Three days into the revered Spring Break week and it is living up to its hype, to be sure. Not only have we been able to rest and relax at will, but we have had The Trooper here since day one, Miss Sunshine’s unexpected visit on days one and two, our visit with Brave Heart, Beautiful Soul, and her family in the afternoon of day two, and accomplished quite a lot on the farm in the form of building, selling, and organizing things for our animals by the end of day three. It could end today and I would be as happy as a lark but, thankfully, there are still quite a few days left in this glorious break with equally glorious weather.  That’s pretty exciting.

The sunsets so far have been mesmerizing. No matter how hard I try to ignore the sunset showing off in the backdrop as I feed our menagerie of animals, it summons me with its ever-changing hues as the sun recedes beyond our pond and surrounding trees. I honestly have no idea how God thinks of such a different color combination and array of beauty each and every evening.  I am watching out the window tonight as another one unfolds in an equally creative and amazing way as The Outdoorsman tries his hand at fishing for the second time in as many hours.  It warms my heart to see him standing on our dock as our cat, Wink, makes his way across the back pasture to join him.  Wink has definitely become his permanent fishing buddy.  In fact, I’m pretty sure The Outdoorsman just showed Wink his fish to help size up his catch before throwing it back in the pond.  (Don’t tell him I told you that!)

Our family is still making adjustments to our life on Green Acres.  We are definitely a “learn-as-you-go” type farming family with limited time, money, and resources; however, God has helped us to listen to local experts, find good information online, and design our farm to fit our needs.  We have made some mistakes, to be sure, but we have experienced tremendous success when it comes to purchasing and raising all of our farm animals.   I would definitely say that our biggest issue is our lack of available time.  Due to the fact that we both work full-time jobs outside the home, we have limited time to search out new animals, research information concerning them, and build housing to meet their varying needs.  We do what we can in the mornings and evenings, but we are pretty swamped each weekend trying to get everything done.  The good news is that once an animal structure, pen, coop, or pigsty is built, it is completed and checked off our lengthy to-do list.  We don’t have to build the structure again so we are seeing progress in this department, for sure.

We, obviously, both love animals and hope that we can soon focus more of our time on the animals we hope to raise for profit on Green Acres.  We are narrowing it down as we go and learning which animals we enjoy the most and which ones can help add income to our family in addition to the enjoyment they provide.  As of now, we have decided to focus our time and energy on our cows, pigs, and chickens.   The other animals we have are enjoyable as well, but we are not planning to build special housing nor are we planning to breed them for profit. We will merely enjoy them as pets on Green Acres.  (I don’t want my donkey lovers to panic.  You will still be seeing pictures of Gypsy, Fiona, and Nellie on a regular basis!)

The sun has finally gone completely down behind the trees, The Outdoorsman will soon make his way back into the house, and I will make my way to the kitchen to start some dinner.  As the days roll by this spring, don’t forget to drink in the beauty of the sunset at the end of each day.  He has created it to be beautiful just for you.

“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”  Ecclesiastes 3:11