The picture above is of the smaller holly tree here, which is female and has berries this year. We were going to cut a branch to bring in for the holidays but I didn’t have the heart to do it, and after all we can just step outside and enjoy it alive and vibrant.

We hope everyone has a safe and happy new year… it certainly seems this one will bring some changes. As far as resolutions goes, we don’t really usually do specific new years’ resolutions but we are trying to continue on our path to living more sustainably and self-sufficiently — this year I hope to learn to can! We still aren’t sure about buying a house; we’re watching the housing market, the economy, interest rates, and waiting for the right house and right moment.

On the subject of sustainable living, someone sent Joy an article from Newsweek by Anna Quindlen just before Christmas that I thought was very well written and thought-provoking. I wanted to post the link here sooner but didn’t want to be Christmas grinch so I waited (I guess I was busy being the Facebook grinch instead).  So now that the holidays are over, here’s the link to “Stuff is not Salvation: As the boom times fade, an important holiday question surfaces: why in the world did we buy all this junk in the first place?”

We’ve had a bit of, uh, excitement already this year but I will save that for a post of it’s own.