Dropping off some sunshine

Last week we got a big snowstorm, which isn’t uncommon during early spring here. The weather was snowy and wet and just yuck.

One of our members stopped by. “I brought you some sunshine on this gray day.”

It was two gallons of ice cream. One was orange vanilla swirl.

This member doesn’t know how much my family loves ice cream, he just drops it off occasionally. Sometimes it’s the fancy stuff with tons of mixins. Sometimes it’s homemade vanilla style and toppings. But this time it was sunshine.

What an encouragement.

Then today at church one man brought in a cooler of something for us.

Moose. Ground moose.

I’ve been wanting to try moose since we got here and we just haven’t had a chance to get any yet.

Now there are 3 pounds’ worth of ground moose burger in my fridge.

I can’t wait.

I’m back!

Floral Watercolor Digital Planner
2021 Digital Planner, Peach Floral

Last year, since everything was so upended due to Covid for 2020, I purchased a digital planner file for 2021 for my iPad. It was only a few dollars, and I thought it was better to try this file instead of spending $70 on a paper planner like I had the past few years. My logic was that if I used it and hated it, I wouldn’t be out much money.

I discovered that I LOVE digital planners. I have Goodnotes installed on my iPad, my phone, and my Mac computer, so I can access my planner in all three places! Even when I’m on the go I can still pull up my planner even if I don’t bring my iPad with me.

But then I discovered that wasn’t good enough. The file I bought was nice enough, but it got slow (quite possibly from all the stickers I was putting in the planner). But then I got to thinking…..it couldn’t be THAT hard to make them, could it?

I had made a few in the past. For a while I sold the Household Management Notebooks as an edit-able .pdf file people could type into and then print, so I took that concept and went digital.

Now I’m obsessed with adding more and more and more to these planners. It’s fun, and nice to see what options can be added to them.

Peach Floral 2021 Digital Planner

I’m still alive

Funny how some seasons of life seem so incredibly boring and others seem so incredibly busy.

Christmas is only a month away and the holiday rush has officially hit for the business. It’s a good thing. While it’s busy, this is the time of year that we try to put money back to live on during the slower season.

It’s not crazy yet though, and orders are still coming in at a manageable pace. That’s a good thing with church.

Church has been interesting. We still live stream services. We have several shut-in members, so this is available for those with internet. It’s also available for those who are staying home due to caution with the pandemic.

It’s been interesting to watch church attendance with the various lockdowns and precautions that are mandated. Some members are determined to be faithful. Some members feel the need to remain cautious. We’ve had some new families come, which has been refreshing. One family has been coming to our church, because their church is in Canada and the border is closed. We’ve loved having them with us, and we’ll miss them when the border reopens.

Over the summer, we put together packets of two tracts, a booklet of John and Romans, and a little slip with our service times. We hung these on all the homes in our town. Lord willing more people will come as a result.

Stephen and Samuel worked on a local farm for potato harvest. It’s great to be able to do something it seems everyone here has done, and it’s been good to get out in the community more as well.

I’ve had some pain in my left hand so saw the doctor. It’s tendonitis and I’m to avoid playing the piano so much. That has been difficult, but I definitely feel the effects if I play much.

Anna and Esther are both progressing beautifully on the piano, and Caleb is learning the guitar. Luke is also beginning piano lessons. Joy wants to start lessons too, so I’ll teach her when she’s older…..and somehow, she’s about to turn four.

Time has a way of not slowing down, doesn’t it?

Drumstick says, “Hi”

We were able to get some chickens back in August for a very good price. They were all chicks of varying ages. 10 of them were broilers, and this is Drumstick. He’s the biggest one of the bunch, and should make good eating when he goes to freezer camp.

Just for fun, we named all the ones we’re raising for food. Drumstick, Fricassee, Dumpling, Nugget, BBQ…..

We got some straight run Americaunas and some Buff Orpington pullets. All the Americaunas seem to be females, which makes me very happy. I’m really hoping for blue eggs this time. We’ve raised them many times in the past, and while we’ve gotten green, pink, and brown eggs from them, we’ve not gotten blue. Maybe this time. If my math is correct, we’ll find out around February when they start laying. I have missed having our own eggs so incredibly much.