Arriving in Samford at Josephine’s house, I noticed an immediate difference from my first wwoof-ing job. Organization and cleanliness, what a delight!! Her property is so pleasant and peaceful. There seems to be a purpose and a plan for what she has where and it makes sense and looks nice. This is refreshing...
After getting settled in my very own bedroom, Josephine had prepared a fresh little lunch for us. We dined on her porch, a small portion of her porch. There are about 100 meters of verandahs almost all the way around her Queenslander home (which basically means its up on stilts).
Once we had finished lunch, we had a bit of a rest before working. I ended up taking about an hour nap. Those seem to be pretty frequent these days! When I woke up, I got changed into my work clothes and headed down to the edge of her property to do a bit of weeding. Two and a half hours of weeding. It wasn’t too bad, but I think my hands are a little sore, please don’t mind the typos...
My first day of weeding is done. Now its time for a shower...outside! She has a whole little shower booth type thing set up out in her garden, with hot water and a light if needed. That was pretty neat, showering under the setting sun.
Clean and fresh again, I sit in the living room and type this very blog and wait in anticipation to indulge in whatever it is that is smelling so good in that kitchen! And it was worth the wait let me tell you. Josephine is a good cook and quite the servant as well. She called me into the dining room once dinner was ready, then she came walking in with our plates all dished up and looking so pleasant. We dined and chatted awhile. She mentioned something about herbal tea and I thought that sounded nice. So she went and picked some fresh lemon grass from her garden to make me some tea. And let me tell you, that tea was delicious, almost like candy.
One thing Josephine said that has got me thinking was, “Contrast is good,” in reference to life and my first and second wwoofing jobs. You almost have to experience the bad things in order to enjoy the good things, other wise one probably would not appreciate the good things when they did come around. Something to ponder for awhile...
After getting settled in my very own bedroom, Josephine had prepared a fresh little lunch for us. We dined on her porch, a small portion of her porch. There are about 100 meters of verandahs almost all the way around her Queenslander home (which basically means its up on stilts).
Once we had finished lunch, we had a bit of a rest before working. I ended up taking about an hour nap. Those seem to be pretty frequent these days! When I woke up, I got changed into my work clothes and headed down to the edge of her property to do a bit of weeding. Two and a half hours of weeding. It wasn’t too bad, but I think my hands are a little sore, please don’t mind the typos...
My first day of weeding is done. Now its time for a shower...outside! She has a whole little shower booth type thing set up out in her garden, with hot water and a light if needed. That was pretty neat, showering under the setting sun.
Clean and fresh again, I sit in the living room and type this very blog and wait in anticipation to indulge in whatever it is that is smelling so good in that kitchen! And it was worth the wait let me tell you. Josephine is a good cook and quite the servant as well. She called me into the dining room once dinner was ready, then she came walking in with our plates all dished up and looking so pleasant. We dined and chatted awhile. She mentioned something about herbal tea and I thought that sounded nice. So she went and picked some fresh lemon grass from her garden to make me some tea. And let me tell you, that tea was delicious, almost like candy.
One thing Josephine said that has got me thinking was, “Contrast is good,” in reference to life and my first and second wwoofing jobs. You almost have to experience the bad things in order to enjoy the good things, other wise one probably would not appreciate the good things when they did come around. Something to ponder for awhile...
And ponder I did, all week long. Its funny that statement came up the first day...I must have some AMAZING experiences headed my way ;)
The rest of the week was pretty much filled with weeding, weeding, a little digging and then more weeding. The blue wheel barrow to the left here got filled many times. Once filled, I took a trip down to the chickens so they could poke around and munch on it for a bit and break it down. It became a bit redundant at times, but thank goodness for my ipod to get me through!
It is Friday now and I am leaving a day earlier than planned, but I think it is for the best. If I stay any longer I might take this granny’s head off. Josephine is probably in her early to mid seventies. She gets around pretty good for her age and is very active. She also has a very active brain and tongue. She doesn’t talk much, but when she does she sure isn’t bashful about her conspiracy theories on 911 and the American government and so on. She also has just the sweetest way about her in a lot of things she says, but she always manages to add in just a tad of condescension to tear you down and make you feel like, well, like shit. I was about ready to leave yesterday afternoon, but I decided to take it out on the weeds and have a temper tantrum all to myself for an hour an a half. It was good fun. The music helped too :) I felt better after that.
In my wwoofing experiences, I seem to be learning more about myself, than about organic farming. I guess its a good thing. I will never complain about a character building experience...at least not for too long. I have definitely had plenty of time to think and write and sort out a lot of thoughts here in Samford. Not having TV or internet has helped that.
Overall it has been a good time, I have enjoyed myself and am grateful for the learning and growing opportunity.
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