Homemaking on the Homestead

  It's no secret to those who know me, I am not a fan of winter! I don't like being cold, I don't like the long dark gray days we can have here in the Pacific Northwest and long nights. Each year I seem to go into a winter funk. Last year I decided to try something new and that is, learn to embrace each season for it's uniqueness and difference from the last. Find the positive, find the blessings. As long as I continue to tell myself I don't like winter, I won't see anything different. Here is some of what I have discovered. Winter is a lot about resting. The trees that look dead are not dead, they are resting in preparation for the spring. In the past very little to no traveling was done in the winter. People rested. Not the rest and sleep type rest as life still has to go forward each day. The type of rest that you do when you can't move about as easily as other seasons. The type of rest where more time is spent at home with family or friends. Maybe ...

Wednesday Snap Shot is a quick peek into my week. If you'd like to join in on my Wednesday Snap Shot.. copy and paste my post, add your answers (you can also copy the pic).. link your post to my blog and then come back and let me know you shared your week. I'll come and visit you and read about your homemaking week!! :) So Far This Week What a week it is has been! I've been battling winter here and that is why Wednesday Snap Shot is so late this week. I had a lot of nice things to say about this last week and was ready to put out my post on Wednesday. But, I woke up to no power and the worst ice storm I've ever seen in 20 years of living here. Everything was covered in a thick coat of ice. Yesterday evening we finally got our power on. It had been almost 3 full days. The ice was so thick that it brought down tress and branches everywhere. It sounded like I was living in a war zone as I saw and heard branches and trees falling right and left wi...

Wednesday Snap Shot is a quick peek into my week. If you'd like to join in on my Wednesday Snap Shot.. copy and paste my post, add your answers (you can also copy the pic).. link your post to my blog and then come back and let me know you shared your week. I'll come and visit you and read about your homemaking week!! :) So Far This Week What a weekend it was! We don't get a lot of snow over the winter. But when a snowstorm does hit, sometimes it can be a big one. It started Wednesday afternoon but only left a dusting and I thought that might be all. But no, it began snowing again on Thursday and all day Friday and well into the night. By the time I got up on Saturday morning we were in a winter wonderland. I might appreciate snow more if it was not such a challenge here. And if I did not have children out driving in it. My husband grew up in the Midwest so he seems to manage well in adverse winter conditions. But here in the Northwest we never seem t...

I am happy to see January over. It is always the longest darkest feeling month of the year. The weather in PNW has not been to bad. We've had some snow, but mostly it has been rain, as typical. Gray days are getting old. Yesterday it rained almost all day and was very gray. At one point the rain stopped and the fog set it. I could barely see anything outside... I am enjoying the fact that the days are getting a little longer. Every now and again we are starting have some sunny days and I'm feeling that spring can not be too far away! I've seen a few more birds out and am waiting until I hear some pond noises (frogs croaking). All are sure signs of the changing seasons. I know that baby chicks have arrived in the feed stores. It does make me want to pick up a half a dozen.. :) But, I'll just be patient and wait until next year, I think, ha, ha.. One thing I have done this winter is to read more (at least more than I do during the busier months of t...

I posted this article a couple years ago. Winter time blues are a real thing. I do find since I started walking and working on fitness it seems to be a bit easier. Also, as #13 says, acceptance of the season has helped but more than that I'm learning to embrace each season, be content and just roll with it. The seasons go by quickly and it is important to realize this and let God help me to appreciate all the little things that make each and every season beautiful and unique.  I don’t know about you but personally I deal with the winter time blues. It’s not bad but it is something I’ve dealt with for a long time. As soon as the weather warms up, the days get longer, the trees start to bloom, the birds and frogs are back making their spring time noises, I start feeling much better! But in the meantime the stark look of winter and short days are just no fun. However there are a few things that I’ve learned to do over the years to pull me out of it all and learn t...

The sun is shining, the days are long, the heat is wonderful (at least in my view ~smile~) and winter seems to be a far off distant thought. But one thing I know, as surely as the sun rises and sets, winter will be here. The endless days of rain, cold, snow will come. And we will need to keep warm. We heat with wood. We have a wood furnace that is our only source of heat. It does an amazing job heating our home. It is in the basement with a vent up to the main floor. We keep it going all through the later fall, winter and spring. In the summer my hubby and sons have the task of bringing in the wood for the year. Our property is covered in trees and every year we’ve lived here we’ve been able to glean the wood needed to keep us warm (we burn about 6 or so cords of wood each year). Normally we find fallen trees (from winter storms), large limbs that need to be cut from other trees, or select trees to take down to make room for other trees that are still growing. This y...

I don’t know about you but personally I deal with the winter time blues. It’s not bad but it is something I’ve dealt with for a long time. As soon as the weather warms up, the days get longer, the trees start to bloom, the birds and frogs are back making their spring time noises, I start feeling much better! But in the meantime the stark look of winter and short days are just no fun. However there are a few things that I’ve learned to do over the years to pull me out of it all and learn to make the most of this time of year.    1. Lights I’m not talking about the fancy SAD type lights (although I’ve heard they are helpful), I tend to turn on every light in the house during the day. Maybe because I live in an area that can be rather gray and gloomy most of the time I’ve found this to be very helpful. 2. Candles Candles create a mood, a good mood for me. I find pretty smelling candles and light them. This is especially nice in the evenings. 3. Exe...