January Musings and Planning for Spring!

 Jan here, in the middle of a gray January afternoon.

We had fog on Saturday morning, and the temperatures hovered around 28° all day long...and that means freezing fog, or hoarfrost! I remember reading about hoarfrost in old stories (maybe Dickens?) and thinking how awfully cold it sounded.

I was right. Even though the temps were warmer than they could be for January, the chilly damp seeps into your bones. But Sam didn't seem to care.

While Jack happily snoozes in the house, Sam can't wait to go outside. And he loves posing for pictures! As soon as he sees the camera, he sits. Silly dog!

And the leash? A necessary item. We have a herd of about two dozen mule deer in our neighborhood. They wander around eating whatever they can find, and often take their afternoon siestas in our yard. On Saturday they were at the neighbor's and Sam was safely on his leash.

It's not so much that I'm worried about him chasing the deer as it is that the deer can be dangerous. There are two good-sized bucks in our little herd, and they can kill a dog that they see as a threat.

One of the things Sam and I did on his walk was to visit our garden.

Yes! This is new! We have four units in our building and last year three out of the four of us decided to start a shared garden space. Last summer the younger one of us spent his spare time putting in a fence (it's nearly complete.) The ground has been tilled, covered with composted horse manure, tilled again, and is enjoying a winter of snow fertilizer. In the spring we'll be ready to plant.

We have an 8' x 10' spot, and I hope it will be this end. I plan to put in some perennial plants right away (rhubarb and asparagus,) so I often cast a longing look toward this corner. :-)

While I wait, I spend many hours planning the garden. Unlike Ruthy, I am NOT planning to plant thousands of mums! Eventually I hope to grow all of our summer produce here. But for the first year, I'm sticking with some tried and true easy friends - beans, radishes, lettuce, spinach, zucchini, potatoes, and peppers, among others. I know it will take a few years to get the garden up to speed. After all, a year ago this was a grassy meadow!

Another chore we took care of on Saturday afternoon was doing an inventory of our food storage pantry and freezer. We straightened, counted, and planned what we needed to bring the inventory up to the next level. We're ready for a blizzard (whenever the next one comes!)

Then, once the dogs were walked and before it's time to start supper, I turned my attention to this project!

I love this picture. Years ago when I had just graduated from college, I backpacked through Europe. One day I visited Neuschwanstein Castle. I stayed at the Youth Hostel in nearby Fussen the night before, then walked to the castle. I took the tour, then also toured nearby Hohenschwangau - King Ludwig's ancestral home. (To tell the truth, I enjoyed Hohenschwangau more!) While I was on that tour, I might have touched the piano that Richard Wagner played when he visited the royal family.

While I work on this puzzle, those memories swirl through my mind. What a wonderful way to spend a long winter afternoon, don't you think? And it's a good thing I'm enjoying it, because this puzzle is HUGE! 2000 pieces! Four and a half feet long! Two feet wide! 

But before I knew it, it was time to go upstairs and fix supper. This night it was my favorite Tuscan Style Soup, aka "Zuppa Toscana." You can find the recipe here.

It may have been a quiet afternoon, but, you know, I enjoy those times. Life is hectic enough. Sometimes we just need to slow down, muse on the future, and soak in some quiet peace.

What kinds of things fill your quiet afternoons?

Jan Drexler has always been a "book girl" who still loves to spend time within the pages of her favorite books. She lives in the Black Hills of South Dakota with her dear husband of many years and their active, crazy dogs, Jack and Sam. You can learn more about Jan and her books on her website, www.JanDrexler.com.

Why Do We Do What We Do?

Jan here, continuing with a theme I started on Seekerville last Monday. (You can read that post here.)

Why have I been thinking about goals and planning for the future so much lately? I was going to blame it on age, but then I realized that our family has gone through huge upheavals in the past few years - most of them very good - but all of them stressful to some degree or another. When you add it all up, I don't wonder why I have trouble sleeping sometimes. :-)

The defining moment in that process of change came when we met with our financial planner last spring. We were going through our retirement goals (yes, it's that time of life,) and he went through the list of dreams most people have. But none of those normal goals got to the heart of what we have been dreaming of for years.

We don't want to go on lovely cruises, or take a trip around the world.

We don't want to build a dream home in some exotic location like Florida or Hawaii.

We don't want to try to come up with new hobbies to fill our time.

And we certainly don't want to sit back and do nothing!

Except when we've reached the end of the
trail in Custer State Park!

No. When we think about retirement, we think about doing pretty much what we're doing now, but at a different elevation.

You see, when our financial adviser asked what our retirement dream was, we hesitated. Not because we weren't sure what it was, but because it has been such a long-held dream...could we really achieve it? Could it be?

His response was: Why not?

So we've started searching for that little place. A cabin in the woods. A spot in the Hills. Land. Trees. Wildlife. Stars. Quiet.

A place we can share with friends and family. A place that will fill our days with the joyful pleasure of God's creation.

This poem sums it up quite nicely:

A Little Home

by Florence Bone

God send us a little home;

To come back to when we roam.

Wooden floors and fluted tiles;

Wide windows, a view for miles.

Red firelight and deep chairs;

Small white beds upstairs.

Great talk in little nooks;

soft colors, rows of books.

One picture on each wall;

not many things at all.

God send us a little ground;

Tall trees stand 'round.

Homely flowers in fertile sod;

Over head, thy stars, O God.

God bless thee when winds blow;

Our home and all we know.

When work gets toilsome, life's pressures mount, and things don't seem to be going the way I thought they would...when I start wondering why do I do what I do?

That's when I read this little poem again, and remember that there is a goal and a plan...in God's way and in God's time.

Have you thought about what you do? Why do you go to work each day? What goals do you have for your future? What are you working toward?

Share them here, if you'd like to!

Jan Drexler lives in the Black Hills of South Dakota with her husband and growing family. When she isn't writing, she loves hiking in the Hills or satisfying her cross stitch addiction.

You can find Jan on Facebook, Jan Drexler, author, or her website, Jan Drexler.com.