hi(gh) heat!

We've been out of commission with the interweb since about a month ago, so there is a lot to update you all about:

------- I have left my post as manager at the coffee shop and now am working for a great restaurant/hotel in the city (Proof)serving breakfast and lunch. It's been a seamless and enjoyable transition for both myself and Luke. He drops me off at work around 6a, heads out to the farm, picks me up when my shift is done, we have lunch, and then head out to the farm again. We love routine! AND we've even been able to sell some of our produce to the restaurant!

------- Luke has been full time at the farm since April and is loving it. He does a wonderful job caring for the crops, knowing what they need and when, and creating innovative ways to irrigate/till/etc when the normal means falls through. Every day we are learning and constantly journaling in our "farm journal" about what we want to do differently next year or expand upon. We look forward to each week, as it means something different at the farm - one crop finishes, another is in full swing, another needs weeding, another is ready to be planted. Our land is filling up fast!

------- We've taken on roommates! Darren and Brittany Jennings (just married this week!) will move in with us on Saturday when they return from their honeymoon. We are so excited to share our home with them and watch our home become a collective "ours". We've been humbled and impressed with their maturity and faith. We anticipate this next season of our lives to be one of encouragement, fun, and challenging growth.


me and luke posing in our "new" hats that were mysteriously set on top of our trash can a couple of weeks ago. not pictured are all the silk flowers and lace we tore off of them.




Tuesday Jennings, the other newest addition to our home (Rue is freaking out).


me and Luke being farmers at the phoenix hill market. Don't worry, I turn the scary-face off for the customers.


Erin and I on her back porch after a lovely Memorial Day brunch...sooo lovely.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (aka Luke Groce cleaning out our basement and finding his fifteen year old glasses)

CHECK IT OUT

our farm website:

grocesgrow.wordpress.com

where you'll find more goodies like this!

friend and neighbor, Jared, helping us "process" some chickens.

365

A year ago I walked toward Luke with a lump in my throat. I was laughing, but not; crying, but not; biting my bottom lip so that nothing crazy would come out of my mouth. My father was helping me walk toward Luke's beaming face. He seemed sturdy and constant and I wanted to burst to pieces.

5 months before that, Luke walked me through the woods, collecting leaves and proclaiming the beauty of that last autumn day. He had a burning lump in the pocket of his jeans, a ring, waiting for his future wife. As we stood by a pond in the fading sunlight, he put it on my finger, shaking and grinning and crying.

just a happy day at the farm

things i still like about my job

i never work nights
there is usually some kind of excitement happening
i work with three other ladies who are unique and happy people
the owners of the establishment are gregarious, kind, and intelligent people
i'm the boss and people do what i say
i'm the boss and if i mess up no one can touch me!
i'm the boss.
phone conversations with another Java manager, Chuck, that comprise mostly of laughing and terrible jokes
i can bike to work
i get to watch the world and weather go by through our windowed walls
and, probably most recently, my favorite thing has been opening the shop and making myself an 8oz latte every morning:

moving slow and humming

this past saturday was sleepy and dimly lit and warm and full. i didn't leave the house once. i ate two meals with my best friends and three with my best-friend-husband. i made bread and rue only ate 1/4 of the dough. noel and i planted all the pac choi and broccoli and rudbeckia in trays and read books and had tea and fresh bread. we ate three delicous, handcrafted, wowzer pizzas around the coffee table while tyler and linsey talked about old-school video games. a lot.



luke told me to caption this: "My name is Olga and I make many delicous breads."
this is how I would caption this: " I am baking bread in my favorite apron and I am also cold."

Here is a current debate in our house:
If Luke and I had a wrestling match, who would win? Me, because I am little and aggressive and rascally (and Luke says too willing to inflict pain) or Luke, because he has more muscles and weight to him and also knowledge in the ways of wrestling moves?
Let us know what you think.

love
the groces

sunrise at Groce Family Farm

We're making headway with the farm - we have a name, as you can see, and we already have five households signed up to receive CSA shares from us. We've bought seeds, we have a list of volunteers (yes, if you have said that you'd like to come and "check it out," you're on the list), and we're dreaming at night of chilly spring mornings and long, hot summer days. And sometimes we don't even wait until the night to dream: yesterday in church, despite a captivating sermon, I found myself dreaming of work-pants covered in mud up to the knees, sore, sunburned backs from harvesting radishes, and the satisfying soul-filling exhaustion of a hard day's work.

Come on, Spring, come on.