The stuff that has made up our January thus far...

Our 2020 blog book arrived in the mail the other day. Flipping through the book provided me with a much needed burst of inspiration to keep blogging. It gave me a lovely dose of warm fuzzies. If I'm honest, I've hardly thought about the blog during this month. It may have something to do with the fact that my journal is getting a lot more attention in 2021 than it has for a good number of years. And I wasn't sure there was much to report in this little corner of the world. But when I downloaded pictures just now there were over 100. And I got another dose of warm fuzzies looking at them, so I thought I'd share a few for you to enjoy as well! Here's some of what our January was comprised of (all mixed up together with what felt like continual bouts of disturbing news of violence and unrest leading up the presidential transition in this country, sadness and grief at the increasing number of COVID deaths that keep marching closer and closer to home, and Jason and I both putting considerable time and energy into counseling/coaching to work at our own health/healing): 

These "rhino twins" warm my heart! I think they warm each other's hearts too!!

Terah takes after her big sisters. She enjoys art very much AND most art projects involve at least one meltdown when something doesn't turn out as she expected/wished it would. Now there are two sisters who remember what it felt like and try to help console and creatively problem solve, but sometimes that isn't even enough for this little gal... 

Alida continues to love opportunities for experimenting in the kitchen. And if there is dough to be kneaded, she's my gal. She still prefers to make up her own recipes, but can be convinced to follow one sometimes!

We've enjoyed some pretty tasty meals this month: empanadas and spring rolls are among the highlights for me. Additionally, on my work days Tala, my mom and Kali have started rotating cooking and so at the end of a long day in front of the computer a yummy meal awaits.

Sometimes I feel like I'd almost prefer to just curl up and go to bed after a 10-12 hour work day, but there is something also so grounding to find myself surrounded by these dear ones. Even when I don't know that I need it, I do!

Only the younger two generations in our household rang in the new year this year, and some us barely made it. But my friend's Spicebush Dram was worth waiting up for! I'm not one for making New Year's resolutions, but I did make a New Year's commitment and that was to alter my CJP work schedule. I've returned to a schedule I had years ago (albeit in an actual office and not my house), which is working 3 long days/week. I'm 3 weeks into the new schedule and while it's not perfect, but it's a big improvement. My "office" days are M/W/Th (on Tu/F I actually put on my autoresponder and don't check at all). I feel like it has helped the whole family to have a better sense of the rhythm of our weeks.

And speaking of rhythms and routines, with January came the first round of seed starting (January 1 is shallots and onions and then we follow February 1, March 1 and April 1 with other starts). 

It's winter pruning/cut back time and Terah's turtle shell garden is really starting to take shape!!

The cold snap (winter peas) are as cute as they always are. I love taking a peek at them when I'm out and about. 

My parents are now with us at Tangly Woods approx 3/4 of the time and we have easily adjusted to it and feel so grateful for our times together. We also think that they do need us to keep an eye on them at times. They are really unstoppable. At least it wasn't Mom on the ladder (though we did watch a video of her sledding just today). They are enjoying a long stint in WV so Mom can hopefully get her fill of snow before returning to our mostly snow-less landscape over here. 

Terah wasn't ready for Christmas to come to an end this year. Possibly in part because her Christmas present didn't arrive by Christmas, or the New Year for that matter. She had requested a "fancy white dress with extras" and then later tacked on a veil to that order (she and Alida love to "play wedding." and my dress is rather big for her!). Thankfully Mom had a friend pick a veil up at a thrift store and we had that for Christmas, but the dress we ordered in early December got sent to a neighboring town and then it got lost in the USPS system for weeks.

The tree had to come down and still the package was no where to be seen.

Finally in mid-January it arrived (once she had nearly forgotten about it other than when I brought it up)! And she was NOT disappointed!! Soon after, we had a wishbone from a chicken and she said she didn't have anything to wish for now that her dress had come. Then she ran to Jason and whispered that she could wish that it wouldn't get dirty!

Yep, she's a silly one! 

But she is not the only silly one in the house!

But these kiddos aren't just silly! They are also learning new things every day and the littlest especially is always eager to try out her new skills. It's a thrill for this mommy when that comes in the form of sifting lots of ground corn!!

Jason's also got assistants often these days in the chicken department. Alida spent a full day out with him going through our entire flock (I think it was somewhere around 103 birds?), choosing breeders for the year and moving birds around to prep for the new hatching season. In preparation for that, we also made a large purchase of a new incubator. Hatching eggs are being collected... Ready or not, here come the chicks!

And that's not the only "new" thing in our home. Anyone that knows me and Jason well knows that we can agonize over what floss to purchase. So for us to buy an incubator AND a stove in one month is nothing short of noteworthy. Now the incubator is new and the stove is old, but that was how we wanted it. Our neighbor knew we were on the lookout for a stove made when stoves were still made to last. So here's our $40 used stove, with no bells and whistles. So far, so good. It even has a working oven light. Bonus! The timer sounds like a smoke alarm going off. Not ideal!

But it cooks YUMMY food! I couldn't help but photograph the chicken gumbo with fresh parsley in January. 

January has only had a few stints of "family work." We've done a few winter cut back stints together, but Jason had done a lot of the winter pig paddock clearing solo. Until today! We enjoyed a few hours out there all together - even the 5 year old was wielding a machete!

And Kali took down a tree with an axe!

And when the critch (brush pile in a U shape) got too high to put more on, Kali happily volunteered for the task of trampling it down!

And when I said we were ALL out there together, that included all the humans and Little Buddy! He has officially received "pet status" at Tangly Woods and this week moved into his own quarters in the pet coop inside the garden. 

Alida has been successful enough at taming Little Buddy that he can roam free in the garden while we are working outside and she can easily pick him back up (with a little corn as a distraction). We still don't know for sure why Little Buddy is so little, but Alida is not the only one that has become a bit attached!!

Well, that was a whirlwind tour of random things in January. But I think that's all I've got for tonight. And, yes, I've made a conscious decision for this post to be internal Tangly Woods news. Remember, it was with the hope of sharing a warm fuzzy or two around.