McCall Connection: September 2015

There is no birthday celebration like a farm celebration where sheep get out and snakes slither up on the porch. We are still adjusting to say the least.

The last few weeks have seemed too busy to sit down and write and since we don't have internet, well, I just go to bed.

This time last week we were getting school supplies in backpacks and packing just the beginnings of a year of school lunches. We feasted on the eve of school starting with pork tenderloin, potatoes, salad and salted caramel brownies. It was a full day of trying another church and complete with a picnic with friends at the Shenandoah Golf Course.

Farm life is different. We don't know what to do but to compare it to life in Haiti. The girls seem to be adjusting to life as we know it. Lilly walked in to school on her first day so excited. I'm not sure if she was more excited about going to school or that she didn't have to stay home and homeschool with me. It was a good day all around. Hillsboro Elementary was built in the early 1900s and is a little round school that has only 6 classrooms. It is a sweet little school with only 150 students and a small staff. The library smells like old books. The cafeteria is the gym and everyone eats at one time. The carpool line is only a few cars long and is unforgiving for the mom running a few minutes late. I love that Lilly and Micah are in the same class and what one doesn't mention, the other fills in the gaps. Ava has missed Lilly during the school hours but our days are sometimes fast and furious and other times slow-paced and easy.

Kelley and I have been working on web sites, egg collection, fall plans and logos while the boys do their homebuilding thing and get pigs moved from one pasture to another. It's been dinners on the back porch, homemade ice cream and more farm talk.

I have so many things to say but lack the brainpower to articulate. Stay tuned.

Ava and I leave in a few days for a few weeks in Haiti! She told her preschool teacher this week that she moves back to Haiti in a week. That's a little inaccurate but very telling of her thoughts and her wishes. She wants to move back "home." Needless to say, Ava's teachers had questions for me when I arrived for pick up.

Lilly is excelling in school, unsurprisingly. She met a new friend Lucy. Lilly came home saying I have a new Haitian friend, Lucy. Small world. But they seem to take that connection as a natural sign and now they are lunch buddies.

Since I lack the words today, enjoy the images that follow.

First day of school for Lilly Cruz

90-year-old Mr. Potts cutting our grass!

First time canning peaches and making peach jam!

The inside of a peach dumpling!

Friday afternoon beet and goat cheese salad

Appetizer plate ... still experiencing tomato surplus ... we've canned 'em, fried 'em, baked 'em, diced 'em, sliced 'em, roasted 'em and added them to the dinner table whenever possible.

Sausage cheddar balls - adding a little Southern flair to the appetizers ...

Potato cakes with bacon, blue cheese and you guessed it, tomatoes!

Fun sparkling drinks for the kiddos!

A night at the vineyards to celebrate Farmer's birthday ... easily a unanimous decision we'll return ...

* the bottle was empty before he decided to turn it up!

Well I found my Smitten Kitchen cookbook in a box in the attic from last year's Christmas presents that we didn't take with us to Haiti. Can you imagine the work to find ingredients and produce something like this in that country - no you can't imagine and honestly ain't no way!!