We started off the year with me turning 60! My family gave me a small but sweet party. The year started off fun but soon took a turn like we had never seen before.
We heard terms like, pandemic, social distancing, masks, shelter in place, appointment only for everything, hand sanitizer, wash your hands ,shut downs, stimulus checks, among others.
Businesses closed, restaurants closed, public buildings closed, schools closed and were replaced by on line learning. Doctors appointments became Telehealth. Everything we once knew was so different quickly! We treated each other with suspicion, they very well could get us sick.
Zoom meetings became the new norm and how we connected.
We had arrows in the store and it was like the jackpot if you were going to an aisle with the arrow going your way! By the time you went around you forgot what you were there for!
No one was on the roads.
Grocery stores had lines.
Toliet paper and paper towels were no where to be found.
February brought us and new family together...only to be separated by the pandemic.
We evacuated work and I brought a few of the animals home. However, being home was such a feeling of being safe. My anxiety was in over drive with this virus. The sense of looking out the window and realizing all the evil out there was so scary. Watching the numbers daily of people loosing their life to the virus was unnerving.
We were under a lot of pressure with a pair of foxes but Autumn kept forever vigil watching over everything and us as we sheltered in place.
I kept busy making product in hopes that the pandemic would burn its self out quickly, but day in, day out, week in, week out, month in, month out kept us confined and hoping it would end soon. My bins are full with anticipation for the fall until we got that awful email that the New England Fiber Festival had been cancelled as well. Plan B was set into motion using social media as a tool to move our product and to keep the animals fed, which proved very successful with contactless pick up.
Our chickens went into over drive laying which helped to meet our feed bill each week. 
And the Jeep's front seat came in handy! It became our new contactless pick up zone since it never left the driveway!
We did get out for some fun in the sun aboard my brothers boat, "The Frivolous". What a great day it was!
"The Grandkids" started school! We were lucky to get a back seat ride as Scarlett was being dropped off into the hands of her caring teachers. It saddened us all not to be able to walk her in but they were both troopers. This was my view of Scarlett as she faced her first day of Pre School with so much bravery. Who knew that our children would be masked and dropped off.
We sent Brandon off to the Navy with pride as he was stationed in Japan. It will be a couple of years until we see him again, but we are so proud of him and will look forward to hearing about this amazing chance and adventure. Amanda graduated college too! 
Our niece Cassie graduated nursing school with honors! We are bursting with pride! She jumps every obstacle and over comes everything that comes her way! She will be an amazing nurse!
We added some new chicks and this handsome guy who we named "Mr Copper". He is a Black Copper Maran who we will pair up with our newly acquired hens to breed for an amazing colored egg! New baby bunnies graced the farm too! Next year we plan on adding a big surprise so stay tuned!
And then this happened! In January after being challenged by my Dr who said I wouldn't do it, I did it! Many said they gained weight during the pandemic but I did quite the opposite, I was able to focus which is something I haven't been able to do for a while, take care of me. The structure of being home, creating a schedule and a food plan helped me drop 40 pounds!
The most divided and unprecedented vote for the President happened in my lifetime. Tim and I went to make sure our votes were counted.
We said goodbye to our beautiful Winchester, perhaps the sweetest soul that graced this earth. He passed away on Christmas Eve morning peacefully the way he lived his life.
As we say goodbye to 2020 and thank everyone who supported us through these hard times by shopping local, we look to 2021 with hope and getting back to a new norm. Perhaps we have learned something here, I know I have. Nature is bigger than all of us and we need to start listening to her. Take time to be in the moment by making time for that moment. Putting yourself first isn't such a bad thing at all. Lets all look to 2021 not as a cure all for everything but how to take what 2020 taught us and move on where we take the time to breathe. In this year to come, all we can ask for is hope...
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