Lyme Disease, Schlyme Disease - Turn ALL the Lights On!

 Good morning to you on this Winter solstice day of December 21st, 2023!

The shortest day of the year here where I live means we have about 8 1/2 hours of daylight - almost 8 hours LESS than we have in June!

That's a lot of dark hours and I do the best I can to keep our house warm and happy with lights!  Big lights, little lights, candle lights, Christmas lights.....Indoor and outdoor lights!  The lights stay on (all of 'em) during the day to keep it, well....light!  Am I worried about the electric bill?  Hmmm, good question, but with the invention of LED bulbs, it's not such an issue anymore, so NO!  I'm not!  I'm more into keeping mental health and good spirits high!  Plus, I'm afraid of the dark, so there are also lights in the barn, on the porches and at the pumphouse!  Well!  That takes care of the material things - but I also have inner light!  Jesus is the light of the world and He lives within us at my house, so we've got LIGHT EVERYWHERE, inside and out!!!!!!

Not sure what brought that on, except I've had a wicked flu/virus for literally the last couple weeks and am FINALLY feeling like I may someday return to what is considered 'normal' for me!  Chronic Lyme Disease makes every virus a challenge that lasts much longer and harder for some of us than for 'normal' people, unlike others, who catch something, only to declare a few days later that they are now well!  What?!  Takes me much, much longer...BUT, we are fearfully and most wonderfully made and these ole immune systems, even flawed, continue to heal us up eventually!

Life on this farm is puttering along rather well, in the big picture.  I'm glad, for the moment, that my goats are dry (not milking as they rest up) as kids aren't due until the end of January or so.  I've put my VERY busy Etsy shoppe on vacation mode until after the first of 2024 (only to spend the first week so far, 'sick as a dog')  The biggest projects here are on hold while Bossman does a renovation job for someone else, so for the moment, no sawdust or tool noise!  The best thing?  My kitchen is FINISHED!  It is huge and I love it.  It is unlike anyone else's kitchen and somewhat eclectic but it was made for ME and I'm tickled red.  (I don't care for pink...)  Four and a half years after moving, we finally finished our kitchen.  It is a milestone and I appreciate it all the more, having not had it for so long!

The next project here at the 'new' place is a stairway to the attic!  It is FULL of....junque, shall we say?  I intend to divide and conquer (and have a Spring yard sale...) and then be able to set up my quilting machine & its frame up there!  Bossman has accomplished the rudimentary beginnings of a permanent staircase so the dream is real!  The junque is also real - it is the contents of our Dry Box storage units after we decided it would be lovely to NOT pay Dry Box fees and just stuff it all in the attic!!!  Sigh...

I recently rescued my GINORMOUS doll house from a rat-infested, leaky outbuilding where is has languished since THE MOVE.  At first I thought I'd have to just burn it and be done with it, but after scrubbing/removing pieces/painting with Kilz primer, it is salvaged and living in my already-too-crowded craft room!  It is one more concern crossed off my list and now I can redecorate/rebuild/rejuvenate at my leisure (whatever that is!).

I have given myself about two weeks off from my store, as I mentioned.  One week behind me devoted to illness, now forging ahead to the next week!  I'm hoping to have about 3 days of Christmas meals/celebrations/get-togethers, work on my dollhouse, imagine up several new ideas and try them for items in my Etsy shoppe, work on piecing a quilt and organize the attic!!!!!  Apparently this virus has affected my sensibilities, as well!

(Aren't these the cutest grandbabies EVER?????)

Did you know that a simple bag of white chocolate chips, melted in the microwave (or double-boiler) with pretzels added, then spread out and chilled make DELICIOUS easy Christmas treats?

Often blogging in my head, I seldom sit down and actually write.  Since I needed to sit down while recuperating, I am a captive audience, so to speak, and have told myself in no uncertain terms that I shall now write this blog and so I have (I'm quite well behaved!)

I've now come back to this after taking a break to go outside and feed my bunnies, goats & cats.  I took apples to the bunnies for treats as I'm pretty sure cage life is boring and a good crunchy apple should brighten up their day.  The goats had to settle for hay, water and a little conversation.  The cats lied.  They had already been fed but trotted up to the barn with me, talking along the way and expecting to be patted & tails pulled but when we got there the food dish was already filled.  Silly cats.  The chickens can be ignored until tomorrow as I've run out of gumption (and they've plenty of food & water until the morrow).  Back to my recliner for a bit!

Well, that's a little bit of an update from an ordinary ole December day on the farm.  Hope you are finding JOY in the holiday season and remembering that wise men STILL seek Him!

Til next time....Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and May God Bless you!

Squirrel Sickness Strikes Again!

 My husband calls it Squirrel Sickness....my frantic, erratic desire to can, dry, preserve, press, save up all manner of foodstuffs!   It's the time of year where I find that last year's efforts have been mostly eaten up and the empty jars are calling to me! 

 

The garden is, well, sort of a mess.  I've got lovely raised beds but the weather or the general growing season seems a little weird this year and some of my plantings have gone to pot.  I may have gotten distracted from the weeding, as well.  The broccoli AND the cabbage plants bolted (no, they didn't leave, they went-to-seed too early) so none of that for us this garden season.  We have been picking sugar snap peas, Walla Walla onions, blueberries and potatoes and enjoying them immensely.  The Marion berries (a type of big blackberry) shriveled on the vines and the green beans look like the last picking, rather than the first, but there will be some.  I'm determined to be a good steward of whatever does produce a crop, so today I canned 11 pints of dill pickles and 7 pints of green beans - Yesterday was 40 pints of Apple Butter from our newly discovered Transparent Apple tree on this old farm!  I've also been drying herbs - so far I've got the Thyme, Oregano and Peppermint dried and tucked away; still have Rosemary, Sage and Basil to collect and dehydrate.

We've put about 20 rabbits in either the freezer or canning jars now.  It's amusing to see the reactions of people if you suggest to them that the 'chicken' in the salad is actually rabbit.  Some are anxious to try it....others look at you and wonder what kind of monster eats a bunny!  My three year old granddaughter watched me get a few rabbit carcasses cut into serving pieces for the freezer and announced that SHE wants to eat those bunny rabbits, lol!  Gotta love kids who live on (or visit Grammy & Grampa) on the farm!

The chickens I hatched out this Spring are starting to lay (finally...) and I'm putting a few of those away in the pantry - waterglassed.  Actually, they are in a solution of pickling lime and water and will keep for almost a year that way.  When the chickens slow down this winter, hopefully I'll be able to supplement my baking ingredients with my own waterglassed eggs!

Hubby pulled the 'keeper' onions and they're outside in the shade curing out on an old gate we keep just for that purpose.  In a week or so we'll cut the tops and store them away!

No doubt I have what people now call ADD or ADHD, though back when I was younger we called it a Type A personality, lol.  I flit from job to job (not always finishing one before the next one catches my eye!) but I LOVE all the work on out little farm and harvest time is my favorite!  I just picked the first ripe tomatoes tonight and tomorrow we'll eat the first of the green beans!

A sweet almost-daughter who leads VBS (Vacation Bible School) needed a Suit of Armor for this year's theme.  We talked and brainstormed about how to acquire one....and then I said a person could just make one!  She looked at me in horror, lol...so I volunteered!  He came out pretty decent and enjoyed his couple of weeks at the church!

In my 'spare' time (ha!) I still run Etsy and Ebay stores, making and selling primitive craft items.  It keeps me hopping, but I've enjoyed crafting since I was a child (looooooong time ago..)  We also took a few days to follow the grandkiddies down to Fort Stevens State Park in Oregon for a little camping adventure and enjoyed the time with them immensely.  Just today lil grandaughter asked me if I had any more of 'those long red things we had when we were camping'.  Took me a couple minutes to realize she meant Red Vines candy!  

Chores are done for the evening - the rabbits are fed & watered and the chickens won't go in until dark so can't lock them safely up for the night yet.  I'll settle in my chair for a little reading with a mug of hot peppermint tea and some homemade toast and some of that apple butter now.

I'll close with a lovely passage from the Bible that always warms my heart and encourages me greatly - I Thessalonians 4:18 says 'comfort one another with these words' as it talks about being reunited with those who have gone before us when Christ returns.  I still greatly miss my sweet mama and other beloved friends and relatives and this passage makes me ever so happy!  

Now, on to my toast and tea.......