This week, Mark called our illicit butter source to see if they had any drugs...er...butter to part with.

"Sure, I've got three pounds," the neighbor said.  "But don't come over until after 5.  I've got to go to the doctor."

When Mark arrived on his doorstep that afternoon, the farmer handed over the foil-wrapped packages.  Mark thanked him and asked how his appointment had gone.

"Alright, I guess," our neighbor said.

I wasn't there, but I envision a lengthy pause at this point in the conversation.  After all, Mark explained to me that our butter-source is the salt of the earth and unlikely to complain.  Still, a doctor's appointment can wring a nasty sentence out of the worst of us.

At last, the farmer gave in.  "Yep, the appointment was alright.  But it was cold enough to slaughter a hog in that waiting room."

Want more in-depth information? Browse through our books.

Or explore more posts by date or by subject.

About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.



Want to be notified when new comments are posted on this page? Click on the RSS button after you add a comment to subscribe to the comment feed, or simply check the box beside "email replies to me" while writing your comment.

Powered by Branchable Wiki Hosting.