Jewels, Gold and Fairy Feathers.

On a cold clear December morning, a tired young woman made fruitless efforts to get out of her warm snugly flannel sheets. For five minutes she tried her best to forget the animals outside that were waiting for her, then sullenly amidst groans and stretches, she scrambled out of bed.
Ten minutes later found her all bundled up with a scarf tied snugly around her head. With a pile of hay in one hand and a bucket of steaming water in the other, she opened the garage door and plunged into the cold world.

She turned her head towards the south east and caught her breath in wonder and awe. Her large gray blue eyes grew, and she stopped and stared. The sun was just awakening, and he was pouring all his light, like liquid gold, on a frosted world. Turning everything in his way, into myriads of crystals and diamonds.

Rising slowly, he cut a path through the frozen grass, making it sparkle and dance in his golden rays.


Even the most common things, like a pile of wood were turned into mines of jewels, winking and glimmering for all they were worth.


Walking on towards the goat pen, her eyes alighted on more and more objects of beauty. Even where the golden rays of the morning sun had not fallen, glorious creations of frost stood, showing a beauty more austere yet delicate.


Little frosty feathers lifted their icy heads from there resting place glistening with fun and good humor. The fair maiden stopped here and there to examine each new peace of God given wonder; her eyes caressing the beauty where fingers would damage. After feeding the goat she wandered out beyond the fenced domains of the yard to the pond. A radiant smile spread across her fancy loving features, as she gazed with fascination on the sight.


Frost had landed with such fury and glory upon the pond, that it looked to the damsel like a flock of fairies had alighted and when they departed they had left all their feathers behind.


The young lady tarried at the pond for a length of time, staring dreamily down at the frosty fairy feathers, marveling at their complexity and at their Creator. The general thought that He created the world was magnificent enough, but when you began to look at each individual creation, the result was mind staggering. Still trying to comprehend it, she turned around and another gasp was torn from her lips.


Shining through the large icy bush which stood in the yard, the sun created an effect that was indescribable. (therefore I, a poor author with a small source of words at my charge, will not attempt it)

Her mind overflowing with the glory that she had gazed on, she made her way back into the yard and listlessly walked over to check on the ducks, which were penned by their new small apple orchard. A final glorious sight caught her attention. Two beams of sunlight fell down and kissed the frozen leaves of a little apple tree. It was like a parting blessing, a promise, a gift from God! Overwhelmed with wonder at Gods blessings, the Fair Maiden returned to the house, a very blessed and humbled child.

~Chs

Wednesday Poem

The other day Mom brought up a folder with some children's newsletters that we had published years ago, and in those newsletters I found some beautiful poems written by a certain someone in our family. Some of them would be more appropriate to post in the summer when there are flowers and birds etc, but one poem I found was truly wonderful for any season. It was written after a particularly profound sermon at the church we attended back then. The author said that a particular phrase in the sermon arrested her attention. One of those phrases that sends shivers down your back in awe, so she wrote a poem, (unusual for her, as she is more adept in free verse) sticking that wondrous phrase at the very end of the poem. So without further ado here is:
The Wedding Feast at Cana

The house was in a flurry
On this balmy day in May.
Everything must be perfect,
For the Wedding Feast is today!

The food was made and ready,
All the guests had been invited.
The betrothed young man and maiden,
were soon to be united!

In the middle of the room,
The mother of Jesus stood,
Directing the servants and making sure
everything was put where it should.

A shadow fell across the door,
Mary looked up to see,
Jesus, Andrew, Peter, Nathaniel,
Philip, and the sons of Zebedee.

The festivities were about to start,
Everything was set.
People singing, dancing, devouring the food
And talking with those they had met.

Things were going just as planned,
Everything was fine,
'Till a servant whispered in Mary's ear,
"There isn't any more wine!"

How could this have happened?
They'd planned everything so well!
They needed more wine immediately,
But who could Mary tell?

Her gaze fell upon Jesus,
His hand upon an empty wine cask.
She had a feeling that He could help them,
If only she would ask.

As she approached, He smiled at her.
A gentle, loving smile.
'Son,' she said, 'We are out of wine.
We've been out for quite a while.'

Jesus gently took her hand,
'Woman, what has that to do with me?
My time has not yet come,' He said,
'Don't you see?'

With an answering smile, Mary turned,
To the servants nearby, waiting.
'Do whatever He tells you to do.'
Jesus' mother said, 'Anything.'

'Fill those stone jars with water,' Jesus spoke.
Pointing to where they sat.
The servants did it, but wondered,
Why would He have them do that?

'Now give some to your master to drink.'
The servants were in shock!
Who is this Man who told them to take water?
Their master they did it to mock!

But they poured the cup as this strange Man had said,
And the servants became strangely hushed.
But the conscious water knew its Lord,
and blushed.

By: Faith Ann Sauve

Play day for puppies!

The other day we had some friends over to play, that is canine friends to play with Baby=)
Let me introduce them.

This is Sukie an adorable 2 and 1/2 year old shy but rambunctious terrier mix.

Now meet Quincy, an everything but shy, outgoing, in your face, run circles around you 1 1/2 year old spaniel mix. Mr. Reiche was babysitting them for a mutual friend of ours and brought them over one morning for a fun time.


At first Baby wasn't so sure about these little pups on her property, but she soon forgot her haughtiness and was racing after them like a puppy herself! =)

The goats on the other hand did not change their mind; they absolutely hated the extra dogs on their property.

Sukie and Quincey had boundless energy they ran and ran and ran for at least a hour, and then we took them for a walk=)!!!

Baby had a great time and was completely whipped for the rest of the day. Hope to see you some other day Sukie and Quincy!!

~Chs

A wonderful Thanksgiving Day!

As usual Wednesday (or thanksgiving eve as Josiah calls it:) found all us girls elbow deep in pies, nuts and other sundry things, associated with Thanksgiving.

Faith amazed all again with her swift pie making skills accomplishing the making of 3 pies in less than 2 hours. (quite a feat I assure you, especially when two of them were apple!)

That evening Mumsie and I began on the stuffing. Ohh the beautiful smells that wafted around the house!!! Faith says that onions and celery frying in butter is one of her favorite scents.


One of my absolutely favorite thanksgiving tradition, is getting up early in the morning, when everything is still dark and silent, and then tiptoeing into the kitchen to meet mumsie. Together we carefully drag the turkey out of it's hiding place (this year I brined it over night) and begin to stuff it, all the time very studiously ignoring all the people who say not to stuff it to tightly. After the turkey is safely bestowed in the oven, Mum and I creep back to bed and try to slumber for another hour or so.

5 hours later Mr. Turkey has a beautiful tan, and sits on the counter waiting for our yearly turkey carver, Uncle Paul.


This is the turkeys delicious appearance after uncle Paul was done with him;)


While Uncle Paul was demolishing, I mean carving;) the turkey, Grace and Aunt Carmen were making the mashed potatoes. They got a little carried away and made a huge pot of them, but then we had more for leftover thanksgiving casserole, which was wonderful!


Downstairs Faith had done a stunning job decorating, despite our very sparse supply of decorations.


I am not responsible for any hunger cravings or jealousy that this picture produces:) Seriously though, God has blessed us abundantly and has provided all our needs as the groaning table testifies to that fact.


We all gathered downstairs in hungry anticipation. After Dad read a beautiful thanksgiving psalm and we thanked the LORD for his bountiful blessings, we all dug in.


The table was lively with stories and laughter and of course eating. Everyone was groaning with satisfaction a little while later, and there still was a full platter of turkey!


After a small break, we made ourselves dive into the pies (we had 5 distinct varieties!) and managed to do justice to most of them. We are very thankful for our family that was able to spend time with us this thanksgiving and also especially for John and his wife Mandi who we were so happy to be able to talk to, and see, over skype!!! Technology is so wonderful when you have a brother and family half way across the world=)
"Praise God from whom all blessings flow!"

~Chs

Giving Thanks!

From Websters Dictionary.
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Thanksgivings: 1. Fourth Thursday in November in the United States; second Monday in October in Canada; commemorates a feast held in 1621 by the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag.
2. A short prayer of thanks before a meal.
3. The act of rending thanks, or expressing gratitude for favors or mercies.
4. A public acknowledgment or celebration of divine goodness; also, a day set apart for religious services, specially to acknowledge the goodness of God, either in any remarkable deliverance from calamities or danger, or in the ordinary dispensation of His bounties.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Let us give thanks to the LORD for his favors and mercies which he has heaped upon us this year. Let us take the time out of our busyness to specifically thank the LORD for each individual blessing - whether it is a remarkable deliverance, or in the ordinary dispensation of His bounties.

~Chs

Friendship and Applesauce.

Making applesauce is a delightful thing to do with friends, and last Friday our dear friend Mrs. Winter came over and we helped her make some applesauce for her daughter. Fun Fun!

We used a mix bushel of apples that we got for a outstanding price.

After boiling the apples and putting them through the "squeezo strainer" we returned to the steamy kitchen to can our apple sauce.

When we were all finished a beautiful row of a dozen jars of shiny Applesauce sat on the counter!! Thank you so much Mrs. Winters for letting us "help" you. It was extremely enjoyable!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That evening we had lots of more fun! A couple of our neighbors joined us for dinner, which just happened to be one of our very own chickens.

Isn't it stunning in our new plum crock pot with the bright orange carrots nestled all around it?! Art in the Kitchen;)

After dinner we had a invigorating round of games. The first one was PIT, a very loud very fast pace game.

You basically have to get a set (nine) of one commodity and when you do...

you ring the bell with all your might and call "corner on corn" (or whatever you have). (I know that is very vague, but if you would like to get the details, you will have to come over and play it with us!)

When we were done with PIT (I won by the way:) we played Dutch Blitz. Now that is a fun game! Competitive, fast, and quite a brain worker! It teaches you to do at least two things at once;) We all had a down right wonderful time. Thanks Mr. Bryson, and Matthew for joining us!

~Chs

The attack of the Cabbages

Once upon a time there was an attack of rotting cabbages upon the peaceful valley of Lily Spring. All the inhabitants were terror stricken and did not know what to do, but cowered inside, quivering in fear, till one young lass recovered her senses enough to suggest that they call upon the great warrior; Don Josiah. He had fought many a battle in his days, and had such courage, he would even take on the horde of cabbages. So the great Don came and telling the people to "never fear!!!" he headed out into the barrage of cabbages with his machete in his hand and began to destroy them!

With a ferocity fearful to see he chopped at the cabbages with stunning accuracy. The enemy began to pile at his feet as he slashed this way and that way.


Not a single assailant was allowed to escape.


When the assault ceased, Don Josiah walked among his fallen enemies making sure they were all destroyed. Then in humble triumph he returned to the valley people and announced that they were once again free to play and work outside in their glorious valley of Lily Spring.


As conquering hero's are apt to do, Don Josiah departed among the cheers of the villagers leaving the lasses to clean up after his exploit.
(this is an embellished and elaborate account of a true happening)

~Chs

A Quote to Meditate on this Wednesday.

He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep,
to gain what he cannot lose.
~Jim Elliot

Bocce Ball

This last Wednesday, if you had been looking for us you would have found our entire family, at the famous Palazzo di Bocce, a beautiful and fancy Italian restaurant with bocce courts.

(no I did not take this photo, and do not know to whom the credit belongs, and all of the rest of the pictures were taken by Grace and therefore the credit belongs to her:)

Our friend Mr. Ostrander, who goes to our church, plays on a league there and invited us all out for a treat.

Now if you have never played the game here is a brief overview of how it goes. First you divide yourselves into two teams, and half of each team goes down to the other end of the court. Then the team who starts takes the small ball called the pallino and tosses it down the court.

Then (in an order which I will not take the time to explain now) the teams throw down their balls each trying to control their ball and get it as close to the pallino as possible.

The team who gets their balls closest to the pallino gets a point. It was a great game, for even the littlest ones could play, and sometime they were even better at it, for us adults with muscles had a hard time keeping our balls from flying across the court with great force and not even getting close to the pallino.

Thank you so much Ostranders for providing such a fun afternoon for us. Our whole family enjoyed it to the point that we are contemplating going again and taking some friends. If you all have never played Bocce, I suggest you try it. It really is quite easy..... once you know how.

~Chs