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| Pilot Knob, NC as seen from the top of Buffalo Mountain in Virginia |
March 30, 2018
March continues to present us with a large platter full of
weather samples. The only problem is, we
don’t have a choice as to which one we try.
We bounce from winter back to spring, back to winter, and back to spring
again. Mike’s dad always had these old
sayings about the weather and Mike repeats them often. This month he has been talking about March
“coming in like a Lion”. We have yet to
see what the last day of March brings, but yesterday it was sure roaring like a
Lion. Even though we had high winds, the
sun was shining and the temperatures were pleasant which made for a lovely day
even with the wind. Last weekend’s snowstorm
in Laurel Fork that dumped about 12 inches of heavy snow on us resulted in a
lot of broken limbs on our property and damage to trees. Mike also likes to tell me that his daddy
always said if we don’t take care of the trees, then God will take care of
them, and God was pruning this past week. Another thing he says is that when
that March wind blows, and the trees shake, that it is God pumping the
sap. We worked outside all afternoon dragging
broken limbs and adding them to the brush pile to clean up the yard and the
barnyard area. We had a branch come down
on the chicken house and across the electric wire last weekend and Mike had
sawed it off and thrown it down beside the chicken house. Other branches were littered around the yard
and grounds. Things were quite a
mess. Even as we were cleaning up, the
wind would gust and huge branches would fall from the tops of the old pines
just off the yard. Every time it would
happen, I would glance up and wonder if I should run for cover. The branches falling down in the pines didn’t
present any danger to us but I was worried that one of the large pines would
come toppling over and then the potential for injury or damage would be
real. Mike mostly worked on removing old
fence while I worked on dragging brush.
It was great to see that old, ugly fence coming out in preparation for
new fence. I loved the look at the end
of the day with all the fencing down behind the house and the yard mostly
cleaned up. I worked harder physically
yesterday than I have in a long time and by the end of the day I could feel
it. Even with my back and arms aching,
it was a good feeling knowing how much we had accomplished.
Tuesday we were presented with a cold rain in Staunton and I
have to admit, I really wanted to cancel the farrier’s visit. I knew, however, to reschedule would be
difficult, so I kept the appointment. We
had decided on the previous visit that we would tackle the goat’s hooves as well
as the little horses. Granted, I only
have two goats, but by the time we are done with their feet I feel like I have
twenty. When I stopped milking my
Miniature Nubians and sold off the herd, I also sold my goat stand. The two goats I kept are friendly but they
don’t appreciate being handled. It is
always a rodeo to trim their hooves. The
female goat is usually pretty calm once she is caught but the male goat is
larger and puts up a fight. My farrier
is an amazing single mom who tackles the most difficult scenarios with grace
and confidence and even willingly trims my goats hooves for me. I am thankful to have found such a great
farrier. By the time we finished up, I
was wet, cold and ready to get indoors, which was a good place to be for the
rest of the day. I had put a roast in
the oven that morning and around noon Kristin, Nate, Hudson and Ella came to
have lunch with us. We were having an
early birthday celebration for Kristin whose birthday was Wednesday. It was great to have everyone together. Alissa had to leave early for class that
evening to attend a conference in Charlottesville at the University of
Virginia. I will admit, by the time she
got home after nine, I was ready for bed.
It had been a full day.
Wednesday morning the weather was much more agreeable. Still in Staunton, I headed out to the
barnyard to work on cleaning up some shelters wearing a jacket but soon shed
the jacket once I began working. I have
so much to do there. We had hoped to be
able to move the Jerseys once they calved and milk them in Laurel Fork, but it
doesn’t look like that is going to happen.
So, I am working on getting things back in shape in Staunton for when
they start calving. After working in the
barnyard, I was hot, sweaty, and very stinky.
I was wearing Mike’s UVA Cavaliers sweatpants, a Star Wars T shirt, and
had not combed my hair or put on any makeup.
I was quite a mess. As I
approached the house, Analia motioned for me from the kitchen door that she
wanted me to hurry because she had something to show me. When I got to the door she opened it and
there stood a friend of Gab’s and Alissa’s whom I had never met before. Analia excitedly said, “This is my
Tita!” I spoke to him and told him it
was good to meet him and then he went on his way. Of course, I felt totally unpresentable to be
meeting someone but I refrained from making excuses about my looks or
apologizing for them. I am trying to be
more focused on presenting a good example to my grandchildren that we don’t
need to focus on outward appearance but instead we need to focus on quality
character traits. I mentioned to Alissa
how excited Analia was to introduce me to the man, and Alissa said that Analia
tells everyone about her Tita and thinks that everyone should meet me. That
just melted my heart to think that my granddaughter sees me through such eyes
of love. Truly, when Jesus used children
as examples when he spoke, he provided us with a model of how we need to
approach life. It is such a shame that
we “grow up” and begin to judge one another, become critical of one another,
and so often forget how to look at life through eyes of wonder and hearts of
love.
We had so much to do and didn’t get away from Staunton until
late afternoon. Mike had hay to deliver
to some of his regular customers and he is dealing with trying to get broken
equipment repaired. The tractor in
Staunton is a major repair and a reoccurring issue. The dealer tried to blow it off as our
problem and our fault, but Mike and his mechanic were able to research and find
that the issue is an ongoing problem with these types of tractors. This is the third time on the Deutz tractor
that the wheels have locked up. This
time it threw Mike into the guard rail and he could have been seriously
injured. It is also a very costly repair
of thousands of dollars with parts and labor.
Mike has spent a lot of time on the phone trying to get to the bottom of
this issue. By using a nonaffiliated
mechanic, it has been impossible for the tractor dealership to cover up the
issues and we are fortunate that our friend also did a ton of research giving
us some leverage with the dealership.
Hopefully, they will at least give us a break on parts since this is a
flaw in their product. And while the
tractor is not functional in Staunton, the loader is inoperable in Laurel
Fork. Mike took the part off the loader
that broke, a solid piece of steel that snapped in two, and took it to a shop
in Bridgewater to be repaired or replaced.
So, in order to get any work done with brush clearing and fence removal
this week, we have resorted to muscle power.
There’s nothing like tearing down fence on an incline and dragging brush
up hills to remind you that you now live in the mountains.
March 31, 2018
It has been warm enough that we have not been building a
fire in the bedroom fireplace until last night.
Although it hasn’t been warm, the days have been pleasant enough with a
jacket and at time, when working, we have stripped down to short sleeves. Was nice to get some sun on our arms and
faces. Nothing like some natural Vitamin
D to boost the spirits! The air was brisk
and cold yesterday evening and with the temps falling below freezing overnight,
we decided to build a fire. After
working outside and getting chilled when evening came, the fire really felt
good. It had gone back to just a few
coals when I awoke before daylight, but I was able to use some small pieces of
wood and coax it back to life. One of my
tasks yesterday was to clean out the ashes and sweep the fire place clean. As I was doing it, I thought about what a
messy job it is and smiled to think about one of the books I read to Analia
about Cinderella and how she got her name from cleaning the ashes out of the
fireplace. One doesn’t realize how dirty
a job that is until they experience it.
I have cleaned out a lot of ashes in my life but there’s something a
little different about pulling them from a stove and getting down on one’s
knees and crawling half way back into a deep fireplace to pull out the
ashes. No matter how careful I try to
be, I feel like I am covered in soot when I am finished. Mike apologized for the mess the fireplace
makes but I really don’t mind at all. We
keep it clean, taking out the ashes each week and I clean up from carrying wood
in through the house. I am very
fortunate that I have a husband who is very considerate about dirt and tracking
up the house. He has always been good to
take his shoes and his dirty clothes off before walking through the house and
he prevents a lot of dirt and grime from being carried in by being so
conscientious about such things. I am
sure I have his mother to thank for that and I am thankful.
I made bread yesterday.
I have been making bread once a week using the sourdough poolish that my
friend sent to me. I had some wheat
berries that I had vacuum sealed years ago.
The wheat was grown and harvested on a friend’s farm and I had stocked
up back when I was making a lot of bread before the grandkids were born. I wasn’t sure if the wheat berries would
still be good and had thought about throwing them out, but everyone assured me
that they would keep for a long time and should be just fine. One of the things I packed from Staunton this
week and moved to Laurel Fork was my grain mill and the wheat that I had. This time, when I made bread, I ground my own
wheat. The results were just
amazing. I was a little disappointed
that the bread didn’t “look” perfect because I like to have a beautiful loaf
come out of the oven. While there was
nothing wrong with it, it just wasn’t picture perfect because when I slid it
into the preheated dutch oven to bake it, the loaf had risen so much and gotten
so round that it barely fit. As I slid
it off the pan where I had place it for its final rise, the edge of the loaf
hit the edge of the hot dutch oven and slightly marred the one side. Also, as the bread baked, it filled up the
dutch oven which caused it to take on the shape of the pot rather than keep its
free form shape. The result was a
delicious loaf of bread that cosmetically just didn’t fit my desired
expectations. Not a big deal, we just
sliced it right out of the oven, not giving it a proper cooling time, letting
the butter melt on the warm pieces of bread and ate it.
Yesterday afternoon, again I assisted Mike with cleaning up
the yard and moving brush. To the right
of our house is an area that has grown up something terrible. Along the edge of the yard is a grove of very
old pines that I love. This is
harvestable timber but I would not agree to harvesting it because I love it so
much. Between the grove of pines and the
edge of the yard someone, years ago, built a livestock fence to keep the cattle
out of the yard. A few yards over, there
is evidence of another fence at one time and an old path down the steep,
mountainous bank. It appears that at one
time, a pathway was created for the cattle to make their way down the bank and
drink from that stream which would explain the original fence. Over time, because of serious erosion issues
exaggerated by the cattle coming frequently down the bank to get water, the
previous owners no longer allowed the cattle to drink from that particular
stream and let the second fence deteriorate but continued to maintain the yard
fence. Years of neglect allowed brush to
grow up right next to the yard and the worst of it is the thick vines that have
grown up over even a tall maple at the edge of the yard. I am not sure of the technical name of the
vines but as a kid growing up in Missouri, we referred to them as wild grape
vines. Some of the vines are as thick as
my arm and they have twisted and twisted around each other and around the trees
and other vegetation creating a virtual jungle.
Mike used the loader several weeks ago to start clearing out the fence
and the “jungle”. The clearing with the
loader went relatively quickly but the bank is so steep that once he reached a
certain point, he could no longer use the loader. Yesterday, the work was all by hand. It was frustrating, difficult and slow
work. There’s no way we can ever totally
reclaim what has been taken over, but what has been done looks so much better and
what I love the most is that there is no barrier between the yard and the
pines. I had thought at first that I
could walk into the pines and then up the hill to the pasture to continue my
frequent hikes, but the land is actually far to steep. I tried walking through the pines yesterday
and it was near impossible. The deer
make it look easy but at my age, I think I will leave it to the deer to climb
the steep banks. Still at the edge of
the pines is a little area where I can put a picnic table and from that vantage
we can look down over the house and the back yard.
April 1, 2018
This Easter morning was perfect. Mike and I awoke long before dawn and after I
got scalloped potatoes in the crock pot and showered, we met friends from
church and headed to Buffalo Mountain.
We arrived at the parking lot which takes one within a mile of the
summit. From there, we walked up the
trail. I had a small flashlight, but I
believe we could have made it by the light of the moon. Ahead of us, circling the mountain, others
were already walking the trail. People
of various hiking skills made their way to the top, some needing assistance,
some resting often, and others practically running ahead. When the last straggler had reached the top,
there was about 35 of us that watched the sun come up over the horizon. It was a little cold, very windy, and cloudy
but I would not trade the experience. So
many thoughts and emotions went through my head and heart regarding this climb
and what it signified to me……….new beginnings, new horizons, new life,
resurrection, hope, peace, love………….the thoughts swirled last night but this
morning, there was just a peace that comes from putting one foot in front of
the other as one makes an ascent, mind at rest, body in motion, focused on
reaching the top for the views. I
thought there might be tears but once I got to the top, there were no tears,
only joy. I cried a lot of tears this
past year but this morning, those tears were just that…..past.
April 2, 2018
Here we come April!
Things won’t slow down from here until fall but I think mentally I am
ready. We will see how the old body
holds up. I feel my age every day. I’m very fit and healthy and have no
complaints for I am so blessed to be able to do all that I can do. However, the difference between what I could
do easily two or three years ago and now is telling of my aging body. Rarely, do I have a debilitating headache,
but I awoke with a slight headache yesterday morning and by the time the day
was over, I was passed out on the couch by 6 pm. I lay there for a few hours and then
transferred myself to the bed, hoping it was nothing more than a headache and
that I would be able to proceed as normal with the girls on Monday. (There’ still so much sickness going around,
that I was afraid I might have contracted a virus.) This morning I awoke feeling fine and ready
to start the day, the month, and move ahead with spring. I am on the down hill stretch with child care
having only about five more weeks to which I have committed. So bittersweet for me. I will miss keeping my babies on a regular
basis, but I am ready to focus on other things.
I have dedicated just shy of five years to helping with the grands,
putting things I wanted to do on the back burner. I don’t regret a minute of it and will miss
it terribly, but it is time to focus on other things now and let the kids take
the bulk of the responsibility.
The kids are all at a good place in their lives as well,
Alissa getting close to graduation with her Master’s, Gabino working a good
job, Mikey living an adventurous life in Thailand, and Kristin expecting
another baby and being able to stay home with this one (Yes, we are going to be
grandparents again!), and Nate just accepting a new job in Charlottesville, a
position that utilizes his major from college for which he worked so hard and
graduated this past December. Things
can change in an instant, but for this moment, everyone is well, happy and
moving forward. With the younger
generation in a good place, I can take steps if and when needed to assist my
grandma more and should she get to a point where she needs more intervention,
we have the option of moving her in with us, something I couldn’t do when
traveling back and forth assisting with the Little People. God has blessed us to bring all of the things
together that need to come together for us and allow the timing to be such that
I can continue to help where needed most.
I am not naïve, I see that my focus will most likely change from the
young generation to the older generation and their needs, for that is what
family does. Someday, if I am lucky, my
children will follow my example and be there for Mike and I when we need
it.