Our Future Home~ 2016 ,Year of Great Change

 

2016 is shaping up to be a year of big changes for us. My husband is retiring in the fall and we're hoping to move to our place over the mountains and far away. You can see our future home in the pictures. This is a view of the back of our home , I was standing in our field.

My husband loves this place and we work on our future home every chance we get. Our oldest grandson also loves it here and is a big help. Grandson and my husband have some big plans for the pastures, woods, and livestock housing. Unfortunately the trip there requires us to drive over a mountain pass that is treacherous in the winter, and sometimes in the fall and spring too , making our trips not as frequent as we'd like. Plus, it is a 6 hour drive one-way.

We have an old travel trailer there ( shown above ) we use as a guest-house. I have made some simple changes to the interior and have so many more ideas and plans for the trailer, but first we have to sell Cedar Pond and move. I have been very busy since the beginning of the month sorting through my craft room and closets , deciding what things to sell, what to donate, what to box up. I have a BIG job ahead of me !

This is a picture of 6 of our grandchildren taking a walk through our field and heading into our woods. As much as I love Cedar Pond my heart has turned to our home over the mountains and far away. The hard work of packing up and preparing our home for sale has begun. My husband and I are in for a lot of work and a new adventure this year, a year of great change.

Our Worker Man

 Seems so many years ago and yet again only yesterday. It is cliché but true... time flies swiftly by. More than 3 decades ago our youngest son was born and he brought great joy to us ( as did his older sister and brother ! ). The picture above was one I snapped when he cut down a tree on the property we were preparing for our new home here on Cedar Pond. Our youngest son was always busy and constantly reminded us he wanted to be a " worker man". By that he meant exactly what he said, he intended to be a hard working man, and he is. On this particular day he kept asking his dad for work, he wanted to help out. Finally, with so much going on and little time to spare my husband gave our son a dull axe and showed him a tree he could chop down. I do not believe my husband expected Daniel to persevere in the work this would require, but about 2 hours later we heard his little boy voice yell "TIMBER ! " and indeed, he felled the tree.

 When he grew up and began working as a farrier ( horse-shoer) he met and married our beloved daughter-in-law Breezy. They had a  delightful cowboy wedding complete with their faithful dogs accompanying the wedding procession.

 13 years after they were married God gave them their miracle baby, a son.

 Happy son with his wife and son. And yes, our son is a "worker man" !

Happy birthday son, we love you soooooooooo much !

" Commit your works unto the Lord, and your plans will be established." Proverbs 16:3

" In all your ways acknowledge him ( God ) and He will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:6

Fun With Fiber ~ ( Remembering Why I Love Wool-Working !)

 I love working with the wool of my sheep, and the wool of other breeds of sheep too. Somehow I get bogged down with so many other things to do ( including the chores of keeping the sheep I love ) I forget how much I love working with wool. This is my wool drum carder. A carder brushes wool that has been sheared, skirted , washed, and picked*. I decided after the holidays I would spend some time renewing my enthusiasm for my wool crafting by taking time away from all but the needed aspects of keeping a home and simply enjoy playing with wool.

 Looks like cotton candy , doesn't it ? This is some exotic wool blends I have had stashed away blended with my Jacob Sheep wool. I had fun picking and choosing from my stash of wool to blend colors and fibers I thought might culminate in some interesting yarns.

 The desired end product of my wool blending is wool batts ( wool carded into batts, like batting you might buy for quilts, only wool )  I can spin into yarn I might then weave into fabric.

 I ran the wool through my carder a few times. Isn't it lovely ?

 I had a few other colors of exotic fiber to combine with my Jacob wool too. This reminds me of tropical fruit and Hawaiian sunsets. 

Anyway, these are a few rolags ( wool batting taken off the carder and rolled up ) I have finished and added to the basket by my spinning wheel to be spun up into yarn soon. I will fill my basket with spun yarn to later be woven into fabric. I will enjoy this process ...handling to wool batts, appreciating how the colors come together as they turn into yarn, and marvel at the fabric woven from my wool. This craft of wool-working is as old as creation and a marvel. Did I say I love wool-working ?

You're Here by Design ~ Happy New Year !

" Just think, you're not here by chance, but by God's choosing. His hand formed you and made you the person you are. He compares you to no one else - you are one of a kind. You lack nothing that His grace can't give. He has allowed you to be here at this time in history to fulfill His special purpose for this generation."              by Roy Lessin , co-founder of DaySpring.

 

You're here by design so cheer up, this is your year to enjoy and embrace another year of life from God ! How will you choose to live your life this year ? I am hoping I remember to always be thankful for my blessings and mindful that dark times are hard, but a thankful heart sings with joy amidst the tears and sorrows. After all, if Corrie Ten Boom * could praise God for head lice while imprisoned in a Nazi war camp ( because the lice on the prisoners kept the German guards out of the women's quarters ) then surely I can be thankful for the everyday things that tend to get me down , and some of the bigger worries and pains , well, one day at a time they get dealt with . In God's time !

 

" To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven." Ecclesiastes  3:1

 

~Picture is of Cedar Pond a few years ago.~

Dancing Fairy ~ Frilly Geese ( Gifts from the heart)

 The gift that made my heart sing , a painting done for us as a Christmas gift by our daughter's oldest daughter. She painted what I feel as I watch my beautiful geese swimming in Cedar Pond. The fairy seems the magical embodiment of my geese as she dances over the water. When I look closely ( click onto picture ) at the painting I see so many more details and marvel at granddaughter's ability to capture so much with paint and her imagination. Thank-you KN !

" It is not how much we give but how much love we put into giving," Mother Teresa

" You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving." Amy Carmichael

" Some of the most beautiful things worth having in your life come wrapped in a crown of thorns." Shannon Adler

 

* Pictures are of my Sebastopol geese Ella and Fella .

Our Reason for the Season

" ..for today in the city of David there has been born for you a savior , who is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign for you : you will find a baby wrapped in cloths , and lying in a manger." Luke 2:11,12

Santa is My Personal Friend ! ( and WINNER !!! )

Santa and I are close personal friends ( picture of me and Santa taken a few years ago  ) , so when I asked him to draw a name out of his hat to determine the winner of a pair of Wee Little Sheep *  he was very happy to help out. Of course, we waited until midnight Pacific Standard Time of the 20th to draw names as promised and Santa was impatient to get going because he has a busy week ahead. He enjoyed a cup of herbal tea and a few cookies while we waited for midnight and watched some special Christmas shows. But you're not interested in all that , you want to know who won. THE WINNER IS...

 Bee Lady of Hilltop Farm !!!!! *

Bee Lady ,Email your mailing address to me at jkcedarpond@fairpoint.net and I'll send your little sheep to you. Congratulations !

Here is our youngest grandchild, and he's not too sure about this guy in red. Maybe next year when he's another year older he will be a bit happier about seeing Santa. Which reminds me of a cute and true story. A few years ago one of our granddaughters called me and asked to speak to her Poppa ( my husband ) and told me "just in case Poppa really is Santa I want to tell him what I want for Christmas ".

Thank-you to all who commented . I have some of my grandchildren spending the next 2 nights and 3 days with us and Santa may make another visit to our home too. I will be having fun making crafts and baking cookies with them, plus we have a home movie marathon tonight complete with popcorn and snacks. I am looking forward to visiting again this week all my blogging friends who took time to comment and seeing what goes on around your home during the Christmas season. Blessed Christmas to all of you !