The Welcoming House Ethic----Teaching kids to work hard...

Good morning everyone!

It feels so good to be able to sit down here for a bit and actually have the time to tell you about how fun things are going here at The Welcoming House....bunnies, and gardens, and kittens, and fruit trees, and wood cutting, and sewing, and canning, oh my oh my oh my!

I feel badly I have not been able to post, but I know you understand. You are all most likely busy with your own lives, planting, or harvesting, or doing projects or whatever. Just seems like in the Spring everything happens with a rush, and since this year it is late, everything is happening much quicker than normal!

I wanted to post today about our passion 
and pursuit of our work ethic in action.

And I have the pics to show you how we do it, both as a family, and in inviting young people (or anyone, people) to join us and join in.

One of the things I often have admired about the Hettorite communities around us is that not only do they welcome strangers with open arms, despite persecution, they also are fantastic at everyone pitching in to get a job done faster. It really is amazing to watch. Whether that is planting, child care, gardening, sewing, canning, etc....everyone does their part, and they laugh and joyously work through it. One time when we were visiting some of our friends in South Dakota, during early harvest time (mid-July) they had an entire truckload of husked corn show up to process from the fields. (They can and process all their own food, very much like the Amish or Mennonite folks.)

That truck load was done in less than an hour as every child big enough to tear off husks, up to every woman able, went over there and went at it with determination.

Impressive, to say the least.

And it really stuck with us.

So now, if we have work to do, we teach our children, and any stray kids or folks we can find that want to come help, to join in 
and the work goes faster.

It really is amazing how you can bond over things like making jelly, showing off rabbits and teaching kids how to take care of them, gardening together, butchering together, or...as we had this weekend,

tackling three giant trees with two amazing teenage boys and watching them have man-bonding time with the Handy Hubby.

Both kids said it was some of the best times they have had.

I don't know, power tools may have had something to do with it,

but they had a ball.

My Handy Hubby would not have been able to do this himself, but thanks to these two young men, we have a good portion of the wood we need for this coming winter, no matter how long that winter goes (please Lord, let it end in March, not May like this year??).

Thankful also for the generosity of some lovely people who are building a greenhouse across the street, and who needed these trees removed. They cut them down, lopped them into lengths, hauled the branches,
and called the Handy Hubby.

Who then took his very nice chainsaw over there
and went to work with a will.

So, next time you have a job to do, and it is too big for one person, see who you can round up, get everyone out there and give even the smallest person a job (my Littles picked up sticks and pretended to be trees with the branches they put in the trailer for the city compost). And you will find, as it is supposed to be, things go much faster and the job is enjoyable.

Now to go make those boys some chocolate chip cookies as a thank you gift. :)

Blessings to you and yours,

Heather

linked up at:
Homestead Barn Hop