Mud, Manure, and Memorabilia

I think that I am quickly becoming accustomed to life in the country. Perhaps I am enjoying it a little too much right now. I am waiting for hard reality to hit, yet all I feel is the growing enchantment and freedom of country life. Everything is more beautiful in the country. The air is fresher, the grass greener, and the scenes more breathtaking. That is my very humble and undecided opinion.

After settling into the house, our thoughts begin to turn to the outdoors and the plans for next years garden. Finally, we decided that it was time to do something about our garden space. Jonathon looked on Craigslist and found someone that was getting rid of horse manure for free. Horse manure is not the best, I know, but you can't beat free and we needed to get our garden covered. So yesterday, Jonathon, Daddy, and I drove out to Battleground and shoveled manure into the back of Daddy's pick-up.

Daddy's truck has been officially initiated into country life now. Daddy's one compromise was to put a lining of plastic all over his truck bed before we shoveled the manure in. I am sure that farmers would laugh at us, but I think it will not be long before even the plastic is gone and Daddy resigns his truck to life on a farm.





The soil is frozen and so it was hard to work. It thawed out a little yesterday, but not enough to hoe the entire garden. I think we will have to cover the garden with compost and then wait until spring to use a rototiller.

After two weeks in the country, Daddy and Mommy realized that mud boots were a necessity. So we took a family trip down to Wilcos and bought boots for everyone. We just got black PVC boots, not pretty, but functional. Ania, however, got beautiful, red ladybug mud boots. She definitely looks like a classy farm girl.

The day that we got the boots, Austin, Annalise, and Ania went outdoors to play. When they came to the door an hour or so later, they were covered in mud. We discovered that they had made a mud puddle outdoors with the hose and spent the last half hour or so in jumping into the mud puddle. When questioned as to their reason for making such a mess, Austin replied with some surprise, "That's what the mud boots are for." You just can't argue with that logic.

Later in the day, they further complicated matters by deciding to give Bear (our dog) a bath in the garage with the hose. The results were less than satisfactory.

Grandpa and Grandma both came up for Christmas and we had a wonderful time with them. Grandpa even got caught up into the farming life (or at least pretended to). ;-)

We decided that in order to really become farmers we had to have a fire in our fireplace every once in a while. So we eased ourselves into the wood buying industry by purchasing a half cord of wood. We wheeled it back to the porch and stacked it neatly outside of our back door. The fireplace is not designed to be a great source of heat, but at least it looks pretty with the flames dancing inside.

As for the children, they couldn't be happier. They are spending more time outside during the winter then they ever did during the summertime at our old home. They are thriving in the fresh air and wide open spaces. This will be a very pleasant place for them to grow up. They are going to have to learn to take responsibility and pull their own weight, as there is going to be a lot that needs to be done as we busy ourselves with gardening and animals, but I think that it will be very good for them.

I am very grateful that God brought us here. It is definitely worth all the months of doubt and uncertainty that preceded our move here. It is easy to know intellectually that God has a plan for our lives which He is working out, but when the unknown stretches before you, it is hard to trust that His plan is perfect. So often we want to jump in and orchestrate things ourselves. Yet, in His mercy, God gently leads us, keeps us from making great errors, and lets us struggle with our own headstrong desires to take the lead before gently bringing us to the place where He wants us to be.

White, feathery flakes have just begun to fall from the sky. It is the first snow of winter here. Can it get any better than this?