New Year Thanksgivings

 At the moment; Sunday morning at about 7:30 AM, it is precipitating outside.  The temps are hovering around 32 degrees and what is falling sounds like rain.  We hope it IS rain and that it doesn't freeze on the roads.  Unless it warms up a few degrees we will probably skip church.  The temps are supposed to actually fall, not rise, so I don't want to risk not getting back up the hill. At the moment we are so thankful it isn't snow nor is it, so far anyway, a thick layer of ice.  We still have internet and electricity so there is much to be grateful for on this first Sunday of the New Year.

Our little neighbor, Bonnie, who is 86 or 87, I forget which, maybe even 88, gave us a cat bed.  She said her cat didn't sleep in it.  As you can tell from the photo, Smudge and Chica are both enchanted with it.  Smudge loves it more than Chica does, and curls up in it often.  When Chica gets a notion though, she just pushes right in and eventually Smudge will get out and sleep on the rug or on the love seat. We are so thankful for our little neighbor lady.  She is a go getter, for sure.  This past week I took her a few sweet potatoes, and she gave me a pint of apple butter.  I think someone else had given her the apple butter, an in-law or something like, and maybe she just doesn't eat it.  In any case, it was a nice trade. Bonnie has lived there almost 3 years; there in the little house where my mom lived.  Over the summer I take Bonnie things from the garden; peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes (if I actually get enough)...whatever.  In return she will give us part of her watermelons, or rhubarb sauce (which she adores and says she eats on everything...Gary just eats it on bread and butter.  I take a spoonful occasionally, but I don't put it on anything.  Bonnie says she's from Minnesota and that is what they do there; eat rhubarb sauce on everything.  haha)  She also had given us a couple of pieces of rhubarb pie over the summer, and any number of different things that she says are too much for her to keep.  She gets the rhubarb from Plad Pantry, the Mennonite discount grocery store.  I walk up there and visit and chat at least once a week, or try to.  Bonnie's daughter visits and takes her around to places quite frequently...several times per week.  But I know she gets lonely there.  There are quite a few ladies from church who drop in and visit.  Last week while Kathy, her daughter, was out of town, Alicia, Ellen and I went over and played Scrabble with Bonnie.  It was fun.  I am thankful for good neighbors.

I am thankful to begin the year with what I do have.  It may not be much in the eyes of many people, but it is a millions times more than what the majority of the population of the Earth has and I realize I am blessed.  

(Oh crumbs, I just glanced over and the temp went down to 31 degrees.  Ugh.  Maybe it will go back up.)

I am thankful all this mess of weather came on the weekend and that Ellen has tomorrow off from school still.  She is supposed to work at the bank tomorrow afternoon, but we are praying that the roads will be clear by then and that all of this winter precipitation will dissipate.  Woohoo!  I am thankful that this weather isn't any worse than it is.  Places north of us are getting up to 15 inches of snow.  

And to end this blog post I will say that I am so thankful that we are no longer dairy farming.  Gary can hole up in this weather and not have to be out there rounding up cows at 4:30 in the morning.  He doesn't have to be out in it putting out hay and I don't have to be out taking care of calves or going up and down the slick roads graining critters.  It's a wonderful thing.

Have a great week!