January 1st, 2022 – HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Weather/Nature

Very mild week with overnight lows in the 60s. Days overcast and in the upper 60s. Rainy today with severe weather expected again this evening that is supposed to bring in very cold temps and maybe even some snow tomorrow afternoon. We’re all hoping to wake up Monday the 3rd to a little snow for Riley’s 15th birthday.

Big nature report this week…

Riley was alone down at the creek one day and our resident otters came to check her out. We know they are there, but they are somewhat reclusive. Do you hear them chattering to each other?

On another evening, Quinn and I were talking on the porch and heard an animal sound that was new to us. Our best guess is red foxes calling to each other. Not sure how good the audio will be in this video:

Down On The Farm

This week we started organizing the barn and thinking about how we want to use the interior space for animals. We’ve also begun preparation for receiving our orchard trees and plants next month, but more on this in a couple weeks.

Our family bakes and eats a lot of great bread (thanks to Samantha!), so we decided to invest in a commercial grade mixer to step up our game from the regular home-sized KitchenAid mixer we’ve always used. I took the matter into my own hands and did some shopping online. What came to us was admittedly a little more than I bargained for. It required a freight truck’s liftgate service, weighted 220lb and was bolted to a wooden pallet. That’s right, a 20qt commercial mixer.

Best Thing We Ate

Definitely those Swedish meatballs you see cooling on the counter, which were made, of course, as a triple batch in the mixer.

From Family Worship

In the course of reading through Philippians this week, we spent a couple of evenings in Philippians chapter 2 where the Apostle Paul, inspired by God, exhorts us to not merely look out for our own interests, but also for the interests of others. We talked about the countless opportunities each day to consider one another as more important than ourselves. The “me first” attitude doesn’t need to be taught, but by the grace of God we can serve and bless others from a sincere and joyful heart. And who other than Christ Himself is our supreme example in this? Laying aside His heavenly bliss, he entered the mire of our world, not thinking of Himself, but of those He came to serve and to save.

Other Happenings

Projects continue inside the house. I got the basic shelving built in our master closet, and the girls helped me build a book case to go next to Erica’s kitchen desk.

And some belated Christmas pictures!