2020 has really been a doozy, hasn’t it. I am not going to wade into the political quagmire in this blog because it would make my head hurt. As I write this blog this morning, I find myself waking up in the live quarters of our big horse trailer. It is pretty darn comfortable, so not to bad. Seems that I may have some kind of allergy to something in my house and every morning I wake up the an allergy head ache. The bright side of this is that I get to figure out what is bothering me. The down side is I get to figure out what is bothering me. I need to get busy because I can’t sleep in this trailer forever. It is the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and I find myself contemplating about all of my blessings. I feel hopeful, happy and content in spite of this crazy year. Since I last wrote we have had some big challenges. Looking back on this year a bit, the pandemic dominates the landscape. Closing down the country, the rise and fall of infection rates, the ever decreasing mortality rate. Having my hubby work from home and feeling blessed that he retained his employment. All of my family has actually retained their livelihoods which is a miracle all by itself. The opening and closing of schools and communities and now the development of a new vaccine in record time because of an unconventional President that pulled down barriers, eliminated red tape and paved the way for it's creation. I feel extremely blessed that my family has not been affected by this unpredictable virus and that all of us are safe and sound. We also had a crazy wind storm on Sept 8th, my 60th Birthday, that destroyed a lot of trees around the farm. The upside to this is that I didn't even notice my birthday. 60 can be a hard one for some people and I think I might have struggled with it had we not had the crazy wind storm. These trees are 100' tall so you can imagine the mess. One huge tree that had a 3’ trunk and was 100’ feet tall broke in half about 20’ from the ground and literally smashed our baby barn. The baby barn is a 40’ x 60’ metal agricultural building. All of my best females were locked in that barn including a 3 day old cria. They were locked in for the night to keep them safe, sooooo having a huge tree land on it is not optimal. The amazing miracle was that not one alpaca was harmed. I did have to pick some glass out of some fleeces, but that was it. How they all escaped injury is nothing short of a miracle. I bet all of my fleeces will show a big stress line this year. We are now in the process of replacing the barn as I write. We are moving alpacas around the farm, trying to find homes for them while the reconstruction gets underway. Luckily we added wind and hail damage to our insurance LAST YEAR so the barn is covered. If you are wondering about insuring your outbuildings I would say that yes you definitely should. I have also struggled with a couple of friendships and made some new ones and am forever grateful for the relationships that have lasted for years and years and years. Family and true friends are the things that make up the true blessings in life. I am thankful for this farm and my home, for my family and relationships, for my challenges and lessons and for my health. Being THANKFUL AND GRATEFUL are the things that make everything survivable. I am thankful for my Heavenly Father and role that he plays in my life. Until next time I hope you remember to give thanks for each and every day. #givethanks