A Blustery Day

I’ve begun collecting eggs to put into the incubator once again. I plan to collect them for a week to 10 days and then put what I have in and see how they do. I figure the chicks will be big enough to put out in the coop by the end of March. The roosters are crowing like old pros now. I intended to process a bunch them during the 2 warm days we had last week, but one day was extremely windy and the other was filled with work and necessary errands. I’m hoping to have a few warm days in January to take care of that business. My sister Melissa wants to watch and help, so I hope we can work it out. As of now, with the price of feed, they are eating me out of house and home.

The neighbor closest to us, about ¾ mile away, brought up a Christmas gift basket last night. I was so blown away by their generosity. I had taken eggs over to them this fall and occasional loaves of home made focaccia bread, but really hardly know much about them. I did Google his name a month or two after we moved in and found out he invented something to better process fossil fuel and then sold his business to the tune of 80 million, so I guess he can afford to be generous, I just didn’t expect it. I feel a bit awkward, I was going to take over some home baked cookies, but after the lovely gift basket they showered us with, cookies seem a little trite. The gift basket included a nice 9 lb spiral cut honey ham, some nuts, cheese ball, crackers, fancy imported chocolates and a box of assorted tea. I hadn’t picked up a ham yet, but I can tell you, it wasn’t going to be anything like that. What a blessing! Our hunter friend Ben told me Sunday he has a goose for us as well. Anymore, it seems every time I turn around God is pouring out an unexpected blessing; and like just God it is bigger and better than I would have thought of for myself.

While here, they asked if we have seen the lions much. Of course Steve & I have yet to see them. Turns out just last week he was checking on his horses and came upon a fresh lion kill at the spring just to the north east of our place. There were 2 adults and 2 of this years cubs feeding on a deer just 200 feet from our house. He said one charged him and he backed off. They normally are loners and they normally don’t charge adults so not sure what was up with that. Just 2 weeks ago the neighbor on the other side of us had them attack and kill two of their pets. I guess it’s good that we haven’t seen them.

It turned a bit colder today, starting out at 42 this morning and ending up at about 22 as I sit here typing. The winds were howling further up the mountain, although we did get a bit of a blast here at the house as well, with winds gusting to about 40 mph. It started snowing at about 11 a.m., just small flurries swirling around in the wind. As the day wore on, the flakes began to grow in size and intensity till it finally decided to stop around 4 this afternoon. For all the snow, not much really stuck; we probably have about an inch on the ground. I think it was thanks to the earlier warm temperatures.

As I looked out around the time it started to snow and noticed a small herd of elk cows moving across the meadow. I counted about 30. The grazed all day and by dark had begun to work their way up the mountain to find a safe spot to bed down for the night. I hope to see them work their way back down in to the meadow in the morning. It would be nice if they would hang out here for the winter. Several weeks ago I saw 11 bull elk cross our land in about the same place.


About 18 of the elk, the rest were further down in the draw, hidden in the trees.

Savoring the Season

Christmas is just around the corner. This year I am relishing every minute of the preparations; cookie baking, tree trimming, carols, gift wrapping, the old Christmas cartoons, and all the rest. I’m not even minding the antsy-ness of the kids too much. Em has been bugging to open a gift early for the last two weeks; so far I’ve just laughed it off, telling her she has to wait. I did tell her that it’s an old German tradition, and one my family used to observe, to open one gift a day early. I think it must have originated with the very smart idea to relieve parents of the incessant bouncing off the walls that goes on in the days leading up to the Christmas celebration. We may keep with tradition and open just one a day early.

I’ve been working on some cards, mostly for the folks at church; sorry to the rest of you, I am pretty bad about getting cards & letters out anymore. At least I can have a little feeling of accomplishment knowing that a few people will actually be getting a card from me before the actual day passes. And, we have a lot of news this year to share, oh well, maybe next year. I put it on my list of goals to accomplish next year. Ya, well don’t hold your breath on that. Anyhow, cards and getting gifts wrapped and delivered to neighbors, teachers and the like, has taken up my time the last couple of days, and I’ve really enjoyed the creative outlet it has provided.

I’ve been contemplating my goals for next year. I have a long list, for sure. The move side-tracked me in some ways and I look forward to a new season and a new opportunity to get back on track in those areas. I can tell you the urgent is not always the important and the important is not always urgent, and yet I tend to get caught up in the urgent. Laundry has to be done now, bills have to be paid now, unpacking this, that or the other, etc. It is easy to set aside the important, the time with the kids, time with God, etc. because it is seldom urgent. That’s something I plan to work on this year.

I’ve spent quite a bit of time over the last two weeks thinking about what direction I want to be going in 2008. It is sort of humbling to me when I take time to assess where I am, where I have come from, and where I want to be. I’m thankful to have what I have and to be where I am in life, and yet there is so much more that know I can be doing and accomplishing or maybe should have done and accomplished by now. But I think to press on and continue to reach toward the mark even when we have fallen short of our ideals is crucial to future success. So I have a list and a plan for this coming year that I hope to knock out. I’ll keep you posted on how that is coming along.


Here are a few of the cards I've made over the last couple of days.










Em's teacher gift. Her teacher has been so great, I was excited to make her gift extra special.