Woke up to a foggy morning, giving the farm a mystical look. Later in the day, some of the chickens were dispatched, I wasn’t part of the group who who did that. Max, who arrived the other day, was in charge of the butchering. He also used some of the clay on the property to create a stove that works by burning sticks. That evening he built a big bonfire underneath a huge kettle in the yard to boil water for cooking corn. I sat outside and had a nice long chat with Annemarie as the sun was setting. It’s getting darker earlier and definitely a little bit chillier now, not a California Indian Summer that is for sure.
Rafi is leaving on Monday to work for the next month or two at a mining site in the Yukon where he’s worked before. His job is to walk the different lines to stake out areas for mining claims. So basically he’s getting paid very well to go for long walks in the forest. Not bad! He is banned from entering the United States for another year. Four years ago he was headed on a train to New York to sell Christmas trees. People from the Quebec region grow Christmas trees then fill a truck with them to sell on street corners in New York. Rafi had helped with this in the past, and this time when he tried to enter the country the authorities at the border saw that he had gone in and out of the US several times in the let few years which made him look suspicious. So even though he wasn’t in a truck with the Christmas trees, he was banned from entering the US for five years.
On Saturday after breakfast I went for a long walk in the meadows and out to the rope swing. I love all the gorgeous wildflowers.
During my evening chores I found Max and Nina in the garden harvesting food for dinner and giving the horses a snack (the horses had found an open gate earlier and gotten into the garden making a bit if a mess!) After having dinner with Nina, I caught a stunning sunset.
