It's Just Part of the Journey

Morning farm chores were pretty miserable this morning.  The mild and sunny weather that graced us for the Christmas weekend has now allowed a large rain system to move into northwestern Pennsylvania.  They are calling for it's change into snow by evening, but for now it's just a lot of wet.  All this rain we've had recently has really turned this farm into a mucky mess!  Needless to say, the chickens have been 'cooped' up since Saturday, so they didn't much care what was going on outside, they just wanted out.  I can't blame them.  I propped  open the rabbits just a bit to let some air flow in, but that's the best that I could do.  I've always been told that "a wet angora, is a dead angora."  Sounds kind of harsh, but it's true.  All that fiber is great for keeping them warm in the winter, but it would be like trying to sled ride in a soaking wet snow suit.

It's supposed to rain all week...

While my farm chores only took all of 20 minutes, I feel worse for my husband, who is out working at the alpaca farm the next three days.  At least he'll get to spend most of his time in the barns.  All I could think as I was sloshing a fresh bucket of water down to the coop (half of which some how ended up in my boot) was how nice it would be to just have a barn to work in today.  One of these days.

On a 'sunnier' note, we were blessed by a friend who at the last minute offered to stop out and take care of the animals for a couple of days so we could go home for Christmas.  I was extremely thankful for her help.  We may only be three hours from home, but it's still too far to just swing back to the farm to close up the animals after that filling Christmas dinner.  I think sometimes it upsets my mom that I can't come home as much.  It upsets me too.  But becoming a "farmer" is a choice that I am serious about.   It's not just a ephemeral hobby.  I am a determined woman.  I know she understands that, and even looks forward to a day when she can participate in the whole process.

Christmas brought pretty much our whole family together; even those a half a country away.  We had 36 people at my grandparent's house on Sunday!  We chatted, played some music, and ate lots of food.  It was I good time.  But we are home now (as of yesterday evening).  It's sad to see the holiday's end.  If we were home, we'd spend most of the next week's days with family.  Sharing meals.  Chatting about old memories.  I do so look forward to the day when we will be homeward bound.  But for now, I will make the best of my life here.  After all, this is where many of my dreams have begun to come true.  I will never forget that.  Life is a journey.  We glean from our travels.  For me, this is a big part of it.  I have learned skills that I will have for a lifetime.

For now, I will take these (literally) soggy bottoms, soak in a nice hot bath, and reflect on the journey.

Nothing like a beautiful fall day...

It was a gorgeous fall day yesterday!  Just the right temperature, sunny, and bustling with folks either setting up their booths, wandering the collections, or just enjoying all the tasty vittles.    I was so thankful for my dad's help as this was my fist ever festival and it took me a bit to figure out how to get set up.  I think he ran home to get me something three different times!  Good thing they live right down the street. Within a couple hours of organizing, rearranging, and putting the final touches on pricing, I was sitting down to the spinning wheel with the visiting elementary students flocking over to see what I was doing.

Today looks like it is going to be another beautiful day today!  And all the lumberjacking festivities and horse pull start up at 11am!  So we'll be heading back down to start setting up for the day here in a few minutes.  So head on down and enjoy a day of festivities reminiscent of the past.

We got home just as the sun was setting last night. It was the first time I left my chickens all alone and was anxious to make sure everyone was okay. It's not always easy to find someone to 'chicken sit' during the holidays, but I knew the cold weather was going to break, so I didn't have to worry about frozen water buckets in the morning. I stocked them up good with a huge head of lettuce, seed, plenty of water and food, and a nice clean coop the morning before we left to go north for Christmas. I knew they would be fine, but it was still nice to come home. And what a welcoming we had! We arrived to the sound of the coyotes howling off in the distance, the sky was gorgeous shades of pink, orange, blue and purple, and three eggs were waiting in the nest boxes! I was overjoyed! We haven't seen a 'real' egg since Thanksgiving!

One more week of relaxation and then back to the grind. How time flies when you want it to go slow. I think I will force myself to take this week and catch up on some of my crafting. I should be getting a spinning wheel sometime this week, and I can't wait to spin on it! Though I've sure developed some mad drop spindle skills! Perhaps I'll get around to posting some pictures of my creations this week as well. Until then, goodnight from the farm.