pleasantly exhausted

What a wonderful weekend it is turning out to be. Jenny is visiting with her boys. Today we cleaned the chicken coop. Ten willing (well, various levels of willingness) hands made it much easier a task. Nonetheless, it was still a backbreaking chore. It was really messy.

With the chicken coop cleaned, Tim, the twelve year old, and I went partridge hunting. No birds today, but yesterday he shot one. His first bird on his first time bird hunting.

We are having a game dinner of partridge, pheasant and mallard. It should be wonderful. We are going to perform a science experiment on the canned sauerkraut later. We will be testing the acidity of the kraut with litmus paper. Canned kraut is supposed to have a ph of 4 to be safe. (I actually tested it myself earlier and it looks to be right at 4.)

Although I have been teaching for almost 20 years, I have never had children of my own. I am not used to having them in the house 24 hours a day. It's been wonderful but exhausting. I have the utmost respect for parents everywhere.

I have lined up a "farm-sitter" for Jenny and I's retreat to a Benedictine Monastery. It will be wonderful weekend of prayer and togetherness. The retreat is over Valentines day and is focused on praying and meditating together as a couple. We are both looking forward to the weekend immensely.

We went as a family to a "Farmer's Mixer" last night. It was organized by the local food co-op and was a chance for local, small, sustainable farmers to meet and network. It sounds like there is quite a market for local, pasture raised beef and pork. Something to think about for the future. Both of those are possibilities for us. My property is fenced for cattle and it is possible that it could be modified for pigs as well.

Everything about this weekend has been such a blessing. Even my sore back and exhausted muscles. It feels good to get some good hard chores done. God is being such a "show-off". I am feeling truly, truly blessed.