My Field of Dreams

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 3^rd 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!  

March Madness

Dearest Friend ~

Greetings in His holy name ~ our Lord and Savior ~ Jesus Christ!  May we both feel His presence at this time.

What a crazy, up and down (mostly down) winter this has been!  A couple warm (over 32 degrees) days and then back to bitter cold.  It feels long, and I’m anxious to get on with spring.  Especially now that the Calendar says it to be so.

I said to hubby Russ a couple days ago that I can’t believe I made it 59+ years without drinking coffee.  This past autumn during deer season, upon arriving back at the cabin chilled to the bone covered in a winter snowy/sleet mix, I “bucked” up and poured myself a cup of coffee from the coffee pot atop the woodstove.  It was the first time for me, after all these years.  Even then, I laced it with French Vanilla creamer, and a couple shakes of organic sugar, given to me by my Amish friend.  Now if I can just go to drinking it black, I’ll have it licked.

The animals on our “40” are starting to move about.  A white ermine made an appearance in our working Mill the other day, rooting around a new nest of bunnies.  His rooting days are now over, keeping the bunnies safe, for now.  A fat red squirrel, the fattest I’ve ever seen, is hanging out at our feeders by our cabin window.  He dances about, over the wild turkey feeding below, as he raids the treats.  We have to be careful when we take our two big sled dogs outside, as there is always someone visiting the feeder, where our wolfy-dog, Mordecai, is temporarily tethered.  Rabbits, squirrels, wild turkeys, and our chickens are there at any time.  (Chickadees still come, and flit about Mordecai’s head.)  I didn’t think anything when I saw a chicken exit the dog house right outside our door, until one of the sled dogs emerged with an egg, on two occasions! 

Spring feels good.  The turnaround on our taxes (computed on paper/sent by snail mail) was fast.  It always feels good to be able to “catch up” on things, if needed, with any extra funds.  Five new collars were ordered for the dogs.  Spiffy ones from dogbooties.com.  Extra padded with neoprene, making them nice and comfy for the big lugs.  Russ shook his head when I said I ordered a “hot pink” for our dog, Skunk.  And a lime green for Knik.  And a purple for Malakai…and so it goes.  “Why not just plain green?” he muttered.  What can I say?  I was feeling “spring fever”.

I also splurged on a couple books from Amazon, one is about a couple from Ohio heading to Alaska to homestead.  Another about a twelve-year old who was captured by Indians (true story) and lived out her life in the Seneca tribe.  I love all things “woodsy”. 

Another splurge was a new head light.  It’s been years since we had a good one.  It will leave me more hands free when I head to the dog yard in the middle of the night~!

And the last splurge was…wait for it…a Crow Call.  I’m more excited about this, than anything.  Our crow population plays a vital role on our farm.  One main role is in warning our chickens of danger from above.  We have lost more chickens to hawks/juvenile Bald Eagles than any other predator in the last year or so.  Also, I can tell what is going on at any given time, based on their reports.  They are smart birds – and I love watching their antics.  Just the way they “stroll” brings a smile.  Their little ones stay with them up to 2 years, learning the ways.  I hope I can “talk” with them more, once I learn the proper skill of the call.  I still need to get a coyote call.  I gave my call to Ryan Redington (famous Iditarod dog musher) when he visited from Alaska five years ago and haven’t replaced it yet.  Ryan was so taken with it, I told him to take it back to AK with him.

Yesterday was back to being winter around here, after having a couple warm days earlier in the week.  I was getting antsy, (bushy, as they say in the arctic regions) feeling the tiny cabin close in around me.  Thus, I headed out for a walk as the sun was slipping down the western sky.  We had a big “dinner” at noon, so our eats at night were to be freshly made garlic/pepper jerky (made with our pork, by a friend of ours, oh so good) sharp cheddar cheese and crackers.  Simple, but tasty and good, and surprisingly filling.  As I walked down our snowy drive, towards the woods on the back of our 40, I smiled watching Zip and Skunk fly by, racing to the next smell or tracks that lured them up over the snow banks onto the snow that held their weight for several steps.  Earlier in the week, Skunk had been hooked into a dog team for a first-time ride for my golfer-son’s girlfriend.  She, being an accomplished Olympic bicycle rider/racer, enjoyed the thrill with a four-dog team on the fast track icy drive.  Only two days later, snow had come again, making the walk feel like more labor intensive, sinking in the snow.  In addition, the snow banks that lined the drive were chest and/or neck high.  Winter is still very much here for us in northern lower Michigan.

While on my walk in the setting sun, I stopped several times and looked about the fields and woods, which held complete silence.  There is something about being in the cold, in the quiet, that brings on the flow of tears.  Tears of gratitude.  Of praise for His glory.  God speaks to me in that still small voice.  As I stood and marveled at the beauty of the night coming on, the warmth of the day was reduced by each increment of the setting sun.  Oh how I treasure this simple land that holds so much beauty.  My heart aches for those folks who are so “plugged” in to the fast-paced life, that they never take the time to see simple beauty.  It can be something as simple as planting a single tomato plant on a patio deck.  Washing your dishes by hand, instead of using a machine.  (We are 3 weeks without water, and counting.)  Baking your own bread.  The list is endless.  The goal is to be connected to what you are doing.  And knowing whatever you do, you do with the goal of giving the glory to God.  For it is all for Him, and by Him.  I can’t imagine being without Him as the center of my life.  Our Lord and Savior, Jesus.  For He is coming soon.  And we are told to be ready.  And trust in His word. 

While pondering about Jesus coming, as I do daily, I thought about hubby Russ, and the trust he placed in one of our horses.  Our very first horse was a mess.  Albeit small, he took hours of a gentle hand just to get him ready to ride.  Once saddled and slowly worked, it took years to trust him.  Although I liked “Buck”, he never liked me.  Even as I was offering him a treat, he pinned his ears back, telling me he might strike and injure me without guilt.  One day, after realizing this wasn’t getting better, I worked him in the round pen, and won his respect.  After that, we were complete – the trust was there.  His trust began to work in other ways too.  Russ could ride him, without a bridle or saddle – trusting him to keep him safe. 

Trusting in the Lord is so much more.  We are told to “…trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”  (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Sometimes it is hard, to be patient for the Lord’s leading.  Just this week, in our small “Wee House Worship” held at our cabin, our leader John told me that if all I do is “rest and abide” in Him, that is good enough.  I waved away tears at that statement.  Why does it feel that I should do more?  Where is this sense of urgency coming from?  I literally weep, once I am tucked deep down in my sleeping bag at night, for those who have heard the Word and have “put it off”, or haven’t taken His word seriously.  This is serious.  It’s the difference between heaven and hell for eternity.  Truthfully, the enemy has done a fine job of distracting folks.  Computers, March Madness sports brackets, Facebook, Twitter, the list goes on and on.  If you feel moved to come closer to Him, just cry out to Jesus.  He will find you, as the Shepherd finds his sheep.  Start a relationship with Him and pick up a Bible.  If you only read John 3:15 “…that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life…” that’s fine.  Start with baby steps.  Trust in Him.  The rest will follow.  The Holy Spirit will be there to assist.  But start with reaching out.  It’s time.  Don’t wait, your life depends on it.

Until next time, dear friend. 

The trees are tapped, the feeders are full and life abounds here on our little patch of paradise, albeit snow covered for many weeks to come.

Love and prayers,

Sherry

First Day of Spring

Today is the first day of spring.  

So hard to believe, with the temps being in the 80's this past week...

I'm not one to enjoy the heat, but I'm faring well.

My mind is on getting ready for summer.  

And the next season of livestock.

And sheep.

And our upcoming CCW {click here...  (Carry A Concealed Weapon) }

class with brother,

Mike Slomkowski.

Hope to see you there...

And more horse training...

And trips to visit the Amish.

Their auctions...

And their way of life.

So many adventures await.

And Zip and I are ready to explore.

AND, 

enjoy the quiet pace that only summer can bring.

Blessings to everyone, as you get ready for the next season of your life.

Until tomorrow, dear friends.  God willing...

Sherry

Wringer Wash Day

It's back...

The time of year that clothes can be done in open air.

I love using my wringer washer.

A gift from my good friend, Ellen.

One I treasure.

I love watching it, hearing it, and being part of the process.

From start to finish.

Topping it off with fresh dried clothes on the line, 

suspended by wooden clothespins. 

(Today I did two loads.)

One of summer's many sweet gifts.

Until tomorrow, God willing.



The Rite of Spring

It's finally time.

Today, we begin to fire up the sap pan for our Maple Syrup production.

Stay tuned. 

We will have 4 fires going...sap, smokehouse, Wee House and main cabin. 

Until tomorrow, God willing.



Spring Sledding ~ Dog, that is...

Guess who went dogsledding today?

Me and my furry friends.

None of us could wipe that smile off our face...

Until tomorrow, enjoying the spring snow, God willing.



All Things New

As I dream of warm spring breezes, my mind is carried to images of Spring.

Whether they are on "our 40" or at our friend's farm, they warm my heart. 

Last spring, we headed over to the farm where our big Raz was born,
to see the new arrivals.

Baby Girl, mother of Raz, had a new little colt, born within the last day.

A second colt also adorned the farm, born within hours of the first.

It's hard to believe our big guy Raz, was once that small...

But he was...

Spring ~ a time for all things new.

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ,

he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"

2 Corinthians 5:17

Are you a new creature in Christ?  You can be...

John 3:16



Dreaming of Spring

As the snow ushers in a single digit night, my thoughts turn to spring.

And the growth that arrives with the season.

I can't wait...it will be my first year home, on our "40", day in ~ day out.

But until then, I'll enjoy the tail end of winter.

Today it was time in the dog yard, baking chocolate chip cookies, and reading The Word.

And the daily chores...

Thank you Lord, for all your blessings. 

For us, and for those who read this journal of our life.

Until tomorrow, as always, God willing.