Hello my friends, fam & newest readers! Welcome back to the Wildwood Acres blog!
Around 7am this morning, I had the pleasure of somehow smearing slimy turkey poo all over the side of my bare foot. Shortly thereafter, one of my dogs dropped a deuce in the garage & I discovered my 3-year-old son peeing on his Tonka track loader in his bedroom. All of this, before I even had the chance to enjoy my first slurp of coffee! Still, life is glorious. Nothing welcomes a new day like the rooster’s song amidst the morning shine, freshly juiced kale, spinach & tatsoi kissed by the morning dew, harvested straight from the good earth in my very own garden & a side of farm fresh eggs straight from the coop, served up in the form of poached perfection. Basically my life at this juncture is a conglomeration of the delicious & the disgusting. I wouldn’t swap this existence for anything in the world.
So the Grands came down from Michigan last week to kick around the homestead with us. The feasts were abundant & the vino flowed graciously. G’ma cleared out 10 poison ivy plants per day around the wood line & cousin Patrick (who was visiting from Connecticut during his spring break) officially took over egg collection duty in the chicken yard, spent lots of time chilling with our girls, chased the toddler a bit & spent his days fishing on the pond. Gramps introduced Jabba man to Frankenstein (now the latest craze in our casa) & it was a joy to spend time with Aunt Lovey who also made the trek down for the weekend to join in the family fun. With additional folks around to help entertain the little dude during the week, I was able to get some more seeds tucked into the soil & weed the garden a bit more efficiently. It has paid off in abundance as EVERYTHING is flourishing & the newbie planted carrots, beans, cukes & pumpkins are already popping! As always, catching up with everyone on life happenings warmed my heart & reminded me that no matter how far away we live from one another, family ties are a treasure.
Now for the MOST exciting news! Much to our surprise, G’ma Mauer decided it was high time to tackle the outdoor kitchen renovation project! (See Before & After photos below) BLESS. THAT. WOMAN. The hunky hubs & his mama bear spent a couple of days this weekend cutting trim & hanging hardy plank. I allocated most of Monday to sprucing up their hard work with a little paint & polish. Finally the partially finished eye sore in our backyard is now an extension of our home in a beautifully unified way. Checking this project off the “to do” list has sparked our motivation to get the sink installed & we’re now officially researching plans to build the outdoor bread & pizza oven as well – a project we’ll hopefully tackle this fall. We live for projects y’all! Our desire to invest time & love & heart & soul into this place is perpetual. We certainly have made this house our home & this plot of earth our passion. Going to bed sun kissed & sore from a good day’s work out here on the homestead is truly our idea of livin’ the dream & we are blessed to have so many family members & friends who want to participate.
I recently stumbled upon our One Year Wish List for Wildwood Acres. It was tucked away in my homesteading notebook & it has been such a gift. Reviewing that list (pic at bottom of page) which we created roughly one year ago, has given us a new perspective on our hobby farm endeavor. We have accomplished more in the past year, than we realized. Sure, there’s so much more to do. But our progress is real & our hearts are full.
In a nutshell, we are spending this month of April celebrating one year here at the homestead by sprouting & transplanting seedlings into the garden, weeding flower beds, finishing up home improvement projects, building bee boxes & (for the past week) enjoying garden fresh salads in daily abundance with the ones we love. And we are thrilled to announce that our turkey hen officially went broody this week so it looks like we’ll be celebrating one year at the homestead with some baby turkeys running about very soon! We’re working hard & playing hard, but we’re mindfully taking a little time each evening to sit back, marvel at the sunset & relish in our accomplishments. It feels good, if I do say so myself.
Be sure to check out the photos below of our latest happenings & as always, thanks for reading!
In love & light,
Kristin
wildwoodhomestead 