Late in the day, after gathering together around the table for our evening meal, the Middles take turns with dishes. The washer of the dishes is the master of music for evening chore time. The selection is varied and sometimes, like tonight, one of the choices resonates far longer than the tune lasts. Sitting here, at the end of a… Read More »A Fitting Song
Once upon a time, our little cottage was also a farm. And on that farm we had some hens. And those hens gave us the very best gift of the very best eggs. Golden eggs, we thought. But the skies darkened over that little farm, and one by one, and sometimes two by two, those poor little hens were being… Read More »Baby Chicks!
Maddie wanted to rearrange her bedroom, but needed a different (shorter) dresser in order to do what she wanted. Sophie had the perfect dresser, so we decided to switch them. But first Maddie needed to clean out her room and get rid of some things. She sleeps in a narrow room, so there isn’t much room for furniture and stacking… Read More »Switching Around
First of all, this is a completely photo free post. I know. It violates many blog rules. But I’m okay with that. I’d rather post without a photo and have a record of what’s happening in our lives than succumb to the pressure to only post with a photo and then never post at all. Oh, that’s nice. That no… Read More »Loving Spring
I know today is officially the first day of spring, but I think I must have woken up on April Fool’s Day instead. Everything is still completely covered in snow. Usually by this time of year I’ve started cleaning up the yard and the perennial beds, but this year I can’t even find them. Somewhere, buried out there under too… Read More »First day of spring?
My husband has been dealing with a lot of crazy things at his job lately. When he comes in the door at the end of a very long day, I want him to feel like he’s entering a sanctuary, not a project with endless lists of things that need to be done. I really want him to be able to… Read More »Loving Home
The never ending list of things to do gives us a chance to work and play with the kids. I’m sure that there are times that they wish we didn’t include them, but often the rewards outweigh the tasks. Coffee is greatly enjoyed by my husband and I. Sometimes decaf, sometimes half-caffeine, sometimes full on caffeine, but always, yes, ALWAYS… Read More »Men at Work
Maddie moved into her own room about 2 years ago. Up until then she and Zach shared a bedroom. But then Josh left for school so Zach took his room. And Emma and Sophie needed to move out of our bedroom because Silas was just born and we didn’t really have room for five in our bedroom. So Emma and… Read More »Maddie’s Room Redo
Several weeks ago we welcomed back home some of our old friends. They had been staying with some friends of ours for a while. At the time, we needed to scale back a little and our friends wanted to explore the world of farm animals a little. It was the perfect solution, so we sent our goats to live with… Read More »They’re Baaaa-ck
Once all the cutting was done, it was time for the next step in our wood gathering winter prep. All those logs need to be split into smaller pieces that will actually fit in the wood stove. The old-fashioned axe and stump and lots of labor sounds romantic. Unless you’re the one assigned the job and you try to split… Read More »How Much Wood :: Split