Dear Friends –
Greetings to you, in His precious name!
The weeks are flying by, but few things have changed.
We are still sans water. It was nearly five weeks ago when I commented
to hubby Russ that the constant pencil-thin drip/drip/drip was certainly along
the lines of water torture. However,
that next morning at 3:30 a.m., when our temps hit lower than –30, the dripping
stopped. No more water torture. No more…water. But spring is on the horizon. We have had some warmer days, although our
wood stove is firing hot on this sunny-but-freezing day. As I type this, hubby Russ is traveling to
get our daily water. I have our noon
dinner in the Crock Pot – BBQ infused pulled pork (homegrown) with
garlic/parmesan celery noodles. A yummy
combo!
Earlier in the week, we experienced a “teaser” of what is to
come. It hit the 50 degree mark. I actually took advantage of the beautiful
day we had, and left the county. It was
about the 3rd time since early December that I traveled over our
county line for any reason. I headed to
my treasured Amish friend’s for an afternoon of friendship, much-needed talk,
and warm fellowship with her family, including her adorable grandchildren. Her husband teased me about our “running
water”, saying we have to RUN to get it.
So true~! We have to travel about
7 miles, and back, thanks to our dear friends who share their well water. At any rate, it was good to see my Plain
friend, and make plans for spring. I
will be returning to their home for Easter – attending church and sharing in
their dinner – Lord willing. I
can’t imagine such an Easter. I will be
humbled, to be certain. Russ, although
encouraged to attend, will remain at home, tending to the critters.
There are changes on the horizon for us. These plans are based on Scripture. His Word. These plans have been talked about, prayed
about, wept over and are now being put into place. I am moving forward to enter my “field of
dreams”. A move closer to a Plain
life. I feel like James Earl Jones
in the movie, Field of Dreams, beaming that huge smile of his, as he
tentatively sticks his arm in the cornfield.
After doing it several times, he shrugs, lifts his eyebrows and walks
in, a smile planted on his face. I, too,
am “sticking my arm in”, beaming as I do so.
I’ve been waiting for the last year for the Lord to lead me. I believe all the changes up to now have been
set in place for such an event. (The changes actually began nearly 30 years ago.) Hubby
Russ is my biggest encourager. He feels
I need to act. To see. To experience. After much debate and prayer, I decided I
will just move forward, and see if the Lord throws up barriers, or opens
doors. So far, so good. I’ll explain more later…as I/we move forward.
Yesterday morning, in an attempt to feed my husband, and to get
him inside to hear my plans for the day, I made raspberry pancakes. (Russ rarely enters the cabin, once he leaves
in the morning for chores. Many times,
usually in a snowstorm, I must venture out and find him on the property to deliver a message, or request assistance.) So the pancakes were a draw. We smothered them with the fresh Maple syrup he had put
up just the day before, while I was visiting my Amish friends. Tasty indeed. The raspberries were from my Amish stomping
grounds, and brought good memories of retrieving them last summer. Sap run is slow this year, so every drop is
precious. Trees are still tapped,
waiting for a second “go round”.
Speaking of getting hubby into the cabin – we have laughed
about his uncanny ability to KNOW when the first batch of my cookies are coming
out of our little oven. I make
oatmeal/chocolate chip cookies whenever the cookie tin is low, so it is a usual
event for us, every few days. Russ
instinctively knows when to come in, even if I delay or speed up! I then lose my entire first batch, or most of
it! I always make sure there is fresh
coffee sitting on the woodstove, to go with the cookies. That makes the day!
We still have our big hound of a sled dog inside the cabin,
in a large crate, along with the other three. His travel to his new
home in Kentucky is delayed another month, so he remains for now. As I type this, he is enjoying the heat of
the woodstove. He doesn’t mind the
delay, as long as he remains toasty through our winter/spring conversion.
Outside the cabin, I see thick-furred baby bunnies sunning
themselves along the side of the feed shed – their favorite spot to be. Older rabbits are enjoying the crusty, albeit
rotten, snow as it melts to expose new sources of tasty treats such as sticks
and wood. We still have several feet of
snow to melt before grass comes into play.
One day last week, mid morning mind you, hubby Russ
walked out back (armed as usual) to stare face-to-face with a huge coyote. This big boy (as big as any of our sled dogs)
was hootin’ and hollerin’ and yippin’ up a storm. After staring at each other, the coyote
skirted the ridge along the dog yard area and along the back of our
property. No wonder our resident wild
turkey stayed treed until almost noon!
Later in the day, while tapping trees, Russ saw where the coyote doubled back
and remained behind our cabin. I was
glad when my new Cree 1600 headlamp arrived in the mail, as we have a nightly
visitor to the dogs, and I wanted the lumens to see properly from the
cabin. Sneaky boy as he is, I can never
get a view of him, although we know he is out there.
Although we loved our horses, I am so glad we are now “horse
free”. It is a freeing feeling, knowing
you don’t have to buckle down and spend the summer finding hay to store for the
next year. Not only costly, but time consuming. But a good horse is Godsend at times. Like the other day while I was in my Amish
friend’s home…let me explain. Upon
saying goodbye to an Amish family who had been visiting, I looked out my
friend’s living room window to watch them leave. I gasped and put my hand to my mouth as
two-year old “A” climbed up onto the wagon, and grabbed the reins. The rest of the family was busy loading items
on the wagon, and other children were bustling around. Little “A” raised his little arms with vigor
and swatted the horse with the reins. I
was aghast! However, the horse merely turned
his head in a s..l..o..w.. manner and I could almost read his mind…oh, it’s
only the boy. GOOD HORSE! This continued on for a minute or two, reins
hitting rump, before 4-year old “R” took the reins from her little brother and
wrapped them around the wagon.
Whew!
I have so much to write, dear friend. I’ll check in soon, and update about our life
on our 40 acres. So much excitement now
that it is spring!
Until next time, Lord willing,
Sherry
P.S. Out of the 24
chicks that our hen, Israel, hatched last year, 9 ended up being roosters. I wish you were closer, as they are too
beautiful to “put in jars”. Anyone need
a rooster? $5 a bird!
P.S.S. Speaking of birds...wait until I tell you about my new crow call (Primos) and what excitement it brought!! First, I scared our chickens half to death when I "crowed" outside our cabin door, not to mention it made the crows scatter. But later in the afternoon, when I went to the woods...oh what an adventure! Next time, I'll share!
