January 29th, 2022

Weather/Nature

I checked the underground storm shelter to see what the conditions might be during this deep cold spell we’ve been in. In November I did the same during some weather that in hindsight was “cool” now that we’ve experienced some real cold. At that time, the temperature in the shelter showed 47 degrees and the humidity was around 70%. This time, the temp showed 42 degrees, with humidity over 80%.

If it didn’t freeze in the cellar during this January cold stretch, I don’t think it ever will. This is great news as we hope to use the shelter as a root cellar next winter after a fall harvest. Essentially, this gives us one giant refrigerator during the winter months.

Down On The Farm

Back in August we placed our order with a local fruit tree nursery and the day finally came to pick up our dormant, bare root trees and plants. We have to wait for a warm-up next week to be able to get them in the ground, but at least we have them.

Raspberry: “Heritage”, 20 plants

Blackberry: “Chester Thornless”, 20 plants

Blueberry: “Tifblue”, 10 plants, “Climax”, 10 plants, 20 plants total

Currant: “Crandall” x1, “Ben Lamand” x1, 2 plants total

Gooseberry: “Captivator” x1, “Sabine” x1, 2 plants total

Pear: “Olton Broussards”, x2, “Turnbull” x1, 3 trees total

Mayhaw: “Big Red” x1, “Heavy” x1, 2 trees total

Sour Cherry: “CVKL #1”, x2 trees

Apple: “Horse” x1, “Paducah” x1, 2 trees total

Best Thing We Ate

For John’s birthday dinner on Thursday night he requested ham, sweet potatoes and broccoli, followed by a chocolate cake.

From Family Worship

We continue to move through our Westminster Confession of Faith and just finished chapter 3 on God’s eternal decree. Essentially, God has ordained whatsoever comes to pass. This explosive truth is everywhere in Scripture, yet it is prone to error and misunderstanding, not due to any deficiency in the truth, but resulting from the limitations of our minds to comprehend. In this chapter we felt that we were looking out over the Grand Canyon with a sense of awe and wonder at the majesty and glory of God. Mystery abounds, and we’re left to reverently worship.

Other Happenings

John turned 5! We all took full advantage of the opportunity on Thursday to let John know how special he is to us. Our family just wasn’t complete until he entered the world, and we can’t express the fullness in our hearts towards this very special son and brother.

Work on our home continues during these winter months when not much outside is happening. We’ll hopefully have everything done with the house by the end of February. This week we worked on baseboards.

Oh yeah, and RILEY is now a DRIVER!!