What a glorious Sunday morning. The ones you wish were every week. After a week of physical labor what a glorious day to rest and worship God. A day set apart for Him. To look on our week of work and see that it is good, and to rest 1 out of 7 because our Father did the same when he created all this beauty.
It wasn’t too chilly last night, a low 50Fº, but we spent the night at Joel and Megan’s house and even with windows open it doesn’t get too cold.
I picked Jether up Thursday night around 9pm. He called me to say they were about 30 minutes away just as I had finished washing all the dishes and was about to sit down and get a bite to eat. I hurriedly shoved the food down grabbed my wallet and some goats milk and rushed out the door. I drove to the spot, just off 495 and I hadn't been there 30 seconds when they showed up. Uncle Paul said they had made very good timing and had been within minutes of each other when Aunt Jenny dropped Jether off in Knoxville. We threw his stuff in the back of my truck and headed back to the farm. We drunk the goats milk and talked a little bit about the day ahead. It seemed almost unreal to have my best friend coming up and working with me. I had envisioned this last year when I was thinking about interning, it would be so cool if we could both intern together, but I didn' think the chance very likely. And yet, here a year later we're doing it, God surely does love his children and blesses them beyond what we need or think we need.
We arranged the room in the barn a little nicer, certainly a little cozier and tidier. We pushed two beds together and shared the blankets (it gets quite cold when there is no insulation between you and 45-50Fº) between us. We set the alarm for 6:30am but didn't get up till quarter till. I didn't have chores on Friday so we had that luxury. We ate breakfast inside before heading out to work around 8am. We got a bit of work done, a lot of cutting out weeds and such. We broke at 12 and made lunch, found some leftovers and other jazz. We talked and did some email and reading until around 3pm. We did some more work until around 6pm. Then we gathered firewood and got some food for a stew. We cooked chicken and added carrots, radishes, beets, kale, and sweet potatoes, all from the farm. About the only thing you need to buy here is flour and oil, all vegetables and meat and milk and eggs are all here, even fruit. There was a birthday party going on in the barn and they had a fire near us to cook their hotdogs and s'mores. They offered us hotdogs which, we eventually took, but fed to the dogs, I gave one a lick and decided I didn't want it. We watched the stars and enjoyed a fire, though smokey at times till around 10pm.
We woke up at 6:30am. I was going to make muffins for market but decided against it, I wasn't sure whose ingredients to use and I had enough to do already with Joel and Megan gone. I will say the day would've been a lot harder without Jether. We warmed up our stew over a fire and started picking vegetables around 8am. Jether picked cherry and big tomatoes and I picked basil, eggplant, summer squash, carrots and some parsley. Cherry tomatoes take the longest to pick and so Jether picked the whole time I did. We packaged it all up, some for selling and most for CSA.
Market was pretty good as far as sales went, and it was kind of nice to just hang out and relax, not having to do much. Lunch was good, sausages grilled with onions. Around 2:30pm I checked email and then we went to work again. We carried two fridges up into the barn and hauled sweet potatoes up to my room where they were and layered them in with straw. We took care of all the sweet potatoes, putting the big ones in the fridges and smaller ones in the greenhouse. They've cured and now just need to be stored. We worked till 6pm. When we got some food together and headed over to Joel and Megan's house. We stopped at the end of the driveway to get the pig that had run down into the road, we helped get her back into her pen (it's not a typical day at the farm unless a pig gets out. You leave a door unlocked for 15 min and she'll check it every 5 or so and get out! they're so smart! I think 5 out of 7 days a pig gets out!)
We got to Joel and Megan's house and with the little bit of light outside left Jether used a weedeater to mow the grass in the yard. I worked on supper. I cut up tomatoes and started roasting them in the oven in the oven for soup. I sautèed onions, garlic and basil on the stove top. Jether came in and started mixing up the bread starter he'd brought and soaking flour for pancakes for breakfast. I made a mess of the kitchen (it's small and not too efficient with space) with blending tomatoes up and cooking this and that, but by 8:45 we had something that was quite good and tasty, Roasted Tomato and Basil Soup. Jether took a shower and rinsed the dishes and I washed them, wiped off counters, swept the floor, organized and cleaned up all around the kitchen. I find that once I start washing dishes cleaning up the rest of the kitchen is easy, I'd say washing dishes is the start and beginning of cleaning a kitchen. I also like being clean and organized, especially in the kitchen and I find it very calming and relaxing to come down to a clean kitchen. By 10pm we had the place looking good and dandy. We headed upstairs and I went to bed and Jether read his fireman book for an hour.
We got up at 5:50am. I took a shower by candlelight (no lights other than candles!) which was cool and then went downstairs. Jether was mixing up pancakes and the world was still asleep. I really love early mornings. I brewed a big mug of coffee and we started eating breakfast which was pancakes and sausage. They were delicious. I went outside for a few minutes to enjoy the morning. The sun was just starting to hit the trees, the air had a chill to it, and I had a mug of steaming coffee. I thought about how much I loved this time of day. Most people still in bed, and yet here I am reveling in God's glorious nature. We finished cooking pancakes (we made a lot!) and then headed to the farm. Jether was going to skype or call to meet with his mission trip team that will go to Honduras in November. We got to the farm around 7:30am and he skyped for a while and then used a phone, and now is charging my cell phone while on his and switching them out since they both ran out of battery. We will head over to church at 10 and then read and relax the rest of the day.
English Vintner
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