2007-11-09

This was an amazing day in that I got every last piece of Christmas shopping done. My list is complete! There are some things on order which have not come in, and the presents I bought today are not wrapped, so there is still a bit of wrapping to do before I can rest easy that all is prepared. But it feels incredible to have this project finished except for the small details of wrapping less than a dozen gifts and writing my notes to my family members.

After Morning Offering, Melissa and I set out to accomplish the last bits of buying – a Christian book store for my nephew, Ted; a children’s book store for my nephew, Fluke (pronounced Folk, a Thai name); Feeder’s Supply for catnip toys for the kitties and a florist to buy a box long enough to contain Helen D’s teasels. We had lunch along the way, and Melissa gave me a good rundown on Avalon matters. She is investigating what she needs to do to claim the calf, Vinny, which has adopted us. She had a visit from a county agent and got all sorts of good information on future crops, where to put them and how to work on our access road. Next week she is expecting a dowser and a forestry agent who will show her which trees to cut and which to save in various places.

She and I also stopped by Wal Mart to find Melissa two new 5-gallon water storage containers, the old ones being smaller and far less easy to handle.

I finished the day’s gift-buying by finding and purchasing for Melissa her big “bonus” Christmas present, one which should make her quality of life on Avalon better: a two-burner portable Coleman propane cooktop and a portable Coleman propane oven. The oven holds a 9x13” baking pan on its one rack, so should serve her well. Sears has very nice ones for far less than I expected.

I also treated myself to a new granny gown and some knee socks, which one can hardly find in stores any more, but which I constantly use. I have worn my old ones so long that the fbric is no longer warm on the gowns and the elastic is gone on the socks. The Vermont Country Store on-line store is a wonderful resource for those who are looking for outdated items like these.

Mick and I were both utterly exhausted by the day’s work. His day was arduous, with a couple of extra chores for customers making it a long day for him. Although my day was infinitely easier than his physically, I am still feverish and my ear and throat were really sharply painful all day, so what little I did do was at the limit of my energy reserves! So we slept more than we conversed or watched TV after our bath, rousing at 8:30 for supper and then the Gaia Meditation. Gary prayed at the end.

It was a supernally lovely day here in Kentucky, the harvest sky brilliant blue against a golden sun and cool breezes at about 60 F – the perfect day for going about and doing chores.