I took a break from the blog in order to help two of our four children move back out after being stuck here during the pandemic. What a nightmare that must have been for them to each have soaring careers, one traveling for his and one a content creator. “THE RONA” hit and they were stuck for very different reasons.
One son, took a ‘quick’ break from traveling to get all his work produced, polished and up for sale, but had no homebase to work from so we opened our home to him for what we all thought was a couple weeks. The other son, our youngest, was renting a home and the landlord passed suddenly. family needed to do some renno work on the house and so he needed to move quickly. He, too, put his stuff in storage and came to stay with us ‘short term.’ We had no idea we were going to be all together for 3 years. We made it work and it was actually really fun being stuck together! Life just worked and to be honest, they are really cool, hilarious and helpful adults so it was a treasured experience.
Riley (above) looking for the boys and his sister (my son’s pup.) He’s sitting on furniture that has gone away.
Fast forward to this past 4-5 weeks, they have both found the most beautiful spaces in which to excel and get back to their own lives. We couldn’t be happier for them! Mike and I are now unpacking items long spent in our own storage units, (there are four,) and moving out anything that no longer makes us happy, or serves our greater good. Items that held negative energy are no longer welcome in our home nor our storage. We’ve made changes too, from lighting to furniture, to literally creating breathable space, a first in 8 years of lending space in our home to our other children as well.
Below are random pics of a couple home improvements. There are a zillion more:
We’ve had several family members pass in the last 3 years and it seems, (not complaining) we always end up being the holding tank for ‘things’ that were either emotionally grabbed, inherited or given. While grateful, some of those items need to be remove from our possession so we can breathe. Also, bottomline is we no longer want to pay almost a thousand dollars a month in storage for items we will NEVER use and will NEVER come out of those units. We still need ONE 10’ x 10’ storage unit for Christmas, Halloween and Easter Decorations but even that will eventually get dwindled down. As of this writing, we still decoration vomit all over our home each holiday.
So what have we been doing (besides the above?) We’ve literally been moving back into our home. It’s been a process since our Modern Homestead doesn’t get put on hold while we work on the inside. There are animals to feed, we are awaiting the arrival of our bees colonies so there is all the prep for that, there’s a garden to clean up and replant and a 3 major builds to do out back. Mike is putting in a shed to keep his bee equipment and supplies inside, the chicken play area is still not built because we “had time” to build it before the girls grew bigger. They ARE ‘bigger’ now! Mike is also building a wooden set of stairs to the pool and a small deck to go with it. Our task list is NEVER done around here.
I am learning to trust that I can be independent once more, now that I am feeling awesome again. Trust is a huge thing when it comes to being a cancer survivor - even thought the cancer was contained and specific to the area, slow growing, blah, blah, blah, it’s hard to trust your own ‘feel good’ energy again. I would say, I am 89% there and becoming more steadfast everyday. I was happy to hear at my oncology recheck that to be fully healing from the surgery takes about a year to gain total energy back. . . I want it now so I am working extra hard at working through my triggers! Mike has been amazing as per usual, encouraging me and cheering me on.
Each day, we try to do a little outside farm stuff and inside house stuff. We make our own dirt and compost but we have run short so today we need to get some more dirt and we will add our chicken’s droppings to the mix for a ready good combo for the plants. Those girls not only give us eggs but they give us GREAT fertilizer! We will also combine those to things with the mulch we just made. My man gave me a mulcher for my birthday and I could not have been more excited to get that baby running!
After Mike assembled it, we took it outside to do our first batch and what a comedy of crazy! We put all the plant parts that didn’t decompose over the winter into the composter and I got to flip the switch. I was so excited! I flipped the big red switch and it whirled as super speed to chop that stuff up. What I didn’t think about is needing some sort of ‘lid’ to hold over the opening as there was a lot of debris flying through the air, getting stuck in my hair and all over my clothes. WHAT A CRACK UP! Lesson learned and I will be grabbing one of the galvanized can lids to put over the top at next use! I also recommend, protective eyewear and a hat!
To show you which one I got, no affiliate, just information. You can find it by copying and pasting this into your browser.
https://www.amazon.com/Worx-Amp-Electric-Leaf-Mulcher/dp/B002MAPZYC/ref=sr_1_3?crid=KQ7ZMQULCXO2&keywords=mulcher&qid=1682605413&sprefix=mulcher%2Caps%2C179&sr=8-3&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.18630bbb-fcbb-42f8-9767-857e17e03685&th=1
Another gift I got was a Hori Hori Knife which was recommended to me by a friend and I recommend it to EVERYONE else! It’s an incredible tool for gardening. It’s razor sharp on both edges - one serrated, sort of a trowel, thinner with a razor sharp point on the end. It’s about the same size as a trowel, in fact. Wooden handle, leather sheath with a strap to attach to your work belt if you so choose. The Hori Hori Knife cuts through anything and everything, goes deep into the soil and is, quite frankly, slicker than snot to use! Copy and paste this link if you are interested in one. Again, they are not an affiliate so I get no credit for it. It’s strictly for your information. For the life of me I do not know why the following link copy and pasted as a ‘click.’ Oh well.
Back to what we have going on at the Miller/Chadburn Backyard Farm. Life has been crazy busy! Sprinkling in time to work with Mom, setting up the house, getting out from under not only storage at a specific place but also literally living in storage within our walls at home. I’m loving being reacquainted with my beautiful rainbow of fabrics for quilting, my painting supplies, my clay and tools, literally my creative art life. I’ve done some creative projects over the last few years but my workspace consisted of two TV trays. Now, I have my whole room back and I can’t wait to show the completed space to you all!
Again, random pics of the beginning stages and what you see here is AFTER I’ve gone through stuff and thinned out. So much more fabric to go through as well as art supplies. OY! I’ve got the “too much” gene.
I am realizing as I place some of my fabrics on the shelves that I have so many quilts started but not put together. Ready to get put together but didn’t realize what I had to put on hold the last 8-10 years for one family emergency or another. It kind of started when my ex chose to walk away from our marriage of 26 years and then my bonus Mom got sick and I cared for her almost daily eventually passing, which snowballed into care of my very lonely dad, covid and my own illness (just to list a few things.)
I think at last count there are 8-10 unfinished projects to finish before starting anymore quilts. I also have three quilts sewn and finished to the point of needing binding. Cheese and Crackers I’m going to be busy finishing all these art pieces! I’ll take a couple of them camping in 3 weeks and bind while there. My Challenge is this: Being patient enough to get the room together before starting any of these or the numerous other projects I have in my head. I’m itching to start. It’s funny, when you have the room to think and create, the brain and heart start to get excited and it’s hard to wait!
Mike has helped me install shelving, move furniture and has even given me the “okay” to paint a beautifully crafted bookshelf he created in high school. It will be white so it can match the rest of the furniture in the room. He’s a very generous man, and I know how hard that was for him to let me do that. It’s a wonderful piece of art and I am grateful he is letting me paint this treasure. He wrote messages and dated the bottom of the shelf so maybe he will let me date and write a message to him on the bottom of it as well. It’s a pretty sweet and funny message to himself. I just love and REALLY like this man and his heart.
This is where I will leave you. Gardening is top priority as that is our food for the upcoming winter. Building projects will be ongoing and the inside will be close to being done, hopefully by our first camping/crabbing trip mid-May. We love this life as we see it not as ‘work,’ but as pure joy. We give to the earth, the earth give to us. Tranquil living, grateful living, sustainability being key. It is us.
Wishing you a chance to find your bliss.
Love, Light and Peace, Always.