King Winter

Eggs courtesy of Babette, Hei Hei, Meriwether, Sacagawea, Easter, Tum Tum, Gum Gum, and Susan



Old King Winter came out to play
And said I'm going to make this a very cold day
So he turned to the east ~ Whoooosh!
To the south ~ Whooosh!!
To the West Whooosh!

Then he turned to the North and said that's the best!
For my very good friend is the old North Wind
And when we play, we make a very, very, very cold day
Brrrrrr!

(from Mary Theines Schunemann, Sing a Song of Seasons)

Old King Winter please stop teasing us and come out to play! We keep getting flurries here and there but not enough to amount to anything. We got our toboggan out of storage and so look forward to using it again. Soon King Winter, please??? In the meantime the kids are amusing themselves with K teaching C how to drive the riding lawnmower and L trying to teach Baby F how to drive their mini tractor. That tractor has already come in handy a few times with L driving firewood over to our fire pit.

Unfortunately, our chickens don't feel the same way about the snow as we do. Whenever there is any snow on the ground they all huddle at the edge of the coop unsure of what to do. Eventually Sacagawea and Meriwethere Feather Lewis hop out and the others follow. They have the sweetest little personalities and crack us up daily. It feels so good to finally have our own little homestead. I look forward to it growing more and more.

p.s. - I love how Baby F's driving matches his personality - fiery, fierce and always at full speed.

King Winter

Nighttime Nature Walks

Baby F wanted to come outside while I was taking pics of L with the Giant Silk Moth but refused to get dressed so we had an audience. 🙈 Living out in the country our neighbors are few and far between. We enjoy the privacy but I also enjoy chatting with them when I can. For the most part, they are the friendliest neighbors we have ever had (minus a few but maybe they just need to warm up to us still or hey, they could be introverts like me!). They also look out for us and seem to know our routines, especially when it comes to me and Baby F.

 I talked about our nighttime nature walks over on IG but I don't think I mentioned it here. Every night now, Baby F goes up on me in the Tula babycarrier and we take a nighttime nature walk (you can actually see some of our videos from our nightly walks in my highlights above the pictures here. It is currently the 5th circle from the left). The first half is spent identifying things we see in nature and spotting animal tracks, etc. and then on the way back home I sing him to sleep. I love our special one on one time.

If someone sees a bear anywhere nearby they will drive out of their way to chase me down on my nighttime walk and let me know. I try to be very aware on our walks knowing that we are deep out in the country and bear sightings are very common (in our own yard, too!), not to mention the couple of speeding cars that come barreling down our narrow road. We keep our walks at the same time every night mostly to be consistent with Baby F's bedtime but also to make sure we are not out walking in the dark. Well, last night time got away from me and before I knew it we were leaving for our long walk as the sun was nearly set. By the time I reached our turnaround point it was already pitch black out. Shortly thereafter one of our neighbors drove past. He turned around and came back to us and with a concerned look on his face asked if we needed a ride. I explained to him that I was trying to get Baby F down and thanked him for stopping. He drove ahead, turned around again and asked if he could at least give us a flashlight. We chatted a little and I again thanked him but declined. By that point we were close to our house.

It may have been a small act of kindness but I was so touched by his concern. He reminded me not only of the good that really does exist in this world but of Who provides this good and how some days His love comes through others.

Nighttime Nature Walks

Continuation?

I suppose this post is somewhat of a continuation of my last summer post. I am just loving this place where we live. Although the flooding we had last week wasn't exactly the most fun I have ever had. 😬 Our normally docile creek took over a lot of our land (I shared a video of it in my stories on Instagram), including flooding our basement waist deep, as well as completely flooding many of our neighbors' land and homes. It also knocked the power out and closed all the roads around us. At least we were warned before we even moved in to never store anything in the basement. I am so glad we listened to that warning. The rain has been gone for about three days now and things are drying up. However, as of right now our forecast says rain every day from Monday until August eleventh. 🙏

As I am sure you can imagine, 61 acres calls for something with a bit more power than a push mower. Granted some of the acreage is hay fields and some of it forest but there is still quite a bit leftover for us to mow on a regular basis. A riding lawnmower to the rescue. The boys watched in awe when it was delivered to our home (Baby F watched with some crazy, crazy bedhead going on). I don't know who was most excited about it's arrival - the boys,K, or Kevin. K got the honor of being the head lawnmower. A job she is thrilled to have. I think in her mind she is imagining she is driving a car as she mows. Hey, I wouldn't blame her. It is great practice for when she learns to drive - something that is not too far in the future!

I shared one of the above photos of Baby F's playspace on Instagram but forgot to share it here. You see those feathers on top of his teepee? Those were found on our land and thanks to our new favorite nature find book Bird Feathers* we discovered they are wild turkey feathers. Those photos are a bit old now. They were from when we first moved in and I hastily threw it all together (hence the wrinkled teepee). Things are a bit different now. I will have to get some photos this week to share with you. It feels so good to have space for play again.


p.s. - Our wooden trapeze bar/swing is from Wiwiurka  and Baby F's playhouse can be found here.*

*Affiliate link.

Continuation?

*Summer*

Summer is in full swing here and although the heat can be unbearable we are trying our best to enjoy it! Yes, that means some plastic actually entered our lives. So very much the opposite of who we are but I am glad we got that little water play table for Baby F. He loves it. At least it is kept outdoors, right?! 🙈

We took a trip to Strasburg to make two little boys' dreams come true. Well, it was mostly for the bigger boy but the little one seemed to enjoy it just as much. Not only did they get to ride a train for the very first time in their lives (all our lives actually, except for Kevin) but it was Thomas the train! L has so enjoyed his Thomas books ever since he was three or four so I am sure you can imagine what a big deal this was to him.

We had to drive through Lancaster to get to Strasburg and oh my - I want to live there! Amish farm life - is there anything more beautiful?! If only it wasn't so crowded there (farm plots were small) we would live there in an instant.

My children and I have been discussing what we miss the most that is currently in storage (and has been for more than a year now 😭 ). L missed his toys and trains the most, which I figured. C missed her books and C Baby. K missed her books and furniture and one other thing - our salt rock lamps. At first I thought salt rock lamps were a rather funny thing to miss but then, with a dreamy look in her eyes, she went on to explain how cozy they made our house feel and all the good memories they brought back to her. I could not deny her sentimentality.

Shortly after our conversation I came across this article on salt lamps and my goodness, no wonder they are so missed. I forgot about all the good that they do for us and our home along with the cozy feel they bring. Although I did not realize the danger they could potentially cause for cats. Seriously, check out the article! I am kicking myself for not bringing them with us - granted when we packed I thought we only needed things for 3 - 6 months tops not over a year! I hope our salt lamps survive being in storage for so long.

p.s. Thank you so much for all of your movie recommendations. You guys are awesome! I can't wait for August!!

*Summer*