80 in 2020 in 40 Day Quarantine

Yesterday has to go down as one of the top moments in the quarantine.  My Dad turned 80 and because we couldn't get together as a family to celebrate we decided to do what the rest of the world has been doing and did a zoom call.  It was actually sooooo fun and amazing to have all of us together on the screen from Toronto to a little town outside Chicago.....30 of us were together in a live chat with my Mom and Dad.  We set it up that the grandkids would ask him any question about his life and then he would answer.  It was so great to hear their questions as he's had a pretty interesting life.  He did a lot of hunting in Africa, got lost for several days in the bush, had to take rabies shots because of a dog bite from a rabid dog, was surrounded by water buffalo and hippo on shooting expeditions, grew up on a farm and broke his neck after tumbling in a horse accident while racing against a friend (he won the race), met my mom and was instantly attracted to her, dated long distance and were married within 3 years - a very full life!  And now he has 22 grandchildren!  Amazing.

I couldn't help but think it was so cool to turn 80 in 2020 during the 40 day quarantine!  Loved that!  For the next few days he and my mom will both be 80 (her birthday is in a few days).  Really special.  They've impacted a lot of lives, that is for sure.  Having all our parents in their 80s and in good health is a tremendous blessing and we know it is rare which makes us appreciate it all the more.

Today I am wanting to gag.  The air in our house is full of chicken stench.  We've had to keep the stinky birds indoors longer than planned because it has been so cold.  As of today they are moving out into the barn so it is a GOOD day.

All our kittens are gone except for one, so we even made some money during quarantine and we managed to bless a few families with pandemic pets!  I was so glad we had the kitties while we were locked in.  It helped my kids so much.  I cannot explain the blessing of kittens in our lives.  I thank God for cats so much!

Our garden will get tilled up very soon thanks to a new tiller we found online.  We had been looking to buy something that was a little more hard core than the toy one we'd been using that nearly killed us every time.  We managed to get one for a great deal and it'll arrive this week.  We are now documenting the whole process and will be sharing it through my husband's instagram.  It'll be fun to see the stages unfold.

I read a great verse in Proverbs yesterday, Proverbs 22:3.  It says, "The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it."  We feel by preparing a garden, getting some extra animals, and maybe even learning to can on a larger scale is an example of being prudent, not fearful.  We aren't hiding ourselves in a cave or locking ourselves in our home.  Instead the "hiding" we are doing is more the principle of making sure we are able to provide food for our family, protecting our family from scarcity, making sure we don't rely on unreliable food sources, and of course, the bonus is that it'll be a healthier lifestyle and more times together as family.  And, I see it as "what do we have", Elijah-style, and using the resource of land and living in Niagara where everything grows so great as a real blessing and good use of what we have.   We have a greater responsibility just by nature of being a large family, to not prepare, I think, would classify us as "simple" and we might "suffer for it" if we just hope we always have enough.  We are already learning so much just by thinking about gardening and the kids will learn a ton, too.  Again, the size of our family is definitely motivating and reading every day about the next meat plant that has shut down is somewhat alarming.  We aren't living in fear, but I appreciate that the Bible includes verses about danger and the reality that there is danger in the world.  Quite simply, we don't want to be ignorant of that danger and so we're attempting to be more prepared, as much as we can be.

The word is the farmer's market is now cancelled, so that's no big deal.  We anticipated that and are actually somewhat happy about that to be honest as it was a challenge last summer to pack everything up and be there ready to go and then hardly sell anything!  We honestly had more success at the side of the road last year, so now we are going to be set up at the side of the road, on our property, which I am waaaaay happier about.  I look forward to all the people I am going to meet already!

There is now a loose chick running around my house.  I can't catch it!  Gotta go get some kids.....