A Year of Gratitude – September 19, 2024

I found my gratitude working outside in the sunshine today. I had tools in hand and family to help me, so it was a wonderful sort of day.

With summer turning to fall, there are a lot of projects that need to be handled before cold weather arrives. Some of them are simple, the sort of tasks that can be handled in a single day, one after another. On those days, I feel quite accomplished crossing off so many items on my to do list.

A few of the other projects are more involved. Some of those just might get tightened up and made to last until spring. No matter how much work we do during the spring, summer, and fall, we always run out of time before winter settles in.

Today was a good day on so many fronts. The weather was glorious. Projects went mostly as planned. There weren’t any disasters that couldn’t be managed. I was able to cross a few things of my to do list.

That would be reason enough for gratitude. Yet the real reason for my gratitude was in being able to fix things around this old farmhouse. There’s always something that needs fixing, replacing, or reworking. I’m thankful that I grew up with parents who taught me not to be afraid to try and fix things. I’m glad that I have passed that down to my children who have been helping me for years now.

So, working on a project with my parents and children and standing back at the end of the day to admire all that we have accomplished is one of my favorite kind of days. I like knowing that this old house is in good hands, that we are good caretakers. It feels good to do that work and especially good to have the help of the people I love while I am doing it.

This post is part of our A Year of Gratitude Series. You can find the introduction, inspiration, and entire year’s gratitude’s posts here.