Today was taking care of Bedlam Farm Day. We got up early with many things we wanted to do. Maria is still working on them; I’m taking a hiatus.

Maria loves physical labor; I enjoy returning to some, although I can’t do as much as she can. Any farm requires a lot of maintenance – wind, mud, feces, animals – real farms are almost impossible to keep up with.

In the winter, we do nothing but hunker down in the farmhouse and get the hay out to the animals. Spring opens everything up, and there is a huge pile of things to do. We got to replace the plastic window the other day; the list of to-do things is down to about a dozen.

We are considering surrounding Maria’s studio with trash bags of leaves to provide some insulation in the winter.

We have it easier than the real farmers, but it’s never easy. People write us all the time to suggest we live perfect lives “in paradise,” but there is no such thing for normal human beings.

We love Bedlam Farm, and caring for it is grounding and meaningful. I loved working on St. Joseph, the stonewash was miraculous, but the crevices stuffed with lichen were a grind.

I think I got to all of them.

(Above, St. Joseph this morning)

I decided to clean our statue of St. Joseph, which has graced both of our farms for nearly 15 years. We finally figured out it was St. Joseph. It took years.

 

St. Joseph is often portrayed as having lilies nearby. The lilies symbolize integrity and indicate that Saint Joseph was the earthly spouse of the Virgin Mary, whose purity is represented by the chaste white lily. Three flowers are used to describe the Blessed Trinity.

The statue (above) was covered in lichen and dirt and was discolored. I’ve never cleaned it.  It bothered me. St. Joseph has watched over us for a long time, and he deserved better.

I suspect the statue has never been “washed” I know it was buried in the ground for a long time. It didn’t occur to me to clean him until I read about stonewash, available at hardware stores and on Amazon. I have no idea how old it is, the monster was built more than 200 years ago.

We haul it over from the first Bedlam Farm.

The toothbrush and a stiff brush saved the day.

(St. Joseph looks fine now)

I got a big mug of stonewash, some brushes, and a toothbrush and went to work, dipping rags in the stonewash and brushing the nooks and crevices.

It took two or three hours, but I left it alone to let the stonewash do its work.

It did.

(I’m not sure if Saints are real, but if they are, they deserve to look great and clean.)

The lilies are how we finally identified the statue, which was saved from a monastery that was being demolished. I bought the body, then the shoulders; we never found the head.

(Above, the statue yesterday, almost black)

We were especially busy today. She mowed tall growth behind her studio and along the South pasture fence. She spreads manure all over the pastures, planting potatoes (below).

(The statue today.)

Maria has leveled the manure pile and is planting grass seeds left behind by the winter. A friend gave us some potatoes; they went right into the vegetable garden.

I’m exhausted and not quite back to my pre-surgery energy level. This Thursday, I can wear regular shoes again. Friday, sound wave surgery for my lone but large Kidney Stone. I will be anesthetized.