More tomatoes...

Oh another morning of tomatoes. I didn’t mind too much. Not much more to say about that. And then in the evening, I hauled a lot more trees from the forest. A bit of a repeat, so here’s other news of the farm. There is a cabra that I tried milking on Monday with a little success. I didn’t have any instruction. Sean and I wanted to try because once we can milk her, we’ll have cheese. She has a baby with a dirty booty. Evidently the baby isn’t potty-trained and poops in her sleep, thus the dirty booty. There is also a horse. She is pretty mellow, but she stepped on my foot Monday. OUCH! She gets to go into the farm area to eat, which is good because she is so skinny. Soon there will be chickens, but first we need to finish the coop. There are also two dogs and three or four cats. They mostly stay outside, but the cats have a way of getting in the house and sometimes in bed with other volunteers. I am not so hospitable. I think they may be eating the tomato plants, at least something is. I think it would be a cat-like thing to do, to torment me for not being nicer, and I really don’t like having to go back and replant everyday. That is the animal situation. There are lots of people coming and going. Peggy is the only one older than me – by about 6 months. She is from France, and we like to mimic her saying “por favor” because she is always telling us to speak Spanish. She calls us gringos with a bit of that disgust that French can intone so well. Laura left yesterday, but she was the youngest – straight out of high school. She was clearly the young one and acted it, but sweet as can be. She is a bit ahead of herself, but she’ll get there. Myrna and Sean are from Canada and have been traveling together for months. I enjoy talking with them. They work as lifties in the mountains of BC during the winter and take odd jobs by winter. Poor Myrna nearly has a hernia, so her work has dramatically changed. Sadly, Sean is unwell today, also. Patch is here for the whole season. He certainly is Mr. Personality. He speaks Spanish so well, so the kids love him. He is often our foreman because he understands everything, and since he will be here for so long, I think it is a natural fit for him. I especially appreciate that he steps in with cooking dinner and breakfast. Catie is not sure what she is doing, but she is a bit closer in age, and I appreciate that she is not in party mode like some of the others. She wants to get fluent with her Spanish, but doesn’t know where else to go. I hope she lingers a bit. Tatiana arrived yesterday. She is Austrian and quite sweet. She is my new “bunkmate” – across from me. Nacho is four and every bit of four at that. He has bitten me twice. One left a bruise, and the other broke the skin through my pants. Gratefully he stayed at Grandma’s on Sunday, so we haven’t seen or heard him – much more peaceful. Paloma is a bit mischievous and sweet all in one. Nine years old, not in school, and meeting all these foreigners at the farm. She has a huge crush on Patch. She doesn’t bathe, though the other day she put perfume in her hair to convince us. Jorge, usually in charge of farm operations, is recovering from breaking his ankle, and now that he is stronger, he leads daily yoga in the noon hour and meditation at dusk. It is quite pleasant. I have begun going, though he is a bit limited in poses. He says it is kundalini yoga. Azucena is juggling a lot with Jorge out of commission. She is a great cook and juggles well, though we are often left waiting. Only another month until Jorge steps back in. Already he is doing more and more each day. Tonight was a hot shower night, such a treat. I showed lots of pictures to Paloma, so she knows of many of you. Sean, Myrna, and I played cribbage the other night, but we haven’t gotten out the cards since. More later…so tired…tori