Our building project is finished.
And it is a little anti-climatic.
The movers brought our household goods and I had no idea we had so much. Really, why does anyone have so much?
I have cleaned, moved,organized and unpacked and finally got the garage unpacked. We need shelves out there or we will only be able to park on one side.
We decorated for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving and the house looks so festive. But I am having a hard time enjoying it because I keep thinking about taking it all down and putting it away.
It really seems that A.L.L. I have done this entire year is sort, pack, unpack and organize....
I am so thankful for all the joyful help we have had to get to this point. It was so much more fun when sang, laughed, joked and teased.
A joyful heart is good medicine.

Sometimes the serenity of this place overwhelms me.
Sky and clouds and mountains and trees.
The absolute beauty of creation.
Everywhere I look there is something living.
It is still now as the creatures out my window are safely in their nests and resting places. Even the sheep are huddled together in their shelter for warmth.

Peace quiets my heart and mind and the day fades into shadow.

May the glory of the LORD endure forever; May the LORD rejoice in His works. Psalm 104:31

Thanks Giving

It seems everyone is falling in line on Facebook and posting what they are thankful for each day in November.

I think it's a wonderful thought and I am so glad that my friends are taking the time to be thankful.

But it is not for me. Some thing's are too beautiful for words and would feel trite.

And, I just feel rebellious and don't want to follow suit.

I don't want to have traditions that other people establish.

So, I am not participating in the thanks giving on FB. I just want my thankfulness not to feel forced. I want to truly be thankful for all things and not just good things.
I want my life to be a life of thankfulness and praise to the Creator.

I want to *walk* in thankfulness.

To be so much in each moment that the thankfulness overwhelms me.
Posting each day on FB is a great idea and I am glad that someone started the 'tradition'. Limiting my thanks to 25 or 30 days would be impossible.

I would rather do this instead.

Someone else started it but I can do it my own way, in my own time.

There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens

Living in the country again has taught and re-taught me many things this year.

As we are in the middle of Autumn and the trees are starting to loose their leaves I find myself dreading the cold winter months.

I never before realized how important Fall is to trees and plants.
Fall is the best time to transplant, divide and prune.
The trees rob their leaves of food and fortify their roots to keep them healthy through the winter.

So, when the trees look dead in the winter they are really just sleeping and waiting.

I have enjoyed the changes day to day as new trees turn yellow, orange or red.
And sometimes the beauty of this place takes my breath away.
I have been a distracted driver more than once as I have been gazing at the colors out my car window.

But all the while in the back of my mind I have been thinking 'this is not going to last, it is only a short season, so enjoy it to the fullest, winter will be here before you know it.'

And I wish I could learn that lesson in life.

That each season has it's beauty and won't last forever.

And it seems that each time I get used to a season it begins to change.

For two weeks we have been receiving final records and official papers marking Tracy's retirement. The first retirement check came in the mail yesterday and as we turn the corner into this new season of life I am filled with anticipation as well as a bit of fear.

There are so many unique things about our life right now and this year has been a time of change, growth and pruning.

As the trees get ready for their long winter's rest we will be diligently trying to finish this building project and adjusting to so many things new.

I will try to enjoy it all.

To look for the beauty in it and to remind myself that this is only a season and it won't last forever.

¹ There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:

² a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
³ a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
⁴ a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
⁵ a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
⁶ a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
⁷ a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
⁸ a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

Ecclesiates 3:1-8

Finally Pictures......

oops.......

Okay.

The pictures that were supposed to be in that last post are not there and I don't know why and I don't know how to fix it so I am going to post the pictures separately. Yes, I know that was a run on sentence but sometimes that is the only way to express how I feel.

We worked so hard last week to finish the front of the house.

Tracy put up the siding on the gable on Thursday and I cut soffit for him on Friday and he was able to get that done Friday morning. Then Friday evening he and I stained the front of the garage. I think you can barely make out the walk board still up in front of the garage.
I know what I don't want to do for a living-that walk board is scary when you get up high.
Needless to say we worked fast at the top.

The trees are just starting to change color in these pictures and there is no real way to capture the beauty of our woods. It is a glorious to walk back through them now with all the colorful trees and the leaves that are starting to fall.

The road in front of our house at sunset. There is a red barn to the right of this picture and horses in the field bound by the white fence.

Our sunroom and back gable of the garage still need siding and trim but we are so happy that we have accomplished so much.
The back of the house and the side of the house with the sun room still need to be stained but we will get to it eventually. The house was already stained so it is not a really big deal if it takes a while to get it done-we just have to live in a house of two different colors.

But that is the least of our worries.

The drywall guys should be finished this week or early next week (we hope). They came today and put the first coat of 'mud' on the walls. There are two more coats to come and then sanding.
So, I may be optimistic if I think they will be finished by the beginning of next week.
Then the painting of the interior walls will begin.
We are motivated though and that will be the fun part since we have spent weeks choosing colors for our new rooms.

And, of course, buying lights and choosing carpet is always fun.

The new gas stove Tracy installed a couple of weeks ago.
We love it and it heats the entire great room, kitchen and loft.
We decided against a wood burning stove or fireplace since the girls and I have allergies.

The view from the front porch one afternoon last week.

Those trees that are in the sunlight in this picture are starting to change color right now and it is so much fun to watch the view change from day to day.
The reds and oranges are beautiful this year.
We have four little maple trees along the road that we planted the first year we built the cabin. Two of them have grown a lot but the other two have lagged behind. A couple of years ago they both looked like they were dead or dying but we left them and they have come back and are healthy this year.
They are all orange right now.

I really didn't realize how much I had missed being here in Virginia in the fall. And being able to be near so many things that are alive has been wonderful. Things grow so well here. Tracy had a couple of tomato plants sprout up just from some tomatoes that were thrown out. They just popped up and thrived with no help or care. They even produced fruit!
We have put out 'critter' food and put bird seed in our feeder. There are so many different birds and lots of cute chipmunks, grey squirrels, fox squirrels and even a southern flying squirrel. We haven't seen any deer for a couple of weeks but wild turkey have been spotted and yesterday morning I heard them at about 5 a.m.

I just can't help feeling so close to the Lord, so at peace, and so content here.
Even though there is so much to do.
It gives me joy.

God made the country and man made the town. William Cowper


Edited to add-the pictures for this blog did not load and I just don't want to fix it all so the pictures are in a separate blog.