No.828: Last Week at the Farmhouse // The Stars Always Shine

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The sky was gloomy and the rain poured this week.  My melancholic temperament quickly followed suit.  I felt discouraged about so many things – finances, strained relationships, the transfer of our beloved pastor to a new parish, my children’s behavior, bad news story after bad news story, chickens killed by that sneaky fox…it all felt so heavy.

But like always happens to me lately, a quote I read somewhere came to mind.  (I often jot down little things I read, even if they don’t seem applicable at the time.  They always seem to be useful later on down the road!)  I’m paraphrasing, but it basically said, “The stars always shine, even if humanity cannot see them.”  Even though we can’t see the stars during the day, they are still there, shining brightly.  What a comforting thought, right?  I think there’s symbolism with our good Lord there somewhere.

So we carry on!  Here’s hoping for a better week…and some sunshine would be great too.

Hoping to document the abundance around me all year long!

Around here, abundance looks like…

+ going through our budget with a fine-toothed comb.  Time to stop feeling like we’re always on the defensive and get on the offensive!  I signed back into Dave Ramsey’s Every Dollar (free!) budgeting program and love how easy it is to tweak the numbers.

+ decluttering with a new fervor!  I’ve done this before…when life feels crazy, I attempt ridiculous projects.  I’m calling this one the “Seven Year Clean.”  We will have lived in this house seven years this summer and it feels like the right time to go through every bin and drawer and closet.  This borders on absolute insanity and I’m definitely in the “it has to get worse before it gets better” stage, but I think it’s a good summer project if I can keep up the momentum.

+ figuring out the Rubix Cube puzzle!  My kids have been on a mission to solve it and after watching this video, my daughter finally did it!

+ selling twelve unneeded items for the Farm Sitter Vacation Fund: eight pieces of clothing, one bag, one book and two piece of curriculum.  After shipping and fees, I made $126.39!

Reading //

• Here’s How Much the Definition of Middle Class Has Changed in Every State from GO Banking Rates
• How the American middle class has changed in the past five decades from Pew Research Center (2022 numbers)
• What It Takes to Be Middle Class in America’s Largest Cities – 2023 Study from Smart Asset
• this quote from “Six Agricultural Fallacies” by Wendell Berry in Home Economics //

From an agricultural point of view, a better word than production is thrift.  It is a better word because it implies a fuller accounting.  A thrifty person is undoubtedly a productive one, but thriftiness also implies a proper consideration for the means of production.  To be thrifty is to take care of things; it is to thrive – that is, to be healthy by being a part of health.  One cannot be thrifty alone; one can only be thrifty insofar as one’s land, crops, animals, place, and community are thriving. (p.128)

New Additions to The List // 

• Face: One Square Foot of Skin by Justine Bateman // A reflection about society’s view on aging women and her author’s rejection of that thinking.
• The Story of the Trapp Family Singers by Maria A. Trapp

Watching/Listening //

• Leanne Morgan Comedy // She is a hoot.

Loving //

• this recipe for roasted chicken thighs // I changed up the seasoning a bit, but still delicious.