Hey Friends!
This month has flown by. This YEAR has flown by! I was just saying how it seems unreal that we have not lived here for even a year. We've been working non-stop it seems, and in some ways it feels we've lived here so much longer. Isn't it weird how time can seem fast and slow at the same time?
I wanted to pop in one more time before August is officially over, just to share some pictures and a little update. Sometimes I forget that many of you don't get to see all of the daily content I post on Instagram (@notesfromroosterschapel), and I want to at least get the best of it posted over here too but that doesn't always happen.
As you can see from the pictures above, we are getting tons of fresh eggs from our flock, and also-- flowers from our gardens! There wasn't much happening in the way of landscaping when we moved here to the farmhouse, and I'm so utterly happy to be able to say that all of these gorgeous blooms are from plants that we started in the spring! What a gift. We've wanted to do this for so long and you probably get tired of hearing me say it, but wow. Roses and dahlias aren't super cheap to put in to the landscape (not outrageous either), but they are not hard to grow (a few moments of attention every few days) and they are SO worth it! I'm so glad we had the resources to put in tubers and bare root plants this spring. We all need more beauty in our lives and being able to pick bouquets like this right from our yard has been a real joy the past several weeks. We are really heavily focusing on perennial plants so that we can expand each year instead of starting over, though there are so many fun annuals we're growing, and plan to continue growing from seed (zinnias, sunflowers, cosmos, alyssum, etc).
Summer has been like a race against the clock to do all the things. There are so many projects to work on, and even though we have a big family/team, we still find ourselves stretched in a lot of directions. Our kitchen is half remodeled, the little house up on the farm is half remodeled, the woods are being selectively logged and developed into park-like grassy woodland at the moment (this was supposed to be a 2 week project which has turned into a 6+ week project), we are still dealing with wood shortages (will soon not be an issue any longer because of all the gorgeous fallen logs we've been given access to in our community!) and trying to keep things moving in the wood shop in the middle of all this has been quite an adventure.
Speaking of wood shortages and keeping things moving in the shop, I just want to say that we are so blessed by the amazing customers we have. When we moved last autumn it was under extreme pressure because we *had* to move from the farm/home we were leasing and we were having an incredibly difficult time finding a place to move to. Many of you know the story. Not only did we move very haphazardly and quickly once we found our current home (the farmhouse), but we lost a huge portion of our dried, cut and sorted wood in the process! It was near devastating, and though we had to be brave and positive, we didn't know for sure if we could even make it through the holiday season on the wood we had left. On top of that, there has been a real wood shortage nationally this year, and I want to tell you guys... you have helped pull us through this whole ordeal in one piece. You've been patient and gracious when we've experienced almost ridiculous delays due to wood loss and shortages... SO gracious and supportive. It has meant the world. So while the whole world is seemingly plummeting into chaos, please know you have had a positive impact on at least one real family, by believing in us and supporting us through a very chaotic and challenging time in our life and business. It's been a whole lot of flying by the seat of our pants for the past couple years, and you guys are helping us to come in for a smooth landing. You hold a very special place in our hearts, and we sincerely look forward to the day when we can share our farm and workshop with you in a whole new way.
I wasn't planning on writing about that, but it just seemed appropriate :) And hey, I'm a spontaneous person who writes from the heart (i.e. randomly).
As you can see from these pictures, summer is fading into autumn, and I'm not sure how I feel about it yet. I usually long for autumn, because I love being cozy, wearing sweaters, having campfires and drinking hot lattes from pretty mugs... but you know what's different this year? Our gardens. We have put so much work into them and I am dreading the first frost even though I'd love a break in this heat and humidity! I suppose I need to just get over it and embrace the change of seasons. It's going to happen whether I like it or not, and I can spend the cooler months planning out the growing season next year.
But for now, I'm soaking up every single smidgen of summer that we have left. I just had to share these beautiful pictures I took of Amelia (my sister) holding a bouquet of the dahlias and roses from our gardens. No, we don't take care of the chickens in frilly dresses like this but sometimes it's fun to do a pretty photo shoot :) And those flowers deserved a little dressing up.
Don't miss the little videos I loaded up at the end of this post! I make these short videos (called reels) for Instagram, but they are too cute to not share them here. Be sure to expand them full screen so you can fully enjoy them.
Much love to you all! Please leave a comment and say hello... I love hearing from you, and knowing who's reading and enjoying my blog.
xx, Loran
