Clara has disgust written all over her face. She thought cabbage is the worst and there is no way to make it worse, but now she isn't sure about that anymore.
Jewel thinks for a moment. "Well, if you want to stay focused on cabbage, how about making some sauerkraut? All that takes is the cabbage, salt, water, and a sealed container to keep it in while it ferments." By the look on her face you think she's serious....
"You're aware, that you don't put the whole cabbage into the barrel, right? You'd have to cut enough cabbages into fine slices to fill a barrel."
Clara isn't that easily tricked out of playtime and into work. Even if Jewel sides with her mum to do the trick.
Jewel smiles. "Of course. But not a barrel. A container the size of a small bucket will be fine. Only a few cabbages, and yes. They have to be finely chopped. I'll need a sharp knife."
Jewel is fine with starting the recipe. It has to sit for several days before it ferments properly anyway. So Clara can play and Jewel will join later.
"Jewel is going to make us eat vegetables. She has joined the dark side!"
Jewel grins at Clara's comment. The dark side indeed!
"Sauerkraut goes well with sausages. But it takes a few days to ferment anyway. You two go finish the drum, and figure out what we can play next. I'll go cut two sausages and prepare the sauerkraut. I'll join you in about an hour."
She picks a knife and stroke it on a stone to sharpen it, then heads to the garden. She smiles when she realizes that she's acting a lot like her mother....
Clara shudders. "That has Women of Stepford vibes."
"And her going after that cabbage leaves us with the sewing of the rabbit skin."
Jewel silently chuckles as she leaves to get the cabbage. She knew that Tarjun had never paid attention when their mother had been sewing their clothes, sometimes adjusting some of his old clothes so she could wear them, and occasionally making new clothing out of cloth that they'd purchased after a good harvest. She wonders if he even knew where the needles and thread were stored....
"For the ring you best look for a straight flexible willow branch and make a ring of that. Clara knows where thread and needles are." Mrs. Johnson answers.
"The first fur is for free. For the next one you have to learn how to get it off the rabbit."
"Sure. Let's go get some tree parts." Clara replies less than enthusiastic.
Jewel returns with two nice sized heads of cabbage. She cuts both in half then creates some water to clean them. Once both are clean she puts them on a large cutting board and chops them into small pieces, transferring the pieces to a large sturdy bowl. She measures out the proper amount of salt for the amount of cabbage and water that she'll be using, mixing the salt into the cabbage in the bowl. Once it is mixed properly she works it with rounded mallet, smashing the cabbage and salt together to release the juice of the cabbage. As she gets it mashed proper she transfers it to the crock, adds water and presses it down to remove any trapped air. Once she has all of the cabbage in the crock she seals it and puts it aside to ferment and cleans up the work area.
Moving outside she looks around. Not seeing Tarjun or Clara she spots Gertrud. "The sauerkraut should ferment for at least a week. Where did Tarjun and Clara go?"
"They are off to find a willow branch. Supposedly at the river." Gertrud shrugs.
Jewel considers what she wants to do next. Clara and Tarjun were getting a willow branch? She thinks about the trees down by the river. She does remember a couple of willows closer, but....
She decides to head over to check on the saplings and mark new trees to cut. Tarjun and Clara weren't interested in that 'work' anyway, so this was a good time to do that. And maybe she'd have a chance to chat with the guys? She didn't want to get in trouble with Dwayne. But maybe Clark or Tony might be around?
"Clara, you know where the sewing kit is. Fetch it." Gertrud delegates.
"I don't know where she went, she didn't say."
Clara sighs. She hasn't even started to fetch the tools. "Don't rush me." she objects and then moves towards the stairs and up as if she had heavy weights tied to her legs.
Looking over the saplings Jewel is glad to see all are growing well. She considers the area and thinks about what she might want to bring over next from the 'seedling' farm she had started. Dwayne mostly wanted fast growing trees for lumber. But there were also some slower growing hard woods that might be more valuable if they could be allowed space and time to grow. That would be years and she'd be into her adult years before they could be cut.... But there were a few areas that weren't convenient for regular lumber trees. Maybe she could plant them there. Dwayne could harvest them and get a bit of a 'bonus' before he retired!
She strolls in the current cutting area looking at the pattern. It was almost routine now but she could practically visualize the way the men would 'drop a tree', avoiding the ones that weren't quite ready. It had taken time both for them and for her. She marks out the next three days for cutting, then looked for Clark or Tony. She liked how Tony looked, but Clark had a nicer voice. She smiled to herself when she thought about that. Maybe in a few years she might ask her mother how to flirt with the guys? She knew she was too young now, and the guys knew her age. But it was still fun to think about growing up....
When she finally found the guys she cringes a little seeing Jack with them. "Hi guys. Quick question, not related to work. Do any of you know how to play an instrument, or sing? Tarjun, Clara and I are making some instruments for us. Once we get them made I was thinking maybe we could work together to make some music? Maybe an hour or so down by the pond? We won't be any good at first, but maybe with some practice.... ?"
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In Tarjun's humble opinion - which is, of course, completely right and devoid of any bias - Clara takes so long fetching the sewing kit, she might as well have taken a dozen laps around the entire village.
"Finally!" he exclaims when she reappears. "So, how do we do this? Can I help out sewing stuff on the skin, or no?"
"You can try. Make the ring, check that it is the right size for your bucket. Then you carefully cut the fur an inch larger than the ring and sew the ring in."
"You'll need a sharp knife and don't you dare cut into my table."
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"Sure, I'll do it. Don't cha worry, Mrs. Johnson!" Tarjun answers with forced cheer, and his smile fades a little. For all his bravado, he has absolutely zero doubts that Gertrud is one to carry a threat to term.
Making the ring is the easy part, which is saying something consider how much trouble Tarjun has to go through to saw off the branch until it's the right size for the bucket, then to actually make it fit the damn thing. There is a universal law that for any troublesome DIY, one's language must devolve into the vulgar, and it's quite lucky that Tarjun's parents are not nearby or he would have had his ear tugged a dozen times.
Then it's time for the sewing, which necessitates calling Clara back so she can actually contribute to making her own drum. Tarjun's help might generously be called coarse work - but at least it does the job.
Making instruments, at it turns out, is a lot harder than Tarjun thought, if it involves more steps than simply taking a piece of wood and carving it into a shape suitable for producing notes if you blow air into it.
He takes a step back to admire their work. Somehow, he doubts it belongs on the world's greatest stages. "Look at that, it ain't bad!" he exclaims, ever the optimist. "At least for a first try. Wanna try to play on it?" Perhaps he won't even need earplugs.