One of our stops included a visit with the folks at Cumberland Books. The Saenz family is on a journey toward a more agrarian, simple life, and it was good to have a chance to ask questions, see the countryside, and be acquainted with friends. We arrived in the morning, and though we had a full day ahead of us, we still ran out of time.

Our drive to the Saenz house took us through a non-commercialized Amish and Mennonite community. It is pretty countryside. The towns are far away. During our visit, our gracious hosts took us for a visit to a diverse farm down the road, and later, they took time to introduce us to Jerome (who you will recognize as famous, if you read Rick’s blog at all) and his organic operation. My husband was more interested, however, in Jerome’s self-built house than his garden. In the evening, we enjoyed a private Ridgewood Boys concert with watermelon. Nobody mentioned aloud that this was the good life, but I thought it a few times during the singin’. I like old time music now, too.

The take-away value of this short visit was high for our family. My rhapsodizing about all things rural should come down a notch or two. Though I didn’t taste it, I was able to appreciate more the amount of work involved with farming. I feel very glad now that we are not adding chickens to our garden this year, as raising five small children and finishing our house projects seems to be enough at this stage in life.

Because of our visit too, I also learned that our children will soon be taking more significant, helpful responsibilities in the household, and my role will not always be so “hands-on.” By then, however, I wonder if I won’t want just to put my feet up. Probably not, as I still need to conquer growing Florida strawberries. And I don’t figure that’ll happen this year.

If you haven’t asked for a free Cumberland books catalog, you should. They just lowered their prices about 30%. They carry an excellent selection of books. They don’t carry any books by John Piper, but I will forgive them this grievous error.

Picking dinner

The Saenz and Scott children pick dinner from the garden.

Boys

My son came home with a new pal and a new hat. I don’t think he got permission from his parents before he gave the hat to my son. I meant to check on that.

Calf

The Scott and Saenz families visited the Ellisons down the road. Total children=22, but I think there were strays there as well.

Milking

They milk the old-fashioned way–by hand.