Monday 14 July 2014

....and this is as far as he's got!


So this is as far as Lester's got with the gate post. 
He is doing very well, this being a big job for an ex-computer programmer,
who has hardly ever done anything for much of his adult life so far,
except sit at a computer and programme for endless hours.

But now has arrived a bit of a prob,
because the wall is flat on top,
but it's partner opposite,
has a peak on its top.


Pow wow time. What to do. 

-Finish the top of the wall......


..... leave to dry,
go down to the river beach and collect some stones,
put a little pile of stones on top of the new wall,
aiming for a sort of pyramid shape,
glueing the stones together with cement where necessary,
then sort of pat-a-cake cement round the outside of these stones,
to give a similar effect to the wall opposite,
this being the project for tomorrow,
because the wall needs to be finished,
because the year is marching on,
and we need to get back to work in the kitchen.

Meanwhile, the harvest is starting to roll in, 
with our first cabbage picked......


which contributed to the simplest meal,
but the most tastiest we have had for a long time,
every single food item on the plates,
being entirely home grown:
roast chicken, new potatoes, cabbage, butter over all.
Sooooooo simple a meal, as I say,
but as I ate every mouthful I was aware of the history of its growing.
It made me feel very humble.

Sometimes we can get weary of the work of running a smallholding,
but to eat a meal which is all homegrown 
enthuses us to keep going.


It has been a lovely few days here,
no visitors, 
quiet,
harmonious,
just two people, on the same page, working together.

Mum piggy has still not produced any littl-uns,
two little chicks disappeared overnight,
rats, we think, came and ate them.
Lissie is now about six weeks off giving birth to her calf,
so I had best start sorting out my cheese making equipment,
meanwhile one of our goats is still giving us enough milk to get by on.
I have continued with my massive 'clear out of the cupboards' project,
we continue to sleep on the settee's,
I have made 38 pots of jam so far,
and all is well here at Labartere.

I am aware that it is the nature of life
that we shall have disharmonious moments,
because life is not perfect,
which makes quiet days such as these,
something to treasure.

Hope you have such days,
and that you hold on to them
for when times are a little bit up and down.

Vx

7 comments:

John Going Gently said...

Now THATS MY kinda plate portion

Horst in Edmonton said...

I'm happy for you that everything is going well and that you are starting to harvest your garden. Lester is doing a great job on the gate post, would like to see it when the gate is all complete. Your meal looks so yummy. Have a wonderful week.

Kev Alviti said...

I love it when we have a meal completely grown from here but I really need to up our meat production which currently stands at none other than what I shoot!
Good amount of jam as well! I've only made 8 jars so far this year. Just waiting for more produce!

northsider said...

The meal looks great Vera. All you need to do with the gate post is get some plywood shuttering to make the point and pour some concrete in it. Suppose you could reinforce it with a steel bar running through it. It's looking good.

Vera said...

John, and that was MY plate, you should have seen Lester's!

Horst, that meal was delish, and the gate hopefully will turn out alright as well!

Kev, in time, in time! We are not doing so well in regards to veg although are improving, and there will come a time when you will be making loads of jam as well, when those trees you have planted grow into maturity.

N Dave, Lester thought about doing what you suggested, but it was too fiddly for him to do, novice that he is! But thanks for the suggestion.

Kerry said...

What a lovely post and lovely sentiments. My hubby is an ex programmer/analyst too but is loving being on the land. A complete change of pace for him x

Rhodesia said...

I could not agree more, home grown food just tastes soooooo much better. Have a good weekend Diane