Knitting Gnomes and Old Mother West Wind

Today I was busy knitting some Valentine gnomes to sell at our local General Store and to list at my etsy store .

We are enjoying the book, Old Mother West Wind by Thornton W. Burgess. Michael has been reading the chapters to Sarah, our four year old and she has been listening attentively. The illustrations in this version are by Michael Hague and they are beautiful.

After baking some oatmeal raisin sourdough muffins this morning, I went over to our friend's homestead two miles down the road to visit with them because one of them had surgery the day prior. All is well but I will be spending some time over the next couple of weeks sitting with her and listening, talking and just being there. She is my dearest friend and I am thankful God has put our families in eachother's lives.

Blessings on your day.

Tonya

Beautiful Winter Day

We had to get out for a bit and enjoy the sunshine before a snow storm predicted for tomorrow.

This is Abby with our dog, Rosie. We are blessed to have this private side street next to our home to walk down. If you see this stripe along her hat, she needlefelted wool onto a fleece hat.

This is little Abraham. As we were getting ready to go outside, I was in deep thought about how he could enjoy a sled ride despite the fact that we don't own one of those very nice wooden toddler sleds (like you can find in the LL Bean catalog). We came up with this cardboard box inside the plastic sled.

What a joyous time!

Warm wishes,

Tonya

Buttons

Here is Sarah playing with my mason jar collection of buttons. Anytime a garment has become ready for the trash heap, I cut off the buttons to add to the jar. It was much fun to watch her sort, classify and even talk to the different buttons.

Warm wishes,

Tonya

Plain and Joyful Living

Hello,

This blog will be a place for me to share my creations as well as a bit about our family's journey.

Our family, dear husband, myself, and six children live in northern Vermont. We homestead and are working towards an agrarian based and handmade life by farming and creating with our hands.

Currently, we live modestly in a small home, without electricity, and live our day-to-day life with a mix of what many would consider old fashioned ways with some modern technology.

We have a strong faith in God and have started a ministry through our quarterly newsletter, Plain and Joyful Living.

Please share your thoughts and joys.

Warm wishes,

Tonya