Hi all! I am new to this forum and relatively new to homesteading. Moved from the city to the country life about 18 months ago. A tradition that my kids and I have decided to start with this new years is one that we are borrowing from the far east. My kids and I had read of a Chinese New Years custom of making paper boats and decorating them to reflect your own personality and then setting them afloat to carry away your worries, fears, problems of the previous year.. We did the boat thing in the city and it was fun. Well ..while cutting firewood last week we decided that we would each pick a log and carve & decorate it , this log to be burned on New Years eve, to symbolically burn away the cares of the previous year. I like the idea, what do ya'll think?

I love that idea! What a wonderful way to bring in the New Year in a safe and positive manner! We aren't doing anything special but I may borrow your boat idea. B.

Instead of XMas tree we decorate an evergreen outside for the birds. Popcorn and cranberries on strings, orange, apple slices and persimmon. Pinecones coated in peanut butter and birdseed.

Everytime my DH and I go to visit my parents, my dad puts my husband to work within the first few hours of arriving. We call it "earning midwestern points". LOL