It's been awhile since I've posted because we've been focusing on making numerous trips to the land and I've been focused on preparing for craft shows and the holidays! We were so lucky to have had mild temps and dry weather for as long as we did, in the sense of being able to work the land longer into the season and get more projects done! As it stands right now though, the weather is more seasonably appropriate and I am fighting the urge most days to hibernate.
A lot of my late October/early to mid November projects focused on the invasives like burning bush and phragmite and at least getting the berries off of the honeysuckles that I knew we weren't going to get around to cutting down. But with the days being shorter, our trips to the land on the days that Woodchuck works are limited to under two hours of daylight. Now that it is after Thanksgiving, we are in Winter weather and once the snow comes, we will be done on the land for awhile.
I found some lovely mushrooms growing on dead trees in the phragmite patch on the land area. It was something right out of a fairy tale! 👇
I also got new boots that are very flexible to replace the very stiff and uncomfortable ones that I had been wearing for years. My feet and ankles are grateful!☝(less than $10 at Rural King!)
As we continued in the drought and the water levels went down, I was able to get farther into the watershed pond to treat the phragmite. ☝I still need to get some seed heads off that are on the land area.
The area of burning bush at the property line is now gone after about two weeks of working on it, collectively.
I will still need to monitor the area for a number of years to stay on top of sprouts. While the leaf cover was thick, it was hard to see those sprouts since they looked like leaf stems. With the lighting of the season and time of day, I had to keep rechecking spots. 👇
The roots of the Burning Bush seem to loosen the soil, making it easier for the seeds to get sown deeper down. I am always grateful to learn more about the behavior of invasive plants, because that arms me with knowledge on how to fight against them better. To me, it isn't just knowing about how they respond to herbicide that's important, it's also about understanding the behavior of the plant in growth, spreading, etc. 👇
As usual, every walk we take out there is a feast for the eyes, the soul, and the spirit. There is something to see all around you and while these things may seem boring, mundane, or silly, they are magick to me.
A grasshopper I saved from the tractor, though his friend was not so lucky and I think he may have been stepped on the garage floor. 👆
I am trying to get better at harvesting and foraging, and using what I gather and only taking what I know I will use. This is a Bur Rose bush that is getting ready to fall into the pond because of slumping. So I gathered the rose hips that I could reach, even crawling down to the bank that would have normally been under water (because it had receded to so far!). 👇
I have dried the turkey tail and am in the process right now of grinding it down. It doesn't look like what I thought it would being ground, so I am holding off moving forward until I verify with a professional that I did the right thing. I am absolutely fascinated with turkey tail! 👇
I am so grateful that I had the courage to make the leap to quit my job and spend what time we have left in our current home being gentle, and mindful, and quiet, and alone. While I have not gotten done around the current home what I thought I would these past few months, I'm grateful to be here and not running myself down for everybody else's dream while I get treated like crap. No more of that. I have spent hours processing pumpkins and squash....they are some of my favorite things to smell and look at! I also cleaned their seeds and let them air dry before packing them up to hopefully use at the land....👇
Making bone broth in the Crock Pot. I love to let it cook for a couple of days and I add scraps of veggies in. My most recent batch had organic apple peels added in. Once I strain the solid matter out, I save it to sprinkle around the land. There's never a scrap left.... 👇
I also tried a new recipe for cassava flour and carob chip cookies (was supposed to have regular chocolate chips in them).....they were super easy and even Woodchuck liked them....👇
A girl and her tools! I have been working on a new Yulemas ornament for sale this year. Sadly, they have not sold thru shows or Etsy, but I did get some close friends order some as gifts for family members.
UPDATE FEBRUARY 2025: In full transparency, I started this post in late November/early December 2024 and would work for short amounts of time a few times week on it through late November/early December. The holidays got busy, I tried a few craft shows, and finally gave up. I assumed I would be able to get back to it after the first of the year! But as life does, things kind of went astray and our youngest son was involved in a serious car accident on January 7th. He was airvac'd to a trauma center a state away and taking care of him and helping him heal is what my life is gladly about right now. He's already had one surgery and over the next couple of months, we will find out if he needs more for other injuries.
I brought up the prospect to Woodchuck about selling the land. The accident, being so far away from larger health facilities, and the fact that we all brought home Influenza A from the trauma center and were sick for 3 weeks with it, showed me what I was already peeking at. That the land might be too much, and too far out, for us now that we are getting older. How will we be able to juggle taking care of our youngest, building, moving, etc. all within two years? I am searching for ways to simplify my life and that just all feels like a bunch of complicated stuff. My son comes before anything else.
I'm trying to not make big decisions right now though, like they are telling our son not to. I'm trying to stay in the moment, while also scheduling medical appointments (some weeks have up to 6 appointments). How do you do that? How do you stay in the moment while also having to prepare for the future on some levels? Some days I fail at it. I'm getting migraines every day that are progressively getting worse. I can't take the medicines for them because of my kidneys, and so far the supplements aren't working. My marriage is suffering because I'm not being the person I want to be, the person I worked so hard to be before our son got hurt, and because everything annoying that my husband did that I could (some times barely) blow off before the accident is grounds for divorce in my mind now.
I feel like I've become that story that I read/hear so often. The kids grow up, the mom decides that it is her time now, and she goes. I'm tired of repeating myself numerous times a day because it's easier for him to ask me again than to pay attention and remember, I'm tired of the stupid talk and him acting like he's 13. I'm tired of jabs at me being disguised as joking around and then when I react I am the unreasonable one. I'm tired of having to think and do for four people. I'm tired of being the mommy wife that he SAYS he doesn't want but SHOWS in his behavior that he does. I'm just tired and trying to solely focus on my son so that I don't make any rash decisions right now, but at some point this will have to be dealt with.
On the days my son and I have no appointments, I am listing our personal belongings on eBay to help clear the house out and get some money towards medical bills and to eventually get him another car (his was totaled in the accident). I haven't seen my mother since Christmas and I have to be the one to remember to stay in touch or I usually won't hear from her. We live in a very small community, and that community usually rallies around its people in need. But not us. There was nothing. No announcement, no meal train, no benefits, no nothing. I am blessed to have the couple of friends/acquaintances that I do that ask if I need anything when they are heading to town? My ex-MIL sent our son a new flannel shirt (he was wearing the one she got him for Christmas, for the first time, the morning of the accident and it had to be cut off of him). Even though my son is the patient and suffering in his own ways, we are suffering in our own ways too. We are upset, we are traumatized, we are tired, we are overwhelmed, we are scared, and not being gathered around by this community triggers feelings for me from my past that I will always be the exception, and it makes me so sad that me being the exception is also spreading to my family (is how my damaged spirit interprets it). For someone who is always about others, seeing so many others not be about us in our time of need is so disheartening, but I put my head down and walk into the storm as I always have. I will always take care of my family and do what needs to be done.
So I don't know when I will write again, when things at the land will or will not move forward. I'll try and update when I can, it might even be a good way to cope with things as writing seems to help me in that way. I thank you for being on this journey with us so far. Who knows what the future holds, but I hope at least it will have my completely healthy, happy, and recovered son in it. My son before it all 💕
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