Dis-L-Do Homestead: Mass, wood cutting, and our bald eagle friend returns

I started the day as I do most Sundays heading for mass. Glad I did. Our priest is on vacation visiting family and the substitution priest was Fr Emilio my priest from where I used to live in northern Colorado. He now works for the seminary in Denver and had gone to seminary with our priest Fr Carlos. It was great to see him and as he says... small world to connect again. Today we begin the new season of Ordinary Time. John the Baptist tells us today to "Behold the Lamb of God". The question posed was why a lamb and not, say, a lion. Okay, you knew I sat up and leaned in on this one - I have a lamb and goats. The symbol of the lamb has to do with sacrifice, the Pascal Lamb of the people of Israel. A lamb does not fight or resist as the quality of Jesus is his humility and willingness... as in to carry the sins of others. Raising goats and a lamb I see this. Goats, I love them, but they can be ornery, a bit argumentative at times and like me, they have an opinion on everything. But when I got Wilbur or new young ram, I instantly fell head over heels for him. He is a breed that does not fight, ram others and is mellow. He goes with the flow and only wants to hang out with others. (he is no Jesus but I see what they are talking about) How could Jesus have been compared to a Lion ... they fight, resist, don't want to always do as the Master would like ... heck a Lion would rather rip injustices and things that aren't fair to shreds and not take on the burden of others. So, this week my reflection is to try to be more of the Lamb, what does it mean to be a follower of Christ and to have the spirit of the Lamb.

Today it is overcast and cold. After mass I got on my grubs and long johns, doubled up my clothing and headed out to help cut dead wood and bring it home. Dude is still sore and lifting can be difficult. As his partner in this homestead life, lifting came to me as my job today. Once again I pretend I have just dodged gym fees and head out to help. But first I went out to say hello to my animal friends.

Wilbur is adorable as always.

Peppy look happy and content and has quit screaming for now.

Angelo says hello and is ready for the snow with that hefty coat.

The hens were busying themselves in the hen yard.

While Dude drove the truck out to the dead wood I was prepping to drive the tractor... ah...it is so warm inside.

I thought some of this would be nice but in the words of Dude... we aren't bothering with that crap, we need the big stuff.

Dude directed me to where he wants the tractor.

We found a few big logs to start with.

My job is to try and haul these suckers, uh, I mean, BIG GUYS into the bucket so we can get them to the back of the truck. Some of the are over 100 years old and heavy!

Yes, every time I filled the bucket I celebrated "Rocky" style with arms up in the air and circling around the tractor. grin

Ready for the truck.

We filled the truck with a wee bit more than you see and headed home.

Pulling into the drive guess who I see? Our old friend the bald eagle. He arrives every winter and a partner joins him later. It made my day seeing him!

Dude set to splitting the wood while I made homemade tomato soup. Not difficult at all and a great one for homestead goods... I got the recipe HERE and only changed it slightly. His recipe is easy and he is fun to follow. Here's how I adapted Buddy Valastro's recipe homestead style.

butter

onion chopped (or used your dried onions)

a few cloves of garlic chopped (or dried)

4 small cans of chopped tomatoes or two pints of home tomatoes

dried basil

a can (or frozen) - one cup of your stored chicken stock

a 1/2 can of evaporated milk

dash of pepper and pepper

Saute onions and garlic in a couple tablespoons of butter. Add the tomatoes and chicken stock. Bring to a simmer. Add the basil. Dude likes his soup chunky so I put about half of in the blender until smooth and add back to the rest of the pot. Slowly add the milk and simmer. Pepper and salt to how you like. I like to serve them in big mugs. Ymm.

Ready for the blender.

After the milk is added , ready to eat.

We settled in for the rest of the afternoon with a roaring fire, a football came and sewing. Help has arrived, as always, in the form of a cat. Thank you Gracie.