In any case, it was a happy occasion. I then plopped down on the chair and swigged down an iced tea - then started dinner. I had my new friend, L, over for dinner and wanted to make a good impression. Of course, she is so nice that I could have served poached chipmunk with purslane sauce and she would have (said she) loved it. When, during the course of a very long and enjoyable conversation, she said she was 80, you could have knocked me over with a pair of silk drawers. Holey Guacamole! She is the poster child of the result of a good farming life - seven kids, always raised their own food, milks goats (one goat now, OAD), eats as much organic food as she can. Has a large garden and healthy soil (which she amends and sees to herself). A year ago, her husband died, so she buckles down and does what needs to be done. She has fruit, nuts and homemade yogurt for breakfast, a "green drink" mid-morning, a hearty lunch with lots of fruits and vegetables, and a light dinner. She drinks kombucha and water. Period. She is as sharp as a tack. She is my idol! According to L, as long as you eat well, keep active and have a positive attitude, you can live a long time. I guess so! Anyway, she loved the meal - smoked turkey (discovered in my freezer), kale salad, carrot rice, and a blueberry/cranberry crumble for dessert. She had two helpings of everything but dessert. (I should take note of this......)
This morning came too fast - really, something should be done to slow weekend time. Ideas anyone? I got everything watered since we are not forecast for rain until, possibly, Wednesday, and picked strawberries. Yes, I finally came up with a method to keep my strawberries for myself. The bird net swaddle works! It continues to be a challenge to pick strawberries for me, however, although, this morning I realized I could rip holes in the top (just large enough to put my hand through) and then reach around inside. Still not ideal, but worth the effort:
Tonight I have to go get hay. My usual source of hay manpower is up to his broken tractors in hay fields that need to be chopped and stored. I will try not to whine too loudly, having to stack it myself. Another neighbor is lending his trailer and my hay guy (ssssiigggghhhh) is helping to stack it on his end. It's only 50 bales, so it won't kill me. Just maim me. :)
(Hang in there, Mama Pea - only seven more days....)
7 comments:
That's great having a pal like that. I chat with a 93 year old volunteer at my school. She's funny, sharp as a tack and we share the same birthday! I tell her I want to be like her when I grow up :)
Sounds like a terrific new friend.
We've got one that's 76---she shovels her own roof, does all her own plowing and shoveling, and loves to tell dirty jokes and flirt like crazy with my hubby. What a doll.
She says she can't believe how "soft" kids have gotten and what they need nowadays is a good batch of hard work. Perhaps like stacking bales? You need to wrangle a few pesky teenage boys Wait....I must be delusional from lack of sweets. They don't want to work, let alone HARD work. Sigh. What a world.
And your strawberries look so beautiful
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Very cool to find such a friend. I almost (almost) wish that we still had strawberries; they gave up about three weeks or more ago. But I don't miss sweating/picking them.
Wonderful story about "L". I truly believe happy hard work is a key in living a long life. The physical activity is good for you....the metal activity of learning and planning around animals and gardens is great for your brain and the satisfaction of a job well done is good for your soul! Plus I think "Dill" helps out Too :). I am so enjoying your daily posts and appreciate the effort it is taking!
The last time we went to get hay, it was Hubby and myself. My allergies flared up so badly. I told daughter she has to go next time. Your strawberries look great.
Oh, I LOVE working with bales (the small ones, please) of hay! It's such satisfying work (and yeah, hard, too) from the cutting to the raking to the baling to the picking up and stacking in the barn (or wherever). I love the feel of a hay hook in my hand. (I know, I've been in the woods too long.) I do, however, remember one scary experience I don't care to have again when haying. We were picking up bales right out of a farmer's field and stacking them on a wagon pulled by the pick up. I was driving the pick up and we were on the side of (what seemed to me) a very steep hill and I was SURE the whole rig was going to tip over. Of course, it didn't but I still can feel my queasiness when I think about it.
And I agree with everything your new friend, L, says and does. Yay to staying healthy a long, long time!
Humm Mama Pea....I know the tipping feeling....but my brother and I had tied the load on really really really well! When it did tip over as we turned out of the field it took everything with it....weirdly enough the bales stayed on the trailer but the trailer was on its side, the pickup had one wheel of the rear about 3 feet of the ground! The trailer was a gooseneck and it was totaled! What fun! My stepather always said no one could tie a load of hay on better than my brother and I!
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