Greetings friends. How is everyone? We are managing with temperatures rather unusually high. It's funny, all around us people are loosing their garden vegetables and we are having to water again daily.
View to the garden
Since we have planted in raised beds, we are a little dryer than everyone around us. We are quite thankful for that. Our corn is a little pitiful, but our beans are doing well as are our grapes and our potatoes. I can't wait for them to be harvested. Our wonderful Rutabagas are doing great too. Their leaves are huge. The peach tree is full of beautiful fruits. Our raspberries are coming along nicely. We will not talk about our blueberries (what blueberries). Logan harvested our strawberries well, they were yummy.
Current bushes
The bushes in the foreground are our currents. Logan sampled some the other day and he was busy spitting them out. They are too tart for him. They do have a different aftertaste.
Our wood piles have shrunk a lot. Cutting the boards is exhausting, especially in this weather. Tom and Sean split the work. Sean was working on the hemlock pile and Tom took the hard wood pile. It was so encouraging to see them both go to work at the pile. They were doing quite well. We have a few of the hemlock boards ready to go, but it is slow work. And that brings me to my post today.
Before side window upstairs
The house went up so quickly and so smoothly that we all figured, no problem. We will be done in no time. But then, life happens. I think I mentioned it in another blog. The weather plays a huge role when you are working outside. Tom and I were going to Claremont yesterday and we decided we needed to talk about what our priorities are. He has been feeling a little like Moses, he shared. Everyone wants, expects this and that. He is only one person. So he really wanted me to get down to what was important for me. That was really difficult for me. In the past couple of weeks God has been talking to me about the things that I do have. It is so easy to get into the mindset that I am entitled to everything. A bigger house, a bigger property etc. You name it. Our society is based on bigger, more, that is better.
It started a few weeks ago, when I started planning Natasha's graduation. She is such a special and beautiful
young lady and I wanted to make the day special. We have a few things coming up in
The uniform
August and I knew that I would have it in August. Our church has a great set up. There is a kitchen and a wonderful back area that is flat, where the young people can run around to play volleyball and baseball if they choose. So I thought, there is no way the church is booked on the 3rd. So being who I am I decided to have it then, before checking with our pastor. Well, upon checking, there is a wedding that same day at the church. How rude. They could move the wedding, right? Well, I didn't want to interfere with the wedding, and brought this new piece of information home to Tom. In a very Tom-like fashion he asked why we couldn't have it at the house. Well, hello Tom, I thought. Where have you been? Inconceivable!!! Totally out of the question. The more Tom and I thought, the more I began to realize that God has provided every (and I mean every) need the family has had. Why was I so afraid that He wouldn't provide what we need for Tasha's graduation, even if it were at the house. Whoa! The pit of my stomach went lurching. The fear roared its ugly head again. No way, not possible for something good to come out of this. And then I thought about it. At night I see the stars and who am I? I am a daughter of the One who stretched the heavens and put the stars into their spots. Hello, I think he can handle a little thing like a graduation. So I decided to put that trust completely again into the hands of the One Who is very capable. I was meeting with some people for VBS (I did the crafts!!! ME, can you imagine?:>) and mentioned my predicament. The pastor of the Congregational church, who was in the meeting, immediately offered her church and facility. Wow, I didn't see that one coming. Have it at a different church? You bet you. I was thrilled. Talking to our pastor the weekend following, he mentioned that the church would be available after 1PM. In time for our little celebration. Well, make up your mind, will you, God! Where to have it. So, the moral of the story thus far, is that I needed to let go, once again, of my expectations and just rest that He was going to take care of this whole thing. And He sure did. So, our little celebration is at the Baptist church with the nice outdoor area.
Holding a ladder for the window installation
What does that have to do with the house, you wonder? I once again needed to be able to trust that God is going to take care of little things. So here we are back to the discussion Tom and I were going to have yesterday. Am I willing to accept what has been given to me and consider anything else a blessing? Or do I put my foot down, and make things happen, pestering my poor hubby every step of the way. What is really important? Is having beautifully crafted wooden floors and cabinets really important? I came to the realization that really, what is important is that we have a good relationship with each other, that we enjoy being around each other.
Eating at Lake Champlain
I have to think of what we have. We have so much!! It is such an awesome blessing to have my husband right outside the door. If I am mad at him I get to throw something at him right away and not have to wait for hours! :> I am kidding! The last time I threw something at him I waited all day. The kids see their parents have a good time together, sometimes have words (mostly on my part), but you can't really teach them how to handle marital relationship any better than that.
So what God was asking once again, like so many times in my life, are you willing to trust my perfect timing? That lesson is so hard for me to learn. But it comes down to the basics again and again. Do I really trust
that God is God? Do I think that I have better ways and that my ways are better than His? I always want to be in the driving seat. But He just asks me to move over. He wants to be in that seat. If I let Him, He makes things beautiful.
I have decided, over and over again, that yes, God is God and His ways are better and that I should rely on His perfect timing. So, it is a difficult process, since I would love to have a finished house, with wood floors and maple cabinets galore. But in the meantime, I have been given a house that is in the process of being finished and completed. In all things do I then rely on Christ to come through for me?
Yes, because He makes it beautiful and complete. The house building is like my life. God is finishing me bit by bit. It takes a little time and I have to wait for His refining fire to get me through. When that house is finished, there will be rejoicing, but in the meantime, there is a lot of rejoicing in what is before me. I have 4 really great people with me on this. What a blessing that is. To me, that is more important than what color my siding is. God's timing is perfect!
By the way, my daughter now is employed at The Subway (no not Subway), a family run business. She loves it and is very excited. Enjoy this beautiful video.
Hello again my friends and family. I hope and pray you are all doing well. Yes, we are still around and doing well, thank you for asking. We are fast approaching summer (3 more days and Vermont is officially in the month of summer). We are looking forward to some warmer weather, possibly. Things are moving along slowly but surely. Tomorrow Logan and I get to go and be evaluated for the year. I am a little quaking in my boots, because this is a new thing we are doing, but I know that we are well prepared and we have met with the evaluator before and she is very nice. Logan has had a pretty good year, looking back at it all. I didn't really realize just how much we have done, including building a house. So we get to go there tomorrow in the morning and present what Logan has done. I have included some photographs of things he has done in my folder. Right now, however, I am in the process of filing for a new Green Card. Yuck!!! No, I will not become a US citizen in any near future. So I am muddling through the paperwork, but no complaints.
Logan and I (we had Natasha come too) were so blessed this last week to be asked to farm sit for the Gustafson family. Many will recall that they opened their home to us while we were building last year. They had a chance to go out west, something they had planned to do, once their oldest daughter was out of diapers (she is 20 years old now, I believe). They have a slew of animals, which makes going away very difficult.
Here they come!
To start with there are a lot of chickens. There are the big chickens, pictured here, which are separated from the teenaged chickens and the meat chickens. Anyone who has had experience with chickens can verify this information. Logan had a blast with the meat chickens. We needed to herd them in and out of their chicken house and that was just too much fun for him. He just ran after them and chased them good. They got their exercise with him around.
I am the guard dog!
Then there was little Suzie. Y'all know I like my dogs big, but this little bundle of wiggleness just won my heart. She is so happy and so sweet. She is actually missing one leg (she took on a bear, I believe). But that doesn't stop her from enjoying life at all. She was very sad in the beginning when her family left but at the end, she followed me around everywhere and would sit in front of me and stare at me. Very interesting. Of course we spoiled her immensely. She is so spoilable.
Did you say Cookie?
Loving on Suzie
Enter into the melee!
I am beautiful and I love my girls!
There was also the rooster, who was very nice. I actually petted him quite a bit. Tom grabbed some of the chickens and put them inside. They were difficult to grab.
We are not so innocent really!
And then there were the 3 kittens. They have just made it to their first birthday. There is also the old cat (I think she is 16 years old). These kittens were quite a lot of fun and Logan did a really good job with the littler boxes and playing with them. There were also a couple of ducks, who I will not mention anything further on them. We are NOT having ducks!!! But for me, the most fun was ............. You have guessed it.
Food!!!
Horses! They have 3 horses and I loved, loved playing with them and being around them.. I actually got to ride and I thoroughly enjoyed that as many, who know me, can imagine. The best part was their bathroom and kitchen. We ate very well this week. I cooked and baked many a day. Their showers worked very well. I believe there is a definite pert on having your own shower.
Logan enjoyed himself a lot. They have a nice flat area and he was able to ride a scooter and play wiffle ball with his siblings and Tom.
Yeahhhhh
When we got back to the house it seemed that things were just normal again. We really didn't miss the bathroom, that much (all right a little bit, but we can live with it). Cooking on the camp stove is not that bad (Tasha, what are you cooking tonight?) and the shower thing works itself out too. Tom is constructing a place to hold our wood in the winter. It is just a quick shelter, because he doesn't want to take out too much time. Also, he is busy cutting boards for our floor. He has about 1/4 of the downstairs boards cut. That is very good, since the bathroom will follow :) as soon as the floor is done.
Starting work on wood structure
That is really all for now. I hope you are all doing well. I wish all dads a happy Father's day, and want to say that I have 2 wonderful dads here on earth. My Papi and my father-in-law. They are both very special to me and I wish them both a wonderful day.
Hey again. I bet you didn't think you'd hear from me this quickly. I just wanted to share something with you very quickly and please DON'T TAKE IT THE WRONG WAY, please. I want to share this because of how great everything worked out to the glory of God.
The way I see it this morning was a miracle and a great work of God's protection! Not, woe is us and look at what could have happened. It is what did happen that matters the most. Do I have you on the edge of your seats?!?!? Hehe. Good.
So here we go. There once was a tree, growing happily amongst its friends. It grew for years and years until one day this crazy guy came along and chopped down all its friends. Little Ashy (let's call it that) cried for his little friends but also sighed a sigh of relief that it could still grow and get bigger. Well, the years were not really friendly to little Ashy. It did grow but it also became bug infested. Little critters started eating at its bark and burrowing under its skin. It became all itchy. The man with the chain saw and his annoying people started building this house right there.
One day, the man came out to inspect Ashy. He didn't like the fact that Ashy was too close to his saw mill and also he thought that the tree would take out the house if it ever became more diseased. So, he decided to take it down.
This morning we took it down. Sean was off from work and he and Tom set up the tree making sure that they tied it off to go away from the house. We prayed (really good thing too) and he asked us to leave the house as soon as we heard the chain saw start. Chain saw starts, and we kind of run out of the house. Sean is watching the tree with it tied off toward him. The rest of us sit down among our cold frames and watch and pray. The wind was all wrong! It was pushing little Ashy toward the house! Tom waited, I prayed, as he watched the leaves. At some point the wind shifted and he decided to slowly make his final cut. The chains saw has a new blade and it cut through little Ashy like butter. As the tree started going, all I could see that it was going the opposite direction we wanted it to. It fell instead toward the house! Ever so slowly. It was like I saw the last three years flash before my eyes (not really, but kind of). Tom was running in the direction the tree was falling as well! As soon as the thing hit the ground Sean was sprinting toward the tree and Tom was yelling he was fine. The tree... well the house...
Damage assessment!
And this is where I am so thankful and that this is such a miracle, such a provision of God. We can look at this and say, the tree hit the house! Yup, it did. Natasha ran into the house and checked all the windows.
From the first floor
None of them were broken. The house was still standing. The foundation was not broken, the Tyvec was just scratched. Only one of the basement windows had its molding broken. Tom already fixed that.
It looks pretty bad on the outside
Logan was really excited and happy and was bounding around singing. I just sat quietly on Ashy's big trunk. Ashy is pretty huge. It will give us beautiful floor boards. The rest will be great wood for burning. As I sat there I contemplated the joy I felt. No, I was not hopping around but the tree had fallen without causing any major damage. A couple feet to the left and it could have take out the house. A couple of feet to the right and it could have taken out our generator. It didn't even touch the bikes. It missed Tom's saw mill completely. How could I not have been thankful and praising the great God of the universe.
The way I see it, everything worked out for good. There is a verse in the bible, "All things work for good for those who are in Christ Jesus". I don't know where that is right now, but it sure is true.
So I felt that this is really a cool story to share. All the brush is cut up and in a pile. The tree fell so that we can put it right onto the saw mill without a problem. It will give us a lot of board length because the tree was nice and straight. Tom would have had to have taken it down eventually or it would have fallen onto the house. It was naturally inclined to do so. So controlled, it came down and landed where it was supposed to. I still am in a little bit of awe of what happened.
This does not mean that we are going to throw in the towel and move back to CT and buy a home and all that. This does not mean that Tom and Sean are done taking down trees (Sean is doing that right now for the nice lady Natasha works with). It means that we will forge ahead full steam ahead and whatever happens, God has our back! Amen on that!!!
Greetings from a very dusty and dry Vermont. We have been in need of rain and we finally got some. We were so thankful because after our little drain pipe dried up, we needed to find another place to water our raised beds. And it was down the very steep hill at the bottom of the ravine. We have a stream there and it is going really well (for now, thank God). It is just down the hill and through territory infested with pesky (according to Chet) squirrels and chipmunks. So the first morning, after the demise of the drain pipe, I went to start the watering. We do this first thing and it usually takes a while. The kids and I were supposed to water the plants but as I scrambled down the hill I was just overcome with this intense feeling of not being able to do this. I was crying and throwing a fit, because the kids were not helping me!!! Come on, now, all right. This is what we have to do!! And just this feeling of entitlement came over me. My back hurt, my legs were going to be tired and I had just had it. I threw the bottles into the water and sobbed defiantly! Why was this all so hard! Couldn't we live like everyone else and have running water and a spickit for our plants. Well, of course we could, but that is not what we have right now. The kids and I have been learning about meekness and it is basically giving up our rights to anything. It doesn't mean that we will never have running water and we don't want it. It means being content with not having running water, living out of boxes, sleeping on the floor, cooking on a 2 burner camping stove, storing some food in coolers outside, having no floor or walls and running to the town when we have to go or the outhouse or the little girls woods. It means I need to be content with what I have been given. Some days this is harder than others.
Like for instance, Tom has been building his own saw mill. Yes, his own saw mill. He researched it and is slowly and painstakingly putting it together.
The door to Narnia
Diving down, not head first!
I wish this thing had a manual
I think this will work
How did we get up here?
I hope the tree is strong enough
So it is not going too well (from a worldly standard). The thing is really impressive and it looks like it could work, but it is not working at this point. He is getting closer and closer to the point of working it but in the meantime, I still have no floors or bathroom or walls, stairs to the upstairs and so on. It dawned to me that even though I could insist on the right to have Tom hurry up and finish these things, I really didn't have the right to. That right belongs in God's very capable hands. It seems that this is a very hard lesson for me to learn because He seems to be bringing it up over and over again. When the house was on the market, it sold exactly at the right time and I should not have spent time fussing and complaining over how it was not selling. The sawmill will be built, the house will be finished in God's perfect timing. Whether or not Tom will finish it before he has to go back to work is entirely up to Him since He know what needs to be done. The only thing I can do is to control my heart and my attitude before a righteous God.
Go Logan!
So other than that we have been quite busy. Logan and I are doing really well with school. We would like to finish by the 14th of June, the date of our evaluation. We are sprinting along in history (his favorite) and are getting through science (it is bug time :)). Language lessons are flying by and we are well on our way. We have finished our cursive book. My mother sent Logan a special fountain pen from Germany and he is loving it. He is still loving swimming and is doing really well.
Sean now has 2 clients up here. The first one came about 3 weeks ago and they are neighbors of ours down the street. They have 3 minies (Sean is used to that). The other one is this weekend and it is a trim in New Hampshire. He is really happy about that and I don't think he minds sharing that. He now has magnets for his truck with his logo and his info on it. Looks really professional. I am so glad for him He was able to attend one of his friend's graduation from college here in VT last weekend. He was really happy that he was able to do that.
Natasha is on the other computer right now filling a job application out for a local super market. She is just going to see what comes of it. We are still planning on a graduation this summer.
this is my garden!
She has been helping one of the ladies from church with her garden. She is loving it. This lady is so wonderful and she is teaching Tasha so much about gardening and about herbs. They have a lot of fun digging in the garden and she actually put a fat, gooey worm on Logan's shoulder yesterday morning. Logan took a large leap and screamed like a little girl because he thought it was a huge spider. This is my daughter who wouldn't get her hands dirty! My she has come a long way. It is a good thing Logan forgave her. It could have turned ugly!! We could have had a worm fight on our hands.
The garden here is coming along just fine. We were in desperate need for rain and we did get it. Things are going well. We were just replanting today because some things just haven't come up yet.
Peach blossoms
Rain for the plants
The trees were flowering, of course not the apple trees. The peaches and our grapes flowered and so we were quite happy about that.
Chet is still hanging in there well. We have upped his food (a lot!) and he is quite a chubby German Short haired Pointer. I laugh at him and tickle his belly sticking up when he is laying down. He still has some issues but he will make it. He was hilarious the other day. He was chasing another chipmunk and the thing just disappeared. After looking around and sniffing he became quite indignant that the thing didn't just show up to let him chase it. So with an indignant sigh, he marked his spot right where the chipmunk had disappeared and walked away. Tom was laughing quite hard at him.
Really it is still cold here!
Mouse!?!?!?!?
Other than that, yes Logan had his first driving stint the other day. I am glad to say the car, the driver and the passenger are recovering well. No, kidding. He did well. He pushed the gas and break and Tom steered . I guess that is what boys do up here. There ain't much else to do really. Oh, yes of course. There is always a house to build.
This weekend there may be some tree felling. Then we may go and see bald eagles. We tried to do that on Mother's day but Tom conveniently twisted his ankle. Yes, I know. He was faking it. He just wanted to sleep. Anyway, so I hope the weather will be as nice as it was last weekend. I am dying to see them.
That reminds me, happy Mother's day all you mothers and God bless.
Enjoy this song.
Friday, April 19, 2013
Hello my dear friends. I hope you are having a wonderful beginning of spring (if we can call it that). We have had an interesting start of our first spring here in VT (that is Vermont for my wonderful German people and "Hallo Ihr lieben in Deutschland. Ich vermisse Euch alle."). Ha, I still can type in German. Actually it is code for "I don't believe there is spring in this state". No, just kidding. Really, it has been a wonderful month. Tom has been so busy with all the things around the house. There is not a whole lot to report. Basically things are normal, normal and normal (if you count living without running water normal). Logan and I are very busy with school. We have some catching up in to do in some of the subjects. But I am confidant that we will be finished at some point. I still haven't gotten used to the fact that it is only Logan really who is doing school with me on a regular basis.
Natasha is quite independent and she is taking some on-line classes and she really enjoys that. She is pretty much on her own with her other studies. She is preparing to work on a thesis in history and still enjoys studying about homeopathic remedies for the home and family. She went to a job fair here and actually found something which interests her. One of the museums is looking for an Intern to help with their tours and explainations of the history. She loved doing that in CT and would like to continue it. The only thing is now she would get payed for doing something she likes. It is right up her alley: this museum deals with historical machines and I think guns also. It is so her :).
We are studying flight :)
So on most days it is Logan and myself. I must say, I can't get used to the lack of stress in this situation. I now only have one grade level to contend with and to keep "entertained". On most days I find myself thinking, "Boy this is the life." Logan is actually getting to the point where I don't have to help him with everything (yeahhhh) and he is starting to think of things to study on his own. He recently, while studying the history of Acadia (Canada), decided to write a small story which he is illustrating and all. We are on chapter 9 or so. So at the end I will bring the whole story to Staples ( I will have to charter a plane and find one near here) and make a hard bound copy of it. I am so excited about that because I could not get him to write before this year. I am so happy about that. We are going to have evaluations coming up soon. I am a little nervous about that since I don't really know what the state expects. But I am hoping and praying that we did a good job this year. We are not done by all means, because building a house and schooling is rather difficult. I am happy with the things we have done, over all.
Sean is doing really quite well. He is still working for his boss. He is eager to leave but is willing to wait until an opportunity is upon him. He has been busy driving around to all the barns in the area and introducing himself. He has had some good introductions and that is a good way to get his name out there. He actually got the call from someone and went and trimmed that horse. It seemed to be happy when Sean was finished with him. He went down to CT this weekend to do my friend Julie's minnies and Tasha went with him. They got to stay with Grandma and Grandpa over Saturday night. His truck is doing well but we have all these tires lying around now. He as at least 3 sets of tires for his truck.
Our wood for the winter is all gone.
Well, I guess I have a couple of pairs of shoes so his truck needs a couple of sets of tires. It's just that my shoes fit into my closet (well, I don't have one yet but stay with me here).
Tom is doing well. He is looking to do something for work so we are looking around for different things. There are a few possibilities for him. His latest project was making maple sugar. That took a while. Of course we still don't have an oven hooked up, so he had to use an outside oven. It actually worked really well. He finished this project yesterday and of course we all had to sample the finished work. Tom, however, had to continually monitor the process of the maple sugar so throughout the day he was "testing".
Sugar, sugar!!!!
Yummmmm! Wait the spoon won't come out!
Yes, well. We went for a walk after things were done. I walked, he bounced all over the place. At one point I thought he was going right into one of the spring pools because he was bouncing around it. When we got back, he crashed. Went right to sleep but it was not a bad crash (in regard to corn syrup). So he woke up refreshed. But he kept mentioning that he could still taste the sugar. Very funny. The sugar is quite firm, rather like solid molasses. It is actually quite good. The kids enjoyed scraping the pot.
Maple sugar/molasses
Me, myself and I are all doing well. We spent a wonderful weekend at a women's retreat here in Keene. I got to spend the weekend with my friend Lisa, who invited me, and Nichole P. and other women. That was a real treat and God really was there. I loved it. I am looking forward to the real spring, whenever that shows up. Although today I am rather bright again (recall the bright T-shirt from an earlier blog).
The house is coming slowly. It really is a process that requires such patience on my part. If a contractor had built it, we would be done, but what is the fun in that? Tom has been focussing on outside chores, such as building cold frames. These are like little greenhouses and allow us to put our plants in them when the weather is still a little too cold.
So, like anything Tom does, we now have 19 of them!! Yes, 19. They look pretty cool. Also he moved our generator up so he doesn't have to kill himself when he has to turn it on and off. He built a little hut for it to muffle the sound. It's pretty cool. No, we still don't have any running water, or bathroom. First we have to have the floors, so Tom has to come up with something ingenious to cut our wood into boards. He is working on that with Logan. Top secret!! I'm kidding but if you ask I may have to put you into the shed until the thing is built, which can be anywhere from a week to a year, depending. Life is great, isn't it.
Strawberries!
The generator, people!
Our army of cold frames!
Tom and I were having a discussion (we usually have that when we are "alone" in the basement) and I told him that I don't like to think outside the box. Riotous laughter followed. I don't know why. He reminded me of the whole praying for adventure thing. Why does he keep on bringing that up?? Is it my fault we are living in the sticks without water etc?? Really, I ask you. I'm playing around, really. No, no we don't have the whole running water thing. Really, I think it is overrated! Okay, okay I will try to be serious. If you can't laugh at yourself laugh at other people (Tim Hawkins quote). This family is blessed with a lot of togetherness. Last night, Tom and I were trying to have a "private" discussion. We mentioned something and Sean was discussing with us why he had to know what we were talking about. So much for privacy! A house without walls what I wanted. Well, I sure got it. Tom and I were in stitches because eagle ears was listening. Very funny!
I hope you are all doing well. I leave you with a picture of our dog, now healthy again and sunbathing today in the yard. We miss you and hope you are well.
And also I will leave you with a comedy thing from Tim Hawkins. He cracks me up!
