Friday, February 13, 2015

Little Luxuries of Winter



Somehow, in the heart of winter, 
our "January thaw" has lingered on for weeks and weeks, 
an unheard of predicament for North Idaho...the newspaper just reported  that never
 in the historical records has the snowfall here been so low, or the typical "thaw" lasted so long.
While it is lovely out, agrarian folks like us are concerned about the "snow pack" in the mountains that provides us with plenty of water all summer- 
which keeps the landscape a lovely green right into fall, 
and more importantly, minimizes the danger of forest fire.

But, that said, we concur with "Pa" 
(from the Little House series, which we are currently rereading aloud) 
"There is no great loss without some small gain."
These small gains are the blessings of today, 
our little luxuries of winter, such as it is.


 The wood pile blessing:  Our initial 10 cord is holding up well.  This, by the way, is the shed we built last summer, of which, I never did post the finished pictures of, till now.




Egg production blessing:  Ben's hens are so happy with the weather, they have not sloughed off in their laying at all thus far.  He is in business now; selling eggs, purchasing the feed, keeping records daily.  He is very proud of a regular dozen a day.




Blessings In The Dairy:  These two are due to kid in a few weeks.  If the mild weather holds, that will be beneficial for the tiny newborns, giving them a little easier start in life.  Meanwhile, the does are looking especially well and plump.



Blessings For The Children:  They are fully appreciating sunshine and warm temperatures each afternoon as they ramble off to play in the woods.  Yesterday their play was near the creek-









 Today, they are homesteaders-
 




For me, the soothing continuity of our daily routine, 
curling up by the fire with a fragrant cup of tea,  
the sun shining through the windows,
 these are a few of the blessings I am counting today,

 my little luxuries of winter.


What are yours?




4 comments:

  1. We are thankful for our wood stove on this super, unusually cold winter weekend! It is in our basement and helps keep our floors and rooms warm! I am thankful for our hens and their eggs, freshly mopped wood floors with Peppermint EO added!

    A quiet Saturday overall, but a wonderful husband coming home from work right now.

    Happy Valentine's to you and all your precious ones!

    Deanna

    ReplyDelete
  2. I adore reading your blog. It brings peace a peace. Thank you for showing us younger gals a Godly example to follow.
    We are enjoying the warmer weather also! We aren't hybernating as much as a normal winter. Being able to get out and enjoy the sun has been a blessing!:)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Greetings from Maine!

    Dear Julianne,
    I'm not sure how I stumbled across your blog...but what a blessing it has been to read! Even though we live far away...we share so many things...especially our love for our Saviour. We had a lovely time last evening looking through some of your older posts...and had a question for you...we were wondering what you used for a roof on your wood shed. We are planning to build something similar this summer...but have been tossing around the "best" roof for our winters. Would love to know how this has worked out for ya'll!

    Have a blessed week!
    Laura

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dear Laura,
    We had a friend mill us some 18 foot 1x6 boards, then we put used roofing metal over that. Good luck with your shed!

    ReplyDelete

Your comments and input are very much appreciate
- Blessings!
Julianne

Living Counter Cultural: Femininity

Popular culture has a decidedly feminist bent.  Recent movies, tv shows and prominent women  are displaying heroins as   to...