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Counting my blessings each day is a great consolation after a hard season of time.  Vividly real to me are the sorrows of others on the path I so recently walked.  For us here 2017 was a year of great loss. Numerous challenges faced us daily and the land sat barren as the seasons came and went.  

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This day, I feel my prayers are emotionally driven.  They are filled with love and sincerity for those in need, for my country and the world.  Daily struggles are an exemplary teacher in the matter of greater understanding.

At Root Cellar Farm the desolate year brought much time for evaluating the years to come.  Considering options and researching possibilities took me back to days of gardening on a ¼ acre - give or take some. Those days were good.  My first share of organic produce sold grew on that small beginning.  Looking back, they were also years of hardships.  The reality of life.

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Oh, but I would not change a day in the past, if my today would be different.

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My life has been full and rich with experiences, happy and sad.  This I wish to continue.  To create an environment that will nurture my desire I must begin to make changes over a period of 3 to 4 years.  Changes that would make the farm manageable for a person with limited mobility and offer more time for leisure. 

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It is a good thing that I, like many homesteaders, enjoy a challenge.

Today!  February began with babies.  While celebrating our Grandsons 16th birthday, 2 of our does gave birth.  We are very thankful that the day was warm, like spring.  One birth was 3 weeks early. Momma goat, Joy, had quintuplets.  “5” beautiful does!  We promptly forgave her for the early birth.

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May the New Year be what I choose to make it.  Thankful, compassionate, and merciful to those in need.  May you make the New Year memorable as well.

                 Laurie Jane

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