Saturday after work I got a lesson in sewing from Trish, who is an excellent seamstress. And what better way to learn than by doing, so did. I spent a few hours cutting, pinning, ironing, and sewing, all under the supervision and guidance of Trish. The finished product was a very nice skirt. It’s nothing too extraordinary, but it’s nice. Ryan was fishing for most of the day with Art. They went down to a local stream and waded through the waters there. Ryan came home with the big catch of the day, a pretty good sized brown trout. Trish cooked up the trout, along with the other fish Art caught and we enjoyed them for dinner.
Sunday was a lazy morning for some reason. We had things we wanted to do, but spent much of the day sitting around, periodically feeding the wood stove. We did get a good amount of reading done, which was nice considering Ryan and I are both in the middle of good books that we haven’t quite found the time to read lately. Eventually we mustered up some energy and went on hike. We went back to the same Appalachian Trail head, however this time we took the trail north. This path takes you up the side of a mountain so it was a good deal more strenuous, but definitely worth it. As we made our ascent, with each step our feet found rocks bigger than the last, until we were nearly vertical. This proved easy for Mocha, but honey had to use some ingenuity in planning her route through these rocks nearly quadruple her size. Our turn around point was a beautiful outlook close to the top of the mountain. We sat there and took in the scenery while we rested for a while before making our journey back down.
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On Monday I joined the guys in the woods to learn a little bit about this whole lumberjacking thing. There was a maple tree that Art said was dying and so it needed to be cut down. We got a demonstration in the proper technique for cutting down a rather large tree, which I must say is much more technical than I ever anticipated. Once the proper cuts are made, there is a distinct cracking of the few fibers left and then down the tree goes, landing with a residual thump that seems to silence the woods for a moment. Once well grounded, Ryan and Art went at the tree with their chainsaws, chopping the trunk into consecutive pieces, while I busied myself with feeding the horse clumps of grass I pulled from the surrounding field. The pieces were then assembled into the cart and we walked with the horse drawn cart back down to the sugar house where we split the pieces into appropriate sized firewood and stacked them in the woodshed.
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This morning the clouds were dark and moving quickly, a sure sign of rain. So we went down into the sugar house and helped with a few maintenance items while the wind blew the rain against the windows outside. Afterwards, I learned to sew a log cabin style quilt and though it did not turn out perfect, I am hooked. I turned the patch that I made into a pot holder and I think after a few more practice squares, I want to attempt an entire quilt. After all the things I’ve done in my life, it seems funny, but there is something so simply satisfying about planning and constructing a pattern in material.
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“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”
~ Leonardo da Vinci
Tonya & Ryan
Just as Free 