A Day of Rest

When honoring the Sabbath as our day of rest, after church one day we took the time to explore our property outdoors as a family and enjoy the beautiful weather and time together.  We stay so busy that even when in the same house we often do not get much time together.  Especially for Joe and I who seem to be preoccupied with individual projects and responsibilities.  We welcomed the respite while taking the opportunity to uncover more surprises that we did not know existed on the land.  For instance, we knew that we had a wet weather creek, then our neighbor informed us that it is actually spring fed.  He told Joe that the head of it is nearby on the other side of our 37 acre plot.  Still needs a little digging out and hopefully will prove to be a great source for our pond that Joe has decided to dig.  Actually two, in various locations.  Also, we have since discovered several apple and peach trees in the front that hopefully after a little pruning will yield well.  Course the numerous blackberries and raspberries on the mountain along with wild cherry trees are virtual gold mines in my eyes.  Mature fruit yielding trees are something I had hoped for but hadn't noticed until things began to bloom.  We feel very blessed to find these little treasures as it's yet another step towards our goal in being more in charge of our food supply.

Off for a little adventure behind the house on one of the paths up our mountain:



Stopping to look at the many finds.  The previous owner had cleared twelve foot wide trails but had grown up some.  We look forward to having them cleared so we can hike, run and four-wheel at our leisure.



It's Farmer Joe!  Actually the overalls were given to him by my dad when he worked for Osh Kosh years ago.  Finally he can wear them and not look out of place like in the subdivision!



William being so young yet, made it difficult navigating the overgrowth so we never covered the entire mountain.  As he grows and with trails cleared we'll be granted more freedom to explore as a family.  He does well all things considered, but the fast walking makes him a little uneasy.  I remember the first hike with Noah when he was around four months, Joe and I thought we could move like we always had...and at the same speed.  We were naive to think we could actually hike for hours in the heat! Noah quickly let us know otherwise, wailing most of the duration, ugh!



A beautiful view of the valley from our back yard.



I love photos of barns!  This is our neighbor's...rather picture worthy wouldn't you say?



Another photo worthy candidate...our sweet big girl. 



"Gadol" the horse next door that Noah affectionately re-named (as we don't know the real name) to mean 'strong' in Hebrew has become a great friend.  She's very sweet and will come right to our fence for hand fulls of clover and rubs on her nose.  The man leasing the land for the horse is selling her and we've contemplated the purchase, but don't feel quite ready to take on the responsibility...just yet.  I've prayed for God to send the animals to us, so if she's around when we're ready we'll know she's a keeper!






I love, love, love the land here!  Especially after the hay has been cut.  Our home nestles in the valley below the mountain, tucked away from the busyness.  We're looking forward to finding many more surprises and enjoying the recreation that this beautiful area brings.