A Wonderful Surprise

What a wonderful surprise this morning to look out and see our wonderful new neighbors come up the drive to help with chores! Can you imagine?! They want to have animals, and a garden and such, so they are eager to pitch in and learn first-hand. What a blessing for both sides!

We have been able to do a lot to get the garden area ready when we have had breaks in the weather. Today it is cold and rainy with some sleet. I see signs that spring is right around the corner, though!

I am getting ready to start seeds in pots and hope to use the new greenhouse.

What are you doing to get ready for spring?

Nancy

Draft Horse Sale

We went to the big draft horse sale last week and while in the area we decided to go fill our kerosene containers at the general store. Things looked very still and the door was locked so we decided we had made the trip for nothing and left. Ahead in the road we noticed what looked like a truck and a buggy off of the road. We feared the worst and drove up to find that the horse had shied because of the ice on the road and gone into the snow-filled ditch. The man in the truck had stopped to offer help and soon sped off. We pulled up and got out to help the young woman that had been driving the buggy. She was fine and was trying to unhitch the horse whose legs had sunk in the snow with its rear end resting on the bank. Fortunately, it was unhurt and was led up out of the ditch and onto the road. Meanwhile, the truck that had stopped came pulling up with an Amish man to help. He asked what had happened and she told him the horse had shied and he and I together said,"Thank goodness that's all that happened." Everyone got the buggy out of the ditch and onto the road and the men got back into the truck and left. She had the horse hitched to the buggy again before you knew what had happened! We told her what a good job she had done and that she sure had a good horse because it was ready to go again without any problem and that we hoped the rest of her day went well. Off she went with the horse at a brisk trot.
I was very impressed with how this young woman handled the situation and I was struck by the big smiles on the men's faces when they pulled up to help. But two things really stood out about this whole thing for me that day. Number one: They could go to the first Amish farm for help. And number two: Someone was home. You can't take those two things for granted any more.
Nancy

Flabbergasted

The place next to ours has been empty and for sale ever since we moved here. They finally have a contract on it (for less than half of what they were asking) and asked Jack to help them get it ready. (No, we're not to the flabbergasted part yet.) The wife asked him to help with something today. He told her that he would be able to after he got done milking. She said, "Milking?! What do you do with the milk?" "We drink it." And to that she replied, "I just go to the store and buy the REAL stuff." (Yep, emphasis mine. And, .... now we're flabbergasted.)
I guess we've had it all wrong. :-0
Nancy

Snow and Ice

We are feeling a little weary of the snow and ice. We woke up to more on the ground and it's been snowing all morning. The good part is that it gave us some traction for walking on the ice; the bad part is the spots where the snow isn't deep enough to give you that traction. And, of course, you don't know where those spots are until you are on top of them. :-) If you didn't have to dress in five or more layers each time you ventured outside it might not be so bad. Or maybe not. I did have a nice thing happen as I was doing chores, though. I walked into the goat barn to give them hay and turned to walk out when I saw a flock of over fifty birds on the ground in front of where I was at. I stopped and watched the juncos, sparrows, and cardinals eating grain that had been dropped on the ground until a chicken came walking out of the "little" coop and scared them off. At first I thought it was amazing that so many birds had shown up so quickly, but then I wondered if they were having a hard time finding something to eat these days. I walked out of the barn and they came back and started feeding again with me standing there. One of the juncos was no more than three feet from me.
I am trying to remember that spring is just around the corner. It surely is.

Oh These Interesting Times

We made it through what they were calling "a potentially historic storm" without losing power. We did what we could to prepare and left it in God's hands. He is good. We have extremely cold temperaures coming up now, but the sun is shining this morning which always makes everything seem better.
Jack's youngest sister and her children have made it safely out of Egypt and are in Greece for a short time before returning to the States. We are very thankful for that.
Got the seed catalogs out last night to help take my mind off of the howling wind. It is relaxing and fills me with hope thinking about spring and being able to plant again. It is always so encouraging isn't it? To think of the warmer temperatures and the excitement of plants coming up and baby animals being born. It's such a blessing.
Hope you all fared well in the storm and that your thoughts are on spring, which is just around the corner.
Nancy