Week 1, 2022

January 8st, 2022

Weather/Nature

The First Snow! We knew it might be a possibility Sunday evening, but we guarded our excitement with a dose of skepticism. Turns out there was no need for doubting…around 9:30p it started snowing big flakes of snow and kept on snowing for 5 hours. In the morning we woke to a little over three inches of snow!

This occasion was made more special by the fact that Monday was Riley’s 15th birthday! You just can’t plan this! She was thrilled to have such a treat on her birthday and we all celebrated the day doing the snow things that us Floridians had only read about, including sledding with friends. (Pictures at the bottom)

The first snow melted but then we were below freezing from 10p Wednesday to 10a Saturday including a night with a low of 6 degrees and a second snow on Thursday of 7.5” inches – what a week! (More pictures at the bottom)

Our wood stove proved itself during this cold snap, keeping the house nice and warm. It is satisfying to know we are warm and cozy, with or without electricity.

Down On The Farm

We’ve been inside a lot this week staying warm, with evenings spent reading and planning for this year’s garden and farm ventures.

On one warmer day, Riley and I started an experiment with propagation. We took several hardwood cuttings from four tree species on our property: Eastern Redbud, Autumn Blaze Maple, Red Maple, and Black Walnut. We dipped them in rooting hormone, planted them in potting soil and used a couple of different ways to keep the cutting in a humid condition. If these cuttings actually root, we’ll potentially have new trees to plant around the property – for free!

Best Thing We Ate

Sourdough English muffins with butter and blueberry jam

From Family Worship

Going into a new year, we are resolved to better understand our Westminster Confession of Faith, the summary of Scripture’s teaching that our church holds to. In the evenings, we are reading the Confession one paragraph at a time and looking up the Scripture references that the authors of the Confession used to defend their statements. Good discussion this first week about the need for God’s revealed word (the Bible) and where the authority of the Bible as God’s Word comes from.

Other Happenings

Pictures from the first snow day/Riley’s birthday…