Welcome Twenty~Ten!

I'm a few days late in wishing everyone a wonderful start to the new year. I'm excited...I'm looking forward to learning each day what God has planned for me in all my days going forward, as many more as He allows. I hear people say all the time what awful times we live in, and yes there is much about the world that is bad. But my God knows what lies ahead. And we know, through His precious Word, that no matter what happens to us and to this world, that He is with us and that we will one day be reuinted with Him. As the old song says "Everyday with Jesus, is sweeter than the day before!"

I don't have much else to say, so I thought I would share just a few photos of the year gone by, starting with the snows of January '09 and and continuing on, more or less, through the seasons ~













(These photos are, beginning at the top - January snow, one year ago; bags of feed for "Doc" Smith - no matter how long Bill has been retired, he is still Doc Smith to the community! We're thankful for abundance, our own corn and oats in the grain bank at the local feedmill. Next, bountiful spring grass and a good crop of lambs; the Round House in summer; friends and family - brother Michael and friend Mary at my folks place; zinnias in our garden; Papa Bill & Elliot, special buddies. I'm not sure what they were looking at!. All three boys digging thistles - Mason said the next day "I hate to tell you this, Grandma, but there are hundreds more baby thistles"! A favorite heirloom squash this fall and new favorite apple; an old rope & pulley hanging in the Burnham barn; the Burnham Barn looking cold in the snow and finally the two little brothers at the Nativity. Elliot held the porcelin baby Jesus in his hand and said "Grandma, Baby Jesus has no blanket!" Oh, how profound that innocent little statement was)

Thank you to everyone who visits my blog or our website or our farm. God Bless each of you this coming year. Please be sure to visit often and drop a note when you can...we treasure every one!

Where Did July Go?

Not only did the days of this last month seem to fly by, they haven't felt much like summer weather (which is actually just fine with me!) - we did not have a single day in Michigan that was over 85 degrees and there has been no humidity. The sheep and I like this ;) So does the lettuce (pictured above) which continues to grow nicely in my garden without turning bitter or bolting!

I had lots of lovely blog posts planned, but summer is just such a busy time, don't you agree? And now, here it is August...

But since I would like to share with you how our summer is going, I thought I would just post a few pictures and try to do better with the updates this next month!

There has been FIBER ~


Corriedale roving with dyed silk noil


Spun yarn and knitted sample

And the SHEEP that provide the fiber ~


Ewes on pasture

The LAMBS have grown well! Some we will keep in the flock ~


Deborah and her ewe lamb

And some have found new homes ~


Ainsley's ram lamb, Forrest

Time with FIBERY FRIENDS ~


Fiber group here at the farm, including a drop spindle class with Donna from Spinning Daydreams (this photo is actually from June)


Spinning at Mary's farm, including our youngest member, little "E" sitting on her grandma's lap

Time with FAMILY and FRIENDS ~


Friend Mary and brother Michael at the folks' farm


Precious Grandbabies covered with chocolate from s'mores, playing hide and seek in the hay field...such wonderful summertime memories!

I marked the end of this month in my garden, pulling weeds, while all around me the air was filled with the heady fragrance of the Oriental lilies, various Garden Phlox, Roses and even some of the Daylilies that are fragrant. The moon was already glowing in the twilight sky and fireflies were in abundance, even landing on my arm and glowing brightly before flying off. I could hear Bill and Alex discussing something through the open kitchen window. I thought of this verse from the Psalms, Psalms 65:8 "Thou makest the outgoing of the morning and evening to rejoice" and I rejoiced along with God and this evening He had provided - in fact a whole month of these mornings and evenings!

Spring Magnolias

"God, give us eyes to see the beauty of spring,
And to behold Your majesty in every living thing.
And may we see in lacy leaves and every budding flower,
The hand that rules the universe with gentleness and power" ~ Helen Steiner Rice




(Photos of the magnolia tree in the back yard of our farm...such beauty and oh! the fragrance! It is heavenly)

SUPER Super Bowl!!!

WOW ~ WHAT A GAME!!!!

Excuse me for shouting, but that was one terrific football game! No matter which team you were pulling for, and even if you don't like football - it was a nail biter to the end! And a delightful way for me to end my special 50th Birthday WEEK celebration ;D

We had plenty of munchies plus party hats and balloons. The only mark against the day was that my poor little grandson was sick ;( He was brave, but celebrating was not in the cards for him that day.

Daughter and grandsons watching the game from Grandma's room. Steelers clothing compliments of Aunt Mo!

His little brother, however, took full advantage of the festivities and even helped himself to some of grandma's birthday cake while I was distracted. When I walked into the kitchen and found his hands (and the table, chair and floor) covered with frosting, I asked him what happened. He is two. He said "I don't know"

LOL..fingerprints in the chocolate!

Birthday WEEK!

Yes, it has been...a birthday week for me ;) Last Saturday, I turned that milestone page of birthdays ~ 50! Evidenced by some of the wonderful cards received:












I love birthdays...probably because in my family they were always celebrated as special occasions that were all about the person who's birthday it happened to be! In my case, it was all the more monumental (in my eyes) because I shared it with my dear paternal Grandmother. To have been born on the same day as this very special woman was always something I was keenly aware of. She had such an impact on my life and though she has been gone for many years now, her imprint remains. Some years later, as a girl in the fifth grade, I made another friend who almost shared my birthday (I am five days older...but our mothers were in the hospital with us from the beginning, so we always knew we were destined to become best friends!) We are dear friends to this day and I was lucky enough to have her at my birthday celebration last Saturday.

We will end my birthday week on Super Bowl Sunday, surrounded by kids and grandkids, eating lots of goodies and cheering for the Steelers (dressed in appropriate Steelers gear thanks to Aunt Mo!)












(I love all of the creatively home made cards from the kids and grandkids!)

I close this blog with a poem that my father wrote to my Grandma (his mother) and me on the occasion of one of those birthdays more than twenty years ago. Maybe being born in January is why I love winter so much? I am so blessed, it goes without saying, to have incredible parents and siblings and aunts and uncles and cousins and friends and children and grandchildren....all who teamed up to make this birthday especially special! I love you all, guys!!!

Here is my Dad's poem, written for my Grandma and me...dedicated today to all of my many January birthday friends:

"The Indians had a saying,
About the January thaw...
It's when the warrior of winter rested
And this is what he saw

Everything was resting
but now feels the coming spring
when sap rises in the maple tree
and birds begin to sing.

Its a peaceful time of year,
when life starts anew
Those born in that time
are very special, too.

They feel the strength of winter
and the warmth of the summer sun
They feel all things around them
And seem to know what's yet to come.

For you that time was chosen
to be placed upon this earth
Many years to the day
After your Grandma's birth."

Happy Day All Around

Today is my dearest daughter's birthday (for those of you who have been reading my blog for awhile, you might remember that last year we celebrated her 30th birhtday - LOL!) How do you think we celebrated, after coffee and birthday cake and presents??? By wrangling my long time favorite sheep helper (that would be said daughter) into helping me pen up ewes, change a few coats and then....big drumroll here....PUT THE RAMS AND EWES TOGETHER! Woo-hoo, breeding season has begun around the old Serenity Farms sheep barn ;D

All went smoothly, and I have seen five breedings so far today...hehe

Something I thought of today, from the day my daughter was born. She was born at 7:27 am. I was a youngster myself. I delivered her completely natural - no drugs! I had gained 60 pounds (though she was only a 7 pound, 11 ounce baby). I was tired. I was excited to be able to sleep on my stomach for the first time in a long time - LOL! I remember that I was sleeping soundly when a nurse came into the room wheeling my daughter, woke me up and told me she was going to teach me to bathe an infant. Hehehe...I can only remember indignantly telling her that I was the oldest of five children and knew very well how to bathe a baby!!! I also remember my mom bringing me the best treat in the whole wide world later that morning....I had been on a restricted diet (no salt/sodium) What did my wonderful mom bring to me???? A bologna sandwich, on white bread, with lettuce, swiss cheese and miracle whip salad dressing with a side of potato chips!!! Let me tell, my mouth still waters thinking of that delicious treat after weeks of denial ;D And though now my tastes lean towards a more healthy turkey, mustard, red onion, spinach on whole grain (and skip the chips), I am still known to gobble up the good ol' bologna on white bread! Good memories....

Tonight, though, my heart and thoughts are with a very dear, long distance, fiber friend Kimberly and her family. They are celebrating today, too. Husband and special dad, Jim, is home. Home two days early. Home safely. Home from war.

I can't even begin here to tell you of what very special, extra-ordinary people these two parents are. But if you would like to visit Kim's blog for proof of Jim's homecoming and maybe even to wish them well, you can go to Woven~N~Spun and say hi.

I just keep getting teary eyed tonight over it all. We have spent many prayer filled days and nights with Kimberly these past few months and now, to think of them together tonight under the same roof...whew, it just overwhelms me - I can't imagine what it is like for them. And it renews my prayers for so many others still overseas...

Big hugs, Kim and Jim!

Serene Sunday October 5...

There is something dazzling in our landscape photo this week ~ something that outshines the loveliness of the changing of the leaves and the green of the grass. Don't believe me? Well, take a look then:



Isn't she pretty? And do you know what is even bigger than her beauty? It is her personality! She is smart and kind and sweet and considerate. This is Bill's granddaughter Amanda. And though I did not contribute one bit to her genetic makeup (grin) I still love her very much and am so proud to be a part of her family. And Grandpa Bill? Well, what do you think? Here is a picture of them together and you can see the beam on his face is not just from the sun shining in his eyes!



This girl knows how to handle a sheep in the show ring, too! Another great accomplishment (grin)

She sure is special, and we are blessed. Hmmm, now I need to get some pictures of her little brother and her Colorado cousins here for equal billing, LOL!

(Note - the Homecoming dress pictures were actually taken on Saturday, not Sunday)

Close To My Heart....

There are people in our lives who make us better....who make our life easier and brighter...who share our laughter, our joys but often more importantly our sorrows and our trials...they are there to lend a helping hand when we need it, even when it is so hard to ask.

I am blessed to have many friends (and family!) like that. This week I was reminded of this when I was in need of help. I called on one of these very special friends and I didn't even have to say what it was that I needed. She simply said "I'll be there" Now this job was one of those physical labor jobs that leave you sweaty and smelling very much like sheep....with your boots covered with manure and your arms covered in bruises if you aren't careful and your back aching no matter how you do that job ((grin)). But my friend was there....



There you have it - her hand and mine, working together, sharing a task. Thank you, my Friend...more than you know!

I think it was especially important on this day to be doing a job that kept me busy and my mind occupied and to have a friend close by. It was a special day. My very precious grandsons first day of kindergarten. My heart....



I look at his face in this photo...so full of expectation and excitement and yes, nervousness, too. And I think of the life and spirit we are now intrusting to others... For some reason the enormity of this hits me more deeply now....His Mom (my daughter) and I have decided that the first two days weren't quite so bad. But then we both suddenly realized, after having him home this weekend, that he has to go back tomorrow!!! No, no, no...we aren't ready - LOL. But I think he is and since I can't convince his parents that having a grandmother homeschool him would be a good idea ((sigh)) I guess I have to let him go ;)

Don't I?

Shades of Yellow (and Green)

Right now, the pale lemony-yellow color of this sunflower in the garden is so refreshing!

The other color going on at Serenity Farms is green...or lack of it. We have been very dry in mid-Michigan this summer, while at my parents farm just 75 miles south things are a bit brighter. Here are two photos for "lawn comparison":



These are the grandsons playing with water buckets in my yard...yes, that brown stuff they are standing on is lawn, not dirt! (By the way, my pastures are just as brown as the lawn, except for the occasional spot of green where the bull thistle succeeds in thriving!) Compare that to Elliot posing at Great-Grandma's just a few days earlier:



It looks like he is standing on a green carpet!

Still, we got some nice second cutting hay in the barn (with no danger of being rained on, thank you very much - LOL!) Yield was down, but I am grateful for all I have and also grateful that I insisted on putting more first cutting in the barn than anyone thought I needed! And this weekend, a little bit of showers that actually amounted to measurable rain.

Just to let you know how "high-tech" things are here at Grandma and Papa's house...the boys played for at least an hour with those water buckets. We "polished stones" (don't tell that we were just getting them wet to reveal their beauty!) We watered flowers. We "made" puddles on the path. We "planted" pine cones (after first getting them thoroughly soaked in the water) When we got tired we sat on the blanket and drank lemonade (for boys) and coffee (for grandma and mom) All of this with no elaborate pool set up. When I was a little girl, our pool was either the creek, the river or the stock tank full of clean and numbingly cold water! Squishing tomato worms is another fun entertainment in summer that requires no special electronics or equipment.



These are the joys of summer...oh, and notice little Elliot's high fashion (grin) It is his favorite way of dressing at twenty months. It is either pants with no shirt or shirt with no pants. And he would prefer barefoot, but mama put the shoes on him today.

I'll close with another yellow from the garden right now, the daylilies. This is a new one for my garden and is called "Kindly Light" (I even love the name!) The daylily catalog says it was hybridized in 1949 ~ how come I have never seen this beauty before?!? It is tall and elegant and glows in the garden at just the right time of year. It is also slightly fragrant and a real delight.

The Greatest of These....

(Written for Thursday, March 20th....our anniversary!)


(daughter Patty made this beautiful card for us)

Today was our anniversary ~ and the first day of Spring!

I'm not sure if you can read the words on the Anniversary card in the photo above. It is the scripture, I Corinthians 13:13, and says "Now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love" I like to meditate on this same verse from the Amplified Bible:

"And so faith, hope, love abide [faith--conviction and belief respecting man's relation to God and divine things; hope--joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation; love--true affection for God and man, growing out of God's love for and in us], these three; but the greatest of these is love"

Bill and I have been married for fifteen years now. A year ago, I asked God for a miracle. Not to spare my husbands life (though I did ask that one, you can be sure!) No, for a different miracle....I remember the conversation with God so clearly, alone in my car, driving the highway between home and hospital. I asked Him to restore my marriage. I knew that marriage is part of God's plan. I knew the state of our marriage. And I had an idea of what lay before us if it were God's plan to keep Bill here with us. And I knew, that it would take faith and hope and most of all, love. I asked God for those things that day.

And He answered my prayer. I spent a good bit of the day, and many of my days, thanking Him for that answer. I was reminded of how grateful I am to Him for that answer as we celebrated, Bill and I. Traveling in the car together now, to pay visits to a few special friends who mean so much to us and who are facing their own adversities in life. As we drove along, we sang hymns. Blessed Assurance and 'Tis So Sweet To Trust In Jesus and What A Friend We Have In Jesus and I Love To Tell The Story. It was like praying together, with music ;)

Yes, these three remain ~ faith, hope and love. And today, we celebrated.