On the Farm: Day 3

making some grape juice

Today was a holiday in Germany, Tag der deutschen Einheit (Day of German Unity), in celebration of the country's reunification in 1990. Perhaps I felt better today because it was a holiday, or because I've figured out some sort of routine here on the farm, or because I have a plan for the next couple of weeks. Whatever the reason, I sincerely thank all of you for your prayers. I still miss all of you, and the good ole USA, but I know God has a reason for me to be here in Germany.

I actually did a lot today, but I'm not as exhausted, thank goodness! After breakfast, I picked purple grapes for making grape juice. Then I watered the garden, planted a couple of potted plants, and did some weeding. I noticed that the gardening was easier for me today, just because I wore yoga pants instead of jeans (mental note: don't wear jeans when gardening!).

We then headed to another small town closeby to have lunch outside in the sunshine. The weather today was absolutely perfect--I didn't need a sweatshirt and I got plenty of vitamin D. At lunch, I ordered my first typical German meal, goulash with klöße. It was a nice, leisurely lunch and I even had a coffee afterwards.

On the way back, we stopped at a friend's house to collect walnuts. I'm pretty good at understanding what Sylke says to me in German, but sometimes I don't quite catch the whole context. So, I find myself nodding like I understand, and then just telling myself I'll figure out what she means eventually. This was the case with the walnuts. We parked at the friend's house and I asked if I was supposed to come too. So, I followed Sylke and Clara to the backyard, where I met the man who lived there. Then Sylke went over to talk to the woman who lived there and I watched Clara start to pick up walnuts on the ground and put them in a bucket. Since I had nothing better to do, I decided to help her. Then Sylke told me she was going over to another tree to collect nuts. It was in this moment that I realized the purpose of our visit to the friend's house was, in fact, to collect walnuts.

an hour's work of grape picking

Upon returning to the farm, I went to work picking green grapes to make more grape juice. It's amazing how long it takes to pick a whole bucket of grapes and de-stem them! Also, I learned today that grapes are not "green" and "purple" in Germany, they're "white" and "blue."

Other projects of the day included:
-hanging laundry out on the solar dryer, just like at home
-feeding the chickens scraps from the kitchen...several times
-picking the rest of the purple/blue grapes and convincing Sylke to make raisins (she's never tried it before, so we're seeing how they do in the oven tonight)
-washing dishes...and more dishes
-and practicing, because Sylke kept saying, "you need to practice now!"

fresh salad...mmm!

Tonight Sylke had a couple of friends over for dinner, so she spent a lot of time in the kitchen preparing the meal. When is the last time you had a lettuce/bell pepper/tomato/beet/walnut salad with all the ingredients freshly picked from your own garden? It was absolutely delicious. She also made an onion/bell pepper quiche, which was sehr lecker! I had fun talking to her friends in German, and they were really nice to ask me questions and include me in the conversation.

view from the house

Lastly, a little information about the village here...the address is Zschadraß, which is a small town closeby. But the actual village is called Zschirla. I say "village," because Zschirla only has 250 people, one church, and absolutely zero stores or businesses. This place is tiny, people! But, I've figured out the bell system at the church. On the hour = whatever hour it is (i.e. 10 bells means it's 10am). 1 bell = a quarter past the hour. 2 bells = half past the hour. 3 bells = three-quarters past the hour.

I think Sylke is feeling more comfortable with me too. She made two comments today about me coming back sometime. She said it's nice having me around, especially to help in the kitchen. Tomorrow it's supposed to rain, so I should just have some housework to do. Good thing, because I still don't like all those bugs in the garden! And now a few more photos: