I've recently started writing blog posts in my head again, so I figured it was about time I sit down and type.
After being gone for so long, I run the risk of this being extremely long, but I'll do my best not to wear out my welcome.
I guess I'll start with the farmstand, since that's what I spent a ton of my time on last year.
If you're on Instagram or Facebook, I post regular updates about what's happening down there.
You can find them both at Northrop Acres.
The whole thing kinda started out as a fluke.
The kids thought it would be fun to sell some produce our first full summer here.
They quickly realized how much work it was and declined the job year two.
As always, I had tons of perennials I was dividing that spring, so I figured I'd put them out on a table and see if they'd sell.
That turned into produce, and eventually, at the suggestion of a customer who received thank you flowers with her fruit order, I started making bouquets in early summer.
I still just had a table and my old potting bench down there, but with the sun and wind, I was constantly shifting from one side of the driveway to the other, and picking up broken jars off the ground.
After weeks of sweet talking (nagging) The Dad got started on a cute little shelter for me.
We ran out of summer sunshine to get it finished, but it was a HUGE time saver for me to be able to put stuff down there and not have to check on it multiple times a day.
Hopefully this spring we can get the siding and roof put on.
Then double swing open doors so I can lock it up at night.
Because it all sort of just happened organically, I'm looking forward to going into this growing season with the stand in mind.
In other news, we had to put White Goat down last year when he got really sick.
It was a low day for The Mom.
We buried him in the pasture.
Sadly, we also lost Leonard, our sweet, music loving turkey, last year, as well.
It was my first loss to a predator and fingers crossed it's my last.
It was really, really, awful.
We buried her in the garden under one of the olive trees.
I made a special bouquet with some of her feathers.
Funny, Delilah, who would never come near us, has now imprinted on me.
She waits for me on the stoop every morning and follows me around outside wherever I go.
It's pretty sweet.
What else?
The kids are doing great.
All three are playing sports.
The Little One (Baby who isn't a baby anymore) played soccer for the first time last year and will do so again this year.
The Girl is still playing baseball with the boys, basketball, and soccer.
The Kid is also still playing baseball, as well as basketball.
He tried football for two seasons and says never again. Ha!
The Girl turned twelve in October.
We celebrated with the usual, requested meal, dinner at home.
That weekend we celebrated with the rest of the family.
Her cake was a llama this time around.
In January, The Kid turned fourteen.
He's definitely more difficult to get a photo of these days.
And, The Little One is now eight as of this month.
I can hardly believe it.
Eight!
I swear I was just posting belly pics and ya'll were trying to guess if she'd be a boy or a girl.
Again, the usual food-focused gathering with family.
She chose koala bears as her theme.
I still just can't get over how fast the years have flown by.
I took this picture of the kids with their cousins on her birthday.
This one was taken eight years prior, in the hospital the day she was born.
Other than that and the holidays, I've just been plugging away, still settling in, and slowly making things our own around here.
Winter didn't seem as long this year.
I always look forward to hunkering down and reading as many books as I can get through, but I've only read one since Christmas.
Where The Crawdads Sing - so good.
But I still have a stack and spring has sprung!
The yard is obviously keeping me busy.
Spring clean up is always overwhelming and the to-list could fill an entire spiral notebook.
But as I work away on the things that need to be done, I'm daydreaming of what will come next out there.
So many ideas floating around in this brain of mine.
I'm anxious to see how it all plays out.
I know I said the same thing early last spring, but I'm gonna try to give the blog a go again.
With gardening season upon us, there will be plenty of fodder to post about.
Before I go, I wanted to share that the magazine with the article of our old garden is back on stands right now for its third release.
I spied it at Albertsons!
Pretty fun.
So if you missed it the first time, and second, time around, you can check it out next time you're waiting in line for groceries.
Until next time.....
