The days leading to Easter have been full of pondering, prayers and preparing as I embrace new traditions filled with great meaning here at Old Stone Well Farm. So come and spend some of the holiday with me as I make a Polish Easter basket and create an Easter prayer vigil…and share with you a saying a friend used to repeat when life got too much for her. Hint: It has to do with the empty tomb and Resurrection Sunday! Before I go to finish coloring the eggs, let me know what are some of your Easter time traditions? Drop me a note, comment, like and share our time together with others. Blessings!
Welcome my friends to a special edition of Old Stone Well Farm as I invite you to join me as I end my Lenten journey and begin to prepare for the start of Holy Week, which leads us to Easter. This year, I added a new springtime celebration — I observed the original New Year.
Yes, New Year’s Day was once marked on the calendar as March 25, which was also the Feast of the Annunciation of Our Lord, which then became known as Lady Day, to honor Mary who received the news that she would be the mother of Jesus. It was a day to remember how God was and is still making all things new…not just the birth of Christ, but also with the coming of his resurrection. It was day to remember that hope never dies and creation always comes back to life from its slumbers.
In celebration of this day, I debut my 17th-century jacket that I have been working on for two years (on and off!). I had wanted to created such a jacket after seeing the original in the Victoria and Albert Museum. So what better time to put it on then for the original New Year’s Day celebration, which was on March 25 in the American Colonies until 1752 — that’s when the world got on the same calendar page.
And so, I hope you enjoy this special episode! Please share with others, make sure to press the like button and leave me a comment. Were you familiar with the old New Year? And what are some joyful interruptions in your life that made you stop and see differently?
I cannot believe how fast the Lenten season is going. I am not quite ready for Easter. Are you? There’s still much to learn from the journey I have been on as I have intentionally retreated from the world, staying off of social media and even being quiet on YouTube. I have been pondering, praying and walking the lonesome valley in order to hear better from God. And what I have come to realize is this: It’s okay to let go of your old self, of old dreams…change is scary, but good. So who am I becoming? What does God have planned for Old Stone Well Farm? I am not sure yet. I have a ways to go before I get to the promise of Easter’s new life. And so, pull up a chair, get comfortable and enjoy this time together! Blessings!
A new video from Old Stone Well Farm is here and this time together we are going sledding! Yes, spring is around the corner, but snow is hanging on here in Vermont, making for a wintery wilderness for me this Lent. I have been feeling quite out of sorts and empty inside lately, but more on that and how I am turning my mood around with a prayer nook and some interesting 18th-century tea. So come, visit with me here in Vermont.
Have you ever been told you are too sensitive? I have, and boy did it used to hurt. But I have come to realize how “wearing our hearts on our sleeves” is a beautiful gift. And if you ever wondered where that saying comes from, I share it with you in our time together. I also share with you my finally finished 18th-century mitts! I discovered recently that the saints of old always viewed sensitivity as a strength, not a weakness, as being vulnerable and feeling too much helps us connect with the needs of others. As winter marches on I find ways to nurture my sensitive soul, doing things in the spirit of love — for its the only way to keep our hearts soft in a world that can so easily harden it. Are you a sensitive soul? Well then, you are not alone. Click below and let’s visit together!
The start of February is a favorite time for me as I begin seeing signs of spring…yes, there are signs even in this arctic blast we are having! The new month also begins with the forgotten ancient celebration of Candlemas! So come! Learn more, celebrate with me and let’s ponder how we can all carry more spring in our hearts and abide always in the light of Christ! Blessings!
The winter blahs have hit me…big time! So when I am feeling out of sorts — and very defeated as everything I try to do seems to flop! — I delve into the archives of history, brushing the dust off of 17th-century poetry from Anne Bradstreet, taking joy in winter walks with the new muff to keep my hands warm, and trying my hand at making a medieval German winter bread. (Disclosure: This was my second attempt and so far both attempts at bread making failed!)
But in my winter longing for better days, I embrace the truth that often courage doesn’t roar. It whispers to us to try again tomorrow. For my friends, God is always calling us to come out of our tombs of winter blahs and live once again! So come! Live with me.
Pull up a chair and let’s have a wonderful visit together! And share with me the times in your life when failures turned out to be preludes to beautiful praise for the new thing God was doing!
Watch episode on YouTube and press the like button and drop me a comment and share with others. When YouTube sees this, more people get invited to drop by and sit at my old farm table!
Friends, I invite you to enter into the season of Epiphany with me — with a little bit of reflection, historic tidbits and a tipsy hedgehog! A what? Yes, a tipsy hedgehog. It’s an 18th century recipe that often graced holiday table. All it is is almond flour, sherry, cream, eggs, sugar, molded into the shape of a hedgehog. It was quite delicious. If you are interested in the recipe, leave a comment to let me know! But I chose it to celebrate Epiphany, which was officially Jan. 6. It is the day we remember the arrival of the Magi and the gifts they presented to Jesus. I embrace this time as a season of remembering to look for the Christ light shining on new paths that God is asking us to boldly take. Sadly, the world rushes us into a new year, creating too much stress that is necessary. Epiphany comes during winter, which is a time to listen to the holy hush of the season — a stillness that heals and restores us. So come! Let’s enjoy some tipsy hedgehog together and talk about how we are going to embrace winter’s holy hush and step into the year softly!
I cannot believe how fast these days of Christmastide are going! Here we are now saying good bye to 2025 and welcoming a New Year.
As we do, I invite you join me for a New Year’s party here at the farm. Well, not a party, more like a time of prayer as I share with you with the Swiss tradition of ringing cow bells on Dec. 31 along with the special Swiss tradition known as the Alp Blessing, an ancient custom of prayer in the mountains to ask God’s blessings and to say, “Remember me!”
We all want to be remembered, don’t we? We all want to feel seen and loved? Yet we all at times feel the ache of loneliness or of being empty.
So come and join me at my old Vermont homestead (click below!) where we start the new year together on a positive note — remembering that the Christ light is always shining on our path and that we never journey alone.
I am looking forward to being together with you in 2026. Blessings!
The Old Stone Well Farm Christmas video has arrived! This is my gift to all of you, dear friends, who have made this year an amazing one full of love, joy, many prayers and so much hope found in our community! The Christmas video has become a tradition here at the farm, ending always with lighting the candles on the tree on top of Sofie’s Hill. It was a bit windy this year, so the candles were constantly going out. But it promises to still be a special time! I hope you enjoy it! As always, make sure to go to YouTube and like, share and comment! It’s YouTube’s way of making the video public to more people! Merry Christmas!!!
accidental country pastor 