DAY TWO
Day Two of abundant sunshine has dawned. So once again I will open up the North doors and shovel manure out onto the huge compost pile.
It is a long job, cleaning out the barns after the winter, but a much nicer job in the company of the sun.
The ground has hardened up a little so I hope to get in another load of hay tomorrow morning. These are huge thousand pound rectangles of hay, they will arrive on a semi and need a machine to shift them and we cannot do this in muddy conditions so I hope the forecast rain holds off. I am buying six. Let’s hope this gets me through to the summer.
With the big rectangles I can still cut a string and take the huge flakes and throw them on the back of the truck and drive the hay out to the cows then throw them over the fence. Everything is just so much bigger than the little bales but doable. And more cost effective.
There is talk of rain on Wednesday morning but hopefully it holds off.
Sunrise is at 6.30am now and sunset 5.45pm and with all the extra light the chickens are laying around two dozen eggs a day. So I have enough to sell and still some left over to boil for the fattening pigs. I delivered my first ten dozen eggs yesterday.
And so the season begins again.
On Thursday morning I will race back through the trains and underground walkways to the airport. I will have to leave very early. I am flying out to Texas where I am spending time in a charter school in Houston on Friday. The young people and I will use drama games to explore ways to harness the power of social media and blogging as a tool for voice.
In preparation for this class, I have asked myself why I write a daily blog. We often give ourselves answers that would sound educated and noble. But my reasons for blogging are threefold and pretty ordinary. A. I wanted to create a visual journal of the farm, a documentation of events, a farm diary as a reference. B. I wanted my family from all over the world to be able to pop into the blog at any time and see what Mama was doing. And B, once I got going, I realised that the people (you) who read the blog are company for me as an immigrant far from my own family, working alone on a farm. The comments become a focus for conversation during my days working alone. You soften and feed my days with words and metaphorical pats. So I continue to write as a tool of communication. A very ancient and deep need. Without you, the readers, and the comments you write and the likes you leave, this blog would have folded long ago as an empty thing.
This rising generation of young people need to train hard to use the impacts of the internet media for good. They need to make sure to harness it rather than be harnessed by it.
After the day at school my friend from Houston and I are driving over to Galveston to stay the weekend in her families beach house out there. I have never been to Galveston, Texas and am very much looking forward to it. All I know of Galveston is the song by Glenn Campbell. I have just discovered that it is an island! A long skinny island.
With lots and lots of beach.
There is internet there so I am hoping to continue the blog while at the beach. I am sure there will be tons of pictures for me to capture for you. And a different America for us to see.
This will be a grown up weekend – although I love visiting family this will be one of those breaks I take just for me. I love to travel and love seeing new places.
I hope you have a lovely day.
Love celi
WEATHER: A good working day.
58 Comments on “DAY TWO”
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Wave as you go by! I live in League City, halfway between Houston and Galveston, and have been spending a good bit of time on the Island recently. You should have decent weather, and the beach has been lovely.
Oh that is great! I hope to find a beach restaurant with wine! At least that is my little dream. c
It’s not on the beach, but in Galveston proper, DO NOT miss the Sunflower bakery and cafe. They do have wine, and great food.
Also, Benno’s on the seawall has wonderful seafood, and wine. 🙂
Thank you!!
Oh boy … Glen Campbell is going to be my ear worm today! Ha!
Yeah – sorry about that – c
Safe travel and fulfillment for all concerned as your travel to Texas and do, DO keep on blogging. You are my morning cup of tea.
Celi, have you heard of or visited the Chicago High School for Agricultural Studies? It is on the very furthest edge of Chicago and is an amazing high school. My garden club visited there a few years ago and we still talk about it. It is a full, four year high school, but, there is a working farm, greenhouse, barn – even a notable cow whom occasional makes the evening news when she gets loose and roams the neighborhood. 🙂
Which far edge? I will find it – I have not heard of it and it really does sound like somewhere I would love to visit! Thank you!
It is on the southwest boundary. Not far from Midway Airport. It is easily accessible via Route 55. Here is the website: https://www.chicagoagr.org/index.jsp I think you would find this school very interesting and I think they would appreciate hearing about what you do, as well.
Thank you! That is my side of the city too!
Ag High isn’t at all far from me. They’ve added a horse and there may be pigs too. It’s been expanding the last couple years and I find it refreshing to drive by small fields of corn and see the barn from 111th Street or Pulaski Rd (it’s on the southeast corner of that intersection). I did a tour of the school when the youngest step child was ready for high school. It was very interesting and the students engaged. Well worth a visit.
Thank you – I will find a way to have a look..
Ohhhhhh!!!!!!! You will be in my home state – but still 5+ hours away! So many have a hard time realizing how BIG Texas really is. “Texas is 790 miles long and 660 miles wide at its most distant points.” If you leave my home near Fort Worth and drive to El Paso – you are closer to California than you are my home. Amazing to think about.
If you and your friend is up for a drive – take the highway (Seawall Blvd in Galveston) south for about 48-55 minutes to Surfside Beach. On the right is a small place called Red Snapper Inn (402 Bluewater Hwy, Freeport, TX 77541) They have excellent seafood options and a greek salad to die for.
Enjoy the sunshine!
Thank you for the referral! You never know what we will decide to do and of course i want to do it ALL!
Hi Pat! We’ve been so busy lately that I’m just catching up with Celi now ☺. What part of FW do you live? I was born and raised there but moved to MT 15 years ago. Most of my family still lives in TX and my sweet mother lives in Richland Hills. I was there for a short visit just a week ago and it was soooo warm and moist- really picked up my spirits. Hope your day is a good one!
Elizabeth
The water won’t be as pretty as NZ, but the sound and sand should lift your spirits. Enjoy.
Yes – and the beaches look lovely too!
Oh Celi, HOW exciting that you are actually going to do what we we’ve just been talking about on FarmGal’s blogpost!: ) Enjoy stoking all of those young and fertile imaginations!! And hope your adult visit is marvellous: )
I Love working with the young people.
Wow! How wonderful to see the hammock strung up! I have thought over and over these last few warm sunny days of breaking ours out of dormancy and stringing them up for spring, summer and fall!!! They are our treats at the end of a long day on the farm! And how cool about the workshop in Houston! I’m guessing you will be teaching the kids. Looking forward to hearing how it goes! Have a fabulous time!!! 🙂
I almost never sit on my hammock chair – isn’t that awful! c
Yes! It is awful!!! Ours are full length hammocks, strung between the black walnut tree and sassafras tree and porch. I take a glass of wine and a book out at the end of the long days, but usually end up staring up into the leaves and watching the clouds, birds and whatever else happens by. It becomes a peaceful meditation at the end of the day. Blissful!!! xo
You should take a little break in your hammock today and sing Galveston. I know I will be singing it all day as I make Morning Cheer Marmalade with Scotch. Beautiful day in southern Ontario.
Gosh – that marmalade sounds like my kind of jam!!
The Scotch just seems to bring out the flavour, it has carrots in it as well. Enjoy your weekend.
Sounds amazing Elsie!
Exactly what I was just thinking: )
Is yours from this Bernardin recipe by any chance, Elsie?
https://www.bernardin.ca/recipes/en/marmalade-morning-cheer.htm?Lang=EN-US Always wanted to make my own Marmalade (and this one sounds lovely: )
So glad you have the sun, it is beautiful. And have a fantastic time. It sounds really good. Enjoy the Texas bigness and the beach – what a bonus.
Yes! a real bonus!!
I know I have learnt a lot from you and the farmy. the rest all sounds very exciting, looking forward to reading all about it 🙂 Laura
Of course, there is rainy and possibly snowy weather forecast for Thursday – sigh – let’s hope it holds off until I have taken Off. c
The sun is so warming, even in the cold. The sun finally showed up here after months of being blocked. It always lightens my mood just enough to make me consider the next thing doable.
I hope your trip is full of inspiration and satisfaction and lots of warm sun.
Sun has the most amazing affect on a person – even making a bed seems easier when the sun is coming through the windows . c
Oh, lovely! First a really valuable session of communication (I bet you’re going to have a real impact on the way those young lives move forward), and then a beautiful empty, sunny winter beach and the company of a friend, and a glass or two of wine. It sounds perfect as a brief antidote to muck shifting…
Yes – there is a lot of muck to shift!!
Galveston was a sort of break away place for me years ago when I was working up the courage to leave a bad marriage. I took my dog, a tent and an old friend and camped on the beach. Ate crab at a little shack nearby. Swam in the buff under the moon. The little adventure gave me a great feeling of independence.
I hope you have a great time!
That sounds cathartic/ all women should do that at least once or maybe once a year!!
Ohh exciting! Have fun. 😀
I grew up in Houston and have many fond memories of days at a beach house in Galveston as a kid. The island has changed quite a bit from that time, with over 40 years and a few hurricanes thrown in there. Enjoy the conference and time off from the farmy!
Beginning to wonder if there would be room for an additional comment or two! That first photo of the brightly-colored hammock and orange doors is a show stopper! Just beautiful! Then your comment about breaking out the hay, trucking the huge flakes out to the cows, then throwing them over the fence…my mind’s eye saw you tossing those cows over the fence and I could only think “My, but she’s strong!”. Thanks for the giggle – started my day off just right!
When you were out Fresno way, did you stop by Fresno State College’s Ag Farm? Quite a set-up there!
I think you are spot on with you blogging and the class you are going to teach/take! It is a skill that is necessary for the coming generations…not the foul-mouthed blasphemy you see in some blogs. Sort of shows what one’s level of maturity is.
Have a wonderful weekend! – Sunny
I need to double check my grammar!! We never went anywhere when I was in Fresno – I had no car.
What a shame! I could have driven you places…many places…and now the International Ag Expo is gearing up, as is the Home and Garden Expo at the Fresno Fairgrounds. You went to see family though, and that is your first priority, I know. Have a fun trip to Texas!
It looks lovely on the farm – more snow here, but not enough to stop me cycling.
Houston sounds like fun – I’ve been there, albeit fleetingly. I was fascinated by the view from the plane, where almost every house had a swimming pool.
Imagine all that water in all those pools!! Not exactly sustainable is it.. c
Not with all that chlorine, no!
Excellent reasons to blog. Social media sometimes get a bad rap but there are wonderful communities on the platforms I have dabbled in… blogging, Instagram, Facebook, podcasts. As I heard the other day, it helps us find ‘our people’. If when I was younger starting out in life, I had found the people I did via social media in my mid 40’s, life would have taken a quite different path, I think. But I’m here now, and everything has its time.
Enjoy your trip, going to Houston & Galveston is exciting.
No I never knew Galveston was an island … learn something new every day
*smile* . . . the times they are a’changin’ in some inviting ways . . . .enjoy: glad it is happening!
I used to like to sit and knit in the winter sun. It’s just not the same here. BTW, you will be traveling very close to when I now live on your way from Houston to Galveston. Enjoy the bech.
You are in a great spot then!!
I live in sunny South Africa and your blog is MY sunshine for the day. I grew up on a farm and now live in big city, seeing all the animals and even the mud remind me of HOME!
Morning Rosslyn – I am so happy that the blog brings a little sunshine to you!
Abundant Sunshine…what wonderful words! Enjoy your time in Houston, both the work and play. Just off to the aiport myself to pick up Big Man…3 hour delay for him 😣
Is that because of the snow? An airline ran out of de-icer here, in chicago, not long ago and cancelled a DAY of flights!
I think so, sometimes a flight into Malaga may come from say the north of England (which currently has more problems than where we are). It arrives late then is due to fly to London so has a knock on effect…or so they tell us!
“They need to make sure to harness it rather than be harnessed by it.” This states the challenge better than I’ve ever seen it before.
As you say, blogging is surprisingly a community of wonder and wonderful people. It can be be backbone of communication and understanding as well deep well of destructive noise. Kids are always the hope.
I’ll wave to you as you drive to Galveston – I’m about halfway between the island and Houston. Enjoy it all (especially the vintage architecture, the sea birds’ sound, maybe the ferry ride, the Strand, and strolls down the beach before the spring break crowds arrive.) Howdy and welcome!