A Year in review with twist, loss and turns!

 As per this year, I am sitting here trying to load pictures and as 2023 comes to a close, that will give me a hard time too! So let me tell you why we haven't been present on the blog this year. We came into 2023 with the first half going so good, new products for the farm, we found raising heritage turkey poults was not only going to be fun but profitable too!

We were looking forward to 7 music festivals we had lined up and we were going to have the greatest summer ever, until July 6 hit. We lost one of the most cherished human beings the earth ever held. Our beloved Joe, a young man we knew since birth. A tragic accident took him at just 37 years old. he lived his life so full with travel and adventure.

A few weeks later after Tim was having symptoms of dizzy spells and being winded, he was rushed to the hospital only to find out he had a major series of heart issues. Through weeks of tests and procedures, it led to major open-heart surgery on August 31st! A long rehab time of healing and at 4 months and a day, he returned to work for one day only to fall and break his hand! 

We did manage to get to some shows and enjoy the kids when we could. 

So, the year has left me with major foot surgery and Tim hopefully returning to work after the first of the year. 2023 set forth challenges that we took head on but all in all the farm had the most profitable season so far. We look to 2024 with hope and health for a better year. 

Shower Steamer Obsessed!

I blame this on my friend Dee! She made some wonderful Shower Steamers for her daughters Baby Shower and I happened to be the winner of the basket that was filled with them. I had never heard of these before. You put them in the back of the shower and as the water slightly hits them, they release a beautiful scent of aromatherapy filled scent to start your day off.

I had to dive in and do some research. I looked at many recipes but settled on some ingredients and made it my way!

These two scents were arrived at with a little research. On top is Chamomile and Geranium. The scent pairs well together and the combination helps one to Relax.

The bottom steamer is one of my favorite scent combos, I even have a soap in this scent. It is Lemongrass and Sage. These two scents brought together help relieve stress.

In this picture, on top is Lavender and Bergamot. These two scents just makes Happiness possible while on the bottom is Peppermint and Eucalyptus so you can Breathe! I love the ferns on these. The others I used botanicals, but the ferns make these unique.

 Here is Rosemary and Peppermint on top, a scent that helps you to Focus. These to scents paired open the mind.

The last scent I loved, which just happened to be my favortie is Rose and Cedarwood. These two combined bring Tranquility as you pause in the shoer to just breath in this new obsession that I am just in love with!

What a Spring!

Our Spring was quite busy this year! We are certainly post Covid and things are back to normal. We had a couple of great shows, a small town Fiber Festival was so nice and we were very busy. At one point I just sat there and was so grateful to live in New England.

Connecticut Sheep and wool Festival was a very rainy day but that didn't stop people from attending. I noticed the fashions for the day was rain coats and boots. We dodged the leaky roof too!

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Our Spring brought to something totally new, hatching turkey poults. These are Heritage Royal Palms. The eggs just keep coming! However the interest in them keeps coming too! They have been heading off to some great homes.

Marching in what will be my friend Jody and my last parade. We are just getting too old  to do that parade, next year it's a float or nothing!

 We added a variety of new hens to our flock. Some birds I've been wanting was Isa Browns and Salmon Faverolles, as well as Lavender Orphingtons too!

It seems like this Spring as a whirlwind, shearing, egg hunts, planting the garden, farm chores, making time for friends and family, every weekend something to do, somewhere to go and watching the kids grow. We are working on some new things to add that I am experimenting with and having a lot of fun with. As we move into summer we are looking forward to slowing down a bit!

It's Raining Eggs!

It's raining eggs here! Our chickens are in full laying mode. The nesting boxes are filled to the brim with our delicious, fresh, farm eggs. 

They are located in our farmstand, just in the fridge. We have a change jar and a QR Venmo code for easy payment. We stock it every day! Come get your colored eggs!

It's that Maple time of year again!

It's that time of year again as we circle back around the wheel of the year, maple syrup making time! The taps have been put into the trees in the sugar bush and the buckets hung with anticipation of that wonderful, sweet maple syrup. It's like nothing you'll ever taste if you've never tasted the real thing. 

The sap has been running a plenty with the warmer days and cold nights. 

The buckets filled quickly over the past few days, and we got quite a few gallons. Tim first had 14 taps, but he is now up to 17 taps. It takes 40 gallons of sap to make just one gallon of maple syrup!

The new evaporator I bought Tim for Christmas. I bought it in the Spring with our tax refund and hid it in plain sight! He never asked what it was! This year we are trying propane. We did this at the Nature Center last year and it was great. He does have the option however to use it on propane or fire. It has a place on top to store the sap while it gets hot and drops slowly into the boiling sap.

 Here we go! The beginning of the sap burning season. It's a prelude to Spring, a ritual for us in sustainability. 

A Felting Challenge!

I was tasked with making a Baby Mobile for a special baby that is on the way. His Mom showed me a picture of what she wanted. Personally, I am not one for copying another artist's work, so I took on the task to give it a slightly different spin. The original piece was made with felt stuffed with fiber fill. The piece I would make would be needle felted with dyed merino wool. I would make Wool shaped beads instead of wooden ones. So, I went to work, first making a crescent moon for the center. 

It took no time to make the pieces that would make up the mobile.

Now to assemble the mobile and this is where I learned all about counterbalance. It took a while to figure out which would be the best way to assemble it. My choice was continuous strands. using dark blue to give it a nighttime feel.  Each piece added had to have a piece directly across to get a proper balance. I used an extra-long darning needle that helped to get through the thick felted wool. 

I used these jewelry eye pins to anchor the pieces. 

The finished piece! It challenged every bit of my creativity, but it came out not too bad! 

I hope the new Mom is pleased and it is just what she wanted. This will be our friends first Grandbaby and they are about to go on an incredible journey as Grandparents!