April 19, 2018
At this point, I am thankful that I have managed to avoid
being sick and I am hoping I can continue to do so. Mike has now been congested and under the
weather for almost two weeks and the Little Girls have had some really rough
days and nights. Analia is not on an
antibiotic for an ear infection and poor Rory’s head so full of congestion that
she can hardly breathe. I spent pretty
much all of Monday and Tuesday evening when I babysat just holding and trying
to comfort them in their misery. Alissa
took Analia to the doctor on Tuesday and they said her ears were red but not
infected and refused to give her medicine.
Tuesday night she screamed and cried in pain, even after taking
Tylenol. Alissa and Gab had been up with
both girls most of the night. Around 3
am, I went downstairs and took Rory so that Gab could go to bed. Analia came over for a while, crying
hysterically about her ears, and I held her at the same time, telling her
stories to try to get her to calm down.
She eventually went back to her momma and fell asleep. Alissa is so stressed with her Master’s
classes winding down and her needing to finish up her work while trying to
teach at Blue Ridge and finish out the semester there as well as take care of
her babies. I feel like I am just
treading water myself when I am in Staunton.
I devote the majority of my time to keeping the girls and keeping all
the other adults in the household fed and trying to keep a path through the
chaos of us all living together. I am
tired. Very tired. I think we all are at this point. Hopefully, things will slow down for Alissa
here in a few weeks and Mike and I should fall into a different routine. Not
sure quite how that is going to work out with my cows still in Staunton but it
will all work itself out somehow. This
is the path we have chosen and we knew there would be difficulties along the
way, so I am not complaining. We are
fortunate to still be able to tap into the “intentional living” and set aside
time when we are in Laurel Fork to regroup and refresh. We are working hard at our Southwest Virginia
property as well and there is much here causing us stress right now, but we do
have the opportunities (and take them) to do things that bring us joy.
Tuesday, we made a trip to Harrisonburg to run some errands.
Other than run up there to meet Kristin and family at a restaurant a few months
back, I had not been in so very long. We
took Highway 11 like we always did when we went to the produce auction several
years back but went to Dayton to pick up a part for Mike. The Valley is so beautiful, especially when
one finds oneself among the neat, Mennonite farms and homes. I have always loved drives through those
areas and it was a bit nostalgic for me having not been in a while. I, personally, miss nothing about selling
produce or going to the produce auction and the demands that it put on us
physically as well as the stress it put on us on so many levels. I do, however, miss those drives that we took
either because it was part of our work day or because we were out for a joy
ride. (Many Sundays when Mike’s dad was
still living we would go with Mike’s parents for long drives along country
roads. Those were good times.) We
stopped to pick up the cylinder from the loader. Mike had left it to see if it could be
repaired, which it could not and we ended up buying a new one which cost us a
small fortune. (I was so proud of Mike
for getting the part and putting it on and getting that loader up and going
again. We are learning to just go ahead
and do things ourselves rather than try to find anyone around here that can or
will do things for us. While it can be
frustrating, I think it is creating a new level of independence for us. When
Pops, Mike’s Dad, was still living, he was so good at all the mechanical issues
that we faced and he kept us going on so many levels.) At the shop where we picked up the cylinder,
there was an older Great Pyrenes dog that was walking and looking at everyone
coming and going. She caught my eye as I
sat in the truck and before we left, I had to get out and talk to her. I got down on my knees and held her face in
my hands and looked in her eyes and I was taken back to when I would do the
same with my dear Lady. This dog looked
at me the same way Lady looked at me and it made me all the more determined to
some day get another Great Pyre. From
there, we dropped my milking machine off to be serviced and then went to see
our twin grands that live in Harrisonburg.
Hudson and Ella were overjoyed to see us and immediately wanted us to go
to their rooms and play with them, which we did. We played a board game and read books before
heading downstairs to eat pizza together and then play with toys. The two and half hours we were there just flew
by and we didn’t want to leave any more than the kids wanted us to leave. We enjoyed getting to visit with Kristin and
made plans to get together again soon.
We had originally planned to take all of the grands to the Frontier
Culture Museum, but with Alissa’s two sick, we cancelled the group outing. Mike had to meet a hay customer and I took
the opportunity to run by the Factory Antique Mall to pick up our check and to
straighten the booths.
Mike traded some oat straw that we have had for a while to a
man with a free-range chicken operation for some Barred Rocks and Rhode Island
Red hens that are right at a year old.
It was a good deal for both parties.
We now have 11 more chickens that are currently laying and those hens
along with our two pullets that are laying already will give us enough eggs for
Mike and I. Since I no longer need to
supply share customers with eggs, the not quite two dozen hens we have is
really all we need. Wednesday we
gathered up the new hens, I cleaned out the shelters and checked udders on the
pregnant cows to see if anyone looked close to calving. I didn’t see any of them that looked
imminent. I always take good inventory
of the animals in Staunton before we leave to return to Laurel Fork, noting the
mini horses and goats, the dogs, and the cattle. We filled up the truck bed with items to be
moved and put the birds in the midst of it all:
a handmade, child’s wagon that I use to haul milking equipment and
firewood; a wrought iron bench that I was going to scrap one time but Mike and
his dad repaired it and made it better than new before returning it to me;
planters in case it every gets warm enough to actually buy flowers; a few yard
ornaments; and homemade feed for the chickens made from corn and alfalfa grown
on our farm in Staunton. We arrived
before dark, unloaded and decided it wasn’t cold enough for a fire.
That changed today.
We had wind gusts up to 50 mph and the air was quite chilly. The temps continued to drop throughout the
day and we are under a frost advisory for tonight, so I made a fire early in
the day and have kept it going. I helped
Mike outside for about 20 or 30 minutes, but other than check on the chickens
and take them treats, I worked inside. I
needed this quiet day. It was comforting
to just be at home and be able to “nest” as I like to call it. We had brought fresh rhubarb with us and I
canned four pints and made a pie with it.
I canned rhubarb several years ago in an attempt to find a way to get it
to my grandma who loves it so much. She
loved the canned Rhubarb and it is a great way to keep it on the shelf. In previous years, I have always frozen it,
but I find it freezer burns rather quickly and I end up feeding so much of it
to the chickens or pigs rather than using it ourselves after it has been left
in the freezer too long. If I can it, I
always know I can give it to my grandmother or I can keep it on the shelf for
years if I want to. I will be canning
more as the season progresses. I made a
rhubarb upside down cake earlier in the week and Mike gave some away to an
elderly lady that really enjoys it in Staunton.
Canning those few pints of rhubarb caused me to want to clean and
organize my cellar, so I got started on that, wiping down all the jars in
storage, sweeping off the shelves, putting new paper down on the shelves, and
putting the clean jars in order. I only
did a section and put all the “old” home canned fruits, veggies, and juice
together on those shelves so that I can use them first. I ran out of time, but intend to clean off
more shelves and line them so that I will be ready for all of this year’s
canned goods. I hope to can more and
freeze less this year. During all the
years we were selling produce to the public, I was always trying to stay one
step ahead and put up all the excess before they went bad. It was all I could do to can a few things and
freeze the rest. I am hoping that now
that we don’t have the pressure of selling produce and don’t have so much
excess, that I can be more organized and can most of it.
Mike felled a huge, dead, pine tree today. That tree has been bothering him every since
we moved here. If it came down the wrong
way, it would have destroyed our picnic shelter and it would have taken out the
new fence that we are planning on building.
He decided that now that the old fence was out and we had not yet built
the new fence in that area, that it was time for the tree to come down. He did a great job of putting it right where
he wanted it. It’s going to be a lot of
work to get it all cleaned up now.
We noticed a lot of activity across the road at the meadow
that is usually very quiet early this morning.
DOT was there in force and setting up an area to “dump” dirt as they
start widening the road just down from our house. The widening of the road will be a good thing
but having the big trucks and graders in and out for a couple of weeks is going
to be a bummer. That was to the front of
the house but to the back of the house, all was quiet and I saw a turkey hen
walking around our yard calmly scratching and finding things to eat. She stayed for a good while and I wanted to
take her picture but decided that rather than risk scaring her by opening the
door, I would just watch her and leave her in peace. I have come to love watching the wild turkeys
so much.
April 20, 2018
Our bad luck with contractors continues. The man who started our barn roof and left it
with three panels off and the rafters exposed to the elements was supposed to
return last Sunday morning to complete that side before the terrible rainstorms
moved in. He didn’t come and when Mike
called him he gave excuses and also said he was out of town for the day. He promised to return on Monday to finish
that side and put a roof cap on the building.
We took him at his word, but when we arrived back in Laurel Fork on
Wednesday, the roof had not been touched.
There were some other issues as well that with the roof that are
concerning. The man has not bothered to
even try to get in touch with us to explain why he has not been back to the job
site. I am getting very worried because
Mike is insisting that he needs to get up there himself and try to at least get
those three panels on the roof before the next big storm moves in to the
area. I do not want him on the roof and
I am doing all the talking I can to try to get him to hold off to see if the
man will show up this weekend to finish the job. I fear that although the man works for a
major contractor and should know his stuff, that he bit off more than he could
chew on his own, made some rookie mistakes and now doesn’t want to correct them
and is considering walking off the job.
I don’t know what we will do if that is the case. I am more concerned with keeping Mike off the
roof at this point than I am with seeing the job completed if it involves
putting Mike in danger.
April 21, 2018
We had a good work day yesterday. Mike was able to put up more fence and I
assisted him with the boards. He would
have finished more of it but a man from down the road came by to look at the large
pine that Mike had put on the ground and he and Mike both being “talkers” meant
that several hours went by before Mike was able to get to work. The man and his family have a logging
business and Mike thought that maybe he could use the tree and was just going
to give it to him. However, the tree had
been standing dead for so long that it was not worth salvaging. Since pine doesn’t make good wood for the
fireplace, Mike ended up just using the loader to take large sections of it to
the brush pile. I spent a good bit of
time just raking up the bark and small pieces of limbs that literally flew all
over the yard when the huge tree went down.
It was unreal how far the pieces flew!
I had to get it raked up before we could mow that section of the yard. Mike mowed a bit and then I took over and
mowed all but the steepest bank. We have
sections where we could use a riding mower but most of the land is too steep to
use a riding mower safely and we just use a push mower. It makes for some really good exercise. I worked outside all afternoon into the
evening, but morning was a bread baking day for me. I have fallen back into the routine of making
bread every week using local wheat that I grind myself. The bread is so good. I rarely eat “store bought” bread but I can’t
stay out of the homemade! While making
the bread, I worked some more in the cellar and finished cleaning and
organizing it so that I am ready to start the process of canning this
summer. I love having a designated spot
for my canned goods. (That’s something I
didn’t have in Staunton and actually ended up using a linen closet to store all
my canned goods as well as some shelving in the basement.) The cellar is big enough that I can use it
also as a place to store extra kitchen items that I don’t have room for in my
small kitchen. (That is one advantage
the house in Staunton had over the house in Laurel Fork. The kitchen in Staunton is spacious and I can
spread out when I am working up produce for preservation.) I also cleaned out
the chicken house yesterday. The new
chickens have integrated well with the pullets we have. I am getting about ten eggs a day right
now. I am so happy to have my own fresh
eggs again. We have a friend from church
that was sharing his eggs and they were delicious, but it is just not the same
as having our own. I think I have a hen
going broody but since we don’t have a rooster, it won’t do her any good. I will get a rooster eventually, but right
now I don’t want to deal with one. The
hens are all so nice and gentle and one never knows if a rooster is going to
get aggressive. Once I am able to let
them free range some, or at least be outside a good portion of the time, I will
look for a Rooster.
We were so late eating last night. I was glad that I had put our meal in the
oven and let it cook itself: BBQ
meatballs, seasoned potatoes and butternut squash along with homemade
bread. It held well on low until we were
ready to eat it. Afterwards, we were
both so tired we just crashed on the couch.
Mike woke me up around midnight and we moved to the bedroom. I heard him muttering something about the
fact we had let the fire go out but I was already asleep while he was still
trying to get it to take off again. I
woke up at 3 am and put more wood on the fire and slept fitfully from then on
because my hip was hurting so badly. It stinks
having chronic pain but I am convinced it is arthritis and nothing to be done
for it, so I just keep getting through it. I am also convinced that my
discomforts are minimal compared to so many and that moving forward and working
are the best antidote for what ails me. I finally got up around 6:30 and put more
wood on the fire, made coffee, showered and got ready for the day. Shortly thereafter, the contractor arrived
with a crew to work on the barn roof. We
decided to go to an auction. We have not
been in such a long time. I really
wasn’t interested as it was mostly tools, lawnmowers, and outdoor items. There were no antiques to mention. However, I knew if I didn’t agree to go to
the auction, that Mike would feel like he should stay home as well. I asked him to stop at Tractor Supply in
Galax to see if they had any CMPK (a calcium/magnesium supplement for
cattle). We have a couple older cows who
are prone to milk fever and I want to have supplies on hand in case we need to
treat them after they calve. I have
stopped at two stores previously and one didn’t have any and one store only had
on bottle. I wanted to have multiple
bottles on hand as well as some oral paste to give the cows after they
freshen. I found what I needed but they
only had two bottles so I bought them both.
Now we are at the auction and after walking around for about 30 minutes
and speaking to folks we know, I came to the car so that I could
introvert. Mike knows how I am and
doesn’t fret about it as much anymore.
He knows I am better off chilling out in the car, reading, or writing,
than becoming stressed out from too much social interaction.
April 22, 2018
I fell asleep in the truck waiting on Mike to finish up at
the auction yesterday. I had slept
little the night before, doing a lot of tossing and turning trying to get
comfortable. I closed my eyes for a
minute with the seat leaned back and I must have gone instantly to sleep. I slept hard and dreamed almost
immediately. I am guessing I probably
only slept for about 30 minutes, but it was enough to give me a power
boost.
We arrived home mid afternoon and the men were still working
on the barn roof. It had been a
stressful week regarding the barn roof after they walked away last weekend
without finishing the one side, leaving the barn open to the nasty downpours
that arrived on Sunday. We got about two
inches of rain last week, all of which went into the barn where there was no
roof. (It rained so hard that it took
out about two feet of bank at one place in the stream that runs in front of our
house.) The barn set all week and
although Mike had talked to the contractor a couple of times, things were
strained between us and the contractor.
We actually wondered if the barn roof would get completed and Mike was
talking about trying to get up on the steepest point and do the work himself to
get the rafters covered again before we get the next rain. I was really worrying that Mike might try to
do that and kept encouraging him to give it a few more days. It was such a relief to see the work crew
show up bright and early Saturday morning and get to work. Things went much more smoothly than they had
the week before and while things started off really poorly the previous week
and there were some critical issues Mike had to address, I was so proud of how
Mike handled the whole situation. Time
and time again in our married life, I have watched Mike stand true to the
principles he was taught in the church in which he was raised. I can’t say that many Brethren Churches still
promote, teach and practice the core values that were taught when Mike was a
child coming up in the church (in my opinion which is only my opinion and
possibly not shared by others). However,
those values were definitely engrained in my husband’s head and he took them to
his heart and still seeks to practice them today. I also attribute his strong character to his
parents, of course, who upheld the values of the church and lived them in their
own lives providing an example for their children. Never have a met a man of more character than
Mike’s dad. I have watched Mike handle
situation after situation with individuals who have been less than fair to him
and watched him ultimately respond correctly instead of lashing out. Often times, that has meant that he has taken
the raw end of the deal, so to speak.
With that said, Mike is not afraid to speak his mind or stand up to
people as to how he SHOULD be treated, but when someone chooses to respond
improperly, I have seen him more times than not respond with kindness and
forgiveness. On the other hand, as
Mike’s partner, I am the sounding board to hear out his frustration and to let
him talk about options. It was a
stressful week as I mostly listened as he tried to sort out different scenarios
and the best way to respond and the best way to move forward if things didn’t
work out for us. In the end, although it
usually doesn’t happen this way, we ended up with satisfactory results and
everyone walked away friends and we have a lovely barn roof that makes all the
previous work we have done on the barn look complete now. (We have so much to do inside the barn but
from the outside, the barn looks just lovely.)
While the men worked on the barn roof, Mike and I worked on
putting up more board fence. We got a
nice section completed yesterday. We are
figuring out what works best and moving along faster now. As we worked together, I thought about the
fact that being further invested in the projects as we work side by side has in
fact brought us even closer and while it would have been nice to pay someone to
come in and get the job done quickly, we would have missed out on so much that
we have shared in the process. The same
has been true of each of the projects we have tackled here. Mike wrapped his arms around me last night as
I stood at the sink washing dishes long past dark when we came inside and ate a
sandwich. He told me again how content
he is and how much joy being here together brings him. I spoke of how blessed we are to have our
health, the ability to work on projects together, and the means to make this
all happen. There are many joys and many
things we love about our new farm and our life here in Southwest Virginia but
the bottom line is that it provides us with an opportunity to focus on shared
goals and to work together on multiple projects to achieve those goals. Our day to day here has provided opportunity
for us to take an already strong relationship to a new level of intimacy and
growth. I am grateful for this
opportunity that has been provided to us and while I am weary at times being
strung out between two farms that are almost three hours apart and trying to
support family from as far as the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia to the
mountains of Northwest Georgia, I know this move to Southwest Virginia was the
right choice for us. Some people shake
their heads and think we are crazy.
Others have an erroneous idea of our reasons for what we have done. The bottom line at the end of the day is my
husband’s arms around me, his breath warm on the top of my head as it lays on
his shoulder, and the fact that the two of us share the same heart.
April 23, 2018
Awake at 2:30 this morning on a day when I desperately
needed my rest. I lay there for an hour
before finally giving in to the ache in my hip that was screaming for me to get
up and walk around for a bit as well as the plethora of thoughts going through
my head after a full day yesterday. The
highs and lows of yesterday will have to sort themselves out, as they will one
way or another with time. The first
thing I did was make coffee and the second was to go check on Promise and her
new calf. When we arrived back in
Staunton yesterday we had different things competing for our attention which I
will get to in a moment, but at one point in all the chaos, I looked out the
window and saw Promise lying down up by the watering trough, an area where she
would not normally rest. I also saw that
she was alone and knowing she was close to calving, ran out in my sandals,
sleeveless blouse (dressed way to cool for the weather) and nice pants to take
a quick look. As I got closer, I could
see she had a calf in front of her, dried off, perky, sitting up and observing
her new world. Promise looked to be all
right and I was instantly relieved.
Promise is the cow we had such time with last year when she calved and
went down with milk fever. She is
certainly not out of the water for a similar event to happen this calving, but
for now she looks great. She immediately
stood up and indicated she wanted in to the corral area. I had to smile. She is an old pro and I guess knows the
routine. I either have them calve in the
shelters or move them to the shelters after they calve. She did all the work for me, having her baby
successfully without intervention and then bringing baby to me and asking to be
let into the shelters. I got her fresh
water and some hay, got the baby settled in and ran back up to the house.
There was no time to waste because a surprise that I had
been party to had come to fruition and I didn’t’ want to miss one minute with
our Mikey and Marissa! A little over a
week ago, Mikey, our son who lives in Thailand, sent me a message and said he
wanted to surprise his dad and they would be coming home unannounced for a
visit. Nate (Kristin’s husband), Alissa
and I were the only ones to know because we wanted everyone else to be
surprised. I had a hard time getting
Mike to leave Laurel Fork in a timely manner so that we could get back and meet
Mikey and Marissa and finally I said to him, “You have to go now because I have
a surprise for you back in Staunton.” Of
course that meant he began to ask a million question of which I refused to
answer (not for a minute guessing what we had planned) and when we finally got
on the road, he accused me of lying to him to get him to hurry up. He said, “You just told me that to get me in
the car, there’s not really a surprise is there?” To which I replied, “No”. Then I laughed and said, “Well, one of the
things I told you is true and the other is a lie. I’m not going to tell you which one.” He teased me for a long time on the trip
about lying to him and I just laughed at him.
As we approached Staunton he had a list of things he was going to do
when we got home and I just kept saying, “Go inside the house first.” By this point, he was getting focused on setting
and accomplishing goals for the evening and was irritated by my insistence that
he could not just jump in the car and go to the farm as soon as we
arrived.
The surprise worked out perfectly, Mike was thrilled and promptly
“forgave” me for “lying” although he teased me the rest of the night about it
saying he could never trust me again and we had a wonderful time with Mikey and
Marissa and look forward to spending time with them in the next month while
they are here in the US. Unfortunately,
I was unable to see the initial response of Mike and Mikey’s reunion. As we were approaching Verona, I received a
call from my grandma’s pastor’s wife.
The preacher and his wife pick Nan up for services and when they had
gone to pick her up for Sunday evening services, she fell off the steps at her
house. They called an ambulance and took
her to the hospital where the staff determined she had fractured her ankle and
had some dislocation in her leg as well.
After more time and evaluation, it was determined that she is going to
have to have surgery. The hospital was
going to send her home and I started working frantically to get in touch with
my brother who lives in the area as well as my cousin who is a part time
caretaker for Nan. I finally, after many
calls and some time was able to reach Jimmy and he went to the hospital and
convinced them to keep Nan until she has surgery. After explaining her situation, the doctor
there said they would keep her in their care until she is able to recover
enough to get around on that leg. Any
other time I would have gotten in the car and headed to Georgia but Alissa is
two weeks away from completing her Masters and completely covered up with work
to finish her degree. There is no way I
can leave her without child care for the girls at this time as she is burning
the candle at both ends to try to get everything done she needs to get finished
so she can get her degree. We have all
invested so much into this moment and I am stressed between needing to be in
two different places, but I know that between Jimmy, Lou and the medical staff
at the hospital that Nan will be cared for well and I will most likely be
needed more to fill in the gaps after she gets home from the hospital. Not sure how I am going to make that happen
with cows calving and all we have going on here, but if need be, I will just
have to insist that she come home with me so that I can care for her.
One thing I have learned in life is that the odds are that
when things start falling into place and a routine begins to get established
and life feels like it might just get more manageable, something else pops up
to remind us that we really are not in control.
It must be time for more personal growth and life is going to insist
that I make a choice to what I am going to do with the stressful opportunities
presented to me. At this moment, I am
just thankful for a healthy heifer calf, a cow that is still standing and
nursing her baby, a son whom I can put my arms around after a year of
communicating only by email and skype, the fact my husband and grands are all
on the mend from their respiratory infections, and the fact that God has
graciously allowed me to remain healthy and have the strength to do the things
I need to do.
One day at a time, pulling from each day the blessings on
which to focus may I respond with wisdom and grace to each challenge and when I
fail, may I find the strength to admit my weakness and look for ways I can
learn and grow and hopefully do better next time. And, as the days get busier and more
stressful, may I not forget to look for those moments when I can live
intentionally, or better yet, may I learn to live intentionally in each and
every moment.