Tyler and Valerie are in this one

* The title is a spoiler. Get over it. =k *

||76 – Monday, November 14^th

This week started off with a cold morning, as usual, so we stayed inside and did some stuff around the house while we waited for it to warm up outside.

We tidied up the books in the ballroom.

Painted the wood holding up the whiteboard.

We (well actually Charlotte and Virginia) also cleaned up Virginia's studio in the basement. I struggled with the forge that still had the propane torch stuck in the middle - I tried just chiseling around it a little with a hammer and screwdriver, but it just wouldn't budge. I did that for at least 15 minutes before they finished up and we went out to the field. We did some more tidying there since the greenhouse was mostly done and there was just a bunch of shit everywhere.

Frozen water in the hoses we were coiling up. It came out in short cylinders.

The rye we planted already started growing!

Dreary and cold, but we still enjoyed ourselves while getting stuff organized.

Always ready to go. This was after lunch.

Charlotte and I dug sweet potatoes in the afternoon - this was a spot Charlotte gave up on cause she wasn't finding any. When I tried it just to make sure there was nothing, I found a bunch.

Our haul for the day. Not bad, we were surprised at how few there were.

In the evening, I finished my first fork! I coated it with coconut oil.

//77 – Tuesday, November 15^th

Sunrise from bed.

Tuesday was chicken killing day! First they were taken from the crates and stuffed, upside down, into the cones. Tony killed them (after lunch I killed two of them! The first one's head I cut clean off, but the second I had to twist to break off, like Tony said I'd probably have to. This was the quickest, most humane way to kill them) and drained them before putting them in the vat of hot water, where they rotated in and out of the water (six chickens at a time, three in the water and three out on the other side of the grate that rotated them (bottom left in the first picture)). They were then defeathered in a machine that had a bunch of rubber nipples around a big metal drum, with basically a shower of cold water above them. That's when they went to the tables to be gutted (I think I finally found the correct word for that, I kept thinking de-gutsed).

Fun joy play land!

They kept the necks, feet, hearts, and livers in those tubs to be sold separately. Livers were particularly hard to get because of the dark bluegreen bile sack connected to them which, if popped, had the potential to stain the meat bright green if not rinsed immediately. I popped my first one pretty much immediately, but Keith rinsed it off quickly so it was pretty much fine. Keith and Tony had worked there the longest, and Keith was next to me showing me how to do everything while Henry showed Charlotte across from us on the stainless steel table. Adam, the owner, had dogs that loved chicken guts. The buckets were where we discarded all the crap we didn't care about (like literal crap, in intestines, and the assholes that had to be cut out).

That's Bird. Pulling out some intestines.

Left to right: necks (not dicks), feet, livers, and hearts.

Huge cooler full of bodies.

I wasn't really even nervous about killing chickens, it was just kind of part of the routine. It helped, I'm sure, that we just spent the morning with these guys who joke and laugh and have a great time probably every single day. The whole process was kind of just normalized because of that, and especially since we started with chickens that were already defeathered and resembled meat you'd buy at a store. We were just removing their feet, necks, and organs. By the time I went to kill them, they were already pre-meat to me, I guess. Charlotte passed on the killing, but I did two and felt nothing. I'M A COLD BLOODED KILLER, I GOT BLOOD ON MY HANDS!

One of the chickens I killed! (Actually, probably not.)

Why so serious? Probably because they both know I'm a stone cold killer.

I don't know. (Charlotte took this one!)

\\78 – Wednesday, November 16^th

In the morning, we were all trying to plan out how to use the automatic (there's a metal rod that basically expands when it's hot and contracts when it's cold, and that's held to two arms with springs) openers Virginia had for the greenhouse vents but it was frustratingly difficult partially because we didn't exactly know how they were meant to be used and the instructions were incomplete or just bad. At the same time, Virginia found out that her grandson who is overseas didn't get some important, time-sensitive paperwork so she eventually sent us down to the greenhouse to start doing whatever we could with the openers and then maybe start working on the shed.

When she finally got there, we sort of had a plan for how the openers might work, but none of us were exactly sure so she just had us weed near the rye (right by the fence separating the rye plot and the greenhouse) while she put pieces of wood up for the vent. She works better just trying things and seeing how they work. So we weeded. Our specialty, by this point.

There are roses and chestnuts here.

Virginia had to go somewhere in the evening so we went out for lunch instead. She got us pulled pork and smoked turkey sandwiches at this local smokery (I don't know what to call it, leave me alone) and we drove down to this little path by a river. We sat there and ate and drank some Bold Rock hard ciders.

The dogs were already off exploring. It was a beautiful place to sit.

After lunch, we went to the garden again and ended up at least marking out the spots where we'd dig holes for the posts for the shed we'd be building. The automatic opener ended up not working out perfectly, it was still open, so later in the day (or maybe it was the next day...) Virginia took it back home to put in the freezer to see whether it'd close up completely (spoiler alert: it didn't. None of the three she had worked properly, so she ordered more).

In the evening, Charlotte helped me get the rest of the plaster out of the can! Finally. Holy shit. Lessons learned. I have yet to redo it, and I'm still thinking about how exactly to keep the shape of the inner hole without getting something stuck and having more chiseling practice.

I pierced the can once or twice... oh well!

/\79 – Thursday, November 17^th

We were both trying to soak up some sun in the cold morning with our backs.

We went stream monitoring with Virginia!

We went to two spots along the stream, taking various measurements.

We met this really nice lady, Wisteria, who owns lots of land right around here. It's very rural and very pretty.

After stream monitoring, Virginia drove us around the county. This is James River!

Yeah, that's the name of the town we passed through.

Back at the garden, the rye is really shooting up out of the ground!

We dug holes with professional speed. Unfortunately we would find out the next day that they were a little too far apart because we measured from the centers of the posts, not accounting for the two inches they'd stick out.

Roasting the chicken we got on Tuesday! I was very excited and Charlotte was my sous chef.

Pretty meal, we ended up eating some of it, but the chicken was partially undercooked...

...so Virginia put the undercooked meat and vegetables in the microwave to fully cook them and we made a broth out of the bones and other bits in the slow cooker overnight.

\/80 – Friday, November 18^th

Yes, more wood. Cause now we are burning fires every other day in addition to every night.

When it finally warmed up, we went and put six inches of gravel in the holes, getting ready to put the posts up.

Virginia had us go help set up for square dancing in the community center.

We decorated and lined the walls with chairs. That lady was the taskmaster.

AND THEN TYLER BROUGHT A VALERIE HOLY SHIT WHAT THE FUCK

AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH (we put up two of the posts to have them ready for concrete on Monday)

THEY BROUGHT US GIFTS! I got a sweet knife and Charlotte's pipe collection tripled.

Still can't believe the surprise they cooked up for us. We saw Tyler's car, then saw that someone was in there with him and it was like oh that's weird who's in the car with him? Hmm, who could be with him? Who the fuck is in the car with him? ...HOLY FUCK IT'S VALERIE?! So we hung out with both of them on the porch a little, they got acquainted with the wonderful dogs and then Virginia sat outside with us for a little after bringing her husband, Mike, back from the airport. Around five or so we drove to Charlottesville to find food and bars. We went to a place called Miso Sweet that served ramen and donuts. It was great. 

Then, alcohol!

Oh right, before that, I "fought" Tyler to pay for parking. Needless to say, I won. ;]

The Whiskey Jar. Charlotte had a spicy cocktail and we other three got whiskey flights. Also I had a whiskey sour later that was super delicious. It was just a little too loud there, so we didn't stay too long.

This place was called Miller's Downtown and we stayed there for like two or three hours until our parking ran out.

|\81 – Saturday, November 19^th

We got up later than usual because, you know, alcohol or whatever. Mostly cause we went to bed late, but yeah. Saturday was when we were planning to do the apparently famous brewery tour (the 151 corridor, which is also called the alcohol corridor cause there are like 6 breweries and a bunch of wineries).

Valerie wanted to be right up against the windshield.

First up, a winery! We got there a little after one.

This was pretty cool, they had true to the fruit wines, which meant they were not based on grapes. Just whatever fruit. They were pretty good, then we had a few meads. First time I ever had mead, now I want to make it myself. After tastings, we got a bottle of some pumpkin wine to sit outside with.

I didn't know when to switch faces after I closed my eyes... Tyler was on it though.

"Why would you take a picture from that angle?" (google has been cutting off pictures lately... I don't wike it.)

This was the view we had as we sat and sipped.

Wild Wolf brewery was next. We all got the full flight (the right page is the front line, left page is the back line).

33oz of beer each. Also we had fries and nachos.

We left them an art piece to admire.

Bold Rock Cidery was pretty packed so we sat outside in the freezing fucking wind hell.

Charlotte got a really great shot here. It's Very good.

Family bathroom in Bold Rock! As we were leaving, Tyler and/or Valerie (can't remember who) gifted us some cider and Charlotte got a nice long sleeve shirt.

Devil's Backbone was big and pretty but fucking frigid. We drank our beers quickly while we huddled near a fire.

We had dinner at Blue Mountain Brewery. Also more beer.

This cidery was our last stop and we just bought some to go because they were closing soon.

|/82 – Sunday, November 20^th

Molly slept in our bed again! She's pretty adorable.

This is why we are secretly planning to steal her.

Making friends!

We eventually got our shit together only to stand out in the coldest wind for some popcorn and hot dogs.

White cheddar, caramel... cajun? and golden cheddar. Also, faces.

After popcorn we drove around, went up to the Wintergreen resort searching in vain for a coffee shop that might admit us and give us hot chocolate. We drove around countless acres way up on the mountain before giving up.

Here's another cat pose to distract from the sadness of the parting.

We had a great time with Tyler and Valerie, especially since it was a complete surprise to see Valerie here. My world got way smaller; I saw her and no longer believed we were in Virginia, she was supposed to be in Texas and Tyler lives in Pennsylvania, so I was just like well I guess we're in Pennsylvania or something. We had a weekend pretty much full of celebration (drinking) and driving around a really pretty place. I'm ready for our lives to converge more permanently so we can have various weekend adventures more often. For now, at least until we settle in Nevada (maybe by the end of the summer), we'll just take what we can get and share as much of our adventure as we can with our wonderful friends and family.