It is a wonderful, blessed morning here on the farm. It has cooled down from the rains of the past few days, the birds are singing, there is a light mist gentle caressing the big pond, and everything feels fresh and new.
I have renewed energy to work, and I think it might be because yesterday TWS and I took the day off to celebrate a special day. The only work we did yesterday was hand pollinating the greenhouse (basically gently tapping the stems that were flowering so that the pollen would fall into the right place). That only took about 15 minutes. Then we went to town for the day to enjoy each other's company and browse.
We gently tapped the stems that the blossoms attached to in order to mimic the wind or a bee. Tomatoes are self pollinating, needing only jostling to get the pollen from one place in the blossom to another.
It was our anniversary, you see, and we had not planned to do anything for it. Not that I do not like celebrating our anniversary--I love it! I love marriages and love and yearly markers of time together, through struggles and through blessings. Marriage is HARD work, and it is a blessing to mark the time together.
However, our anniversary always seems to fall at a busy time of year and sneaks up on me! Additionally, with the expense of the move and establishing the farm, there was not as much discretionary time or income.
Instead TWS had a wonderful day just being together. We went to my favorite fast food restaurant (with coupons!), went to a local store that has the most amazing show rooms (most of their items were too expensive for us, but we had fun looking at everything and chatting with the sales person about our time in Alaska!). We went to Pet Depot to find new food for our cat (more on that later) and a dog bed.
We drove up one of the most beautiful highways I have ever seen into Tennessee and back (a short trip). This highway looks like a drive through arboretum--the trees are magnificent and groomed and stunning.
We stopped by an antique store where TWS got an incredible deal on a hand plane and I found some copper cookie cutters like my mom used to have. Oh, there is s till a very tender wound in my heart from her passing, and yesterday it was particularly tender for some reason. There was a lady in one of the stores we went to that had hair like my mom and was about the right height. Every time I caught a glimpse of her through the aisles, I would quickly get an excited, joyful catch in my heart, then just as quickly, I would remember that it was not my mom. It was sorrowful, but also beautiful, because, for the merest of split seconds, my mom was back here with me. It was worth the pain of disappointment to have the joy of that moment.
I also found a new (old!) book series: Cherry Ames. It was written long ago about a nurse who solves mysteries. It reminds me of the Trixie Belden series, which I adore.
Let's see, we of course had to go to Lowe's (they know us well there!) and we went to Tractor Supply. Since we had not planned any gifts for each other, we almost got an "anniversary auger" for the tractor :). However, we passed on that and I got Ball Jars to put up dry goods instead :).
We have been married 19 years. It seems so short! The present for a 19 year anniversary is "bronze". TWS and I like to go by the traditional gifts instead of the modern, but the traditional skips from 15 to 20 (those are some mighty good years that the lists carelessly skip! :) ). In these cases, we look to the modern list. Though I found some incredible bronze items in the first store, they were entirely too pricey for our budget, so instead we got an "oil rubbed bronze" shower head at Lowe's, which we needed anyway :).
I also bought some gladiolus bulbs for the walking garden, and some seed starter trays to start the flowers I have. I could direct sow into the ground, but with the walking garden carved out of the grassy meadow, I am afraid we might misplace (and mow!) what we would plant.
We also tried some goat cheese with honey in it (and fig, and coffee--they were each delicious!) from a local store. And I got a few little gift bags at an antique store that also sold some paper goods. I thought it would be wonderful, if I baked some brownies or something, to put a few in one of these pretty little bags for a neighbor :).
When we got home, Precious had completely cleaned the kitchen for us! What a sweet and wonderful surprise!
TWS talked about taking the day off and how he is just starting to feel like he can. He apologised in case I had felt he had been a "stick in the mud" about going places, but I understood. He is under incredible time pressure, at the whims of nature, to get the farm established. Now that some of the big projects are being completed, he feels more like he can take some time. (however, he was joking last night about being lazy and taking the day off :) ).
So it is back to work today after a wonderful day spent celebrating our marriage and thanking the Good Lord for His provision in it. :)
Still a lot of ground to plow. This was just broken up, not tilled or prepared. Late, late garden this year, but perhaps we can get it ready for the cool season crops. :)
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