Hard as a Drum

This photo was taken from the top of my wood stove (which I call the Hob) looking down at the bench. The dragon is the cast iron steamer that sits on top of it, and smoke rises from its flared nostrils. It was a gift from a reader, and I adore it so much. There in the background is the cold -12 degree morning, a cup of coffee, a candle on a little altar with special jewelry, the little pignose amp for my electric fiddle, books, rifles, bows, spinning wheel, and a fake lion head. It's just a snapshot of a corner of a life. But it shows the odd mix of fire, music, fight, craft, myth and spirit in this life. I wanted to share it.

Another cold one this morning but the farm presses on. Last night the Hoffs came over for Game Night (which was postponed from Saturday night) and we ate stew and chili and enjoyed a game of Elder Sign (which we lost, but had fun losing together!) and drank a little wine and stayed warm in this house while the cold blasted outside. It is nights like this I love most. Warm and well fed and a little tipsy by firelight. Surrounded with friends and conversation and the joy of clever, nerdy, games that require us to work as a team. No one pulled out their cell phones. No one sat and stared at a TV. We sat around a table, eating, drinking, talking, and enjoying some Lovecraftian Roleplaying in a Victorian museum while we fought and old God and lost. You'll have this.

The art of asking, I am floored. Thanks to my post earlier this week I have been granted purchase of logos and pork, chickens, lamb, and workshops. In fact it is only Monday and I have earned enough to mail out the first mortgage payment of the two owed ASAP!  Even with those two sent the farm isn't caught up, but a lot closer. One more and this farm hits another milestone towards solvency. I am damn grateful, for your support and encouragement. Thank you. To receive an email about ideas for the farm, or a donation, or a kind comment, or a vlog message - these things are not empty gestures. They tell me that strangers are friends, just ones I have yet to meet.

The high will be 25 degrees today. What a change from the -18 yesterday morning! 50 degrees and rain tomorrow as I travel south in my pickup to get the meat from 2 pigs for the first share outs to the co-owners. I love that feeling. I love handing the box of a promise kept and knowing that meals will be shared because of a few months of sweat and stories on this farm.

Spring preparations start soon. I have seeds to order, chicks to order, and bee hive pieces to put together. (bees are already ordered). Soon there will be earth to till, a horse to saddle and ride up a muddy hillside, and maybe even some new financial ideas like boarding a pony for a friend. Merlin could use the company, why not get paid for it?

I feel so strong this week, after this cold storm. I feel brave and proud and powerful. It makes me want to eat less, run farther, read more, smile and sing. Winter's bottom has been hit now, hard as a drum. I am still here.

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