There is Always a Tomorrow

There is the big picture of the ideal, and then there are the moments which make up the real.   Relationships, included in those moments, are difficult to maneuver.  Why just yesterday, my relationship with those pigs took a downhill path.  Here I have been feeding them and petting them religiously every day.  They are much bigger now, and with that, more insistent in getting to that food drop.  I now have to run through the yard and try to get to their bowl before they do so I can pour the food into the bowl instead of on top of their heads!  Now running across their yard means avoiding all the stumps, vines and pig poop.  So I got to their dish, with the 3 of them close behind, poured the food in the dish and started to back up quickly.  As I did this, I fell over the back of the big female right on my butt - and right into the poopy muck.  I had to use my ungloved hand to get up knowing that it was going in that pig poop!!  But, hey, I woke up this morning and its a new day in our relationship!!

But here is another moment - Rachel and Zac finding alone time on a tractor ride!  You got to take that alone time when you can!!

 Rachel is very small.  In order for her to shift the tractor, she has to lift up out of the seat of the tractor.  Once she does that, the tractor stops.  So her solution was to sit on her son - she later found a weight to put on the seat...

A huge hawk has been hassling the chickens.  I was in the barn and heard the chickens making a lot of noise.  I ran down the path to the house.  As I reached the front porch, a huge hawk flew out from under the bushes where the chickens were!   So they keep themselves together for protection now.

Alyce and I have been busy.  Alyce is working on the tree house and now works for Zac selling fish at the Charlottesville City Market.  I also now work exclusively for Cold Country Salmon.  It is a family business.  We help weigh and label the product, make salmon patties and whatever else is needed.  

Everyday is a new day of new experiences.  Alyce finished my stained glass workspace so I can start my next project.  She has been learning her lathe and making beautiful pens.  We have a pig trough to build so the much larger pigs heads can fit in their feeder.  Zac has a list of wintering projects that have to been done.  Sometimes things don't go smoothly - what a surprise! But it is good to remember that there is always a tomorrow to start over and try again...