Relative Something

Thursday, September 30, continued…

Ian checks in to say he is going to run an errand to see Alfredo. He needs a new blade for the cutter, a new blade for the chainsaw, and wants to have the cutter looked at once more. I take a little walk of my own and explore the property for a few vantage points that are different from the ones to which I’ve become familiar. I find Cyndie coming down the path from up above. We head to the kitchen where I have breakfast while she starts baking bread. I download the pictures she took on her walk this morning, then get my guitar and sit on the porch swing to pluck away. Ian returns, and since I am enjoying my leisure, he offers to get more sawdust for the stables by himself. He arrives from that task to find us in the stables where Cyndie is cleaning and giving the horses attention. I help haul the bags of new sawdust and then we all participate in cleaning up. When that chore is done, Cyndie returns to the kitchen to prepare lunch and Ian and I go up to the greenhouse to bring out a wheelbarrow of camellias that need to be replanted. While in the greenhouse, we end up cutting fresh grass that has naturally flourished in the environment, even though uninvited. The horses will be happy to have it.

Cyndie serves us a lunch of beef stroganoff over wide noodles. Afterward, she wants to see if she can ride Doll. Ian assists her and they end up spending most of the afternoon with each of the 4 horses, one at a time, exercising them and training them with a saddle. I do some more grass cutting in the greenhouse and then put a timid effort into weeding a small portion of the cabbage patch. As the sun is getting low, Ian and I set off to cut some undergrowth for the horses. The area we settle on is mixed with ferns and a plant with sharp thorns that the horses won’t eat, so it is a challenge for me to collect just the desirable cuttings. When the car is full, we take a little walk down to the spring to check on our plantings. Everything looks to be holding up well. I discover that Cyndie had arranged some rocks and a hunk of wood around the base of the fig tree we planted in her honor. It’s fun to find evidence of her having visited during one of her walkabouts.

When we return to the main house, we find Cyndie has already washed all the dishes and the kitchen floor, in addition to having finished transplanting the last batch of camellias we brought out, which by our calculation makes it about 99 plants she achieved in the last two days. Also, the floor of the stable area looks as clean as it can possibly be. Her accomplishments are a wonder to behold.

We all participate in the final clean out of the day for each stable and get the horses fed for the night as darkness settles upon us. Then Cyndie showers and heads to prepare dinner while I shower and follow. It is our last dinner on the farm and we reminisce a bit with Ian about our arrival and some of the events that have followed. Cyndie suggests the occasion deserves a toast with the port wine that Carlos gave us the night we had dinner at his house. She also presents to Ian, the gift of the scarf she has been knitting for him during our visit.

It is the end of our last night at Ian and Victoria’s forest garden estate.