I hope nobody believes me when I say “I’ll be writing here more often.”

Trust me, every time I say it, it’s a lie.

But it’s New Year’s Day! The Feast of the Circumcision of Jesus! I’m feeling all wrapped up in potentialities. So here I am, plying you all with false promises again. I hope to write here more often in the coming year.

Go ahead, laugh…we all know it’s not likely to happen.

But, here we go – let’s just catch up a bit.

Winter

What is going on with the weather!? Snow storms, rain storms, bitter cold, surprising warmth.. I can’t plan for anything right now, and that’s just obnoxious. This winter has been full of ups and downs – weather-wise. Right now, I’m missing the wintery weather and longing for another snow storm. But the animals are soaking up the sunlight and it is nice to use less firewood for a while.

We’re drinking a lot of tea – I have an evening adaptogen blend (more on that later this month?) that is doing wonders for my sleep. I’m in love with Singing Rooster Haitian Coffee for the mornings. I’m also starting a slow redecorating of my house this month – winter is such a fun time to make the house as cozy as possible.

Home-work

When I deep clean or redecorate, I like to think of my house as a giant clock. I call the door 6 o’ clock, which makes the bathroom door 12-ish o clock. Then, I pick a spot on the clock and work clockwise all the way around. This time I’m starting at the altar – 11 o clock – and doing more serious improvements. Since we’re hoping to move the yurt to a new spot this year, I’m not going to do anything extreme. But we’ve been in the yurt for 12.5 years now and it definitely needs a face-lift.

Writing

I’m writing a lot more on the side this winter. Collecting stories about the adventures of our old dog, Luba for the kids and working on my eternally unfinished book of folklore. Most of the latter is handwritten, which means I regularly lose sections and find others. Maybe during my home’s face-lift I’ll find all the scattered bits and put it into some sort of order.

Training

Our sweet puppy is now a big boy, and something of a menace on the road. He’s been raiding trashcans when we’d hoped he was just chasing rabbits near the stream – so now he’s in a period of intensive retraining. He is not happy about it, but it’s been good for all of us. In fact, it’s encouraged us to look a little closer at some of the bad habits we’ve picked up as a family. The kids and I are working towards a more self-disciplined, creatively challenging, and focused winter in our schooling and chores.

Looking Forward…

This spring, Seth is heading out to Ohio for The Healing Land’s Homesteading Conference. He’ll be talking about off-grid homesteading and catching up with old friends. It’ll be an amazing event, so if you have time to travel, head over!

And if you want to read more about my impressions of The Healing Land venture in Ohio, along with rambling thoughts and unsolicited advice, I wrote a bit about it for Catholic Stand last fall.

Happy New Year, everyone! I’m looking forward to sharing 2023 with you in whatever inconsistent way I can. Each year is such a beautiful mystery – full of uncertain hopes, soul-altering sorrows, and the sweet presence of Christ.