A Season with Peace at all Times

Life continues gently on through these early spring days filled with wild weather (we had an earthquake here a couple of weeks ago with no damage), a strange virus and uncertain moments.

Yet, in the midst of all this, the seasons continue on just as they always have done, and that is comforting to me.

Song of Solomon 2:11-13

For now the winter is past; 

the rain is over and gone.

The flowers have appeared in the countryside;

the season of singing has come,

and the cooing of turtledoves

is heard in our land.

The fig tree ripens its figs;

the blossoming vines spread their fragrance.

The first signs of spring in my garden are the magnificent crocus that pop their heads out above the snow, and begin to bloom.  Tiny in stature, but bright and colorful in nature, they are a delight to first behold after a long winter's season!

In early April... a late winter/early spring snowstorm came and brought the earth what some call "poor man's fertilizer."

Seeds have been started in my greenhouse as we prepare for the gardening season,
even while snow falls outside, there is hope inside my greenhouse! Several years ago I had such wonderful results using plastic fruit containers for starting seeds that I have continued to use them.  They come with their own built-in lids, and are just perfect for getting seeds started.  Because our temps dip down so low at night still, I keep a heat lamp on at night. 

With flour becoming a commodity hard to find, I thought I would make homemade bread using wheat berries that we had purchased years ago from Wheat Montana.  They last a long time,
and are a wonderful way to store flour where it won't go bad. 

I used my NutriBullet to grind the berries using the milling attachment that came with it. 

This is a closer look at what wheat berries look like.  They are just hard-shelled little kernels of wheat. 

After I milled the berries in my NutriBullet, I sifted the flour.  The hard kernels that don't grind, I feed to my chickens :) 

Here is the recipe I used to make this bread. It is a King Arthur recipe.
I personally love King Arthur flour, but any flour can be used.
I made this loaf in the bread machine, using the dough setting.
When finished, I form the loaf and let it rise again. 

Just out of the oven! I brush my bread with butter after I remove from the oven, and then let it cool.
The butter helps to soften the crust. 

Homemade bread at its finest.  This bread was soft, tender, and perfect.
I highly recommend this very easy way of making bread for your family :) 

 Oh my, if this picture doesn't make you want to bake your own loaf of homemade bread...  {smiles}
I need to make some more! 

I've been busy making masks. This is the pattern requested by the local hospital. Many other people in the community are making masks too, and it is remarkable how everyone has pulled together to make a difference in the hour of need. 

On a beautiful afternoon with warm sunshine sprinkling the air with its delight,
my husband and I drove down to the little lake just down from our home.
It was so peaceful there. 

After the snow melted, it was time to get busy in my garden with early spring projects.  The first one on the list was to change up my little garden sitting area.  I had found this large blue "carpet" of sorts... it is plastic, and very very heavy.  It was the perfect size of my sitting area, and I had put it down last fall.
 We rolled it up and rototilled the soil and evened it all out. 

We added landscape timbers over the blue plastic carpet, and put down wood chips.
We are able to get these wood chips for free from a local mill. Such a blessing! 

It took about two truck bed loads of the wood chips, and then it was a full day's worth of work
to put my little area back together again after a long winter's nap. 

Here is my little area... it will change as I putter around and get new ideas.
But it makes me smile to have it done :) 

I rearranged my little she-shed as well.  I moved my two pink chairs inside, as they don't do well with outside weather conditions.  I also have an old school desk that I found at a garage sale.
I set up a "tea table" with a collection of my outdoor tea pretties.  

You may remember the tea quilt that I was working on last summer.  It has found a place to call home :) 

This little space brings me great joy, indeed. 

Welcome to my Prayer Garden!

On Easter morning, I went to the garden, and to my delight, there had just bloomed this daffodil.
This is an early variety that blooms without much height, but oh how beautiful the sight was to see! 

And also in bloom was this hyacinth.  My heart was blessed to see the color on this special morning. 

Our church held an outdoor sunrise service, which we do every year.  This year it seemed even more special
as we were so thankful to be able to gather together, and rejoice in our risen Savior! 

For Easter dinner, we cooked some meat on our smoker, and I made homemade rolls
with the last of the green beans from my garden last year.  

My husband cooked dessert in our Dutch oven... a family favorite, Huckleberry cobbler. 

Scrumptious! 

I want to share this familiar portion of scripture with you today: 

Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8

To everything, there is a season,

and a time for every purpose under heaven:

a time to be born and a time to die,

a time to plant and a time to uproot,

a time to kill and a time to heal,

a time to break down and a time to build,

a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance,

a time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones together,

a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

a time to search and a time to count as lost,

a time to keep and a time to discard,

a time to tear and a time to mend,

a time to be silent and a time to speak,

a time to love and a time to hate,

a time for war and a time for peace.

This is a troubling season that we are all facing.  The days seem very dark and dismal for many, as financial fallout from the virus in most cases seem to be worse than the virus itself. It is hard to fathom what the outcome of this will be.  

But I want to encourage you that it is just a season.  It is a time appointed that we will walk through, and someday we will look back and there will be heartache mixed with smiles, tears mixed with laughter on these days... but we will get through them.  Our faith in our Lord is a foundation we can stand upon.  His Word is true and unchanging.  

While the season seems rough, wild, and uncertain, He is constant, ever near and present, and will see us through.  I pray for hearts to look to Him, and that He would receive all glory in this time we are in.  

I do believe, with all my heart, that this event has not taken our Lord by surprise, and that He has a plan.  Remember Calvary... how dark the world turned at the time of Jesus' death, how dismal the outlook seemed, and yet three days later, how that all changed.  Our Lord is able to turn this situation around and use it for His glory and His eternal plan.  

II Thessalonians 3:16 

Now may the Lord of peace himself 

give you peace at all times 

and in every way. 

The Lord be with all of you.