Thursday, November 24, 2011

Gratitude

Happy Thanksgiving!

I know it's cliche to talk about gratitude on Thanksgiving. Today isn't really Thanksgiving for us, we'll be having our holiday meal tomorrow.

Today is a day for cleaning and cooking. I'll be brining the turkey for the first time. It will also be the first time I've eaten a turkey that I raised myself. Back in the summer I bought two turkey poults at the feed store. They lived in a washtub in my spare bedroom until they were old enough to go outside.n They spent all summer and fall as the Integrated Pest Management Crew. In other words, they ate a lot of bugs.






                                                                 My how he's grown.

I processed one turkey a few weeks ago. He was in the freezer but is now thawing in the fridge. The big guy in the picture received a stay of execution when the weather turned cold and I came down with bronchitis.

What does this have to do with gratitude? Well, my presentation to the class was a bit of a wake up call. You see, I usually hang with people whose priorities are similar to my own. It's only natural, that whole "birds of a feather" thing. So I rarely have to justify my lifestyle choices. Some folks may look at my life and see what I don't have. I look around and see abundance.





In a time when farm families are wondering if the new Farm Bill will put them out of business, I carry no debt other than my mortgage and I have very few bills to pay each month. My home is peaceful (when the dog isn't playing with his favorite cat). I don't have the worries and pressures I used to.





This is a sleepy time pf year on the Not-So-Urban homestead. The fruit trees have lost their leaves but the end of each branch is thick with fat buds just waiting for spring.





The little chicks I hatched out last spring have been laying for awhile now. Soon they'll need a more substantial home. For now they are conditioning the soil in the raised beds.


The incubator is full and new peeps should start hatching out tonight and tomorrow.

I have big plans for the spring. I don't want to jinx it by announcing the next step in the dream that is this microfarm. Remember us in your prayers, if you will. I'll keep you posted.

1 comment:

  1. LOVE your blog, Amy!!! you're living the life that I look forward to living...can't quite do it yet, but while I'm waiting for my acreage, I'm learning skills that will be needed, and brushing up on skills that've gotten rusty since I grew up on a farm. reading 'bout your li'l homestead is so encouraging for me, and I've needed that, of late. LOL...I've been letting the scoffers and nay-sayers get to me, I'm afraid!!! but no more!!! even tho today isn't Thanksgiving for me, I'm grateful that, while I wait for my homestead, I have people like you to learn from...thank you, my friend!!!

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