“It’s hot then it’s cold…”

“It’s hot then it’s cold…”

For April 8, 2012-04-15

So either the hay bails are getting Fighter or I’m getting stronger cuz they just don’t seem as difficult to lift anymore…

The weather has been weird. One day it will be bitter cold, the next a cozy warm, then it will hail and blast of blistering cold wind will come through, then it will drizzle then warm up again to the point where I was walking around shoeless. don’t know what to wear some days.

The days here are starting to meld together into a blur of feeling, herding, mucking, racking, hoeing, weeding, eating, wheel-barrowing, milking, and somewhere in there is sleeping. We’ve sowed bell peppers, eggplant, peas, tomatoes, carrots, choy, and lettuce. Some were sown in seedling flats for the green house, some straight into the field.

We hope that each little seed turns to a plant, and that each plant will give fruit (or root) that can be given to our supporting families as food!

… Community Supported Agriculture (farm) …

Rain, rain go away!

Rain, rain, go away!

So this week started off good, we had some sunshine so we sowed peas, tomatoes, parsnips, beets, and chard. Our fourth apprentice arrived as well, so now we are two girls and two boys (Sarah and I, Gabe and Josh). But then it started to rain. It rained for five days straight! I had to start doing evening chores, so I lift bails of hay, fill feeders the drive the animals group by group to the barn. So I often am trotting in mud after the animals.

Most of this week we dug a ditch, fixed seed flats, fixed sieves, wheeled barrows, cleaned out the out-house, built compost, fixed pvc irrigation pipes and lots of organizing of this and that.

Friday we sheared four and a half sheep by hand! We wrestled them down, used the hand-shears to clip down the middle (the belly) then slowly clip around to the back then to the front, it was great! One sheep was left as a half because it got dark on us.

On Saturday we studied more about bio-dynamics and the cycles of seasons and plants. It was great to have a nice discussion about it and study. I hate school but I love the farm and studying this work.

This week was a low-key week all in all not much going on because of the rain. I was wet and cold most of the week, then a church member friend here let me use her washer and dryer! So thankfully at the end of a wet, muddy week all my clothes are now clean, dry, and fresh!

Cheers to the invention of dryers!

Whose idea was it to run around in steel-toed muck boots!?!

So yes steel-toed mud boots are useful for working with cows, sheep, wheelbarrows, lumber, etc. but when Steve needs a tool right away from the tool room, or when Gloria needs the bucket from the cows to go to the chickens, or when a new calf is born in the far pasture, or when the little lamb, Dopey, gets out of the pen and you have to go chase her down, at these times heavy muck boots are not ideal to go dashing around. But the thick sticky mud all over is a matter that forces me to wear them constantly. My legs are so sore and heavy.
So this week started off with a good Monday Meeting, I got assigned evening animal chores for the next month or two, consisting of bringing them out of the pastures to the barn and feeding them, and milking the cows of chores. We the got busy working on our muscles and tans by hoeing 3 beds for vegetables to be transplanted in to, but then it rained…
We had a class of 25 kids came to stay for 3 days. We did activities with them, like milk the cows, herd the animals, split fire wood, feed animals, dig a ditch, and build compost piles. Somehow in-between all that, we still prepared potting soil for flats and sowed broccoli. I pulled my shoulder on Wednesday that really hurt! It was my right shoulder but Gloria gave me a cream called, Arnica Ointment, and it fixed me up pretty good!
We also sprayed micro-organisms on the soil to prepare it for the best production/transplanting success. We transplanted lettuce and choy, and sowed spinach and brassica greens (mustard, kale, and arugula) it got really windy while we were working out in the field and I got a little wind burned, so we were all rosy-cheeked and sore muscles.
Then Saturday after all our chores (milking 3 cows) we went to Willits to watch ‘Hunger Games’!!!! it felt weird going out to the city and to the theater. We are pretty isolated in Covelo and on the Farm, so this social interaction was a rare treat. (I loved the Hunger Games!!!! Must get the DVD!!!)
My travels to church was an adventure today… so, I hydroplaned and spun out into the mountain side. Miraculously I didn’t launch myself off the cliff, and didn’t flip my truck over but somehow I ended up the side of a soft muddy embankment, five feet from a turn-off. I waved dawn the next car. It was a nice man and his young son, who gave me a ride to the chapel in Willits. The Priesthood men quickly got a team together to pull my truck out of the mud and cart it away to Covelo to repair it. Luckily there was minimal damage to my truck and no damage to me at all. God has granted me another day, a humble reminder to depend on Him always, be grateful, and make everyday count. (No matter how much it pains me to run across the Farm in steel-toed mud boots!)

The Farm

So after much work and receiving my driver’s license in February and finally buying a truck, I stuck out on my first state-side adventure on March 14th! After a 1 ½ days drive in my dumpy old truck with my brother, Cody, and my Dad, I was happy to finally arrive on the farm. Where, I quickly jumped into action of mucking out sheep stalls. I scrapped them so clean they were like new, and I fixed a gate. Steve, the owner, said “I know there was good use for you, it takes skill to clean this with such efficiency. Not everyone has that.”
Then the next day was filled with weeding tiny little weeds out of the seedling flats. Then we were all called into the barn to dock and vaccinate the lambs. I let my two compadres, Sarah and Gabe, get into that, and mostly watched. They have little to no experience with animals, so I thought it would be good for them. They each did 2 lambs, and then Steve tells me to do the last lamb. So I confidently gave it a Sub-Q shot, then deftly placed the “little green-cheerio” (rubber band) on the tail at the 2nd digit, while making jokes, and taa-daa!!! No problems! I still got it! Thank you, mom, for teaching me all this stuff when I was 12. Now I just need to know the difference between a weed and a seedling… :D
I also got a good kick from a cow. This milk-cow named, Maxine, has just “freshened” (given birth) and has “edema”… I’m not sure what that means but her udder is all swollen and hard and she won’t let her milk down. So we started hot compresses, and I had the idea of using eucalyptus oil to help her relax, and it seemed to work. But in the process of all that and trying to milk her, I got a good kick to the thigh that has left a big bruise. But our efforts were rewarded with the incredible recovery of the cow!
I really like being here except that it’s COLD!!! I’m talking snow! But it’s great cuz I get to do what I love, learn more about my talents, and help others obtain good healthy food!!! :D

Ajusting to America

Hi everyone! it's been a while. It has taken me a while to find my next adventure/something to write about, but it never fails of course i have found it! I am preparing to go to school, but not just any school, a biodynamic organic growing farm school!!!! It's called Live Power Community Farm in Covelo California, yes I'm staying in states this time! But non-the-less preparation is in order. i have acheived my first goal of receiving my drivers lisence!!! Now i need a truck and gear and i'm off in march!!! I want to keep up this blog through my workings and studyings.

I'm really excited to go to this school to further my education, expand my talents, and someday make a difference. There is nothing more wonderful to me then to cultivate good rich pure soil, plant a seed, watch it grow, harvest the fruit, and then hand over this wonderful product and know that it6 is feeding a family, and helping children grow healthy! it's so awesome!!!

Well I'll keep every one updated on the hard work and fun! :)

Settling Down

I arrived home on Thursday October 20th safe and sound, but still suffering from jet lag. I got to travel with two of my past companions, Siser Ockey and Sister Smith. We arrived in LAX Thursday and after customs we had to seperate Sister Ockey off to Utah and Sister Smith off to Washington. Then as I seperated from them soon saw... heard my family calling, my niece Emma calling, "TATI!!!" I then was clobbered with hugs and questions, it was a happy momment. After we put my luggage in the van, we went back into the airport to find Sister Ockey and Smith, which we did. We helped them find there right gates. Then I said good-bye to my last companions, and went straight to In-N-Out, of course, and had some great burgers!

Life at home has been pretty normal, sleeping a lot, to over come the dengue fever effects and jet-lag. Now I have to work on my next adventure in life: LIFE! I need a drivers-lisence to start, some house-sitting jobs for some cash and maybe start community college in the spring.

Thank you for all the love, prayers, and support you all have given me through this last adventure of mine. I hope that we will again enjoy a new adventure soon. Stay tuned to know what and where is the next adventure for me, Tatiana Stephens.

Dengue Fever

Well . . . as you can tell, I'm out of the hospital and at the MRC for recovery... still very weak. I am doing much better, no more fevers, or body aches, but still covered in an ugly rash (but that's going away too), my stomach is still sensitive.
Dengue is a lot like having malaria. In fact, I thought I had malaria again! I was then rushed to the ER with a temperature of 102'F, vomiting and body-aches. They quickly took care of me, but I don't remember much, my head was in such a fog from the fever, but I do remember the missionary couple who were with me repeatedly asked me to speak in English cuz they didn't understand anything I was saying. I guess I was speaking in Tagalog the whole time and didn't realize. I then slept for 3 days under lots of pain meds and hydration fluids, every 3hrs a nurse would come in and take my BP, temp, and pulse, and every 12hrs some one would come in and take a vile or two of blood...
Well they figured out that I had Dengue and that I had been battling it for about 1 week before entering the hospital. It causes the platelet count in your blood to go way down, it also caused my potassium levels to go way down, and it attacked or weakened my liver and gallbladder, causing them to painfully swell. They then put me on an antibiotic drip which made me vomit a lot, but it sped up my improvment a lot and soon the rashes came which is the last stage of Dengue, a sign that it's all going to be over soon. But the doctors were at a loss as to what to do about my liver and gallbladder...

The doctor came in one day and seemed curious about my 'allergy' (hyper-sensitivity) to potatoes. After some talking, and some thought, the doctor then concluded that I am a celiac... i just responded with an "Oh man!" and he asked if i was familiar with it. I then explained that my mom and 2 little sisters were celiac. The doctor seemed suprised but more sure now. So they did some more blood tests and changed my diet. as soon as the diet was changed my recovery quickened. The doctor then explained that I (and probably all my siblings) HAVE celiac but it can be 'dormant' or only slightly active and not cause any serious or immediate health concerns, but it was there non-the-less, and because of the Dengue it was able to 'activate' and it is celiac that is attacking my liver and causing problems with my gallbladder. But if I stay on the gluten free diet (just like mom) there shouldn't be any more problems.
I'm so tired and weak I have to just rest. But I want to end healthy and hard working. Thank you all for ALL the prayers. I know they have helped me and the Lord has blessed me so that I can recover and start working again soon before I leave. Thank you, and love you all...
--Super Sister Stephens
ps: It's all ending so soon!!!!!! ayaw ko!!!!