november
girls speaking german here in the purcellville coffee shop. i live right off the Berlin Turnpike.
today, on a walk with my favorite 15-month-old, Eoin, I met a guy from the czech republic dropping off old pumpkins for the pigs. people speaking spanish at the restaurant tonight. all of it reminds me of my travels and friends in europe. a year ago, i had just made it to spain, or at least i was in france. now, the farm is my home, loudoun county, virginia, and it feels like i have been here forever.
although, many of my friends are disappearing every day, leaving only the true farmers who live here all year, and a few of us stragglers. i happily leave my rubber boots in my room when i go off to work these days. it's gotten cold, and now i am doing the babysitting thing, pushing a stroller, trying to interpret toddler babble, watching Eoin master this whole walking thing. a couple days a week, i go out and harvest kale and mustard greens, collards and broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and carrots.
oh, and goodbye barn















with the beautiful vines growing over the window, chickens living below me, sleeping on crates and plywood, and the cold wind blowing through, almost as if there were no walls at all.







hello, real house (stone house) with kitchen and bathroom right outside the door to my room, but all in the same building.












farmer's markets are dwindling as the frost kills peppers and eggplant. but the greens love it, so we still go to at least one, and my new boss, the one with the baby i watch, is growing vegetables all year. i'm only staying until christmas time, when i plan on buying a van and driving across the country, going west to settle down for a while....unless i go to mexico...always a possibility.



anyway, here's a chicken searching my old room in the barn for bugs or other scrumptious delicacies....



i'll put up pictures of my cute friend Eoin soon.








oh, and i got a record player at the rummage sale!! i already found 4 cat stevens records, a herbie hancock, and some willie nelson albums! yes!

if you're anywhere between the atlantic ocean and the pacific ocean, well, if you live in the US, you should probably be expecting a visit from me in the first couple months of the year. once i get my van, i am going on a cross-country adventure. see you soon!!