When I was about thirteen I began work for my Dad in his workshop at the estuary by the sea. It was the school holidays. Dad built boats. The sea and all its surrounds were our breath and bread and butter.
Dad was teaching me to weld that summer. One day he got me to move a whole pile of iron blocks into a storage space. They were kind of like big ingots but not gold. When we got home that night he told Mum proudly that Celi had moved a quarter of a ton of iron that day. She was suitably impressed. A quarter of a ton, she said. Goodness. Good girl. Now, go and wash your face – you are filthy. I have always remembered that moment of open pride from my parents at a job well done. As they looked at each other and nodded. Funny how something so small can follow a person for their whole life. Like a little unpoppable life raft. Just that small smile of pride that shone between them. For me.
This is how easy it is to change a person’s life. How easy it is for us to learn that hard work matters. 
I think of this sometimes when I am moving the concrete bricks that hold the tarpaulin onto the chicken ark. There are eight of them and each one is a hefty lift. I can move these huge weights, by myself, just little by little.
Kim has written a wee review of her time here in the opportunities page. Anyone who is interested in the farm stay programme may want to pop in for a read. 
And I may be having a woofer come to stay next week. Though her accomodation will not be as grand as the Farm Stay people, I hope she will have a nice time and like to weed. Hopefully. Or my next Farm Stay friend will throw her hands up in horror at the state of the gardens.
I worked at double speed last night trying to get everything in order. All the animals stowed away. The storm warnings were severe. In the end it was not so bad. We have had rain almost every night for the last three weeks. But after this next storm we have a few days of sun so I hope we can get the hay in while Triple T is here to help.
I love the skies out here. Especially when the skies are fill of storms.
I hope you all have a lovely day.
Your friend on the farmy
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
40 responses to “The small smiles”
I bet you can move a quarter of a ton of hay too 😉
What a lovely story to remember your parents by.
You do have impressive skies there! I think it’s important that we learn early how much we CAN do!
Good bit of advice in there for those of us raising kids. Thank you. I often wonder what memories we’re making for them. Your clouds are ferocious and beautiful. We get those in France, and sometimes in Milan, rolling off the Alps…though in the city you only see slices of the clouds and not the whole lay of the sky like you do in the country. That weather, barring deadly stuff, is so exciting. Everything goes all tingly for a bit. Then it whooshes. And then it smells lovely. Good air to breathe. The farm looks beautiful under those sagging cloud bellies.
I loved to “work” with my Dad when I was little. Once, I was i disgrace with him for I can’t remember what (answering back, I expect) and we had just moved house, to where the garden was an overgrown shambles. To make amends, I spent the first two or three days of the summer holidays tearing up brambles and bindweed and other stubborn stuff, digging over all the beds etc etc etc. That did bring some smiles from Dad! But the work ethic doesn’t go away: it just becomes utterly frustrating when there is no strength or energy left to do what it tells you needs doing. My mind buzzes with ideas of things to make, but everything has to be scaled down.
I hope you have more farm stayers like Kim to help you again.
Love,
ViV x
Looks like ideal summer you are having, hot days and rain at night 🙂 Hope the weather gets with the programme for harvesting of hay. Laura
Is a woofer the same as helper.x. .someone helps in return for bed and food
Yes, Celi, what is a woofer? I thought it might be a dog….
Here is the scoop on Woofers: Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms, USA (WWOOF-USA®) is part of a worldwide effort to link visitors with organic farmers, promote an educational exchange, and build a global community conscious of ecological farming practices. Usually work is exchanged for room and board and the opportunity to live and learn on the farm. It’s a wonderful worldwide program! 🙂 So cool you are getting one Celi!!!
Oh goodness! I have actually heard of that and looked at it with longing for me and my son! Thanks so much for the response!
There are farms that will take families too. Or jump on a train and come on out here!.. c
I pictured a dog until the mention of help in the garden !!!!! Most dog (woofers) I know only mark their territory in the garden, and they never weed !
I left a link in the text if you follow that it will tell you all about wwoofers. We will see though, I seem to get a lot of kids calling but few follow through so far. c
What breathtaking images of the day. And lucky you, to grow up on an estuary….I hope my son gets that feeling and feels that pride in his work from me. The little farmer he is turning out to be. Big hugs for this post. Started my day absolutely right!
What a lovely memory of your parents. Yes, words have great power and those words obviously stuck with you and brought a smile to your face and to mine. We have had storms and more storms on the way. The yards are lush but my herbs are waterlogged. 🙂
What a fabulous memory! The power of words is often lost on parents amidst the day-to-day hustle and bustle of raising children. Especially during stressful times. Thanks for sharing!
Beautiful memory!
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Weather sounds great. I love big skies. I often say, I could stand at my sink all day and not complain. the scenery changes every few minutes with the movement of the sun and or clouds.
We had similar storm clouds here on the Cutoff and awoke to a ton (okay, maybe not exactly a ton, but, you’ve inspired me in your lifting abilities) of sticks and branches and righting upturned items. I enjoyed reading about the Coupe and Kim’s comments. What a wonderful, working enterprise you have there on the farmy, and how lucky I feel to get your daily updates. 🙂
I love the prairie skies, too, although I am not partial to dark and stormy skies. They are beautiful, though, in their own way and make for remarkable photos.
You’ve captured the stormy sky in quite good fashion. You’re right about a wee bit of encouragement going a long way. Everyone needs that.