Take Joy

Below is a letter written by Fra Giovanni Giocondo to Countess Allagia Aldobrandeschi on Christmas Eve, 1513. Fra Giovanni was a Franciscan Monk as well as an architect, scholar and many other things. The specific quote “take joy” has always inspired me. I hope you’ll enjoy the beautiful words below. I wish they were my own but second best is being able to share them!

I salute you. I am your friend, and my love for you goes deep.  There is nothing I can give you which you have not. But there is much, very much, that, while I cannot give it, you can take. No heaven can come to us unless our hearts find rest in it today. Take heaven! No peace lies in the future which is not hidden in this present little instant.

Take peace! The gloom of the world is but a shadow. Behind it, yet within our reach, is joy. TAKE JOY! There is radiance and glory in darkness, could we but see.  And to see, we have only to look. I beseech you to look!

Life is so generous a giver. But we, judging its gifts by their covering, cast them away as ugly or heavy or hard. Remove the covering, and you will find beneath it a living splendor, woven of love by wisdom, with power. Welcome it, grasp it, and you touch the angel’s hand that brings it to you.

Everything we call a trial, a sorrow or a duty, believe me, that angel’s hand is there. The gift is there and the wonder of an overshadowing presence. Your joys, too, be not content with them as joys. They, too, conceal diviner gifts.

Life is so full of meaning and purpose, so full of beauty beneath its covering, that you will find earth but cloaks your heaven. Courage then to claim it; that is all! But courage you have, and the knowledge that we are pilgrims together, wending through unknown country home.

And so, at this Christmas time,
I greet you,
with the prayer that for you,
now and forever, the day breaks
and the shadows flee away.

Fra Giovanni Giocondo (c.1435–1515)

2025 Farm Stand Season Is Over

I drive by my farm stand several times a day, as it is on the way to most of our family activities. I love looking out my window with anticipation, to see if flowers have sold or if any shoppers are admiring candles. It’s always exciting!

The height of farm season changes quickly and comes to an end with the first frost. Each year the weather brings new challenges. Sometimes keeping the stand open is a breeze and other times it can be more complex. Egg production slowed down early this year and I recently sold out of all our candles, bath soaks, produce and other goodies (thanks to our local patrons! :) While I had hoped to keep the stand open until the first week of December, the farm often decides for me. It felt like a good moment to let everything rest until Spring.

I can’t thank you all enough for all the farm stand support! I’ll still be posting projects here on the journal and on Instagram. The holidays are my favorite time of year for creating wreaths, candles and gifts for friends, so I hope you’ll enjoy glimpses of that. I feel so lucky to have a little farm and it’s a joy to share bits and pieces :)

We look forward to opening again in the Spring! See you then!

Morning On The Farm

As I write this, an owl is perched in one of our large pines. It has been there for hours…watching and waiting. What is it waiting for? I suspect this gorgeous bird of prey is waiting for the chickens to come out. Particularly our tiny bantam, Harriett, who is small enough to be carried off.

Luckily, our chickens are well protected in their run and I am home from work today. Mr. Owl will have no breakfast. You know who will have breakfast? Sweetie Bug.

Who is Sweetie Bug? She is our resident egg eater. Every so often a chicken will take to eating its own eggs. This can be due to a vitamin deficiency, but in this case, Sweetie Bug is just a jerk. She has always been active and desperate to free range. If you give her an inch, she’ll take the whole egg supply and laugh at you while she breaks the shells. As I sit at the window waiting for the owl to leave, I know Sweetie Bug is eating eggs. Any smart farmer would cull her, but she is my son’s favorite and so it’s a useless situation.

I’m amazed at how tiny creatures or shifts in weather can affect the farm. Three days ago I saw a squirrel holding an apple, like it was a Disney character. The little guy was boldly sitting on our fence, just casually eating a whole apple. I decided to go inspect our orchard only to find about half our apples either gone or chewed apart. Night before last, I found a skunk asleep in the chicken coop. I screamed when I saw it and it lazily got up, looked directly at me and sauntered off. Totally unaffected.

As I sit here sipping my coffee I have come to the conclusion that nature doesn’t respect me…and either do skunks. How one earns skunk respect I’ve no idea. What I do know, is farming is complex. Sometimes it’s better to let the animals and the elements decide how the morning will go. Hopefully this owl will fly off soon…and thank goodness for coffee in the meantime ;)