Father’s day gift, Inventory sorting, Prayers and sayings
More rain this week. Over 2 inches. Not good hay weather, but a couple evening showers sure made for some peaceful porch sitting. I’ll not complain about it.
Saturday morning after chores I was around for on-farm pick up day while Amy and the kids were at the Abingdon Farmers Market. Sunday Amy and I moved chickens before church and let the kids sleep in. After church and a quick nap, we got cows in and pigs loaded for Monday’s trip to the processor.
We manually pull our chicken shelters to fresh grass everyday. Typically I do the shelter pulling while Amy does the feeding and the kids do the watering. The Salatin style 10x12 shelters are light enough to move manually but heavy enough that you start to feel it after moving a few of them. While Amy is capable of moving them, usually a few is about all she wants to do.
When I take hogs and cows to the processor, Amy and the kids usually top off the waterers while I’m gone, and then we move them whenever I get back. Well, when I got back from the processor this time, Amy had already moved ALL 20 shelters. And Hallie stepped into Amy’s roll and did the feeding. Hasten helped with watering while the younger girls did the the “shewing.” I was so impressed that I offered to hand over my chicken moving duties and let them handle the chicken chores from here on out. Amy was adamant about it being a one time “Father’s Day gift, so don’t get used to it.” Ha.
About the time I got back, Amy and the kids had loaded Knoxville orders in coolers and were pulling out as I was pulling in. The three big kids stayed in Tennessee with Amy’s brother and their family for “Cousin Camp.”
While they were gone, I got the round bales hauled off the field. Instead of processing chickens this week, Amy spent Wednesday morning and part of that afternoon sorting through chicken inventory. It’s a lot to keep up with. Figuring out how much of what all we have. What sizes and how many, so she can update the online store.
Amy kept the broth simmering all week. She delivered herd shares and pre-orders to Bristol and Kingsport yesterday afternoon and picked up the kids while I stayed to do some work around the cattle pens until the rain came again.
Most of the time while working by myself I have something plugged into my ears. Usually an audiobook. I missed placed my ear piece earlier in the week and ended up liking the quiet. I liked it so much I might work in the quiet more often. Thinking and praying.
I did, however, do some hard copy reading of The Mad Farmer Poems by Wendell Berry on the porch while it rained. Here’s a few lines from “Prayers and Sayings of the Mad Farmer”
“At night make me one with the darkness.
In the morning make me one with the light.”
“Don’t pray for the rain to stop.
Pray for good luck fishing
when the river floods.”
“When I rise up
let me rise up joyful
like a bird.
When I fall
let me fall without regret
like a leaf.”
“Let me wake in the night
and hear it raining
and go back to sleep.”
Have a good week.
Will