The Joy of New

On By Marci WhitehurstIn My BlogLeave a comment

It’s that time of year again, where we begin thinking and talking about new things, hopes for the New Year, resolutions, etc. I’m not much of a resolution maker, but I do love thinking about new things. I love the birth of possibility. As we begin thinking about newness, the atmosphere bubbles with creativity, and thus, life.

As you may have noticed, I haven’t posted for about a month. The day before Thanksgiving, we unloaded our UHaul and started a new adventure in Montana. We’ve lived in Montana before (although near a different city) and doors opened up for us to be able to buy a small ranch of our own. We’ve dreamed of this happening for eleven years now. Eleven years ago we bought ten cows and put them in a rented pasture to begin our ranching endeavor. We weren’t clueless to ranching; we realized this wasn’t how you run a grand enterprise, but it was what we had. We decided we’d rather do something with what we had than do nothing at all. We didn’t own land, couldn’t afford to and we scratched together to buy those cows. (I’ve written before on this tiny motley crew—they were laughable indeed, but affordable.) So to think that here we are now, able to have some land of our own, well—it truly is a miracle. Our place is quite the fixer-upper, but seeing beyond the current state into what it could be, we see potential in our spot. The views alone are worth it.

The house needs/needed a lot. Before we moved in, we spent a few weeks going back and forth between Idaho and Montana, trying to fix up what we could before we moved. Electrical, some plumbing, tearing down walls to open it up… The day we moved in, the septic system failed, backing up for weeks. We discovered it had been backed up and failed for so long, all the drains were plugged and we’d have to replace both the septic tank and the drain field. This was disappointing because we were told it was new…

Apparently new to one person, isn’t new to another.

On the journey to wanting to fix something up, trying something new, start an adventure…there are a lot of cow pies. (That’s the nice way of putting it. J) I’ve found myself excited, frustrated, happy, upset, peaceful, angry, and hopeful. The road to dreams worth pursuing is hardly ever paved.

I focus a lot on dreams and hopes because without them, we parish. (Proverbs 29:18) I truly want to see my own dreams come true, but not just mine, my husband’s, my kids’, my friends’, all of you, your dreams as well.

It’s a process and I like to perform so that it all looks pretty, but life is messy. Let’s not give up, but press on towards what is worth pursuing.

Happy Holidays and Blessings in 2015!

The views
The views from our new place.

 

Beginning our remodel
Beginning our remodel.
Getting walls prepped for texture and paint.
Getting walls prepped for texture and paint.

 

Further into the process
Further into the process

 

Transition

On By Marci WhitehurstIn My BlogLeave a comment

I haven’t written for awhile. I miss journaling about life outdoors, even if it has only been a of couple weeks since my last tidbit. However, we find ourselves in transition again…or still, rather. As I’ve written before, we left Montana two years ago because we leased our ground there and we had an opportunity to move to Idaho and buy a place. My husband also got a job in Idaho that allowed him to be more involved in the cattle industry. The past two years have not gone anything like we imagined, but I wouldn’t change them.
Things didn’t work out in Idaho for us to buy a place and today we find ourselves packing boxes to move to Montana. It isn’t the same place we used to live, but who would’ve thought? Doors opened for my hubby to have almost the same job and we signed papers on a little place of our own.
I can’t believe the blessing of having some land of our own. We’ve always dreamed about it. We’ve had cattle on leased land for years and years. We are quite excited to have a place of our own. It needs TLC, so we will be busy, but we are blessed.
My blog may slow down a bit until we move in and get settled…(In winter…in Montana… 🙂 ) My heart is still here though!

view from our MT house

My new view!

 

 

Thankful

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I realized that I commented on our impending sale of steers, but never followed up with it. Let’s just suffice it to say that we are thankful. The steers did well and we were pleased with the sale. I know, cattle prices are high right now and people think we are making out like bandits. Just remember, if we are selling high, we are purchasing high…and this is about improving life too, not just the bottom dollar, so there are feed and supplement costs to consider. All that being said, we are thankful for how things turned out.

Sometimes life surprises us and we aren’t sure what to do. This has been happening for me personally in another area of life. Yet I must go back to what I do know: I need to move forward in areas of strength and talent and work on weak areas. Let’s say I’m good with numbers but I keep pursuing a job in language arts and nothing is going well…I have an opportunity to revist my area of strength and press into change.

I keep thinking of this with cattle. We’ve tried to do other things in life, but it doesn’t really flow without some kind of connection to the land and animals. It may not turn out exactly as we planned, but going towards that God-given gifting is always a good idea.

Harvest

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Ok, so I know it is cliche to say, “You reap what you sow”, but it is true! It is harvest time so the application is quite literal. A few months ago, tiny seeds were planted. ..Seeds that held the entire DNA structure of a full grown plant. Some seeds were so small, I wondered if we even got them in the right spot. However, here we are during harvest and we have fruits and vegetables, bounty–produce–from the full grown plant.

I suppose I’m easily amused since the act of gardening seems so amazing to me. One tiny seed, dirt, water, and sunshine… A small act with repetative tending. The process has the potential to fill a pantry for the winter.

Maybe it excites me because it gives me hope. Maybe watching this cycle truly gives me hope for myself and life around me.

Perhaps your thoughts take you to places like mine have before: “Will this ever change?” “Why are things looking like this?” “My daily actions seem to be unnoticed or not needed.” But then: Then a tiny seed, seemingly insignificant, when dropped in the right environment produces a harvest.

Is it possible that the DNA of something bigger is planted in me? Absolutely! Not only me though, you too!

Something to consider however: sometimes my dreams are like an orange tree. Unfortunately, an orange tree cannot grow in cold climates. Neither will I thrive in every situation. Each season, I must take a look at what God placed inside of me for that time and make sure I’m planting in the right spot. If I’m in fertile soil, there will be fruit. If I’m not, then I must plant in a different spot.

This doesn’t mean that I pack up and move every time I feel a tug in a new direction. It just means that I look at the resources around and invest in what will bring fruit. Is it a certain person? An activity? Often it changes, but it will be rewarding. Quite often, it will not be what onlookers expect.

I don’t always know what I harvest internally, but as I pick a plethora of  tomatoes and peppers, I have tangible evidence that big things can come from small beginnings. Let’s look around and see where we are best planted in our current season. Imagine the fruit!

Almost There

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The time is nearing. There is only about a week left.

It is almost sale day for us.

Sale day is hopeful, yet nerve racking. Since this year we did not contract our calves ahead of time like we have in the past, it’s a little more interesting. We hope the price is good that day. Even more so, we pray we’ve done our best.

This little herd we are selling was entrusted to us. Sure, we bought the calves, but there is a sense of caretaking. Did we help them grow and mature? Did we do the best with what we had? Did we provide for them well? Truly we want the best for our animals.

It’s not just this little bunch though. What are the other fields around me? How can I do the best with what I have? At the end of the day, we hope we’ve made the most of our resources and blessed the animals in our care. May the fields be ripe around us to care for the things in front of us. May all our resources be blessed as we pursue that which is in our hearts.

Small Wonder

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We’ve been getting rain in August here in our semi desert climate. It’s rare. Very rare. It’s been a blessing to some and a hinderance to others. The hay that  needs baled is looking more black than green. Yet, some crops are experiencing higher yield. Personally, I’m savoring the smell of the dampened earth. It’s the same scenery that I look at every day, but a little change in weather and it has a different feel, a different look.

In addition, the garden is exploding and I’m amazed at the simple wonder of growing things. Soil by itself doesn’t produce anything. Add a seed though, some sun and water… and something new sprouts. The seed is buried, dies, and bursts forth as something new–something greater–when put in the right environment.

Our calves are growing bigger too. I couldn’t see it earlier this summer, but now their growth is obvious.

It is a small wonder, the tiny things that happen every day. Our culture is beginning to celebrate daily joys, which is fabulous. For me though, it goes beyond just being thankful for  the sun, a hug, or a rainbow–which are all amazing things. Deeper still are the things that we don’t see happening every day that eventually add up to something notable. A seed seems dormant in the soil until days later, a green head pops up. Growth isn’t visible daily in our children, our cattle, or even myself. Honestly, it is so easy to be hard on myself or certain situations because I can’t see the change I hope to see.

Yet beyond the scope of my natural eye, growth occurs and is happening. In a moment, a sprout of opportunity make pop up or a plant may all of a sudden be ready to harvest. These behind the scenes occurrances are cause for joy as well. You never know what a difference a day will make.

 

Stuffed Peppers

On By Marci WhitehurstIn Main MealsLeave a comment

I’m excited about the arrival of garden peppers! They are so tasty! We whipped this up the other night and it was a hit.

1 lb hamburger
onion
taco seasoning
rice
4-5 peppers
Taco toppings, such as olives, cheese, sour cream, avocado, tomato, etc.

Brown hamburger and onion. Add taco seasoning with water according to package directions. Mix in rice.
Cut peppers in half, hollow out seeds. Stuff pepper halves with meat mixture and wrap in tinfoil. Place on the grill for about 20 minutes. Serve with taco toppings.

The peppers got really soft, but flavorful and the kids even used chips to scoop up their bites.

Three Bean Bake

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1/2 lb ground beef (I add a lb of meat sometimes and it works too)
5 bacon strips, cooked and diced
1 onion chopped
2 16oz cans pork-n-beans
1 16oz can butter beans
1 16oz can kidney beans
1/3 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. ketchup
1/4 c. BBQ sauce
2 T molasses
2 T mustard
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp each of salt and pepper

Brown beef with onions. Rinse and drain butter and kidney beans. Mix sauce. Add all together and bake covered at 350 degrees for 1 hr.

Baked beans were common on wagon trails west. This is a beefed up version from my friend Suzanne.

Taking Care

On By Marci WhitehurstIn My Blog1 Comment

Don’t you love those days when things flow? You hit the lights right, work gets done on time, and there aren’t “surprises”?

Yesterday wasn’t one of them. 🙂

It seemed one thing after the other popped up as a surprise and needed attention right away. A family member’s health is failing and I can’t fix it. Simple life details had piled up and then we discovered an out break of pink eye in our calves. The calves were  gathered up so we could run them through the chute to vaccinate them and treat the active cases. It is just a small bunch of about forty calves, so it shouldn’t take too long, right? (Insert raucous laughter.)

A couple slipped through the head catch–which I didn’t close in time. A needle got stuck in the shot gun and no one could loosen it and I didn’t have pliers handy (we forgot to grab them before starting because we haven’t needed them in awhile…usually they twist right off). It was hot and the critters didn’t want to be run through the chute…and even though I talked nice to them (the guys can laugh at me, it’s ok) they had plans to go somewhere else. Needless to say, it wasn’t as quick as it ought to have been and I left a little before it was over to get the smell off me before hosting a baby shower that night.

It wasn’t a bad day, just not a smooth day. I’m not sure why I’m surprised when things don’t go smoothly because life just happens. Sometimes things just need taking care of…right away. When my kids are sick, then we take them to the doctor or change plans to let them rest. The same is true of cattle. Cows are living creatures and if they have needs, then we stop to protect their health.

Thankful today for the people and resources that allow us all–people and animals– to take care.

A dusty day in the corrals
A dusty day in the corrals

Stew Meat and Gravy

On By Marci WhitehurstIn Stew Meat GravyLeave a comment

Stew meat in a crock pot is so tender and good!

3 lbs stew meat
1 cup water
2 tbls beef Bouillon (I use Better than Bouillon.)
1 tsp dried basil
1 tbls diced onion
1/2 tsp garlic salt
2 packets of gravy mix (I use Gluten Free)
2 cups water

Spray crock pot with cooking spray. Add beef. Mix 1 cup water and bouillon, basil, onion, and garlic salt. Pour over meat. Mix 2 packets gravy mix with 2 cups water. Pour over all. Cook on low all day. Serve over rice, potatoes, or pasta.

*If too runny, add a little flour and water prior to serving until thickened.