A Weekend in the Country

Last weekend, I went to my friend's farm. I was officially there to help build a fence. But my total lack of fence building ability was blatantly obvious, and I can't drive a tractor, so instead I made coleslaw, helped watch children and dogs, and dug sweet potatoes.

The completed fence

 Sometimes, it's nice to have physical labor to do. It takes your mind off other things.

late-season blackberries

It was a beautiful day. The weather was perfect, and the fall colors, (what colors we get) were starting to show. And there was the added bonus of seeing Michelle's fall garden, which is doing quite well.  She sent me home with a head of lettuce and some radishes. I love having friends who garden.

mushrooms on the lawn - they formed hemi-spherical pods

broccoli



eggplant blossom

romaine

Our sweet potato haul - unfortunately, I hate sweet potatoes

tomatillos - not ripe yet

late bloomers



Happy Wednesday.

A Weekend in the Country

Two years ago, a friend of mine decided to provide for her retirement by purchasing a farm. She's going to get back to nature and grow organic vegetables.  This weekend, I got to see the farm that I had heard so much about.

It's still February, so it's not as pretty as it will be later in the Spring, but she has some lovely oak trees.

Part of the farm was once a church camp, so there are some unusual outbuildings.

This was the bath house. I loved the faded blue paint.

The former camp office. This is where we spent the night.

While we were there, I helped plant radishes, lettuce and three rows of beets. But I did not get to drive the tractor. Anna got there first.

 

 

the queen practicing her wave

We voted on what color flooring to put in the house. (No decision as yet.) We drank a lot of wine. We also did some crafts, aka painting pine cones.  Tip: Don't dip the pine cones in paint, they soak up so much liquid they actually close up.

We hung the pine cones on the fig tree to dry.

When it was dark we roasted marshmallows. Some people made s'mores, but I maintain that a well-roasted marshmallow is perfection in itself, adding chocolate and graham crackers is gilding the lily.

I proved myself to be a useless city slicker, and fell asleep around 8pm. But that meant I was the first one up, and I got to watch the sun rise and commune with the farm cats: Angie (black) and Peanut Butter Cup (tortoiseshell).

They were miffed that I didn't know where their human kept the cat food.

The next day, I went home with three painted pine cones, a bag of brownies and an aloe vera plant. But not before I met the neighbors.

How was your weekend? And does anybody know what you do with painted pine cones?