The Gang

Well, as of this weekend, we've got our entire crew here for the summer. From left to right: Eric, Miranda, Andrew, Anika, Me, Rachel and Andy. Sarah is on the right and was here to help out with plant sale for one day. Aren't those Waterpenny shirts sharp?




Oh, and here is Rachel, Nicholas, and Isaac (and Anika) to round out the bunch of us making the farm run this year.


I didn't get a chance to mention in yesterday's post that Jen, my housemate from DC, stopped by the farm on the way home from Charlottesville. It has been a gift to have friends come out to visit the farm since I've been here. Jen and I walked around the farm and then headed to the swimming hole. Then we sent her home with a bag of spinach for the 1825ers. Miss you, ladies!


I found out that I had the entire day off today, so I had to figure out what to do with a day off that I wasn't ready for! I wrote some letters this morning and then went for a long run. I have been exploring each street in and around Sperryville by foot or by bike. There aren't many, but there are enough to keep me busy so far. I do the exploring when I am not able to borrow a car and head to the "mountains" to hike.

After my run I came home, ate some lunch, and then headed across the highway to explore Turkey Mountain. Turkey Mountain is on Cliff's land and is in the background of many of my pictures. Here, let's see if I can find a picture of it...Ok, there it is with Cliff's cows in front of it. Cliff said we could go explore all the trails whenever we want, so I took him up on it (and I've obviously taken him up on the swimming hole offer, too). The hike wasn't too eventful, other than at some point getting worried that I wouldn't make it home. The trails and old roads wander all over the mountain and the top is covered in trees, so it's hard to know where you are exactly on the mountain. Luckily my sense of direction was functioning properly today, and I went on a big loop around the top and side of it.

On my way back to Waterpenny I happened to see Cliff driving by. He stopped and asked all about my hike, trying to figure out where exactly I went. He thinks I may have meandered partly into his neighbor's property. I told him that I saw a bunch of hunting booths set up along the way and he said that if they are on his property, they're not supposed to be there. So we're going to hop on one of his 4-wheelers sometime soon and go see together. He didn't seem pleased at the prospect of these hunting booths.



While I was gone on my hike, Nicholas found a tiny turtle. Here's a picture of me holding the little guy. Unfortunately, I couldn't get him to smile for the photo shoot.



From time to time we hear a loud siren ringing through the hills. I think someone told me that there is a volunteer fire department here, so that is their signal for the volunteers to respond. I'm hearing the siren through the windows of my shed now. Reminds me of Holden days when the spiders would trip the same alarm night after night around 3am and we'd have to respond in several feet of snow...just in case. Safety first, right Fire Chief Al?

Goodnight!