Memphis Democrat Column from February 19, 2006

It has been a bit of time in between columns, but we have been busy the past few weeks on the farm. The major piece of work has been a complete makeover of the living room in our old farmhouse. It is now a beautiful shade of blue. Gigi and Stefanie made short work of clearing the space and the painting, as well as putting everything back in place.

When we started on the project, we decided in the moment to also refinish the wood floor in that room. It had been covered for some years by some really ugly subflooring unsuccessfully hidden by rugs. After prying up the covering, Gigi rented a sander and spent a long night going over the wood. It was was a bone-jarring job. After four coats of finish, the floor glows. It is a pleasure to be in the space now and we really appreciate Gigi and Stefanie's hard work.

Arjen and Stefanie have extended their stay with us through the beginning of next month. They have put a lot of energy into helping out while they are here. They have been active in moving along our many small projects. Arjen just finished cleaning and doing needed maintenance on our fleet of bikes. They have helped us do deep cleans, continued to assist Otto and Stan with wood gathering and splitting and joined in our runs to get manure at our friend's barn.

Along with Otto, they have also been part of our daily rounds. All three have taken turns with the cooking and turned out some excellent meals. Renay has been enjoying having more folks to play cards and games with in the evenings.

Gigi and I are getting in gear for the upcoming intern season. We did our first phone interviews yesterday and today. All three of the prospective interns we talked to this weekend are strong candidates and we are very pleased with the quality of the applications we are receiving.

The past weeks have been a busy time for Stan. He attended the Missouri Organic Association conference on February 10 and 11 in Jefferson City. He presented a program on Saturday, "Adding Value To Your Plant Products". On the 15th, he did an organic inspection in Fairfield and Gigi and Stefanie also went along to do some shopping.

This past Friday Stan became a U.S. citizen at a ceremony in St. Louis. He drove down to St. Louis on Thursday with our friend Dan and they spent the night there with Dan's son. Dan grew up in St. Louis and they also visited with some of his siblings while they were in the area.

Laird left on a trip at the end of January after the conclusion of our annual retreat. He spending time with his fiancee and doing facilitation work in Albuquerque. The trip also includes a session of his facilitation training workshop in Boulder. We expect him back home in mid-March after another training session in Ann Arbor and a family visit in Chicago.

Otto took a brief break from his labor exchange here at Sandhill and went up to Ann Arbor to visit his father at the beginning of February for a few days. He then drove back with his father who stayed with us for a couple of days. Michael and I have known Al for some years. He visited Otto at East Wind on a number of occasions while we lived there and he has also been a guest at our place in McDonald County. It was nice to see him again and renew our acquaintance.

Renay has been busy with both Girl Scout and homeschool group activities. Her Girl Scout troop

had a get-together at the bed and breakfast in Memphis that included a meal and a movie. She has also participating in rehearsing for a play that the homeschool group in Kirksville will be putting on soon. She and her dad are now in Minnesota visiting family.

We added two more birthdays to our lineup this week. Michael celebrated his on the 15th. Gigi and Stefanie brought some desserts back from Fairfield and Otto made some very tasty ginger snaps for the occasion. Stan's is actually tomorrow (Monday), but we are celebrating tonight since he and Gigi leave for Wisconsin in the morning. There is a very fragrant pie cooling on the table in back of me and there are rumors of ice cream.

Yesterday evening we had a special celebration for Stefanie and Arjen's anniversary. Thomas from Dancing Rabbit joined us. After supper, Stef and Arjen told us about their first meeting in Australia and their travels in Thailand, Laos, China, Nepal, Tibet and India. Their stories were fascinating and somewhat hair-raising. Some of their adventures included harrowing bus rides and a night spent at 18,000 feet in the Himalayas.

We finally got cold enough temperatures this weekend for our ponds to freeze over. A group of folks from Dancing Rabbit came over for some skating this afternoon. It has been a while since we have been able to do so.

I do want to note in ending that our buddy Cole passed away on January 30. He was a great community dog and we all miss him.