Blessing

This time of year is when we are reminded to be thankful. I've been counting my blessings daily for a long time. My family is my biggest blessing.

The past few years we've made many changes. Always trying to change for the better....sometimes realizing what we had/or what we were doing was fine just the way it was. My kiddos are all growing and changing, becoming their own individuals. Somedays I wish that they were all still young and things were simpler. There are days that I have to remind myself of the way I was growing up, and try to understand the teenage mind all over again. It was hard enough trying to figure it out first hand.

I am very blessed though, troubles and all. I have a home that fits my family, food to feed my family, a woodstove that keeps us warm, as well as backup oil. I have been blessed with my farm (that is growing) a new community, a new church, with great people...that I am fortunate to call friends.

I am blessed to be in Alaska, a place that I had always dreamed of. I can look out any window and see the birch trees covered in snow. I can see prints from where the moose family (our neighbors) have trotted through the yard....taking a short cut to somewhere. I see the magpies in the trees. On really cold days I look outside and see it "glittering"...where the moisture in the air freezes and it looks like glitter falling. It is one of the most beautiful things...cold but beautiful. I can watch the sun peek through the tree branches and light up the yard, or the sun turn the sky orange at night over the tree line. It is an amazing place, and I'm very blessed to call it home.

I look out the back and I see the horses with their winter coats grazing on their hay. I see the sheep with the snow on their backs laying in the corner like it is 90 degrees outside. I look over at our little chicken coop, and know they are all tucked in...they refuse to come outside.

My farm is becoming the farm that I dream of...and I know that the only way it has become so, other than hard work, is through being blessed abundantly. Yes it has taken work, and a lot of learning...and will still take that, just as raising my children, having a succesful marriage, or anything else worth having takes.

My dreams become my goals. They change, and multiply...especially on cold days. I get funny looks...but I know that I am blessed. Anything that comes my way will be tackled in time....just like the things around here already. I'm learning I can't do it all...and there is a lot that needs to be done. I'm learning though and it will get me there eventually. Thank God for books, internet, friends, and those who have the experience to teach me. (and that is a big feat)

So don't just be thankful for.... this year....count your blessings regularly....it makes a difference in how you see things that come your way.

My little farm to be

We have the first snow on the ground! That is a good and bad thing. I've still got a lot of things that we need to get finished before it gets way too cold. We have been able to get a lot done though. I'm thankful that the white stuff makes the gray days a bit brighter.

I haven't really kept up with the farm side of my blog, it seems to have taken a turn for the crafting side. It seems I've hit a run of things becoming ordinary.

So here is a few of my thoughts of what has come to be this year. I am loving the fact that my woodstove has kept us warm for 2 weeks while we waited for oil to be delivered. I have a new goal for the winter and that is to use as little oil as possible. I would really like this tank to be the only one we use for an entire year....if not forever. I love the idea of being able to use a renewable source for heat...even if people believe me to be backwards for burning wood. So if I'm going backwards then I want to really head that way and eventually get a second stove upstairs. I've seen one that I would love to have that is compact, and has an oven in it, as well as 2 burners on the top of the stove. I've even picked out a place for it to sit...and no for those I've joked with it isn't in front of the window.

We have worked a bit on the chicken coop. They have been free ranging all summer, and they don't seem to be bothered by the small amount of snow that we have now. I know that soon they won't budge from their coop. I've been able to recycle old things from around the farm to improve their coop for them. Maybe they will be a bit more comfy this winter. They didn't have many places to perch so I took an old broken ladder and placed in there (we won't be standing on it anymore)now they have more room to get off of the floor.

The brooding house has become the rabbit house for the winter. The outdoor hutch is nice over the summer, they have more fresh air and so on, but I'm not so sure about them being out there over the Alaska winter. That and trying to figure out how to keep their water from freezing.

The horses barn is still a work in progress. We've managed to get the wood to frame the outside wall and to make the stalls....now we just have to get it up. That will have to be this weekend before winter is really here. I would like to figure out something to put over the front of the stalls as an added wind block. I've seen the plastic used which looks like window blinds and am thinking of looking into that.

The sheep are still doing great. I still shake my head because it is hard for me to believe that I am actually becoming the farmer. We have our own turkey for Thanksgiving this year. We have our own eggs for breakfast. Eventually we will be wearing hats, scarves, slippers and who knows what from our own sheep and rabbits.

As for the house itself we have a lot of work inside to do as well. We put a hole in the wall downstairs so that the heat would be able to circulate other than the family room. That is all we have done for any improvements. I still want to change the kitchen and take out my pantry, but that will have to wait. I really would like to get the carpet out of here.

It's seems that I am always dreaming. I think that it would be better if I started planning and setting goals. At least then I would be able to see progress being made and goals being reached, rather than just dreaming about things.