The sun has easily climbed into the clear and vibrant blue sky as I sit, covered in a fuzzy red blanket, on a crisp and chilly morning on my shaded back porch sipping my first cup of plain black coffee.
This is the time of day I choose to reflect and ponder my peaceful way of life here on Circle S Farms and to plan a few days in advance.
Usually, as I sit in the quietness of the new morning, I hear the big green John Deere machines come to life and start to puff the smoke from the big engines as they ready for the day. Today it’s not so much the readiness of the machines I hear but the trill of the mourning doves as they fly from the big oak and pine trees to the light lines around our log house.
Today is the day of the closing of summer chores, cutting hay and clipping pastures and all other summer tasks. We are cleaning up the mowers, the balers and the bush hogs until the “next time.”
We have been experiencing and enjoying this phase of our days out here for over 20 years and I don’t believe we will ever tire of the busyness of the long lingering days of the hectic and demanding days of our gathering season. To me, it’s always a melancholy feeling to know we have finished yet another season. As we grow older, we realize just how much the seasons of our land and our lives mean to us.
We have seen a new generation begin here on these acres this year and I know that this parcel of land will stand for many years to come and that makes me feel content. To know your grandchildren, and perhaps their grandchildren, will carry on the work and creation of our farm in many years to come, is a treasure.
Then, as the beginning of our season of growing and reaping comes again, maybe there will be more of our “boys” wanting to be farmers and we will have a tribe of offspring gathered to plant, raise and grow here on the farm. Of course, there is always the hope of our one and only granddaughter. Who knows, she may be the one to take the helm and turn this place into the Ponderosa!
I’m so excited that soup time is almost here. Here is a really easy one:
POTATO SOUP
1 bag of frozen hash brown potatoes
42 ounces chicken broth
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 large potato peeled and diced
1 large, chopped onion
Black pepper
1, 8-ounce package of cream cheese.
Put all in a slow cooker and cook on low for five hours. Use bacon bits and green onions on top of soup. I like lots of these two things. This is so easy.
