Day 3 (6/17/12): All By Myself

This is only my third day on site but I had to be by myself today.  The family left today to go white water rafting.  They'll be gone through Wednesday, but Mary left Katie, Ellie, and me a to-do list that will keep us plenty busy.  I slept like a rock last night, but I woke up before y alarm this morning at 6:20 and immediately felt the soreness in my back and my stiffness all over.  I finished yesterday's blog post and called the family since it's Father's Day, of course, and Abigail is starting SEP camp at UVA today.  Then I was out the door after saying goodbye to everyone
I did everything today that Kenya and I did yesterday, simply put: water the hoop houses and plant more seeds.  However, I had a few things going against me, being a newbie and being only one person.  Things go twice as fast with 2 people, I soon learned.  Yesterda, Kenya and I planted 2 rows of pumpkins and squash and a half row of cuc's.  Today, I planted 1 row of squash and almost half a row of cucumbers.  Also, a proud moment of the day was when I used my knot tying skills from WOOLF leader training to retie a tomato plant string to the ceiling of the hoop house where it had fallen off, using a taut line hitch knot1.  However, having only been on the job for one day prior, I was rather proud of myself at the by 5:45pm when I'd finished everything and was headed inside for 'supper'.  My first week as an apprentice is a little abnormal not only because the family isn't here, but also because Ellie cooks and cleans for us and we get some more packaged foods than normal.  Ellie had prepared chicken and egg salad for lunch and made delicious cheeseburgers for dinner.  She even took us out for ice cream afterward where I had Peanut Butter Caramel Chocolate Cookie Dough ice cream - what a dream - and toured us around the greater Belgrade area.  There are 3 lakes nearby with tiny cottages and grand lakehouses lining each.  It's such a beautiful and quaint area out here, I can't wait to explore it on my bike.   The three of us settled down for an episode of The Walton's before tuckering down for the night.

¹ Taut line hitch how-to: