The winter fields speak

The days are lengthening. Yet the weather is cold and white. Through the icy window I study the landscape where inches of snow pile in drifts and peaks. A few dark lumps penetrate the field. The sky is gray and wintry.

Does the soil rest well in winter? Does it long for the warm sun, penetrating rains, and new growth as I do? What is it saying? Can it sense the changes in the season? Is it longing for spring? The fields give no expression to discontent. They simply rest...wait....embrace the day. It is me who struggles.

If only.....

If only the weather were warmer. If only the sky was blue and the sun were shining. If only I could start my seedlings. If only I didn't work outside the home or farm. If only my children's schedules fit mine. If only the days were longer. If only I had an organized home. If only I enjoyed grocery shopping. If only the body didn't get old or stiff.

If only...

The "if only's" imprison me from joy. They leave me discouraged, dishevelled, and defeated. A repeating canker that eats away at my heart and my strength. Arg.

Contentment. To be joyfully resting and waiting. To want what I have; not have what I may want.

If only.... it were that easy. A choice, a decision, a willing. But it must start there. It must. It is a choice.

......And then it will be a thread, a pattern, a lifestyle.

"But godliness with contentment is great gain." (1 Timothy 6:6)

Ally's Blog Post

Hello. I live with Mommy, Daddy and my brother. Today my brother's friend is playing over at our house. They are playing computer games, board games, hide-and-seek with me, and other things.

I am a big girl. I am in second grade and I am learning to do subtraction and telling time. I like Christmas and the Christmas tree. It is very beautiful.

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas too! Happy Birthday Jesus!

"Twas three days after Christmas....

'Twas three days after Christmas and all through the house
All the children were stirring as if they had louse
Itchy with boredom; wiggly with sight
How could they survive this week, this day, and this night?

There's mom in a frantic, a frenzy and a fury.
Clean up your room, pick up your clothes,
Wash the laundry, use your new game
And please, please, please, why do I feel so lame?

There's snow in the field and a chill in the air
The wind whips around houses with a cold wintry flare.
How come the Season has ended this way?
How can I help and repair the day's sleigh?

I'd liked to be playing, resting, or reading
But the trappings of Christmas require some weeding
The papers pile high, the boxes as well
Why in the world do I clean with a yell?

But sitting down resting, taking a spell
I practice what I know can ring those Christmas bells
Focus on the King, the Savior, the Child
And then I will find joy in the midst of this wild.

Wintery Reflections

The snow falls quietly. Drifting through the skeletonized branches of resting trees. Slowly settling on fence posts, beehives, roofs, and fields. While inside the colored lights flicker on the Christmas tree, the presents pile in their brilliant colors, and the cacophony of sight, sounds, and smells overtake the underlying reality of disorder, disarray, and disorganization.

I sat in church yesterday marveling at the beauty and wonder of the Season. The sanctuary was decorated in golds, reds, and greens while yellow-white lights glimmered and shone around wreaths and trees decorated with chains of red and gold. Every detail seemed in its perfect place. The music was traditional and memory making. And my heart was warmed and calmed.

Order, beauty, peace and hope.

That is what Jesus brings to all who would come.

But just as snow gently falling can turn to a dangerous howling blowing blizzard, so too can the Season.

Look at the manger. Tired and amazed Mary. Protective and adoring Joseph. And the Baby. He came and changed the world.

May you find order, beauty, peace and hope today from the Savior who became a Baby.

Today's Journey Joy: The Baby

Cleaned through the Fire

Cold and windy. Blustery and gray. Dry crackling leaves. Crunchy remains of trees. Coals warm and red. The dance of the flame. The laughter of those dancing around the heat.

Winter begins.

And so starts the cold. The branches gathered throughout the summer and into the autumn chill are stacked skyscraper-ish and lit with glowing embers of wooden coals. "Snap!" "Pop!" "Crack!" "Whoosh!" sing the flames. And the heat radiates and warms our faces.

In the cold and beginning of winter I am reminded that there is One who always warms us. When my heart is cold and wind tossed the Artist creates a palate of warmth and love. Remember the warmth my friends. Remember the love.

When the cold winds blow in this season of rest remember it is He Who keeps us.

Journey Joy - warmth

Let the shelling begin

This past weekend was a busy one. Tucking the gardens in, burning brush piles, moving soil, grading landscape in preparation for fencing.... and shelling popcorn. My son's friend came over and lent us a helping hand.

They took the dried cobs and twisted them in the manual popcorn de-sheller. Basically just a lot of muscling, twisting wrists, and flying popcorn.... After about 45 minutes (the boys gave up after 5), I had almost ten pounds. It still needs to be sifted of the debris but it it almost ready for packaging. But of course we had to try it to ensure its organaleptic properties. Does it look good? Smell good? Texture? Does it pop well? And most important, does it taste good? "Yes" to all of the above. Wonderful white kernels.... yum.

My daughter decided that she would be the ultimate taste tester. Did the popcorn pass? Definitely. There was not even a kernel left. I guess that's a hit!

Today's Journey Joy - Popped white and delicious corn

Popcorn

It started as a dream. A fantasy if you will. Books were read. Websites browsed. Information gleaned. Could we make our little farm profitable? Could we grow and aid in the nourishment and management of the earth? Could we?

The year started with the planting and preparation of 1200 blueberry plants. Then it was on to the fields. Well.... field. We have only one relatively flat area on our property. The blueberry field took up two of the five acres. So three acres of roughly flat untilled soil awaited us. The field had been in hay / grass for as long as folks around here can remember. Last year the yield was more grass than alfalfa. It would have been time to replant either way.

The spring rains came. And came. And came. More rain than the soil could use. More rain followed by more rain. It rained almost every other day for a couple of months. We are now over 13 inches of rainfall above our average for the year. That's more than one third of our total average. But I digress.

The rain made it very difficult to till the soil and get the crops in. And then the machinery troubles began. Well, only one machine. Our trusty, handy dandy, wonderful John Deere 2210 with the JD 450 rototiller... the machine that we use to till the soil.... the tractor broke. And it wasn't a little break. It broke bad. It would cost more to repair it than the tractor was worth.

Time delay. Tractor hunting and researching. Finally settling on a JD 3720 with a nifty JD 672 rototiller (a full six feet of tilling power!). But we had to wait three weeks. More delay. Spring was fast escaping. Our wonderful neighbors to the rescue. They let me borrow their tractor to till. It was time to plant. Finally.

The popcorn went in last. (I was waiting for the seeds). I measured, marked, and dug for the little seeds. 20 rows. 20 long rows. They came up fast. So did the grass. Which would succeed?

Remember this? I was weeding and weeding in July. Hoping to keep up and ahead of the weeds. Hoping to give the popcorn a fighting chance. I was close to giving up that day. The weeds were so plentiful.


It survived! It thrived. The weeding followed by some grass mulch left the soil between the green stalks clear. They tasseled and grew. And corn developed.

I harvested this past weekend. The stalks were brown, bent and the ears listed toward the earth. The local raccoons and other critters took their share out of the middle. That's to be expected when one doesn't put up the electric fence. But there was plenty for us. I took buckets and buckets of popcorn ears down to the basement for drying. In a few weeks the beautiful hard, but not quite dry, kernels will be stripped off and tested in a pan. Then to packaging and labeling for Christmas presents and spring markets. Hand sown, hand weeded, hand picked and harvested, hand dekernelled (what do you call the process of getting the kernels off the cob?) and hand packaged. Lots of love in these little kernels.

"Pop! Pop! Pop!" I can hardly wait. Perhaps this year we will string popcorn for our Christmas tree. Our popcorn. Sigh.... and Smile.

Today's Journey Joy: a fine harvest of golden kernels