I heard them talking and laughing from inside the farmhouse. They never stop working, not for a minute.

Maria, Lena, and Fanny, our Amish neighbors, were skirting (cleaning) our wool, a task done by rural women working together for hundreds of years.

I went to pick them up at the Miller farm at 7 a.m; they were already walking barefoot down the hill when I got there.

I brought two bags of ice to the family; they don’t have a refrigerator and needed some ice to get through the heatwave.

Moise never asks for anything, but yesterday he handed me a glass jar and asked if I could spare some ice cubes. I know they have an ice chest, so I went to a convenience store and got two bags.

I charged them 4 pennies, which I added to the Amish Pennies Jar. We are all having fun with the penny jar, and I think they are pleased to at least pay me something.

Lena and Fanny are good and eager workers, as expected.

They charge $10 an hour to “English” customers, and they work non-stop and with great energy, just like Maria. I asked if they needed anything, and all they wanted was a bottle of water to put on the ground.

They looked like sisters or family out there working together; the three of them seemed so at ease and at peace doing this timeless and iconic chore together.

I took some photos of them (no faces) and showed them to them, they were pleased.

So was I; somehow, this seemed an important moment in our life together and in the life of the farm. Maria and I have always done the skirting; I was happy to pass it off to the three of them; they looked so comfortable and at ease.

Another chapter on the farm, a sweet and beautiful one.

It usually took Maria and I a day to do the skirting; these three will be done in a couple of hours. Three strong and hard-working women. Perhaps that is the connection they seem to have with one another.

I’m pestering Maria to let them help with the firewood, which they are eager to do, but so far, she’s digging in.

She loves doing it herself and wants to do all of it by herself.

It’s up to her, but I’m betting she softens up a bit after today and gets some help.

What good workers these young women are, how conscientious and focused. I have three Willa Cather women skirting wool in our yard, and it feels like an exceptional thing to me.

We’ll take it up to Vermont in two weeks, where it will be spun into yarn. The wool looks great this year.

Fanny and Lena say they’d love to come and see the shearer this Fall; we’ll make sure they get here.

___

This afternoon more travels with Moise and his brother-in-law Jacob (who loves the noise reduction ear muffs I brought him yesterday. He says he has used them already and they work wonderfully.( They’re going to Glens Falls to get some tiling for Moise’s new barn; I’ll be driving them.

These two are the ones who took a bus to Hoosick Falls two years ago to look for new homes for themselves and their families. The rest is history.