Our (temporary) Loss Is Heaven's Gain...

                                                                                                                                                                              The year 2016 certainly began with the unexpected....on January 2nd our Uncle Bruce went home to be with the Lord.

Dec. 2013

A few months ago, my father-in-law called us to tell us that Uncle Bruce had a fall and had been taken to Chester County Hospital.  Upon examination, a brain tumor was discovered and he was immediately transported to the University of Penn. The cancerous tumor was removed, all but a small piece too close to a major artery.  He underwent his first month of chemotherapy and radiation between Thanksgiving and Christmas.






We learned just after Christmas that his most recent MRI showed that the small piece of the tumor left behind had shrunk!  Although I can't recall the other details of this conversation, everything was looking quite positive for Uncle Bruce and the annual "after New Year's" party was on for January 16th at Uncle Bruce and Aunt Gayle's home.  Living 4+ hours away now, we haven't been able to attend this event in three years, but this year Don, Will and Grace would head to PA, while Rosie and I would hold down the fort....

Michele's Birthday, Oct.2015

...So, you can imagine our shock early yesterday, the collective shock of our entire extended family, that Uncle Bruce's brain was hemorrhaging and the doctors couldn't stop it.  He passed away a little bit after noon.  So, while we are grieving our loss at the moment, we also want to celebrate Uncle Bruce, his life and how much he meant to each of us.

While Uncle Bruce is, technically-speaking, Don's uncle, I have known him, spent time with him, since I was the tender age of 13.  You see, my best friend through middle and high school, Andrea, is Don's cousin...Uncle Bruce's daughter!  (Yes, Andrea and her family played an integral part in the adventurous path of my life!)

Don's birthday, 2000

When I think of Uncle Bruce, I think of his stories,
                                                                       his trains,
                                                                           his beard,
                                                                                his smile,
                                                                                   his boisterous, jovial laugh...

What I will remember about Uncle Bruce is how he was always so genuinely glad to see us!  He never failed to greet us with open arms and a warm smile.  He was genuinely interested in our "adventures", and listened to our tales with rapt interest...never skeptical...never judgmental.

Even those times when Don and I made decisions that others thought rash or impractical, he encouraged us...made sure we knew that he was behind us.  When others struggled to accept Don for who he was, not Uncle Bruce.  He encouraged Don's creativity and visionary spirit more than most, often taking the role of "sounding board" for him, while reassuring me that it would all work out alright. (Of course, he was right!)

On Uncle Bruce's hammock, 2005

                                                                                                                    And our kids have such fond memories of him, too.  How many kids get to really know their great uncle?  Play with model trains together?  Talk Sci-fi movies and fantasy books with him?  Listen to his navy stories from the 1970's? Go hunting with him?







Yes, our family is quite blessed to have had Bruce Morris in our lives!  He will be greatly missed, indeed.  This week we will mourn with our extended family and comfort each other.  But, I will also look forward to that day we will be reunited in Heaven.  Until then, this family will hold onto our fond memories of him, telling joyful stories of him at family gatherings.

When I compose my blog posts, I will imagine I'm telling Uncle Bruce about our adventures with a tear in my eye and a grin on my face.  And, in my heart I will hear his voice reassuring me it will be alright...

Love you, Uncle Bruce.

Christmas Adventure 2015 (And, life lessons revealed!)

Happy New Year, Friends of Westbrook Farm!  






We are having a quiet day at home this white New Year's Day; some of us sleeping off a cold virus, others reflecting on the past year...pondering what the new year will bring...besides snow, which is a given!



Actually, this is only the second (legit) snowstorm of the season.  It has been a pleasantly-mild December! Even as I meandered through the woods today, I was struck by how mild it felt compared to the last few holiday seasons....

....Which brings me to my tale of the Westbrook family Christmas of 2015!  

Once a perfectionist, always a perfectionist; however, a perfectionist can be "in recovery".  Each recovering perfectionist has a certain propensity towards relapse, and that has everything to do with attitude and perspective.  Now, keep in mind as you read, I am a perfectionist in recovery...

                                                                                                                                                                                                            From my perspective, it all began nearly four weeks before Christmas.  I was delighted to learn that my in-laws, along with Nate, would be spending a couple of days with us to celebrate Christmas.  That same day, however, we received in the mail some unexpected bills - both our home owners and auto insurance increased significantly...without warning.  There goes our savings for Christmas gifts and my plan for a decadent, traditional holiday meal!                                                                                                                                                                                   I was feeling terrible about this, so I shared what had happened with Will, Grace and Rosie, apologetically.  My sweet, gracious kids assured me that they didn't care at all about the gifts, they were just happy to have our whole family together.                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Okay, I'm being a bit over-dramatic (as perfectionists can do) - it just meant that I had to scale back to one gift a piece...and wait until the morning of Christmas eve to do most of my shopping.  

                                                                                                                                                                                No biggie...except that every turkey in Cortlandville, NY was frozen solid - Shoot!  A 14lb. turkey would NEVER thaw out in time for Christmas dinner.  So, I improvised - we had a roast chicken and small ham with some different sides than our usual.  

Of course, Don had to tease me about it, but I think everyone enjoyed it, anyway!

The real "drama" began on December 23rd, 24 hours before the arrival of our guests....

The kids and I noticed that something wasn't quite right when we flushed the toilets and ran the dishwasher that morning.  Then, as Rosie and I sat at the table for lunch, and the washing machine began its spin cycle, we heard a sound that struck panic into my heart - water gushing all over the basement!  Indeed, the pipe out to the septic tank was backing up and wreaking havoc...

Will and Rosie, bless their hearts, sucked up the sewage water with the shop-vac, while Grace and I headed to the laundromat with nearly a week's worth of laundry.  In a household of five that's quite a bit!

Don came home and took a look - we were going to be on restricted water use until further notice - YIKES!  With guest coming???

We hoped it would make it through the holiday, but NOPE.  One of our guests took a shower, then attempted to flush the toilet on Christmas eve and that was it - the system seemed done for, much to my horror.

                                                                                                                                                                                                        Oh-so-fortunately for us, our son, Nate, has been working for a septic company in south-eastern Pennsylvania since August 3, 2015, and has learned a ton!  So after breakfast, coffee and gift-opening, the guys pulled on their muck boots and headed outside.  With Nate's expertise, he, Don, Will and my father-in-law spent over an hour digging up our yard to reveal the septic system.  

I will spare you all the gross details! Needless to say, it was messy.  Indeed, the pipe to our leach field was collapsed!

                                                                            Fortunately, the weather was beautiful on Christmas day!  Made the whole situation a bit easier to manage.  Unfortunately, though, we would have to wait until the day after Christmas to get a new pipe and the other supplies we needed for the repair...and it was rainy - a wet, muddy mess on the 26th.  

Still, the guys stuck with it and we had a functioning septic system before we headed out to see the new Star Wars movie that evening!  The irony?  While the guys were stomping around in the mud and muck that Saturday, I was giving Mary Kay facials to my daughters and mother-in-law at the dining room table... we all laughed!

It was definitely a memorable holiday.  

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              In the face of the unexpected and the difficult...when things do not go as planned...THAT is when true character is revealed. This situation was no exception.  What did I see?

1.  We all (yes, even this perfectionist-in-recovery) continued to laugh and joke around and enjoy each other's company, despite the situation.  

2.  My children are excellent at "going with the flow"!

3.  Nate has become a knowledgeable, confident, hard-working young man, willing to get as dirty as necessary to get a job done!

4.  Will, also a very capable young man, supported his brother 100%.  These last few months apart has actually improved their relationship and deepened their respect for one another.

5.  My in-laws, instead of choosing to find a hotel or head home early, chose to stay and endure with us, helping out however they could.  In this (messy and inconvenient) situation, that's serious love and loyalty.  They are awesome!

6.  My daughters have grown up so much in the past few years.  They demonstrated hospitality and grace beyond their years during this whole...adventure.

7.  My husband is the ultimate "fix-it" man and my personal hero!  He was seemingly undaunted by this potentially-huge repair; he just kept moving forward, addressing each issue as it came.

A Christmas Day ride!

Some valuable little life lessons we had the opportunity to put into practice:

1.  Be flexible, and you won't get bent out of shape.

2.  Don't sweat the small stuff.

3.  If life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

4.  Our family motto:  Adapt and overcome!

5.  It's not about the presents, it's about your presence.

6.  God is always with His children.

7.  By His grace, we are richly blessed.

8.  The only thing that really matters on Christmas is CHRIST.  And, no doubt, He was right here with us!

I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas, and enjoy your New Year's Day.  Stay tuned for my upcoming blog entitled, "New Happenings in 2016."

The Places You'll Go, The People You'll Meet

What a lovely December day!  Reminded me of the mild December we experienced the year we moved to Central New York. (Quite different from the last two years!)

In the words of 19th century author, Amelia Barr, "The great difference between voyages rests not with the ships, but with the people you meet on them."  And, indeed, this maple syrup voyage has brought many interesting people into our lives!

Simply put,   "It's not about the destination or the journey; it's about the people you meet along the way."


Folks have asked us, "How do you do at the craft fairs and farmers' markets?"  Most of the time, what they mean is, "How much money did you make?" and "How much syrup did you sell?"







Yes, we do need to recoup our expenses and we always HOPE to make a decent profit, but I try to keep in mind that people are infinitely more important than money.

Each individual with whom we interact is made by God, in His image, therefore he or she is "somethin' special"!

A smile, a wave, a conversation - I believe it all matters.

So, yes, we made some money this weekend, but I hope we also blessed the folks who stopped by our table at the Tully Craft Fair, because I sure felt blessed to meet them!

We enjoyed the sights and sounds - the creativity of the crafters and artists, the Christmas music of the little high school band, the wonderful aroma of the homemade soups served by the boy scouts (I had butternut-curry soup, mostly because the scout serving me told me that his mom made it with the squash and onions he had grown in his own garden!), and more...

Speaking of the importance of people....follow me here...  

                     Our hens.....still.....are not laying!  The molting period should be over, and yet, we are still only getting one to three eggs each day.  Might be time for a new flock....




I was feeling quite frustrated until I noticed an "eggs for sale" sign four houses down and across the road from us...offering an excellent price!  It gave us the perfect opportunity to get to know these sweet neighbors, a retired couple who thought it would be fun to have some animals around, but didn't want the - ehem - challenges - of a dog.  I am enjoying my weekly visits with them, as well as the fresh home-raised eggs we prepare for breakfast and use in our baking.






During my walk through the woods today, I noticed some branches and tree limbs have fallen on our maple lines these past couple of weeks, so we'll be taking care of those tomorrow.



We still have 12 quarts and 4 pints of delicious 2015 maple syrup in inventory, as well as one of those maple breakfast baskets I posted on Facebook last week, so contact us if you're interested.





And, finally...

We realized that Sassy Anna was getting a bit bored and needs "a job". However, we do not, yet, have a cart for her to drive.  The girls have been playing games with her, in-hand, and "long-lining" her in the harness we have, but, Rosie was looking for a new challenge, so... she decided to start her under saddle...

Yay!  Go, Sassy!  This did not happen in one session.  Rosie and Grace have been working up to this over the past few weeks, weather-permitting.

Who says you can't teach an old dog (or horse) new tricks?

There's definitely more training ahead for Sassy, but I'm so proud of the three of them!  Maybe one day next summer, I'll take Sassy for a trail ride. I haven't been in the saddle for two years!

Our "Moving" Anniversary....

Three years ago, today, we pulled our convoy of pick-up trucks and a suburban into the driveway of our recently-purchased home in New York...to stay....I remember it like it was yesterday - Don and our boys hauling the contents of our old home, me hauling all of our critters (my first time ever hauling a horse trailer of that size containing two horses, two ponies and a crate full of hens!), and my husband's two best buds, Jeff L. and Jeff S., carrying our daughters, their best friends who joined us for the ride, and any "spillover" that wouldn't fit in the moving trailer.



What an emotional day that was!

Awaiting our arrival with fresh strength and energy (and FOOD!), were two sweet families who we will always refer to as our "moving angels" and friends - folks we had never met in person before, but with whom we shared a common bond through our faith in Jesus Christ and our choice to homeschool our children.

So much has happened since that bittersweet day....it would make most people's heads spin, but, as I mentioned in my last post, Don promised me our life together would NEVER be boring!

Over the past few days, I've been reading through this blog from the very first post - some made me laugh, some made me cry... and, I can honestly say, I'm glad I didn't know exactly what would come next!

A year after our move, Don parted ways with the employer who moved us up here in the first place.

My "knee-jerk" reaction was to say, "Let's just pack it up and move home!"

My daughters and I were still having a very difficult time calling this place "home".  

Although he wouldn't admit it at the time, Don has since confessed that the thought of heading back to familiar surroundings crossed his mind, too.





However, we prayed, we examined the situation from many angles, and ultimately we determined together, that this is where we were supposed to be for awhile.

We knew we had unfinished business...more lessons God wanted to teach us...more people we were supposed to meet, influence, encourage, learn from...individuals with whom we needed to share friendship and hospitality and the love of Jesus Christ...even our knowledge and life experience....

In one of my old posts, I talk about seasons and their implication in both agriculture and our lives. (Profound.  I really liked that one!)

This particular adventure on which we've embarked is just one of the seasons in our lives.  This concept is especially difficult to get my teenagers to wrap their brains around...sometimes, even I am too short-sighted to see it, and become discontent and blue for a time, though I have no right to be.  As God's precious children, our family has everything we need, and then some!

In just three short years, we've experienced a couple of employment changes for Don, I've temporarily held two part-time jobs in two vastly different fields, we've visited numerous churches (still haven't settled into one, yet, but the little church we've attended the past two Sundays may be "the one"), sold three of our horses and adopted one, adopted a new kitten and a new puppy...

...We've explored much of our area, we've started a maple syrup business on our property, built gardens and a pond, endured health issues that ultimately resulted in surgery, experienced the devastation of a fire, built a horse barn, a sugar shack and a pole barn, graduated two of our children from high school, found an incredible tutor to help me in homeschooling my daughters, and made a few close friends, along with many new acquaintances. (There's SO much more, but that would make for an excessively long blog post!)


Sure, we still miss our friends and family back in PA, but by the grace of God and the hospitality and love of those folks, we get to visit quite regularly. And, it's always so refreshing!  When we lived in Lancaster County, PA, we were very comfortable, and we took our comfy lives for granted - not anymore! Each visit is treasured! 




I try not to take for granted the things that have become familiar to me up here - our daily walks in the woods, visits to gorgeous state parks and lakes within minutes of our home, kayaking, maple season, the friends with whom we've connected, the crazy weather...

While this is just a season in our lives, and eventually, we'll move on...either back to south-eastern Pennsylvania or somewhere else in this great country that God leads us (SOUTH, preferably!), my goal is to stay present... in the here and now, so I don't miss any of the lessons - or blessings - God has for me.  The year 2016 holds many, I'm sure!







Keep following us through the 2016 maple season and more....

And, I promise you.....it will never be boring!!