Thundercloud Building Over the Ridge
Last night, as darkness was beginning to prevail, I watched a thundercloud building over the ridge at the back end of the 50 acres; shafts of lightning could be seen illuminating its interior. Unfortunately, although I snapped quite a few photos of the ominous cloud, not one lightning bolt was captured by the camera. Before the arrival of the thundercloud, the day had been hot and muggy and since our well water is very low, the torrential deluge that soon followed was welcomed; the garden was needing a good drink. The rain drops were huge and warm; they felt good pounding on my bare upper torso as I stood in the rain, Sarah soon joining me at the back of the house to enjoy the evening downpour, our bodies glinting in the luminous glow of the lightning flashes; alive with the accompany of rolling thunder.
Barn's Progress
All the walls on the barn have been completed; only the roof awaits my trusty hammer and nails. Sarah has informed me that our three dozen chickens are ready to be picked up. However, after all the help I had at the barn-raising a little while back, working alone is definitely a lot slower. Up and down the ladder I go, measuring and remeasuring, finding and cutting suitable boards in the dwindling stack of salvaged barn boards and then nailing them in place is quite time consuming. With mostly 1"x4" boards remaining in a variety of lengths, it's going to take quite awhile to cover a 12'x27' roof and then screw metal sheets to it. I was hoping to have the barn habitable by the end of this week, so we could at least get the chickens but I have to put it on hold because I have a 2'x20' sign to letter for the Woodstock Farmer's Market, which has to be ready by this Friday. I promised a smaller sign for this Friday as well, so I'm afraid the chickens will have to wait, much to the chagrin of the person who is selling them to us - we were supposed to have picked them up a week ago. The people we bought the dog from is also a bit frustrated, since we said we would pick up Luki in June and now August is coming over the horizon faster than a lighning bolt.
The newly opened coffee shop looks as if it's beginning to catch on in the small community of Fosterville. Sarah's tasty baking is a hit with the locals and the coffee tastes as good as Tim Horton's, so we've been told. Like most farm businesses, unless it's a huge conglomerate, there's not much profit in it and that's alright with us as long as it mostly pays for itself. Our aim is to be as self-sufficient as possible, especially with the shortage of food rising at an alarming rate.
Since Sarah's return from BC without her two girls, the house is very quiet. I'm quite enjoying the peacefulness but I'm sure Sarah is really missing Jessica and Rachel, especially Jessica since she's almost like her shadow; hardly ever lets mom out of her sight. It's odd, we left the busyness of Nanaimo and yet as strange as it seems, we are almost busier now than we were before. However, that being said, our time here at the base of Green Mountain seems to be more rewarding - we've made some very good friends and I find the physical demand much to my liking even if I do ache a hell of a lot.
Well writing a blog isn't getting my chores done, so I best get at lettering the signs so I can resume building the barn or by the time the chickens, goats and dog arrive, I'll be older than Methusela.
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