“Modern” tends to be what folks desire, and “old-fashioned” has a bad rap.

But I see it the opposite way many times… which isn’t too surprising I guess since I tend to always go against the flow.

So, yeah, call me a rebel.

Don’t get me wrong. I like “new.” I love my new phone that allows me to always have a great camera in my back pocket. And I’d much rather churn my butter with my high-powered KitchenAid that has it done in 10 minutes flat, with zero effort on my part, than sit and turn a handle for four times as long.

But I love all my connections to the past as well. The really old, antiquated things I tend to surround myself with in my really old, antiquated New England farmhouse. From Bill’s grandmother’s hand-braided wool rug that still cushions our feet, more than 8 decades after she cut the amber, brown, and green strips of wool and twisted them together, to mom’s old blue mason jars filled with wooden spools, to my grandmom’s old wooden butter mold that I would love to use every week if only I had all the pieces and it wasn’t so weathered.

Wanna know the bitter truths (and joys) of owning an old farmhouse? I wrote about those here.

Wanna know where you can unearth some rustic farmhouse treasures of your own? You will LOVE this site I just discovered–Antique Farmhouse.

Simple doesn’t mean easy, folks.

While these things have no intrinsic value–I probably couldn’t get 50 bucks for both items combined–they remind me daily that simple joys don’t come easy.

They require hard work. And that’s okay.

Because no matter how many apps my phone has or how large and powerful my food processor is, I can’t avoid life’s hard work. And I shouldn’t want to.

Troubles, aches, grief, loss, and so many deep-cutting pains abound in our days, effects that no app can cure and no gadget can erase, but “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning.” And the hard work makes us appreciate the sunrise and other glimpses of His love and mercy even more.

That brings me back to where this all started…

“Upgraded” and “fancier” isn’t always better.

Steadfast. Unchanging, no matter what. Not too many things are that way today. And that’s the way we like it, apparently. We WANT things to always be changing. We want better, fancier, higher pixels and lower carbs. Upgraded, boosted, and improved.

But some things can’t be improved…

I woke to a snow-covered sunrise this morning that reminded me. While every day is indeed new… a clean slate… a glorious opportunity to start again… I serve an awesome God who has been making sure every day is filled with His glory from the dawn of time.

And there is no improving on Him.

I choose old rugs and broken butter molds.

So if I had to choose, I’d take old rugs and broken butter molds over the latest technology. I’d choose reminders in my everyday moments of who I am, where I come from, and what generations before me accomplished. Yes, there has been hard work, troubles, aches, grief, and loss, but oh there have been simple joys as well. I can’t truly have one without the other, as far as I see it. So, yes, today I am thankful for the antiquated.

The view I have tonight, in my backyard, only solidifies my thoughts. The floodlights that help us do our evening chores illuminate the snow-powdered maples on the other side of the barn. Promises of his goodness that will soon run through those tree trunks and fill our sap buckets with delight and our table with maple syrup joy.

Read here if you’d like to see some of the maple-syrup-making joy around our homestead. Or go here to find out how YOU can make maple sugar even without ever tapping one tree.

I am thankful for simple joys in the very midst of the “hard.”

But for now, we’ll toss some hay to the cows, close up the chicken coop, and I will recount a few simple joys I am thankful for in the very midst of the sometimes cold, long, hard night.

Of course, a fancy phone and a new nighttime app helped me share my backyard with you tonight. So I’m keeping my phone. And my KitchenAid.

But I’m looking at getting a pretty old-fashioned butter mold that I can actually use, when I’m making butter, like this one.

Do you like to repurpose old treasures? Then you’ll wanna snag a free copy of my instructional booklet, Give An Old Door New Life, for free, like right now… in my Resource Library.

Go here if you’d like to see an instructional video, and printable, of how I clean my heirloom rug.

And you won’t believe the fun stories behind these old jars and what I use them for today.

Go here if you’d like to know how to make your own butter (with or without an old butter mold).

Click below to join me in my winter wonderland today.

Wishing some simple joys for you today, friend.

I pray that you too have a reminder of His unfailing love in your day today and find you have much to be thankful for every day, in the simple things.

Follow along on my podcast, Simple Doesn’t Mean Easy, on your favorite podcast player. Find all the links right here.

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22

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Glance at my Resource Page if you’d like to get a glimpse of all the supplies I use and recommend for everything from gardening, to homeschooling, to chicken care, to nature journaling, to maple syrup making.

Many readers often ask what camera I use to take the images you find here on SoulyRested. I love my Nikon; you can read more about my camera and even purchase your own here. And for the first time in a post, ever, I included a picture from my new phone.

And hop over here to find out why SoulyRested was considered to be one of the Top 20 Must-Read Homesteading Blogs of 2018.

I’d love to connect!

To find me in some other neck of the woods, just click any (or every!) icon below:

You might like these posts that recall some simple joys:

If you already ARE a subscriber, just hop over to the Resource Library here and enter your personal password. (If you don’t remember your password, no fear, we always include a personalized reminder in every Thursday email, “Hard Work, Simple Joys.”)

And, ummmm, have you printed the a-MAAHZ-ingly delicious Maple Chocolate Chip cookie recipe I just downloaded there recently?

The post Simple Doesn’t Mean Easy first appeared on Souly Rested.

Pretty-good-week fact #1? After unearthing an amazing light fixture last fall on our property’s centuries-old midden, I convinced my husband it should become our kitchen table light… and I LOVE it.

Pretty-good-week fact #2? After years of enjoying my dovetailed wooden box “magazine holder,” I inspected it closely the other day. I researched its markings, and I discovered that I was the proud owner of a box that housed nothing finer than . . . wait for it . . .

Original American Chocolate. With a capital “c,” because this company–the Walter Baker & Company–was established in 1780 as the premier producer of American chocolate.

I’m not sure if I’m more astounded that our founding fathers had the stamina to declare national independence without the fortitude that only chocolate can provide, or that I actually own a piece of this history.

Then, well, there’s the fact that I made the most beautifully delicious giant chocolate chip cookie EVER… keep reading for that one…

UPDATE: I’ve perfected a Maple Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe for Sweet Maple, which will be available in book stores across the country fall 2019. But some things are just too delicious to wait until Fall 2019, am I right? So I just added the maple-infused recipe to my subscriber library. Just subscribe right here and then you can hop over there to print it out for yourself.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.

Pretty-good-week fact #3? I stumbled upon this amazing online store that’s bursting at the seems with beautiful rustic pieces like my old light fixture and dovetailed wooden box. I spent a while under its spell, mesmerized by so much of what I saw. When I reached out to them with some questions, I was truly in love. They asked if I’d like to share their site with my readers. Ummmm, yeah! That was a no-brainer. I think you guys will love this stuff. Here’s where I am totally transparent, btw… the folks at Antique Farm House did offer me a tiny commission. So if you decide, like me, that you gotta have a few of their beautiful treasures, I will get a few pennies when you purchase, but of course it won’t cost you a penny more. And, needless to say, I wouldn’t even be telling you about their amazingness if I didn’t think they were, well, amazing.

Beautifully rustic and totally useful and practical products? They got ’em.

Top notch customer service? Check.

Great prices, and even unbeatable deals, on totally unique finds? Check.

Of course because these treasures are so unique, the inventory is continually changing. If you see something you like, trust me, if you don’t snag it, it’ll be gone tomorrow.

But here’s the reason I was so excited to find Antique Farm House this week: So often things I’ve shared on SoulyRested about unique pieces in our home (like my dove-tailed box, or my enamel pans/succulent planter–you can see them in the picture above or up close on this post) and rustic finds around our homestead (like my light, above, and these amazing old bottles). And whenever I share these finds with you, you guys are often reaching out to me asking where you can get something similar.

I hated never having an answer to that, since I dug my treasures out of my backyard midden or rescued them from my town’s give-and-take room. (Gosh I LOVE that room!) I can’t tell you how happy I am that I’ve found an online source for you all to unearth similar treasures for yourself! I mean, just look at these treasures pictured here! Then click the images below and peruse for yourself!

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Pretty-good-week fact #4? After the longest, coldest April I can remember, with the first day of May arrived our first it-really-feels-like-spring kinda day.

Pretty-good-week fact #5? A handful of furry, purring sweetness was born in the barn a few nights ago. I introduced those of you who follow my facebook page to the 6 adorable new barn cats in training on a live video this week. (I’ll stick the video down below too.)

You may not be surprised to know that cold weather makes homesteading extra hard, but you may be surprised at a few of our solutions that help us face the difficulties of winter here on the farm.

And glance at this post if you’d like to know about a huge mistake we made with our first barn cat. One we won’t be making with the new kitties, for sure.

Pretty-good-week fact #6? I baked a delicious cookie. Yep. One cookie.

But it’s quite possibly the best thing I ever bake in my cast iron pans. Yes, a giant chocolate chip cookie in cast iron is the most delicious part of this pretty good week. Keep scrolling for the gotta-have-this-one recipe.

Do you like to repurpose old treasures? Then you’llwanna snag a free copy of my instructional booklet, Give An Old Door New Life, for free, like right now… in my Resource Library.

And you won’t believe the fun stories behind these old jars and what I use them for today.

I usually use my 10 1/2″ griddle for this cookie, but I’ve also used my 14″ cast iron pizza pan to make one extra-large cookie, when I’m feeding a crowd.

I should say that my favorite cast iron cookies are the ones I bake in my 5″ individual-sized pans. But you don’t need a recipe for those. I simply use the Nestle Toll House recipe (on the bag) and place a giant ball (about 3 cookies worth of dough) on each pan. When I take them out of the oven, I place them on oven-safe pottery plates (so we don’t have to touch the hot pans while we devour the warm cookies), top them with ice cream, and of course always serve them with tall glasses of chilled milk.

If you like this recipe, be sure to try out another cast iron baking favorite of mine: Grandmom’s Blueberry Cake in Cast Iron.

So, to sum up . . .

Turning found treasures into a light source? A chore I allocated to my amazing husband.

Telling the story of my newly-found, long-ago-aquired chocolate box? A job I have taken on wholeheartedly.

Farmhouse Antiques for everyone, at 80% off wholesale? Something I just have to repeat again.

Barn kitties? A video you don’t wanna miss.

Baking cookies in cast iron pans? An effort I’m happy to devour. And don’t forget to subscribe here if you’d like to snag my Maple Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe in my subscriber library.

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These are the three sizes/styles of cast iron pans that I’ve found work best for baking cookies. And I’ve tried a LOT of cast iron pans, from heirloom to new, from tiny to huge, from griddles to skillets. I mean someone had to do the difficultly delicious research. You can trust me when I say these three styles/sizes of cast iron pans make the world’s best cookies:

Other cast iron products I love:

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I’d love to connect!

To find me in some other neck of the woods, just click any (or every!) box below:

If you already ARE a subscriber, just hop over to the Resource Library here and enter your personal password. (If you don’t remember your password, no fear, we always include a personalized reminder in every Thursday email, “Hard Work, Simple Joys.”)

The post The BEST chocolate chip cookie ever (baked in cast iron) & finding rustic treasures first appeared on Souly Rested.