap most of it off. The hormone sends a signal to the plant to make roots. You can get away without using it in most cases. It is sold in a red cylindrical package at home depot and at the agricultural supply place on the libramiento in Patzcuaro. There are other types as well. It is not organic, but well… it works. Women who might be pregnant should not get it on them… actually anybody should avoid skin contact, eye contact or breathing it. If you prefer, you can make a natural rooting hormone from the local willow trees. A web search will help you learn to do that.

*Let succulents (jade, aloe etc.) dry for a day or so before planting! They need to have the wound heal.
Here is a tray of jade pieces waiting to heal before planting. http://www.flickr.com/photos/brianfey/217136838/
Notice the yellow paint on the tops.
Cactus are the same as succulents in this regard though it depends on the species. Here are a bunch of large pitaya pieces growing roots: http://www.flickr.com/photos/brianfey/182124232/

*Generally the softer the plant flesh the easier propagating with cuttings will be. Hardwoods can be impossible and there are other methods for those. (Lookup “Air Layering”)

*Remove many leaves from the cutting. The plant cannot support many leaves since it has no roots. Leave the younger leaves.

*Put the plant in a safe humid place away from much direct sun. You could put them directly in the ground, or in a pot, or a tray. Some people like to put the cuttings in water which does have the advantage of being able to see the roots showing up! You should use clean water though and you may have to change it often. Some people use peat moss and others care if the dirt is sterile…. I just use healthy dirt which I figure will be fine for the plants.
One of the easiest ways to propagate is in plastic trays. They retain the moisture well. Try to let them almost dry out before adding more water though. If your cuttings rot, then there was too much water.
Here are some mint cuttings, English ivy, and sage cuttings in a tray: http://www.flickr.com/photos/brianfey/35228653/

*Now you wait. Check on them occasionally. Each plant is a little different. Mist them if you like, but experiment with doing nothing. Doing nothing is easier.

*Even if the cuttings look dead, don’t give up on them. After a week or 6 weeks little leaves will sprout. If you get curious you can dig one up and see if there are roots, but you are likely to damage that one.

*Don’t worry if some die! Some plants are very very easy and others are nearly impossible. I have found geraniums, roses, rosemary, and many others to be very easy. All succulents seem easy. Bougainvilleas seem hard though I am having luck by using larger pieces that I was before.
Start with easy plants so you get positive feedback!
Try experimenting and you will find much success.

DIRECT IN GROUND CUTTINGS: This is my favorite way to do cuttings because I want to make tens of thousands of plants and don’t have city water or time to deal with them. At this time of the year in Michoacan… you can actually simple pick a spot with mostly shade and nice dirt and put your cuttings directly into the ground! Pick a humid spot. If you do rows of them, then let them grow a year in that spot, at the beginning of the rainy season next year you can dig the plants up and place them where you want. This is amazing since you never even had to water the plant or use a pot! You can go from one plant to having hundreds in a couple years at no cost and almost no work! My experiment from last year proved It works well, and this year I have about 30 times more garden space devoted to this method. Here is a photo of some datura, geraniums, and a medicinal herb cuttings which are about a year old and I will move to their new homes in June. http://www.flickr.com/photos/brianfey/375708757/

Here are some videos about plant cuttings: I am thinking I will make my own video sometime.
This video shows how to cut below a node: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_ukki_GKwc
Good one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHOQL8Oswlc&NR=1
This video shows roots growing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moBDMaEhMVA&mode=related&search=
Cuttings in water: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG0wso7AK1U
Here is the a fancy way: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faOKTFgXIlI I consider this overkill.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7P8idtMluA
More science that I want: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dltvyfG2-FA
(By the way if videos play choppy, just hit “Pause” then do something else till the video loads further, then play.)

You will notice that people have many different ways of doing cuttings.

I have not had good success yet with bamboo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/brianfey/35228677/
These never did develop roots and I tried a couple other ways too. I will try again.

Here are some rosemary pieces in bottles: http://www.flickr.com/photos/brianfey/35223251/ but generally I prefer to use dirt now. And those are pretty big pieces for rosemary.

Please don’t ask me questions which a simple web search can answer for you. If you get stuck though, I can give you advice.

Good luck.

-Brian Fey

Today we mixed adobe to make abobe blocks.
Being an all natural material, it is a great building material!

It is made with dirts and straw normally, and we did that, but we also tried using the cement mixer which sped things up!
And we also tried using long pine needles which I already have tons of on my land. I will test the blocks later, but since there is much resin in the needles and they are hard to compost, I suspect they are superior.

More photos here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brianfey/tags/adobe/

This is good progress. I am going to do more experiments, but I suspect I will be using a lot of adobe to make some little hobbit homes. Yay!