Bee Tree Farm

Just a few odds and ends, bits of news, bragging rights, etc:

Martha arrived safely “home” last night into the front pasture. An old friend hauled her down the little driveway at 7:30 last night and unhitched the old gal where she promptly settled down into the dirt with a little sigh. The sight of her at the land brought a tear to my eye for two conflicting reasons. 1) It appears I’m moving into a trailer, and 2) Something definite is happening with our land progress. Get it? Personal conflict. We proceeded to crawl around the inside of her by flashlight and mutually agreed that yet again, perhaps we jumped too soon and paid too much, considering her shabby shape. We also mutually agreed that we probably really love her.

Next week marks the beginning of a now annual event: Man Week – ’10 – in which Jer moves onto the land for one week and attempts to merge with nature and singlehandedly clear the land. I expect to receive many obnoxious photos of mimosa’s prepared at the new kitchen table. Jerk.

Also: this weekend we’re devoting a whole day to Dee-you-Wayne. All Dwayne, all day. Slow smoked ribs, corn on the cob, and horses- my god will there be horses. I have timidly invited a few friends and my sister along, carefully warning them that this fellow ain’t for the faint of heart. But all are secure in their ability to pull off cowboy conversations plus the bbq/horseriding thing is a powerful incentive. I look forward to finally getting some outside perspective on this man who has easily become the most interesting character in our double life story.

Finally, and therefore most importantly: I am happy to report that my (newly) well-trained eye fell upon the most unique old piece of hardware I’ve seen (That’s saying something. I’ve seen an embarrassing amount of old hardware).

Covered in decades of orange-y/green rust and hardly passable, I devoted an afternoon recently to soaking, scrubbing (and repeat) this gem that had been tossed into a pile of weeds at the Roundtop Antique Show a few weekends ago. It’s a little turn of the century fixture and turned out to be, under the years of grime, made of:

copper!!

……………………………………………………………………………………(crickets)…………………………………………………..

………………(anyone?)……………………………………(cough, cough)………………………………………………………..

Ok. This means nothing to you – but it was a sweet find and a surprisingly satisfying way to spend an afternoon. *Jenna pats self on back.*

So there ya go. In light of the trailer, the Day of Dwayne, and the Man Week, it’s likely there will be some interesting notes forthcoming that go beyond cleaned up old faucets. But don’t hold your breath.