On the Homestead This WeekThis is just a little photo tour. A few of flowers are showing their pretty little faces so I focused on them, since my veggies are tiny babies still. Speaking of babies, the chicks are getting big! The only chick brave enough to check me out while I was checking them out!   My backyard. What a blessing to wake up to this. Lilacs outside of my bedroom window catching the evening sun going down. Mushrooms intimidate me, I don't touch them or eat them (yet). But they mystify me to look at. I planted this, yet I cannot for the life of me figure out what it is! Its going to be like Christmas morning when it blooms.
Twilight Gardening and Quiet ReflectionOften you’ll notice that my posts of late begin with “I remember when”. Such as when I say that I remember when I had “good” jeans without permanent mud stains on the knees. I remember when weather bothered me, I’d complain about rain or too much heat. But tonight, those things are far behind me, they don’t bother me any longer. Tonight, I’m going to start my post saying “Remember when I used to stop working at 5?” Now at 5, I stop my corporate job and start my real one. The kids are home, homework is out and dinner needs fixing. Chickens need tending and the garden needs attention.
Follow Up: Leaving Someone You LoveTo this day, the most popular post on my website remains “Leaving Someone You Love”.  It both strengthens me and disheartens me to see this week after week. On one hand, people are moving to take control of their lives by making a change. On the other, there are so many people living in a life that likely doesn’t feel like their own. To those of you searching, I say this: there is hope in the “after”. There is authenticity and joy, accompanied by hard work and determination. I think back now to the days in my life that I felt trapped by my situation, I felt held back. Truthfully, I was holding myself back by being too afraid to step outside of the lines. Don’t follow my lead.
My Homesteading Adventure: Patience and Lessons LearnedWe’re finally nearing the time that the girls get to move to their new home outside.  I don’t know about you other new chicken mama’s, but this makes me happy.  I’ve realized that homesteading as a whole has taught me quite a few lessons already. Specifically, the chicks have taught me that I can’t stand dust in my house. I can’t stop staring at it. I know it’s there. When I got the chicks, they were so small and innocent. I figured the woman I got them from was slightly exaggerating when she warned me about the fine layer of dust that would be everywhere.  Heck, they were tiny; they wouldn’t make THAT much of a mess, right? Wrong.
Considering Your Impact Everyday: Changing the WorldIt's not often that I wake up on a random Tuesday and think about my obituary. I hope that you don’t either. However, I jumped online this morning to check out the weather (my seedlings need rain!) and stumbled upon an obituary headline that read, “Waffle House lost a loyal customer on April 30, 2013.“ There was clearly a story here and I needed to know it.  I went on to read the entire obit, which you can find here, and in the end it got me thinking a bit. Toni (whose obit it was) wrote it herself and paid for it to run.  She undoubtedly wanted to be remembered for exactly who she was in her lifetime, not who she was as she neared death.
My Homesteading Adventure: Knowing You've Made the Right DecisionOn Thursday afternoon, I lost electric in my house.  At first, I waited for it to come back on quickly but then remembered that I have PECO, so I knew nothing would happen quickly.  As frustrated as I was, I tried to let it go knowing there was nothing I could do to change it. By Saturday, it was still not restored (like I said, PECO!). I had three kids here staring at me and lots that had to get done, so we all set to work. Our travel season is quickly approaching, which means that household tasks need to be completed prior to us hitting the road.  We're gone practically every weekend, which means tasks like window cleaning and deep cleaning don’t fit into the summer schedule.
The Gift of GratitudeSeveral years ago, I accompanied a friend to the city to set up a merchandise stand at a wine bar.  While there, I had a very chance meeting with a brilliant woman who had been at the bar playing music that I loved on the jukebox. When I figured out who was playing country music at a city bar, I found that it was her. And the rest, as they say, is history. She and I have remained friends ever since, even though we don’t get to see one another often.  We are the friends that don’t need to be roommates or neighbors to be close; we know that our love and support of one another is there no matter where we are. This week, I got a package from her in the mail.
Reducing and Reusing Your Junk MailIf you’re someone who is trying to get closer to a “green” household by reducing waste, committed recycling and natural ways, there is nothing that ticks you off quite like junk mail. When I moved into the cottage, I didn’t leave a forwarding address at my previous home. This was intentional as I didn’t want the trail of paper to follow. I get very little legit mail here as my bills are done electronically and statements come via email, which is by design.
A Reminder About Contacting MeOver the past several months, my email has gone wonky. Feel free to always email me at Michelle@dustandwanderlust.com.
My Homesteading Adventure: How to Make Butter That Makes Everything BetterOkay, so the title may be a SLIGHT exaggeration but butter does really make almost everything better and it's super simple to make!  On my long “bucket list” of homesteading tasks to try, butter making kept popping up at the top.  I’m not sure why, except that I have a deep love of butter in general. It seemed like a no brainer, it’s not like I would ever waste butter and leftovers would be none existent.  Every one of my country living/homesteading books has a simple recipe for butter: heavy cream.  Salt if you want it (duh) and herbs if you desire.  Most of them also suggested that if you don’t have a butter churn (I don’t. Yet.), to invest in a Mason jar and a marble.
Embracing Our "Imperfections" I designated last night as my magazine catch up night.  Who needs a magazine catch up night, you ask? Only people who are magazine obsessed, which I admit that I am now and have always been. In fact, ia magazine was the only thing that I’ve ever stolen and that magazine served as a life lesson. My mother marched me right back into the food store to fess up to the store manager.  I think I was probably 8 or so and if I had to guess, I’d made off with a copy of “Horse Fancy” because let’s face it, there’s horses and they’re FANCY! And in a MAGAZINE! It was the best of both worlds in my 8-year-old eyes and even now in my late 30-ish eyes.
My Homesteading Adventure: Chicken Butts, Dust and DistelfinksWhat an interesting couple of weeks it’s been!  I got the new additions to our brood in the form of nine chicks.  I’ve been doing a ton of research about chickens over the last 6-9 months, including into the breeds that I wanted. Truthfully, I chose a coop before a breed but it seemed like a good idea to be able to visualize myself having chickens in the first place. I had the coop, the surrounding garden layout AND the interior décor design done before I even settled on my two desired breeds (shows you where my priorities were, I guess!).  I ended up choosing Plymouth Rocks and Buff Orpingtons first.  This plan did change a bit.
For the Moms
Why I Choose Simple: My Ode to HomesteadingI remember the time in my life when I had “good jeans” that didn’t have a speck of dirt on them and never had a knee in the mud. In fact, I remember owning not ONE pair of jeans that even saw dirt. I remember having almost all stiletto heels, with one or two pair of boots peeking out from the back of the closet. They were only chosen when fashion demanded it, never out of necessity. My yard was grass. My nails were clean without dirt embedded underneath.  I looked forward to my weekends because they meant nights out, dressed up and shiny and somewhere nice. Oh how times have changed. Luckily.
Words of TruthI think this is brilliant, and insanely true, and I wanted to share it with you. So often we resist change, resist breaking down everything we know in order the rebuild a new truth and a new self. Sooner or later, we either come to realize that a change is necessary and we embrace it, or we resist and spend the rest of our days discontented and restless. Let it all break down. It is a necessary storm before the brilliance. “Sometimes fate is like a small sandstorm that keeps changing directions. You change direction but the sandstorm chases you. You turn again, but the storm adjusts. Over and over you play this out, like some ominous dance with death just before dawn.

One Response to

  1. Chris says:
    March 28, 2013 at 11:27 am

    Great site. Enjoyed the stories…..

    Reply

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