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Hi Everyone,
I advise you to grab a cup of tea, and find a cozy spot to sit down and read this journal—because last week was full of lots of adventures and excitement. Most of our days started off at 5:00 in the morning so that we could be done milking by the time the workers showed up to make a bunch of noise on the new building project. On Tuesday they framed in the barn for the concrete and returned on Friday to pour the concrete and then they cut the concrete on Saturday. Now we have a big concrete pad waiting for framing and walls.
Monday we did get the chance to sleep in until 6:00, which meant that we milked the cows after breakfast instead of before breakfast. This came in handy because while Papa was out on the tractor doing his chores the stick that controls the speed on the tractor broke. Papa had to walk up and get Steve. Mama and I were milking and we saw Papa get into the Gravely with Steve and head down field. We thought that Papa had run out of diesel—because that happens. Then Mama saw Steve back the Gravely up to the tractor in order to tow it home—which meant it wasn’t out of diesel. Then we thought that it wouldn’t run—but when they drove past we heard the noise of the tractor engine. So we were pretty lost as to what had happened. Papa came up to tell us that the speed stick had broken. My brother-in-law, Gary, came over to help Papa tear the tractor apart in order to figure out how to fix it. They managed to figure out what part to order, and Papa got it ordered, and wouldn’t be able to pick it up until Thursday. By late Thursday afternoon Gary and Papa had the tractor fixed and put back together.
I have plants in the greenhouse that desperately need to be transplanted into the garden—but the garden beds are not prepared for them. I spent Monday harvesting the onions and the carrots. I had to get them pulled before the afternoon rains arrived. Then I parked the Gravely in the barn lean-to and Steve helped me set up the drying racks. Mama came to the barn to help me set the onions out on the racks and then we cut all the tops of the carrots. The week before we harvested the potatoes—so now we have potatoes to can, carrots to can, and carrots to dehydrate. I need to host a canning class so that I can get them done.
Come Tuesday I worked in the Market Garden transplanting some lettuce—but first I had to weed the area and broadfork it. While I planted lettuce, Mama weeded in the courtyard and Papa worked on some fencing. I finished in the garden just in time for lunch. Then I joined what we thought would be our last Egg Party. The Tavernari family had told us a month ago that their last egg party would be the last Tuesday in April. To our surprise, when we were all done, they announced that they would be able to help us with the eggs for a few more months. They will not be able to help us process chickens any more—and that help will be greatly missed.
Wednesday started out as a normal delivery day—but it wasn’t going to stay that way very long. The golf-cart has been parked in the garage for months, because the batteries need to be replaced and they are expensive. Then the tractor broke on Monday. The truck has transmission, brake and bearings problems—so we do not go far in it. The Gravely squeals when sitting idle and in gear, and is hard to shift, and loves to stall out whenever it pleases. That covers all our vehicles but one—the van, and we have known for some time that it needs a new engine, but money was an issue and the mechanic told us to just drive it till we couldn’t. Well, that happened last Wednesday. Poor Papa made it almost to Macclenny when the van started making a terrible noise. When he got to the Macclenny drop site a dear friend of ours was there to pick up his order and offered to let Papa make the deliveries in his Suburban. So Travis and Papa transferred the ice chests from our van to Travis’s Suburban—including the two giant long green ice chests that were full of milk and ice (and EXTREMELY heavy). The Suburban ran out of space before the last two ice chests found a spot—so they had to go to plan two—rent a U-Haul. So they both drove to the U-Haul place. The first U-Haul place required you to reserve the vehicle in advance—and we do not own a smart phone (just a flip phone). So they drove to the next place and were able to rent there. Then they loaded the U-Haul truck with all the ice chests from the van and the Suburban and then Papa was able to get back on the delivery route—though he was now about 30 to 45 minutes late. Thankfully everyone was already at the pickup and it went pretty quick passing out all the orders. He was able to be on time to the next two drops. Then Papa had to drop the U-Haul truck off at the dealer and transfer all the ice chests back to the van. Then he drove home real slow—so it was after 9:00 before Papa got home (and he is usually home by 7:30 or 8:00—depending on late or on time customers). So now we need a new engine for the van—which will take some time to get and install. In the meantime, the truck is supposed to get fixed so that we have a reliable vehicle—but we couldn’t take it in today because we need it to return the U-Haul van that Papa had to rent in order to make the deliveries to Gainesville yesterday (and because they close early on Saturday and are closed on Sunday we had to rent it for two days—which can get pretty costly). Then we also need the truck to go get alfalfa pellets for the cows. So maybe we can get the truck to the mechanic Monday afternoon.
Thursday was a special day on the farm. It was my Papa’s 74th birthday and my sister Samantha’s 40th birthday. Samantha lives in Pensacola, but she wanted to spend her birthday at home and surprise Papa for his birthday. She came in on Wednesday, but my sister Nichole picked her up and kept her at her house until Thursday. Once the milking was done Thursday morning I went to the garden. I am working as fast and as hard as I can to get the beds ready for planting for I have cosmos, tomatoes, peppers and roselles that desperately need to be transplanted out of the greenhouse and into the garden. I was able to get two beds completely weeded before lunch time. When I came in for lunch Samantha had arrived. My sister Nichole spent the afternoon with us too, and that evening the rest of her family came over for dinner down at Shepherd’s Hill Farm’s Dinning Hall—our outdoor picnic area at the barn. The afternoon was spent in the kitchen preparing the birthday dinner. I made a Lemon Chiffon cake—because I didn’t want to make an Angel Food Cake (which is Papa’s favorite) and have a bunch of egg yolks left over. Then I made a mulberry sauce to go over it. Then we had fried chicken, green beans, potatoes, and a fresh garden salad. We had a lovely day. Mama and I wanted to surprise Papa with new batteries for the golf-cart, but to our dismay they will not be in stock until Monday—so we had to settle with just telling him about his belated birthday gift. Samantha got Papa a hat that says, “I am not old, I am Classic”.
Friday found me back out in the garden transplanting the cosmos. I managed to get two other beds weeded also. I was grateful to Mama and Samantha for taking care of all the customers so that I could stay in the garden and work. Tomorrow I hope to get another bed weeded, and everything transplanted. The dry spell is over, and the rainy season has begun—so I want the plants in the ground to benefit from all the rain water. The good thing—I think that we shall get to sleep in until 6:00 every day this week. Yippee!
Serving you with Gladness,
Tiare