Monday, January 21, 2008

Keeping warm...

Often life seems to get into a rut of trying to keep one step ahead of the urgent. How quickly I can sink into mere existance--keep up the laundry, cooking, cleaning, etc, etc. Jonathan sees life as a party--to be enjoyed at the fullest extent. He helps all of us to step back from the routine and see life in a new light. As tired as we get keeping up with this little guy, I can't imagine a day without his enthusiasm and love. Wayne got this picture of him yesterday as Jonathan was enjoying the company of his big brothers and their friends (see picture #2). This is the essence of Jonathan and I'm so glad he captured it in a picture.

These are the "big guys" that Jonathan so enjoys being around. Will (2nd from left) taught Jonathan to dance--complete with sound effects. Andrew (holding Jonathan) helps Jonathan "fly" by lifting him up in the air to give Will very high "high 5's". It's great to have these guys around and we enjoy our "other sons" invading the house--and yes, the kitchen. They are definitely part of our "abundant blessings".
These cold days/evenings we spend a great deal of time in our mudroom around our woodstove. We moved the "good" chairs from the sitting room out into the mudroom last night. That's definitely a sign that it's cold. Marc makes lots of extra trips to the chicken house to give the "girls" warm mash and plenty of water. They reward him with their eggs--he's averaging 9-10/day which is pretty good for the depths of winter (he has 15 chickens).
I finally got a chance to spin some fleece this weekend...Indian Paintbrush's fleece is becoming yarn this time around. This week I'm hoping to finish up the grant application I've been working on so I can have more time to do the spinning.
I did make another batch of remelt goat milk soap--actually 2 batches...they came out much better than my first attempt. I've got to figure out how to keep the air bubbles from forming on the back of the soap--otherwise the formed soap looks pretty good. I'm waiting for a shipment of lye to arrive so Matt and I can attempt a "from scratch" batch of soap. Maybe we'll get some pics of that adventure to share.
It's time to go stoke the fire...so bye for now...keep warm!

2 comments:

J.D. Scorpio said...

Hello
I scanned through your pictures and really enjoyed them, especially the one with the rolls; I love those things…..! I’m new at blogging and as I browse through all the blogs, I find a lot of homeschooling. I think that is a safer way to educate our young these days with all the shootings going around the country. Not to mention all the sexual predators doubling as teachers! I think you have the right idea!
Please feel free to visit my blog, and if you choose, leave a comment. You may also enjoy my wife’s blog, she has a much better blog than I and has a much better gift-of-gab ……….. JD

sue said...

A houseful of "noise"...... I have shared with you, that I do miss it... NOT that having time to yourself isn't an amazing blessing, but sometimes, it is just too quiet around here... EVEN with 7 cocker spaniels!!!! my woodstove chugs merrily along as well, what a blessing it has been with oil being what it is... we are definately looking into other ways to heat when we get up to the new farm!!!!! hugs to all