On the Seventh Day of Christmas

--My true love gave to me a room of my own for working.

Yesterday I spent the whole day moving rooms around. The dining room is now the living room. The cold, front porch that housed my husband’s desk and, um, papers (piles?), is now a porch again, more or less. And the old living room is now my husband’s workroom. The Study. We called my dad’s workroom “The Study”. Do you have a room like this? What do you call it? I still need to get the desk moved, but I cannot do that without hubby’s help. The filing cabinets are there. The computer is still up in the hallway, but it will soon be there, too. His bookshelf and all the “stuff” that belongs to him will soon all be in one room. I wasn’t sure that I wanted to give up my dining room, but I was willing to do so if it made our house more efficient. And I think it will make my hubby happier. I hope so. He will soon be spending a lot of time there working on his taxes.

All of this came about from one of those discussions on TWTM boards about little houses. I never thought of our house as little. I’m guessing it has around 2,000 square feet. We have 4 bedrooms and two porches, a living and dining room, a farm entryway, and 2 baths. It is not until you consider that we have a school and a home business being run out of these same rooms that you can begin to see how we get cramped for space. A lot happens here. That discussion got me thinking about how we use our space, and I decided it was time to use it more efficiently. The mostly-unused dining room had to go. There is not room in our home for a mostly-unused room.

It was not easy to persuade the family to do this. The children keep telling me why it is not a good idea to have the living room in the dining room. One reason is that now when the chore chart says “clean living room”, they won’t know which room they need to clean! And when the visiting outside cats get out of the sun porch, they will be in the room with the oriental carpet rather than the dining room! Now that I have put a chair in a doorway, we won’t be able to get that door closed without first moving the chair (it’s not blocking entry, but it no longer allows us to close the door without moving the chair --a door we almost always leave open)!! Oh, my! I’ve suggested that we move the two boys back into one room, giving dad the spare bedroom, but that was not greeted with great enthusiasm, either. LOL! We will give this a try.

So the farm world goes forward—sunshine today. We all are wondering what caused it to get into the 60’s yesterday. My kids were outside without coats! Just a couple of days ago it was down around zero. The cats look lazy lying in the sun on the deck. The cattle are wading through the soft mud, making big hoof holes all around the pastures, and the little ones are struggling to follow mama through the muck. I don’t think I’ll spray the garden for an ice rink…

Well, time to be off to work. I’m going to keep organizing the house some more today, and then we will have to decide how to celebrate New Year’s Eve. I think we should rent a video and pop some corn. I don’t know if anyone will drop in—Grandma and Grandpa, perhaps? I suppose I COULD give some serious thoughts to New Year’s resolutions. I usually don’t. I always have my head full of resolutions, and am not quite certain adding new ones would benefit. Perhaps writing my old ones on paper would be beneficial. Well, if I do, I’ll let you know tomorrow.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

1 Comments

Isn’t that what the blog says when only one person has written a comment? I always laugh at how it sounds!

I’ve been pondering how I should give feedback to you. Sometimes I write answers in the comment box; sometimes I write it here in a post. I really enjoy reading your comments, so I want to do my best to give feedback to you, too! I’m still a babe in the World of Blog.

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Kim in ON requested my soup recipe. A friend gave this recipe card to me, and in the corner it reads: Ideal’s Meatless Meals Cookbook. This is one of my family’s favorite recipes. Sometimes we get a little heavy handed on adding the cheese. Also, there is a significant difference in what kind of Parmesan you use—we buy those little expensive chunks in the cheese section of the store and grind them up in the blender. Then the Parmesan actually melts when it is in the soup. Mmmmm. This is one dish I really miss since I’ve not been able to have milk products!

Walker Stalker Cream of Parsley Soup

2 cups chopped fresh parsley
½ cup onion, chopped
¼ cup margarine
3 cups vegetable broth (I use water)
1 cup water
2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
2 cups milk
2/3 cup powdered milk
2/3 cup Parmesan cheese
2/3 cup grated cheddar

Simmer parsley, onions, margarine, and broth until parsley is dark and limp (about 15 minutes). Stir water and flour together into smooth paste. Add to parsley mixture. Stir and cook until thickened. Add milk and powdered milk. Continue stirring until smooth. Salt and pepper to taste. (I add 1 and 1/4 teaspoon salt.) Five minutes before serving, add cheeses. Cook until cheeses are melted and soup is heated through. 6 Servings.

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And then, Kim, my whole wheat bread… Short.

I was making my bread with the Bosch—all six loaves (you can find my recipe on my Fairview website; the link is in the side bar). I’ve been using my bread machine for some time now, trying to find a recipe I like, but have not been able to make anything with the quality of the bread I make with my Bosch mixer. It’s holiday season, right? So I decided to make bread! But after I had all the ingredients in the mixer, I found that SOMEONE had used up my instant yeast. Well, I was, um, not happy. I used regular yeast and tried to get it to work. But as I said, the bread turned out, you know, short. It has a wonderful flavor. And yes, I served it for breakfast!

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I’ve gone bumming on lots of your blogs when you list them in your comments. It is fun to see who you are! I visited Treasured Grace and minwifeof4boys for the 1^st time this week! What fun! Of course, I have to stop by and see Donna B. and Kim in ON since they have both been to visit me here on the farm.

Friends are special, aren’t they? So many times I have heard comment that we are in an era where relationships are fleeting. People move so often they have no family or long-term friends living near them. Somehow this world of blog opens us up to interacting to others who are like minded.

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Time to be off into the real world of laundry and housekeeping! Have a very wonderful Sixth Day of Christmas!

The Fifth Day of Christmas

I’ve really enjoyed the comments you’ve left over the last weeks. I’m slowly beginning to get to know some of you. Some of you have your own blogs, and when I can, I nose around blog world to see who is out there. Taking time to read blogs is not one of my priorities, but I do enjoy it when I do! When I walk by the computer, I say, “Oh, I think I’ll check quickly to see if anyone has commented.” And now my family is starting to say the same thing! My husband and my daughter see me “stopping by” and ask, “Any new comments?” LOL! It’s like jogging down the lane to see if there is any mail in the post box. Watching the site meter is fun, too. I always wonder who is coming to visit. How is it that people from time zones all around the world are popping in to read my silly little blog? How fun!

Let’s see. Today is Wednesday. Yesterday I did get over to the woods with my son. There was not enough snow to look for animal tracks. I’ll post more pictures on my Fairview Web site as soon as I can.

The Woods

Today I need to get a few things for my daughter’s trip to Denver. She will be doing meats judging at the Denver stock show next week and still needs a few things before she goes. I don’t think we will be going with her unless transportation/chaperone needs change. I hope the weather holds and that their travel goes well—a 17-hour drive.

Well, no poetic thoughts today! Too much cinnamon bread inside me, I guess. Yesterday when I made bread I rolled one loaf up with lots of butter, cinnamon, and sugar. Mmmmm.

Merry Christmas!

Another Day of Christmas

I woke this morning early. I tossed around trying to find a comfortable position to lure myself back to sleep; India noticed my wakefulness and began her chirpings and grunts and periodic trips across the bed to stick her whiskers in my face. I grabbed my robe and something warm for my feet; the two of us made our way down the dark stairwell.

In the kitchen there was just enough light coming through the windows to find my way. I opened the door to the basement; Snowie prefers hunting there most nights. His warm thanks came in a large purr as he walked between my feet. I picked him up and gave him a squeeze. They ran beside me as I walked to the cupboard with the cat food and then accompanied me to their dishes, standing on their back feet and reaching towards the scoop as I fed them.

In the sun porch the stove was warm; I had stoked it at 2:30 when I was up. The deck was silent; the cats had not yet stirred themselves to come and wait for the boy’s morning feeding. A skiff of snow was still there on the deck and in the yard. The trees stood dark against a sky covered with heavy clouds except for one glorious streak of light where the clouds were rent open, announcing the morning sunrise.

I reached for the switch that would turn on the Christmas tree.

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The smell of eggs cooking is coming from the kitchen. This morning is a “get your own” breakfast. I hear my husband and oldest son talking as they begin the day. The two of them will bundle up against the cold and make their way out to the shed to feed and water the cattle and check on the chickens. My husband will probably need to get the big tractor going to feed the cattle a big round bale of hay. He’ll take a look around at the animals to see if he spots anyone who might be sick or injured. He will also try to match mommies and babies to be sure no one is missing—a hard task when there are so many of them.

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Lots of tasks today that I should do: grind flour and make bread, pay bills and balance the checkbook, clean the house and cook the meals. I would like to get back to typing my recipes onto a Word document, and I’ve been trying to get the family to move some furniture around—hard task when I am the only one interested in the change. My paperwork on my desk is piling again, too. There will be plenty to do, but I will also take the time to knit that baby sweater for a friend in hopes that it will still fit by the time it is done (!) and read some more in A Sand County Almanac; these are the activities I need to do as part of the holiday season, as part of renewal. Who knows? Perhaps I will take a walk in the woods and look for tracks in the snow.

What will you do today?

Blessings.

Monday Night 

The Third Day of Christmas

Queasy. Just how long will this take to get out of my system? Last night Jacob’s temp jumped to 103.6—when he already had Tylenol in him. He’s down on the couch trying to keep some Tylenol in his stomach right now.

Sigh.

Today is the Third Day of Christmas. My children had to take the steers they plan to show at the fairs next summer in to be weighed and identified. They have gone and returned. It is a cold, brisk morning. The little skiff of snow that we got earlier last week is still on the ground. The skies are covered with a thick grayish white cloud-cover. It is difficult to see much through our windows because they are all frosted up—typical when it gets this cold. The outside cats keep looking in through the sun porch windows asking to warm their toes around the woodstove. Since Jacob is sick, we will spend the day quietly.

Here on the farm, the ebb and flow of nature is reflected in our activities. This is the season for the world around us to rest. The trees are producing no leaves nor making food. Many of the animals are slumbering—and those that are not are simply trying to survive the cold of winter; food and warm shelter is all they seek. I like to think that we, too, benefit from the winter quiet. We are busy stoking the stove and doing the normal day-to-day chores, but so many of the out-of-door activities are minimized. This is a time for a change of routine, to add to the day quiet pondering and evaluating rather than planting or reaping.

For those of you who know about living in a place that does not have the change of seasons, do you still have a time where nature rests? Does the heat give you this same reason to withdraw from the busy-ness of life and allow you time to renew your Spirit?

I see that there are people who check in from all around the world. I’d love to hear from you and see where you live. When you have time, would you please leave a comment? I can’t live with 16 cats and not be curious, can I?

Merry Christmas to each of you.

Orion and Charcoal Warming their Toes

Catching Up

I’ve been absent and a lot has occurred over the last couple of days.

An Amish Children’s Christmas Program
Thursday we went to the neighbors’ one room schoolhouse for an Amish Christmas program. When we drove in with our van, all the children who were outside for recess stopped and stared at us; there was only one other family of “English’ who attended. Inside all the student desks were lined up on the right side of the room and the left side had chairs and benches for the families. My daughter and I joined the ladies in the front while my husband sat with the men in the back. Each child took his turn to recite a Christmas poem. Since all of them speak German at home and school is their 1st introduction to English, this was impressive! They also sang. They had a leader who sang the 1st word of each line in the song, and then everyone else joined in for the rest of the line, all a cappella. Then the young teacher passed out a package to each student, and they gleefully opened them. The only small child I heard during the entire 2 hours was an infant who quit fussing as soon as mom fed him. There were a lot of toddlers who quietly sat through the whole thing! I am glad we were able to attend.

And Then…
Thursday night I got the flu.

Christmas Eve
Friday was Christmas Eve. The family cleaned the house and prepared their special Walker Stalker Cream of Parsley Soup—a family favorite, which we usually call Cheese Soup. They went to church for the candlelight service and brought home pictures and videos of the choir and the children’s program for me.

Christmas Day
Saturday morning my older poohs were up early so that they could do dad’s farm chores outside before he got up. Later we all opened gifts and ate a wonderful breakfast—dad made us an egg casserole and pecan rolls. Mmmmm.

It has been a quiet day. This evening everyone will be going to my in-laws for family Christmas, and I will stay home. I will probably spend some of my time reading A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold. He was a conservationist from Wisconsin who has been a leader in bringing people into an awareness of our need to care for the land. I know some of his family and have always been interested in reading his book. It begins:

January Thaw

Each year, after the midwinter blizzards, there comes a night of thaw when the tinkle of dripping water is heard in the land. It brings strange stirrings, not only to creatures abed for the night, but to some who have been asleep for the winter. The hibernating skunk, curled up in his deep, uncurls himself and ventures forth to prowl the wet world, dragging his belly in the snow. His track marks one of the earliest datable events in the cycle of beginnings and ceasings which we call a year.

I hope that all of you have had a wonder-filled 1st day of Christmas! We have 11 more days of Christmas to celebrate and then it will be Epiphany. God bless!

Merry Christmas! 

Better but not great

Jean in Wisc. is feeling better but not great. She stayed home from our Christmas Eve church service, while the kids and I attended. She got out of bed and moved to the sofa in the sun porch. She was up for a little while and had some Jell-O, and a little toast. She is now off to bed and we will see how things go tomorrow.

Husband in Wisc

Tis the season for ...... the flu!

Jean in Wisc. has asked me to put up a post on her blog. She has the flu and wanted me to let you know not to expect a Christmas Eve post. She came down with the flu about 8:30 last night and had a long night of it. She still does not feel well this morning. I will keep you posted on how she is doing. Jacob is now the only one who has not had the flu. Time will tell. He has a part in tonight Sunday school program.

It looks like we will be modifying our plans today, but we will move ahead with Christmas preparations. Here is my list for today:

Ø pick up cheese curd (the still warm kind) by 8:30 this morning

Ø drop off a Christmas card to a classmate in the nursing home (I was to visit him this week but with the flu ….)

Ø do my normal chores

Ø feed a bale of hay to the calves (if the tractor starts)

Ø make “Walker Stalker Soup” for supper

Ø buy milk and bananas

Ø make a pecan pie for tomorrow

Ø drop off gifts to our Amish neighbors

…and most important take care of Jean in Wisc.

I had better get out and start my chores. It is also very cold here this morning. Zero!

Have a wonderful day of preparation for Christmas.

Husband in Wisc.

Ponderings

We received a hand-delivered invitation yesterday. Two girls from the Amish school across the road walked over to invite us to their school program today. They said they would be reciting poetry and singing. What fun! One of the girls might have been the daughter of the family in the accident a while back. I did not ask. I pray for them as they struggle with the loss of their mother and brother—and I’m sure they are quite aware that at this time they were expecting another child into the family. The joy of life is always intertwined with sadness.

Perhaps we need to remember that this is a time to rejoice. As a Christian, I celebrate Christmas to remember that God gave up His rightful place to become a man so that our relationship with Him might be reconciled. We do not need tinsel or wrapping paper to understand this; I do think we could use more quiet and contemplation.

So what will you do to bring laughter into your home today? Shall we hug those we meet and give each of them a smile? Let us throw off all gloom and frustration with the holiday and embrace it with reckless abandon: true celebration, celebration of the heart. As my poem says, ”Lay down the great burden of hurried life…It is time to be set free.”

Tomorrow evening will be here soon. In our home the Christmas celebration begins by a special meal prior to our Christmas Eve church service. Our home is full of great anticipation! The traditions of Christmas are precious, are they not?

Blessed Advent.


Early Morning

Joyful Advent

I think that everyone in our home is healthy today. Yeah!

I turned the furnace on last night to heat the upstairs rooms a bit. The wood stove on the other end of the main floor just wasn't quite enough. I wouldn't be surprised if it was down to zero during the night, but I think the wind has gone down.

This morning when I slipped into my robe and slippers to feed India and Snowie, I found my son in the sunporch with the tree lights on and all the cats inside to enjoy the hearth. (The cats are allowed in the sunporch if someone watches them.) No other lights were on, just the soft glow of the Christmas tree. Very nice.

Today we wrap presents, do some more baking (cut-out cookies!), and shop for Christmas dinner. What fun! I hope the skiff of snow does not disappear before Christmas; we'd take a little more, in fact.

Blessed Advent!


Wednesday Morning. +5 degrees. Brrrrr.

Handmilled Soap

Unfortunately, I'm feeling a little light headed this morning, and I hope it is not my turn with the flu!

Below are some bars of basic soap that I spoke about making earlier. I took some of that soap and grated it.

Grating the Basic Soap

Next I measured out the grated soap and water which I had blended with some lettuce for lettuce soap and melted it.

Melting the Grated Soap

I poured the soap into molds. They will need to dry several days.


Handmilled Soap in Soap molds

We put up the tree last night, and it started snowing at the same time! I heard the snow plows go by this morning before I was out of bed, but there was not enough snow to plow. I'd guess it was a little icy and they were sanding the intersections. We've decided not to have our open house--too much flu here to get ready for it. Maybe we will have a party in January.

This is Tuesday and Friday, Christmas Eve, we will begin our Christmas celebration. What a wonderful time of year! We need to wrap some gifts and plan a few meals; we'll clean up the house, too. Then we will be ready.

Advent blessings!

Flue Season at Fairview

First it was my husband. He’s still not feeling healthy yet, but he is up and moving. Last night my daughter came down with it--I was up every half hour like clockwork. Now my oldest son has it.

I hate the flu. I think the only time I seriously considered dying to be easier than living was when I had the stomach flu. It would be very nice if my youngest and I were to avoid this. If the thermometer outside the door did not read in the teens and single digits, I’d suggest pitching a tent!

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Today my husband was trying to feed a big round bale of hay to the calves. He drove up to the “old” farm, the land we 1^st purchased prior to buying the property with our house. He picked up a bale with his tractor and headed down the road towards home. But he did not get here. The tractor died. It was good that he was on the edge of the road, because that big old tractor was not going to go anywhere. So he walked back to his truck and drove home. He asked me to come and help, and he called the sheriff to let them know about the tractor in the road.

I jumped into the old truck and as we drove up the road we saw there was a white car with flashing lights behind the tractor; one of the deputies must have been close by and had come to help with traffic, and I was glad since we were near the top of a hill where the traffic moved a little faster than necessary.

Now it was my turn to drive. After Hubby connected the two with a chain, he got into the tractor and tried to steer it while I pulled—not an easy task without the power steering. I put the truck in 4-wheel drive and 1^st gear and began to pull—and the tractor immediately twisted around into the lane of traffic. A van come over the top of the hill and stopped—I was thankful for the deputy. Scott talked through his walkie-talkie and said I needed to pull more slowly. (More? I never got the clutch out of 1^st gear!) A car driving by pulled off the opposite side of the road and a man all dressed up in church clothes walked over to the tractor.

“Who is that?” I asked over the walkie.

“Someone who will drive your truck!” answered my husband. And then I recognized our neighbor who had moved away a few months ago. Who would recognize a dairy farmer in fancy clothes?

Bruce got into the truck and the two of them made much better progress.

Now the tractor sits in the farm lane with its hay bale suspended in the air. Until the tractor can be started the bale cannot be lowered. The calves got a few small square bales tossed into their yard tonight. Hopefully the weather will warm up and not snow so that it will not be so difficult to work on the tractor. Working on it outside in the wind, and on the frozen ground, with gloves off, for long lengths of time, can be very cold. Farming in winter is not easy.

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No one in our household made it to church today. I don’t suppose anyone minded since even the healthy ones could be flu carriers (and my son who is sick now would have attended this morning). I am going to see if anyone is still interested in getting the tree up tonight. I will need to start working on updating my Web site, Fairview, with pictures of Christmas and winter. Blogging is slow right now, so this would be a good time for it.

Blessed Advent to you and yours!


Last night's moon--tonight is 1st quarter moon.

Exercise, Anyone?

We were doing Biology today. B. and I had the microscope out—the new fancy one we bought from Sonlight. The volvox collected from the pond water was twirling around nicely, but something else was whizzing by, so I decided to place the slide in the freezer just long enough to slow him down…too long. Do you know what freezing does to those little guys? Suffice it to say that there was not much left to look at under the ‘scope.

Just then my hubby drove in with a trailer full of cattle. These had been out in another pasture, and although the moms knew where they were, the babies had never been “home”. B. and I stopped school long enough to watch the new little ones get off the cattle trailer.

Well, sort of.

The first calf off the trailer bolted out into the yard instead of into the pasture, so we went running out the back door as fast as we could to redirect the little one.

Not fast enough.

This little one had no idea where she should be going or where mom was, so she ran up and down and through the trees, up through the corn stalks and over the hill. We ran, we got the truck, we called JM home from hunting with the gator, we chased, we watched, we ran along side, we ran in reverse, we ran through woods, we jumped in and out of the truck, we panted. The little one was so tired it would pause to pant and then head out at a trot, again. Finally it began to slow down and we could keep up with it a little better.

We were beginning to wonder if we would catch it before dark; I was beginning to wonder if I was going to be able to keep pushing the clutch down in that old truck any longer.

We finally got all the gates closed along the side of the road and herded her up to that fence line. Hubby and Cub walked her down towards the lane…and then she bolted back across the cornfield again. Gator and truck turned around and headed back up the road and through the cornfield. At last she found the little path that took her into our back yard. We opened gates to the pastures; we chased her in front of the house and behind the house and through the pine trees. And then we chased a cow back into the pasture that had gotten out of one of the open gates. She ran up and down along the fence but turned around every time she got close to a gate.

Then mommy let out a big MOOOOOOO. And baby let out a baby moooooo. MOOOOO. Mooooooo. MOOOOOOOO. Moooooooo. Slowly baby walked towards the mommy moo and at last, into the pasture.

It only took about an hour.

Now which of you said you’d like farm life? I’ll give you a call next time we need some help…

Blessings.

Our Wayward Calf

The Kittens

Since I don't feel very creative this morning, I thought I'd give you a few pleasant kitten faces to enjoy. Katie are you there? Do you recognize these little guys?

Blessings!


Orion, Oreo, William of Orange, and Betelgeuse

Winter Astronomy

Thursday Morning

This is the third photo I have posted of this view from my deck. If you scroll down, you can see how wonderfully different each morning's sky has been this week. What do you see from your home each morning?

No one answered my quiz! Well then, I will. We are, in fact, closer to the sun in winter than in the summer, but the northern hemisphere is tilted away from the sun in winter, giving us shorter days. Since the sun is not shining on us for as long each day, the land begins to cool which causes our cold season. Can you imagine what it would be like here if we were further from the sun this time of year?

There are so many details that come together that make life possible on this planet--how could all of this have happened by accident?

Off to the big city ONCE MORE for some more shopping. Hubby in Wisc. will stay home with his stomach flu :-(. Although we feel sorry for him, we hope he keeps it to himself...

Blessings!

Wednesday Morning

Wednesday Morning

Soon winter's solstice will begin, the time when the sun "stands still" and appears to rise no further south each morning. Then, after a few days, the sun will begin to rise a little further north each day. In this picture the sun is rising on the right side of the building. In the summer it will rise many degrees to the left of it. Where is your sun rising? If you keep a nature journal, you could make a sketch of your horizon and mark the location of the rising sun and the date. Perhaps you could have your children do this as part of their science project :-).

Quiz: As the earth twirls around, our northern hemisphere tilts towards the sun for a while and then away from the sun. Which way are we tilted now?

Blessed Advent!

Tonight's Sunset 

Funnies

Laughter. My sides ache. How can sorting pictures with the poohs make us laugh so hard? If I told you what we were laughing at, you wouldn’t even smile!

O.K. I’ll tell you.

My husband likes to take plenty pictures of each occasion. When the 4-H club lined up to smile at his camera after the roadside pick-up, he only took five pictures—all of them the same. Well, not quite. My son moved in each one. He was holding a bucket and as we clicked through each one the bucket was the only thing we noticed to have moved! When we looked closer, he was 1^st putting on his hat, then putting on his gloves, and finally standing posed for the picture. The rest of the 4-Hers all looked the same in each photo.

We laughed. We chortled. We guffawed. We held our sides and cried… Whew!

Fast forward to this afternoon when my daughter and I were getting ready for our piano duet. Now we have not practiced much, so we were almost sight-reading. Dear Hubby in Wisc. wandered in to listen and said, “I think there must be some right notes in there.” I asked him if he could tell what we were playing. He said no. Pretty sad when the song was Silent Night, right? We tried again. When the page was turned I started reading from the wrong page and both my daughter and I were playing the same notes! It wasn’t long before we were both laughing too hard to see the page, no less play!

Not every day brings laughter that bubbles out of the soul and into air! Where does it come from?

Do you think the angels laugh?


Hubby in Wisconsin and Orion--the cat we call Wanabe because he says, "I wanabe an inside cat."

Tonight's Crescent Moon 

Simplicity: A Peace of Mind

Some days life seems to be made of hurry-scurry and toppling piles of to do. Is it not true that other days that contain the same busy-ness and piles are made up of early morning skies, soft kittens, children’s laughter, and life at its best?

Some days are made of worship and thanksgiving. Other days are made of grumblings and complaints.

Certainly some of this comes from the ebb and flow of our body’s rhythms. Perhaps, however, many times we have lost a rhythm to life.

Have you awakened in the morning and crawled out of bed just to take a look at the sky and see if the stars are still out? Or if the clouds cover the sky? Or if the sky is red, orange, pink and blue as the sun begins to rise? Have you greeted the day with a rhythm that includes a cup of hot tea sipped while you take a moment to observe the sky and earth, the seasons and the weather, the things of nature and the things of life?

Morning Sky

As the day begins, do you take the time to greet your children, your husband, and your pets with a joy that comes from knowing that you have been given another day together—with the knowledge that some day you will not be so blessed? Do you prepare the food always remembering that we have enough when others do not, handling the food with thankfulness and reverence? Do you clean your house and wash the clothes thankfully because you know that many people in the world do not have what they need to stay warm, to protect them from the elements, to live without the pain of the cold or the heat? Do you feel the warmth of your shower and contemplate how much pleasure there is in the simplicity of warm water?

Do you keep track of the phases of the moon? The leaves as they bud, grow, change color, and fall? The place where the sun rises and sets as it moves further north or south for the next solstice? Do you celebrate the festivals and holidays of the seasons as a means to relax from the busy days of working hard and keeping on task? Do you work for six days and take a day of rest for one?

The created world runs with a patterned rhythm. Do you?

Sunday Evening

We attended church this morning. There were only a few of us there—perhaps under 20. We attend a small Lutheran church built by Norwegians 150 years ago. It is situated on the top of a hill surrounded by farm fields, and the nearest town is probably 15 to 20 minutes away. We are just a small church, but I doubt there are any churches that are warmer in Spirit.

This afternoon the weather was blustery. Even this evening as I sit here typing on my computer I can hear the wind roar as it whips the pines that surround our home. My mother came to visit for a while this afternoon. She sat down with me and viewed the photos on my computer of family and activities—memories. My husband went over to the pond on the Gator with my daughter to collect water samples for Biology class. Since I did not have to go, I read a few chapters in Eragon, played with the kittens, and puttered around the house. It was a nice day.

Pine trees along our lane

Tonight’s meats judging practice was cancelled; too many young high school students would be driving in wind that is strong enough to blow a van off the road. So we are all home, snuggled in for the night. My boys want to watch a video—I’ll probably join them for a while. Usually my youngest tries to get us to play a board game on nights like this. Life is good.

What do you do on quiet Sunday evenings?

My husband combining corn 

Grandpa unloading corn, cleaning it, and filling the grain bin 

Filling the gravity box with corn 

Toothberry

I think I am going to figure this out! I had to reapply to Hello to get it to work. Now I'll have to fumble around with the program for a while to learn how to use it! I'll have to get out and take a better picture of Toothberry, but you can now see what she looks like!


My lawn ornament, Toothberry

Fun!

The Cat Dish Rules

I slept in this morning--well almost. India Ink decided that she would not put up with it unless I first filled her dish. There I was snuggled under my duvet half awake and half in dream world when I felt whiskers tickling my nose and cat breath on my face. She walked over top to get to the other side of me--four times. Then she jumped off the bed and began circling it. "Mrrrrwt? Maaaooow. Rrrrrt, rrrrrrt." I finally threw an unused pillow at her, but she saw it coming and side stepped it with ease. Then she returned to my bed to sit on top if me. "CAT!"

I filled Snowflake's and India's dishes, stoked the stove and returned to bed. It was 9:30 (!!!) when I finally got up. I'm sure the last time I did that I was sick in bed!

Shopping went well yesterday. I'm still not done with my Christmas gifting, but I need to regroup, check my lists and my purchases and decide what to do next. Today I think I'll spend time writing some Christmas cards. It is another dreary day here. We've had very little sunshine this fall. I'd rake leaves under another of our big maple trees (the one with the swing hanging in it beyond the garage) if we ever had dry enough weather to do so. Oh! I also want to wrap the outside light post with greens and Christmas lights. Donna, did you ever send me the email on how to post a picture? I need to figure that one out.

So, off I go at 10:00 to eat some breakfast and start my day! LOL! I've usually done half my day's work by now :-).

Enjoy your Saturday!

Today...

I think most of us are rather busy these days preparing for the coming holidays. I know my site meter counter is going much more slowly!

I am heading into town to Wal-Mart and a few other places this afternoon. I need to try to get a few Christmas gifts and supplies. The children will come with me--the boys have to show me the things they want because I cannot begin to guess what "pliers in a sheath, sheathed saw, compass, buck knife or hunting hat" they want (even if I did know where to look for them). I'm afraid their surprises under the tree will be minimal, but I suppose that is O.K. since they will end up getting what they really want.

As the holidays draw closer my blog will probably get a bit briefer--but then who has time to read long blogs right now? If there is any farm news, I'll let you know...and if you'd like a cute, little, brown, lawn ornament who mows your grass and leaves nice fertilizer plops, let me know. I might share her with you...

Snowie caught 3 mice (that we know of) in my basement and entryway yesterday. I have to keep reminding myself that other people have snakes, scorpions, and recluse spiders...

Blessings!

The Hearth

When you come to my home during the winter months, the 1st thing you might notice as you step inside the door is the wood stove. It is a large, green stove sitting in the sun porch next to a school table, sofa, and bay window full of schoolbooks. The stove is warm and always causes people to gather ‘round. Usually I run it with the doors closed, but there are times when I open the doors so that it can be used as a fireplace

Most people walk in the door and immediately stand in front of it, holding their hands over it, absorbing the warmth. They usually ask if we heat the whole house with it, and I always say that it does the job most of the time, but not on days that hang below zero or are very blustery. The upstairs rooms are cool, but that is fine for sleeping. Sometimes at night the fire will go down, and then the furnace will click in.

The boys bring wood from the woodpile and stack it on the deck near the back door. Each morning and night they fill the wood box inside the door. If I do not watch the stove, it can get too hot or too cold: when I stoke it, I have to get it up to about 600 degrees before I turn the catalytic converter on and sometimes I get busy and it gets hotter than I like; during the day I have to be sure to remember to fill it or the fire will go out and I will have to start it from scratch (I really do not like that). The stove is a rather demanding part of my winter days. One of the first things I must do each morning is to get the stove going before the coals in the bottom have gotten too cold. At noon I add more wood and again in the evening. It is rather like feeding the family 3 meals a day, plus I top it off just before I turn in for the night--its bedtime snack.

At night when I cannot sleep, I grab my robe and slippers and curl up on the sofa to watch the glow of the fire through the windows of the stove. It makes the whole room seem friendly and since the cats usually prefer to sleep in that room in the winter, I usually have company.

Living on a farm is not an easy life, but there are many good things that we enjoy because of it. Our hearth is one of them.

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A Duh Moment

When I wrote the first time on my blog about planting Christmas bulbs, I wrote that I was going to plant Lily-of-the-Valley because they did not require time in the refrigerator. Well, when I went to the greenhouse to scrounge around for some bulbs, my mind slipped a cog—and I picked up crocuses. Crocuses need more time than Lily-of-the-Valley. So when I went to plant last night and I realized my mistake, I went ahead and planted my crocuses so that we will have Easter flowers.

Now I will need to see if I can find those Lilies… Sigh.

Blessings to you all!

Comments and Thoughts

I've decided I need to make a few notes now and then to those who post comments. I do go in and read them, but I do not always reply. Blogging takes a lot of time, doesn't it!

Oh, Linda! How nice to have a Hawaiian macadamia nut as my friend! The book I use for soap making is The Complete Soapmaker by Coney, ISBN 0-8069-4869-8. It has good instructions for a beginner and lots of recipes--including the apricot and coffee soaps.

Kolbi, I had some friends who wanted to see a calf born. When we had a cow in labor we gave them a call, and all those little children lined up on the far side of the shed and watched in wonder. We use to have a mama cat who always wanted to give birth inside the house, so our children have seen that process a couple of times, too. Between the bulls following the cows around and teaching our children to do heat detection (we artificially inseminate several of our better cows, so we have to know when they go into heat), we don't have to teach a lot about that subject in health class...

And wasn't it nice my husband decided to leave us a comment? That is a first! Now if he is willing to learn how to leave a note, the rest of you shy visitors could do it, too! I'd love to know where you live! Just your state or country...please? (It won't be pretty if you make me grovel! – This can be viewed as an example of what The Fallacy Detective would refer to as either “Appeal to Pity” or “Appeal to Fear”--take your pick. :-)

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I am trying to get ahead enough in school so that I could get some cleaning and Christmas work done. It has not been going too well. It seems as though someone always needs me for something. Usually the reasons are valid. There just is not enough of me to go around for everyone AND for my tasks. Last night my daughter made Chili while I cleaned up a pile of papers. Now wasn't that nice? I did get the cat litter scooped, but the rags have not made it into the washing machine….

I think it is time to sit back and re-evaluate our schedules and commitments. Perhaps we have lost some of the simplicity of life and have exchanged it for the hussle-bussle of life. It is so much a part of our culture, but who in his right mind would choose to be harried on purpose? There are, no doubt, seasons in our lifetime that require us to run more, but is this one of them?

Today I am going to plant my crocuses. The book says it takes 3 weeks to have them ready, so I think I need to make it a priority! I’ll order some curtains for my son’s bedroom, too. Last night my daughter burned her batch of walnut caramels and flopped a batch of fudge. A rather distressing night in the kitchen! This is NOT her normal way of cooking!

Well, I'm off to meet the day! Blessings to you and yours!

A Special Christmas Card

Well, we received our Christmas card from our friends in the Washington yesterday. The return address said "The White House", but the postal stamp said Crawford, TX. On the front of the card is a picture of The Red Room decorated for Christmas. Inside is the president's seal, a quote from the Psalms and a short message. There was no computer generated Christmas letter included, but then what would they write?

“The biggest news in 2004 is that Geo. was re-elected to be President of the United States again. We are proud to announce that the children graduated from college. Laura’s cookies won a contest and were considered better than Teresa’s….”

Laura's handwriting can easily be read but the other signature is difficult to read: G-squiggle, B-something-l, is how it looks. It is nice to hear from them and it seems a nice way to start the Christmas card season, right? It kind of makes it feel "official".

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Shopping
We shopped until we dropped yesterday. I'm not sure how there can be an entire mall full of clothing and we cannot find a thing we want to take home! We did get my daughter the blazer she will need for the national meats judging contest in Denver this January--we found it at one of the stores that sells Lands' End returns. I've found a lot in that little store over the years, and sometimes the tags are still in the pockets--turtlenecks and pants for $4, winter coats, snuggly robes. Very nice.

The Baby
Our little calf is doing well. I think my husband turned her and her mommy out of the medical pen yesterday, but I don't know for sure. The little calf is adorable! My daughter was trying to hold it on one side of the pen while its mommy was being checked, and even though it was so young, she had to really work to control it. Amazing! I have not heard how the other calves are doing--I'll have to ask.

The Hen House
Now that the nights are longer and the days are shorter, the egg supply is dwindling. We will need to get the timer working for the light in the hen house or we will not have enough eggs each day. This summer I had so many eggs I started asking everyone who came over if they wanted a dozen! One of the biggest problems with giving our eggs away is that most of our neighbors are Amish, and they all have eggs they want to give away, too!

Weaning
I think we are going to have to do something with Toothberry. She walked all the way down the lane and was grazing in the orchard today. That is too close to the road, so now we have to figure out how to keep a calf, who knows how to walk through barbed wire, inside the fence. I'm not sure if she is old enough to wean, but if she is, she may join the other calves in the weaning pen. We've had a very noisy farm here lately. About this time of the year our cows are pregnant and we want them to wean so that their bodies do not have to care for the unborn, provide milk for the last calf, and deal with the cold of winter. The calves are big enough to eat hay and corn, so they no longer need their mother's milk. We put the calves into a pen and leave the moms nearby so that they can rub noses, and see each other. If we were to move them too far apart, the moms would go looking for their young--and there is no knowing how far a cow would go! When they are weaned we will turn them out together again. However, right now they are busy "calling" to each other. Once one cow begins to bellow, the others join in. Sometimes the moms and calves moo until they begin to get hoarse. Mom will walk to the far end of the pasture and then call for junior to join her. From our perspective, it seems as though she should figure the situation out! There are always a few who seem not to understand why junior isn't coming. Mom moooooos; junior mooooooos. Mom mooooooos; junior mooooooos. Sigh.

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All right. I'll admit to it. We don't normally get a Christmas card from our President. They must be sending them out to everyone who worked for his re-election. We were all excited, and we certainly did enjoy opening that Christmas card!

Blessed Advent!

A Calf and a Vet Call

On the farm the chores need to be done twice a day. If we leave home for too long, we need to find someone to do the chores for us. The cattle don't take kindly to being ignored.

This morning my husband went out to do chores and found that one of our show cows had given birth, but was struggling to give birth to the twin. It was not long after that he realized that the second calf had not survived, and if the cow was going to survive that calf was going to need to be pulled.

I was putting my make-up on and rushing around to get to choir practice when he came in to tell me the problems, so I suggested he keep JM at home to help. When we got home from church, we found that they could not do the job and had called the vet.

Sally came. She has the equipment to do the job that we could not do. The second calf had some deformities and would not have survived even if it could have been born in a timely fashion. We are thankful that they both were female and that one calf is on the ground, healthy, nursing and prancing around. (If twins are one male and one female, the female has a 90% chance of not being fertile.)

While the vet was here, we had her check some calves that have been sick. My daughter's calf, Kiss Me, Too, is running a temp of 105 degrees and a number of other calves have had runny noses and are obviously sick with something. Pneumonia is going around so we got some medicine for them--another $170 added to the bill.

And while she was here, I had her check my mama kitty to see if she was pregnant. I'm sure I felt little bodies inside her a while ago, but she either deceived me or she lost them. No kittens this winter, I'd guess. I'm glad because I really did not want to take care of newborn kittens as we head into the coldest part of winter. Usually cats do not give birth this time of the year around here. (Sorry Donna; no new kitties for your little girl!)

Another busy day on the farm.

Today I plan to stop at my mom's with a Christmas wreath and to wish her a happy birthday! Then my daughter and I will go shopping in the "big" city. I cannot face the crowds this time of the year on weekends, so she will scrunch school into the afternoon after we get home. The boys will stay home with dad and get as much school done as they can without me.

I think we will do school for two more weeks and then break for the holidays. What about you?

Blessings!

Soap Making

Yesterday I made soap. I took tallow, cocoa butter, and olive oil and heated it up to about 100 degrees. In another container I mixed water and lye together and let it cool to about 100 degrees. Then I stirred the lye water into the fats and stirred and stirred and stirred until I could see little lines left on the surface, poured it into a plastic box with a lid, and wrapped it in a big blanket. I set it in the room with the wood stove so that it would cool down slowly (soap that "catches cold" doesn't set up). Now I will wait a couple of days before I turn it out to dry on a needlepoint screen. As soon as it is firm enough, I will grate it and then hand mill it into specialty bars for Christmas. Fun!

In the past I have made lettuce soap, soap with apricots, cinnamon, coffee, strawberries, lavender and Balsam of Peru--oh, I'd have to check my list of what I've done to be able to remember them all. I really like the soap that has French clay added to it for a facial soap. Soap making is fun, but it always takes a larger part of the day than I think it should!

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I was disappointed. Kim was the only one who volunteered to describe herself as a nut. Thank you Kim! I have decided that perhaps you do not know what is involved in this. So here are some symptoms:

You slowly approach your children with a long, sad face and say in a small voice, "I need a hug!" They sigh and reach their arms around you, and you say, "Thank you; I needed that!"

You hide behind a door when you hear your children coming and then jump out and say, "Boo," in order to get back at them for all the times they've done it to you.

You add green food coloring to the milk on St. Patrick's Day.

When the children ask to make a s'more in the microwave, you say, "Yes, as long as you make one for me," and you say this to all three of them.

You sit in front of the computer laughing hilariously and your children ask why you are laughing. You read it to them, and your children ask, "So? What is funny about it?"

Does this get your creative mental juices flowing? Can you see that you, too, do these nutty things that make your children roll their eyes and wonder why moms are so fruity? (If you don't, you should. Adopt a name of a nut and begin doing so today. It is part of the joy of living!)

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Today is Sunday, the second Sunday in Advent. Perhaps today I will get the Advent wreath out since I did not do so last Sunday. I need to go shopping in the "big" city sometime this week for Christmas supplies and clothing for my daughter's up-coming trip. I should begin some baking, too, if I am going to have a Christmas open house. Would you like to come?

Today, however, will be a day of rest. I will just enjoy my Sunday, go to worship at my little country church, and relax. I think the skies are going to be clear and the air crisp. There is something special about these late fall days. In a couple of weeks the first days of winter will be upon us. I love winter!

Blessings!

I am a Nut

And of course, since I have allergies, I am a ca-shew.

I once told Donna B. that she is a chestnut--the kind of nut you want to invite to your hearth. And what is Kim? Or Dy? or Linda?...or anyone else who comes to my board. Are you nuts? What kind?

(My dh just told me after reading this that I should have gone to bed an hour ago...)
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I've had a great time watching my site meter on my blog and my Web site. They keep track of all sorts of fun data. I can tell how many people have been in to visit my blog each day; it lets me know how long they stayed, and if they came from someone else's website--so if you click on someone else's link, it can tell me where you were before coming here! The most interesting part is the little world map that tells me that people from all over the globe have been to visit! It tells me what time zone people are from. Now I am not a competent computer person, so I have no idea how they figure all of this. I do know that the time zone that passes somewhere around the Philippines comes up, and another near Bangladesh. One passes through the center of Africa/Europe and sometimes through Great Britain. Alaska is represented as well as a time zone that seems to go through nothing but the northern tip of western Siberia--perhaps New Zealand or some islands? It looks as though I've had visitors from the far eastern coast of Canada, and all parts of the United States.

Since I know a number of people in all of these parts of the globe, I cannot begin to guess who is logging on, but I am certainly glad that you come to visit. Any time you want to drop a line, just click on "comments" below the entry; click on "post a comment" and then "publish a comment" after writing in your message.

(I love mail :-).

I think I'll start thinking about Christmas presents. None of my children have given me a wish list this year. We are going to buy the family a DVD player. How is that for a start? I know my boys want an ax for camping in the woods. I found a pair of earrings my daughter liked. So I guess I have finally started my shopping!

Have a wonderful weekend!