Showing posts with label
gardening; homesteading; home projects.
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Showing posts with label
gardening; homesteading; home projects.
Show all posts
It has been such a full two weeks since I last posted! Our church had our annual Missions Conference two weekends ago. I LOVE our missions conference. It has always been my favorite church event, ever since I was a little girl.We hosted the Peffers here at our home for the weekend. The Peffers serve with Crossworld in Brazil. It was an absolute delight to be able to get to know Don and Zoe while they were staying with us. Our kids learned so much about Brazil and about missionary living, in general. We were all sad to see them go at the end of the weekend, but we're so thankful for the new friendship! The last two photos of this post are of the kids making an authentic Brazilian dessert with Zoe.
We've been hard at work outside, getting things ready and planted. Brad made make-shift hoop houses out of our old trampoline pieces and some plastic sheeting we bought at the hardware store. I planted some things in those two beds that are frost-sensitive because it's hard to tell if we'll get another frost here. Even though the temperature is supposed to be near 90 degrees this weekend, there's always that chance of freezing temps again. You really can never be sure here in Pennsylvania. I also planted some frost-hardy seeds in the other beds. There is still so much to be done. We haven't even begun to plow up the ground for the big garden. One step at a time, I keep telling myself.
The chickens are growing up. Out of the 26 eggs we incubated, nine hatched successfully last Thursday. So I now have full-grown hens, teenage chickens, toddler chicks, and now the baby chicks. We've got all stages of chicken growth going on here! I'm always amazed when I incubate eggs. It's always so amazing that those little eggs turn into little chicks. We watched this great video on chicken embryo development while we were waiting for the eggs to hatch.We also candled the eggs about a week into the incubation period and again a week later. That was very educational and interesting, being able to see all of the veins and the embryo floating around the first week, and then seeing how huge the little chicken was a week later! It is a really amazing process!
Then there's Chase, the little wild rabbit the kids rescued. She did amazingly good for over a week, but then something happened and she didn't make it. It was hard. Honestly, I'm surprised that she lived as long as she did as it is extremely hard to raise a wild bunny. It was another wonderful experience for all of us even though it was very sad to lose the little creature in the end.
We are finishing up our "formal" school year. We only have two days left to go. Of course, this formality of counting days only occurs here at our home because of the mandatory homeschooling law here in Pennsylvania. Learning will continue on throughout the rest of the spring and summer as it always does. There's really not a day that goes by that we don't learn something new. So as I bring this school year to an end, there is, of course, the portfolios that I have to get put together. These are, again, another state-mandated requirement for homeschoolers here in PA.
After this fog lifts this morning, Ian and I are heading out to mow our yard. I have lots and lots of manure to clean up. And, oh the laundry that needs done! I would totally pay someone to come do my laundry once a week during these warm months. Laundry is my nemesis. But I am going to try really hard to approach my laundry duties with a joyful spirit. (Smile)
I suppose that some may wonder why one would exert time and energy into producing something that could much more easily be pulled off the shelf and purchased from the local department or grocery store. Not to mention that it is often times cheaper to purchase these items from the big stores than to produce them at home.
I've pondered that myself, especially during my most hectic and busiest of moments. Of course, I do not work outside the home so I suppose I have more of the luxury of time, but I still have the same amount of general housework as well as all of the demands and responsibilities of homeschooling my children so my time is precious (and limited) as well. So why would I (and you) be so inclined to heap more duties and tasks upon our already-crammed-full schedules and itineraries?
The answer for me is this: there are so many little pleasures and treasures tied up in that kind of living that big-box purchasing just cannot give.
Of course, it would be much easier to buy a $10 winter hat from the local chain store rather than making it myself, but it honestly gives me so much pleasure to see my family wearing the warm things I've made them. Or cuddling up under that crocheted afghan that so many hours (and love) were put into stitching it together.
Or setting a table filled with nutritious, organic garden goodies and homemade dishes that I truly know are good and safe and fulfilling for my family.
And then there are those handmades that were not made by my hands, but the hands of others. The hours of hard work invested by friends or strangers that do it because they know that there are still those out there that value handiwork. Those handmades that beautify our living space and tell a story. That departed from a set of real, living hands, rather than cold, industrial machines before they arrived at my door.
Handmade living is rewarding to the soul. Despite the many hours spent weaving in those many yarn ends or stitching that tiny embroidery pattern or piecing together that quilt or canning those pickles or tending the garden, all of those things give back such reward over the course of time. And as others are blessed by the work of your hands, you receive a blessing back ~ little piggy toes stick out from under the simple patchwork quilt; red, rosy noses poking out from under the handknit woolen scarf; purple-stained berry fingers and faces from the backyard berry bushes; plates of nutrition-packed scrambled eggs for breakfast.
So I treasure a handmade life. I still shop at those chain grocery stores, and I still buy clothing from the mall, but I make what I can with the time I have. I aspire to keep moving in the direction of living an even more homemade life. And I love the privilege I have as a mother in instilling an appreciation for handiworks into the lives of my children.
Want to read more about our handmade living? Visit the following posts...
I'm participating in "Homemade Living Series" where six homesteading bloggers will be sharing their thoughts on homemade living, including recipes, how-to's, and diy's. This series will post each Wednesday.
Visit these two other blogs today to see what they're sharing on living homemade...
Staci at Life At Cobble Hill Farm
Meg at Little Homestead
And next week, we'll be visiting Daisy at Maple Hill 101, Tammy at Our Neck of the Woods, and Mary at Homegrown on the Hill.
