To PA and WV and back!

So we've spent a lot more time in the car in the last two weeks since I last wrote than is typical of our family. And some of us feel the effects of that! Let's just say that the middle gal pictured here is not the most stellar car traveler. About two hours or so into our trip to the Benner bump (Jason's childhood home), Terah piped up amidst her grumbles and whining, "It's not worth it." Last evening she was talking about taking a trip to the farthest city away and she pondered, "then would my butt be really sore?" She just gets super antsy in the car and unless she is in the right mood or it's dark out or she has some clear motivation for taking a nap, sleep doesn't come easily. So we still pick our trips and the frequency of them with great care - for the health of our relationships with each other if not also for the planet!

But this was the long awaited summer trip to Jason's home place and we were pretty sure once we got there it would be worth it! It was!! The days leading up to our departure were as they always are - that is when I normally muse, "Is this going to be worth it?" We were leaving the homestead in the most capable of hands - my parents' - but we also wanted things to be as ready for them as possible (so we were busy getting the chickens, pigs and ducks to the point of just needing regular chores but nothing additional for dad to tackle, and doing a final harvest and food processing push before leaving the harvests to mom for the week.

We are into the summer every other day harvest schedule and as of right now the things we are picking regularly include: okra, tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, trombone squash and blackberries. We also have nettles, herbs, lambsquarter, collards, kale, potatoes, sweet potato greens and cabbage that we can harvest as needed/desired. Terah ate the first sweet pepper today - one of the few we'll get this year. The blackberries have been a major success this year and I've canned a lot of blackberry jam (no pectin, just berries and raw honey!). While our cucumber patch is not wowing us (and the chickens got in the garden a lot while we are away and had a grand time messing things up), we are getting to make some pickles (canned and fermented) and are also doing some dilly beans AND pickled okra. My favorite food processing times are when all three gals join me in the kitchen. Better yet is when Jason can also join but we are still so far behind on the outdoor lists that we haven't enjoyed the luxury of doing a canning project all together. The time will come, I hope! There is actually a large bin of beans waiting to be snipped as I type.

So this is how we are eating a lot these days: seeing how many veggies can we fit on a plate - accented by some source of protein (often eggs). So very colorful and delicious!

So two Thursdays ago after tanking up on Tangly Woods veggies and eggs, we were northward bound for Pennsburg - stopping in the Lancaster area to enjoy dinner out with my nephews, niece and my one nephew's girlfriend and daughters. Thanks to my parents being willing to tend the place for nearly a week, we were able to enjoy 3 full days and 4 nights with Jason's family. Despite my body utterly crashing (landed both a UTI and a migraine on the same day), it was really a lovely visit (I'm still trying to figure out if I'm battling a virus or the symptoms of stress/anxiety or something else, but I'd rather focus here on the enjoyable times we've had of late). Here's a just a few highlights:

Alida has been getting into ballet and offered ballet lessons. She had some takers. She offered a series of lessons over the days we were there and even had a little graduation ceremony with 3 of her pupils towards the end of our visit. Highly entertaining! I'm not sure if Jason dropped out too early for a diploma or Alida didn't think he was ready for one, but I laughed harder than I have in awhile watching his do his best to follow his daughter's instructions. It was one of the many great indoor activities during the HOT days. By mid-morning, it was not enjoyable to be outside much and so we filled the days with visiting, playing with kids, reading and lots of games - I got my fill of Boggle, which I seldom get to play as much as I'd like!

As soon as the sun's intensity lessened (making sunscreen unnecessary), we headed for the pool. The water was almost too warm, but it was still the place to be. The girls loved it and by the end Alida had gotten up her courage to dunk her head under entirely and Terah almost went all the way under. She is a force to reckon with in the pool - having very little sense of how bad it would be if an adult was not monitoring her closely as she jumped from the ladder or wiggled off an inner tube. I think we might benefit from some swim lessons early for this gal!

It was not easy to pull the girls away on Monday when it came time to head to along on our next adventure. We spent Monday to Wednesday in the Lancaster area and packed a lot of fun into a few days. The first evening we got to see my sister's place, which happens to be right next to the home of a close childhood friend. Despite the clouds not being sure if they wanted to clear away or dump on us, we enjoyed some wonderful grilled food and scratched the surface on catching up. The kids were just starting to warm up when we needed to head out. 

We spent two nights with one of my cousins and his family. They have two daughters that our girls have always enjoyed connecting with - though it hasn't happened nearly as frequently as we would like! Both nights we stayed up really late playing games - making it feel very much like a vacation. I didn't mention that I had also left my computer at home for a true break from both personal and work emails. I needed it! It was nice to feel fully present to the people and activities during our travels and my only (good) distraction was getting to catch up on some of the Sun magazines I was far behind on.

Tuesday we enjoyed our first visit to Fiddle Creek dairy. It was great to see friends who are working hard to make a go of it on a small dairy farm. Their yogurt is the best and I could have hung out in the yogurt room for a long time - I could enjoy being part of such an operation. We got to walk around the farm and help with a mulching project before enjoying lunch together in their little gazebo. I must admit that it is always somewhat of a relief and really enjoyable to go to someone else's working farm and visit and lend a hand for a bit but know that their project and to do list is not mine to stress about. Ours is long enough for my lifetime!

On Wednesday, we had no easier time getting our kids to leave my cousin's home. I thought there might be tears (Terah) or an outright rebellion (Alida), but we managed to pull ourselves away mostly peacefully. It was fun to be there long enough for the girls to warm up and have lots of great play time. It was fun to see them making up games and being creative with flower picking/arranging - the sounds of laughter while us adults visited made it a super enjoyable time for all. I think one of the things that made this trip (other than the car time) more relaxed and fun for all of us is that our kids are definitely getting to less physically demanding ages. They are more independent in their play and everywhere we went there were fun things for them to do. So I enjoyed getting to finish my sentences and have meaningful points of connection with people along the way!

 

We landed home Wednesday afternoon and the settling back in and getting ready for the next trip started in earnest. We could not have asked for better caretakers - our home was in much better shape when we returned than when we left it (thanks, Mom!). The pigs magically had an additional food pan that was not cracked (thanks, Dad - oh, I mean tooth fairy...). The day's harvests were all in and cleaned making dinner that first evening easy! Yes, we were spoiled!! The chickens did take advantage of our absence and their growing in wings to explore the garden and the hawks also benefited from having us gone so they could pick off a few meals from our flocks. We weren't home for long before Jason chased off a baby bear, but it hadn't caused any harm other than alarming the birds.

So yesterday we packed up after lunch and headed over 4 mountains to Harman, WV. We were delivering our 2 eldest to my parents for the yearly week with Grandma and Grandpa at the Mountain House. They will enjoy a few days with two of their cousins and then Terah will get to go for the last two days before we are all reunited for an extended family reunion back there. Since we were making the day trip, Jason, Terah and I lingered for the annual Music on the Mountain event my aunt and uncle host each year. We got to see and visit with family and enjoy good food and music before getting back on the road. Terah sacked out before we were at the top of the first mountain. I felt very glad to get home just before midnight and the pillow was a welcome spot for my head!

 

So it will be a different kind of week at Tangly Woods. Terah will no doubt miss her older sisters (as will I), but to date she seems to kind of enjoying having her parents all to herself. And she enjoyed a morning of being my little side kick! We did a lot of out and back in with various containers of various beautiful and fresh foods to enjoy. Speaking of food, it's time to get the blackberry crisp in the oven and start another veggie egg bake to go with the tomatoes and shallots that have been cooking down on the stove all day! I also better get the pickled okra and dilly beans underway...

The one other piece of news is that Kali has successfully integrated her 2 free range ducks with the 3 mama hens and 7 ducklings. The free range ducks seem to not know exactly what to think of expanding their flock by 10, but it has been surprisingly easy and peaceful. And the ducklings are growing so fast!

To close, I'm including a video here of evening slop time for the pigs. The chickens now know there is good stuff to be had and they coming running from all corners when they see us with the feed bucket. They are pretty brave ducking in and among the pigs for a scrap of bread to run off with. It's one of my favorite activities of the day!