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Buttercup and Sundrop with their wee little calves
Hi Everyone,
All in one week we finished one year and started another. As we think back over 2025 we can honestly say, “Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.” We experienced the loss of help—but were blessed when a young man who asked for a summer job. When his last day arrived we were again blessed by another young man stopping in to ask for a job. We experienced a shortage of eggs—and have since been blessed with an abundance of eggs. We have experienced the ebbs and flow of milk production as we rode the rollercoaster of not enough, plenty, not enough, and once again the slow rise back up. Some vegetables nourished people—and some vegetables nourished bugs. Yes, everyone has the right to eat—but in my opinion there are plenty of weeds and wild veg to eat. Do they have to turn my potato plants into skeletons and my Swiss Chard into “Swiss” (full of holes) chard? We have seen buildings demolished and moved—and have been blessed to see a new barn built in their place. We went from a family of three to a family of four when my Grandpa (Mama’s Daddy) came to live with us the end of September. We have had cows die—and have been blessed to have lots of new calves born. It wasn’t the smoothest of years—but it wasn’t the bumpiest of years either. We have much to be thankful for and much to look forward to. We know not what lies ahead—but we know that “the LORD, He it is that doth go before us; He will be with us, He will not fail us, neither will He forsake us:” Deuteronomy 31:8
There were two cows due to calve last week—Buttercup on Monday and Sundrop on Thursday. I wondered if Sundrop would be the last cow to calve in 2025 or the first cow to calve in 2026. In the end she was neither. Monday morning Sundrop greeted us with a new heifer that we named Gumdrop. Then Tuesday morning Buttercup greeted us with a new bull. On Monday we started feeding the cows three bales of alfalfa hay every day along with a gallon of alfalfa pellets and some grain-free cow supplements—and every day the milk supply increased a little more. We started at 6 gallons and then we got 7, and then 8, and then 9 and then 10 gallons by Saturday. We added two new cows to the milk tank—but we also had to dry off two cows.
When the New Year rolled around I was sound asleep. It was 4:56 before I awakened to the dawning of a New Year. My radio alarm is tuned into BBN radio and the first song that I heard in 2026 was Down from His Glory.
Down from His glory, Ever living story,
My God and Savior came, And Jesus was His Name.
Born in a manger, To His own a stranger,
A Man of sorrows, tears and agony.
Refrain:
O how I love Him! How I adore Him!
My breath, my sunshine, my all in all.
The great Creator became my Savior,
And all God’s fullness dwelleth in Him.
I got up and started my day, and this year I decided to read thru the Bible—or at least attempt it. I thought that Genesis 1:1 was a great place to start on the first day of the year—“In the beginning God”. Yes, our day and year should start with God. I also thought that it was pretty neat that when God created everything He gave us the moon, stars, and the sun to measure time with--Genesis 1:14, “And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years.”
When I headed outside to set up for milking it was still early and no sounds knocked on my eardrums—but when I returned back to the house thirty minutes later my ears caught the sound of a woodpecker pecking away on a tree in the woods. The air was so still that the sound was very loud.
After lunch Micah and I packaged eggs. I didn’t get to help package eggs on Monday because a lady showed up and spent the whole afternoon with us as we picked out a new front door—after 30 years ours is leaking and rotting. Then we didn’t get to package eggs on Tuesday because my cows took forever to eat their food in their troughs and I was milking cows until 12:30—which put Micah late in getting the milking equipment washed. Then we had to harvest the vegetables for the JAX delivery on Wednesday—and then the work day was over. Wednesday afternoons are my “day off”—so I was determined to make sure to help Micah package eggs on Thursday. We teased that we were spending the first day of 2026 packaging eggs from 2025.
I finally got around to planting some more lettuce seeds on Friday—only wanted to plant them since last year. I also managed to get some laundry from 2025 folded before we headed into town for the first shopping spree of the year. Shopping is not my forte—but it does have to be done from time to time. I was thankful that Mama and Grandpa went with me so that I didn’t have to do the driving. One of our stops was Hobby Lobby for I needed a few pieces of material. I am in need of some clothes and Mama is too—and I am fixing to check out of life and become a part time seamstress.
Saturday was spent printing all the cow, garden, and worker calendars for 2026. Lots of paperwork goes into running a farm! It was a wonderful way to spend an afternoon since I wasn’t feeling the best—I had managed to catch a head cold. Not the best way to start the New Year!
I hope that you enjoyed your last days of 2025 and that you are having a great start to 2026.
Serving you with Gladness,
Tiare