Sky Meadow Retreat (Part 1)

Miles and his family run a retreat center they call Sky Meadow which is 100 acres. Miles moved here over 20 years ago. They grow about half of their food and are working towards growing more. This land is really incredible. There is an amazing view of the mountains. To bad i forgot the wire that hooks my camera up to the computer. Most of their land is forest with paths going throughout. There are 2 sheep, Hiedi and Ashley, and a bunch of chickens.

When we first pulled up we were sitting in the car feeling really excited to finally be here. We were kinda making high pitched noises. I turned around and looked out the window, Miles was standing there. I got out and he greeted us both. He gave us a map of the land and told us to explore and we would meet back up later. On our walk Michelle said we should be real quiet and stand still, we could hear absolutely nothing. It was so still and calm.Later that night we met his wife Cella and had dinner with them. We talked for a while and then went back to our apartment. Our apartment is very cozy. The bottom floor has a small kitchen, dining area and a lounging area. The upstairs mostly is a bed, a dresser, and a big huge water tank. We had to shimmy up the hose that was connected to the well pump to fill up that tank. The tank flows down to the kitchen sink. Connected to the downstairs is a tiny room with a composting toilet.

For breakfast and dinner we cook our own food , and for lunch we eat as a community. They provide all the food

Every morning at 7 there is group mediation for a half hour, then we meet back up at 8 30 to check in and talk about what needs to be done. That first day we mostly worked in the forest collecting and stacking firewood, and making brush piles.

The next day Cellas 3 girls came back from Quebec Canada where their father lives. Cassandra is 13, Lidia 12, and Emma 11. They are all home schooled and very smart and mature. That day we worked with Lidia and Cassandra harvesting and processing Kale to be frozen. We would blanch the Kale, drain out all the water and put it all into bags. It was a lot of work, so much kale.

The next day we spent a few hours with Lidia in the kitchen watching her cook so we could become more familiar with kitchen, because the next day Michelle and I were on lunch. Later in the day we grated up lots and lots of cabbages and made about 7 gallons of sauerkraut. We mashed it all up with a apple limb Miles cut 20 something years ago. To cap of the night we played many intense matches of foosball with the girls.