There, with the grace of God, went I: Part I of III

November 19, 2010November 19, 20105 Comments

Having finally met Jayme for the first time I am just blown away by the girl! She is so energetic! But let me back up…

Driving from Hazel Green, Alabama to Crown Point Indiana , a distance of 523 miles, was a feat to be reckoned with. I started out early in the day and drove ALL DAY and into the evening. After the first 2oo miles of the trip I began to feel as though King Kong had my lower back in a pinch-like grip and feared it was my kidneys going on me.

I began drinking water in earnest, which made me have to make approximately ten extra pit stops, and that added yet another hour or more to my very long day!

By the time I was within thirty miles of Jayme’s home I was praying for teleportation and an end to my suffering. I finally pulled into Jayme’s drive and just stopped the car… I couldn’t move. I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes and I was just so grateful to have made it to my destination.

Now you think me strange at this point I am sure, but the thing about it is this… I have killed two cars in two accidents (one here in Alabama and one in California) and only the grace of God saved me from being killed myself. And so you see, getting to Jayme’s wasn’t just a long drive… it was a test of endurance and gaining control over my fear of going places with me behind the wheel. Leave it to me to never do anything in a small way, huh?

Well, with Jayme at the truck’s door, and wondering out loud if I were about to cry I had to climb out and go in. And there waiting for me were Jayme’s sister and her nephew. I am afraid I wasn’t good company but I managed a smile and some tales of the journey and was given a chance later, on Sunday, to make up for it. More about that day later! Amazingly, my back was completely better within about half an hour… I guess it was stress!

On Thursday a long-lost friend of Jayme and her sisters arrived! You see, I had met Peggy through Jayme on Face Book and when I found out that she only lived 20 miles away and that she and Jayme had not seen each other in over 25 years… well, I just had to try to make sure we all got together! And so it was that Peggy arrived Thursday morning and we talked for hours me getting acquainted, and Peggy and Jayme reminiscing their old days in Chicago. Later in the day we went out antiquing and thrift shopping in downtown Crown Point. It was one of those rare days for me when I am having a great time and the day did not fly by… I was able to savor each moment.

The best part? Sitting around the kitchen Island talking with new friends while Jayme just whipped up “… a Flourless Chocolate Cake in no time at all.” And she did too! Complete with raspberries from her summer garden! Effortlessly!

There is no other word for it all but wonderful!

End Part I

It’s the little things in life

October 19, 2010November 27, 201014 Comments

Today I had a friend over, a new friend actually! She is one of my egg customers. Usually, I bring her eggs to her where she works, but this week she asked if she couldn’t come get them from me here and “…save me the trouble.”

My first reaction was to say no. This is principally because I’m just not a good housekeeper. Now my friend Jayme is an absolutely immaculate housekeeper. She stresses about it and admits it freely! Me? Not so much. It is not for lack of wanting a clean house, but it just seems that no matter how I try I just never get it all done. That is of course unless company is coming! Then I race about cleaning everything till it sparkles and make sure all is tidy and put away. My guests arrive and always say how lovely everything is and I smile, and I’m stressed, wondering what horrid thing I may have forgotten to take care of… I think I would actually die of mortification should someone find out what a slob I can really be. Generally speaking I do not have a good time when friends come over because I stress too much.

Well, that was then, and this is now. Now I live in the sticks, more or less, and I have this constant dust that seems to creep into every nook and cranny no matter how hard I try to keep it out. My poor couch after traveling nearly three thousand miles cross-country has a rather large smudge on one arm that would not come out, not completely anyway. Adding insult to injury it has been rather over loved by my then kitten Clause, who bared the corners by using it as a scratching post when no one was looking… I cannot afford a new couch at the moment, so I am currently looking for something to cover it with, to make do, until it can be replaced.

And so it was that today I dusted and vacuumed the living room, made sure the guest bath (which is vintage early 60’s in decor and looks it) was clean and sanitized for visitors. The rust stains in the sink remain, the two tiles I replaced with the mysterious, ever dirty looking caulking were cleaned and will return over the next few days to their ugly and dirty looking patina, but hey, I made the effort!

And then Marie arrived bearing unexpected gifts!

She brought lovely flowers and a pumpkin spice loaf, and I was surprised that she would go to the trouble to do this, for me. We talked quite awhile over coffee about everything, and then we went out so she could meet the menagerie of the Farmlet. I introduced her to my geese, pointed out my hennies in the field and then showed her the inner world of my beehive (via the safety of the window on the side, because she’s afraid of bees!) and then we went to see the little broody hen and looked into her nest …

And there was a broken egg, and just for a moment I was upset, but then I realized we’d arrived at a birth! The egg was hatching! That was a special gift for me and her. I can’t tell you who was the more excited to see such a thing. Peeking through the little hole we could see the baby chick moving and struggling to free itself, to be out and into the world at large.

Later, after Marie left, I went out with my camera to take pictures and found my new baby had made its arrival. It was still wet under Momma Hen!

Isn’t it darling?

So, over the next few days I’ll watch and wait to see how many more will hatch!

Now just a moment ago I read a comment from Cindy, a long distance friend who commented on my blog today. She shared:

“I think you live in a dreamworld. Thank you for sharing it.”

And I tell you all that I share the little things in my life with you because I must. Somehow, I feel that not sharing would make my life a parallel to this age old philosophical question:

“If a tree falls in the forest, and there is no one there to hear it, does it make a sound?”

Thus similarly…

If all the wonder and beauty that surrounds me is kept to myself and never shared… does it exist?

It’s the little things in the life I lead, the lessons learned, these daily gifts from God that are affirmations of his love for me, and I must share. And along the way I learn to accept me, to make peace with dust and holey couch corners, and through the process of acceptance of my foibles…

I make new friends.

A Bit of Chicken Humor: or the truth about eggs

October 16, 2010October 17, 20105 Comments

Chickens the world over have one thing in common. They all lay eggs. The process of ‘puberty,’ if you will, begins at about age 4 to 6 months on average. The event is always spectacular to hear. She lays her egg in the nest and then begins a litany of clucking that could raise the dead and will begin the other hens to clucking as well. Every day and every time.

All of them.

Nineteen of them.

Now you might begin to suspect this would be annoying to hear every day, but it isn’t. Well, not to me anyway. I hear the cackling begin and think it is all for fun to them. Seriously. Why just the other day I heard them all laughing at a something Tippy The Buff Polish was clucking…

Gaaaak! KAK, Kak, kak…! and Cuck, cuk, cuc, and cackle-cackle currrrrr, etc.

Translation?

Tippy the BP:

“Ahhh, ha-ha-ha! Girls listen to this!

Today I snapped up five brown beetles,two juicy green worms, and a couple of spiders hiding out back. Mmmmm… and for dessert I had this giant Palmetto bug! (whispered) Then I found this…

Oh! Hey girls… Shhh! SHHHHHH! Here comes the Lady of the Farmlet with her basket to steal my hard work!”

All the Girls:

*“Caaaaak, Cac-Cac-cac-cack!”

Well, I actually could be grossed out by all, but the truth of it is this:

If my chickens were not left out to pasture each day my eggs would be bland and boring! This is because it is the grasses, weeds, seeds, and well, bugs that make the lovely orange color in the yolks. You just won’t find it in store-bought eggs. My girls are also wonderful, organic pest control and garden fertilizers as well.

Now eggs come in many sizes and colors.

( http://www.dreamthymefarm.com/farmproducts.html )

The first eggs are usually small, an inch in diameter or so measured through the middle, and as time goes by the hen matures and they get much larger.

However, sometimes the younger hen will produce this…

It is called a “Double Yolker” and it is produced by an immature hen. When two yolks come into the egg chamber they are encapsulated into the shell as one.

Poor little hens!

Rest assured, this is not a lifelong condition! Thankfully, it is intermittent lasting only about a month at the beginning of laying.

So, while I may appreciate all my Girls do for me and love to eat their eggs, I am nevertheless glad I am not a chicken!

“:< >

*The sound a chicken makes when it’s laughing at you.

This Misty Morning

October 13, 2010October 16, 20107 Comments

I wake up to see Bob off to work with a sleepy hug, and then with a kiss he’s off. Looking out the window I watch him drive into the darkness…

Lingering I gaze through the glass as morning comes. Slow and sleepy it creeps only to be met with mist and fog. Turning from the window I throw on a jacket to break the chill and go out to do morning chores. As I open chicken hutches, throw scratch, and greet the geese, the haze begins to burn off and reveal my surroundings.

What awaits me is a dreamy visage of this pastoral life.

Out behind us we have new neighbors who’ve been moved in just this week.