All in a Hard Day's Work

 We had both of our boys and their beautiful wives here through the Christmas holiday as well as some time after - so yes, I was given the best gift ever!  Since all four of our kids were home for the holiday we made sure to book a photographer and get some great family portraits done to mark this time in our families timeline!

Our year has started off with a bang!  You know those old wives tales , you know the ones:  The Farmer’s Almanac had a delightful list of these to help all of us get off to a great start in 2016:

•  One of the more popular beliefs is that kissing your beloved at the stroke of midnight ensures twelve months of continuing affection. Failing to do so is said to produce the opposite effect.
• Never begin the New Year with unpaid debts.
•  Empty cupboards at the turn of the year foretell a year of poverty.
• The first person to enter your home after midnight foretells the kind of luck you’ll have in the coming year. A tall, dark, handsome male bearing small gifts is said to bring the best luck. According to this same tradition, no one should leave the house until someone first enters from outside, and nothing should be removed from the house on New Year’s Day.
•  Opening all doors and windows at midnight lets the old year escape.
•  Babies born on New Year’s Day are said to have the best luck throughout their lives.

I am not sure which of these things were done or not done in our busy household this year, but I recall another one that my mom always said.... make sure you are not working hard on New Years Day or it will foretell how your coming year will be. HARD WORK. Truth be told, I am not really afraid of hard work (nor is my mother). I have found on most days when I have done hard work, whether here or elsewhere - I am pretty fulfilled.  We have actually had a mild winter thus far, making for ideal working weather!  

So, all of that to say...all the Sanders clan have all been hard at work on our family farm.   We are so grateful to have had both of the boys and their wives here for a few weeks, their help was immeasurable to us in so many ways.  I cannot imagine a better way to end a year and begin a new one!

 This is happening all over the property. Fences. Gates. Divisions.

This is happening every day, all day. 

Our hens have gone from fully pastured and free ranged to having to be contained in a large area due to our youngest dane having hunting instincts, but just today a new fantastic change came about for these hens and their two master roosters!  More on that later!