Just Be Kind

In a post last December,

we talked about participating in a chain of random kind acts

to honor those who were taken senselessly.

 Here are a few of the deeds

we've completed so far for our

Sandy Hook Kindness Chain.

 

Homemade muffins for my doctor

during my annual exam.

With each good deed, 
we encourage others to join in.





Taking a neighbor to lunch.

Sweet treats for the folks at the water department.





 Cleaning up litter in the neighborhood.

Some tasty morsels for Lil' Guy's doctor and staff
during his yearly check-up.





Hot coffee for the ladies who cashier in the garden department
where the doors were wide open on a cold winter day.




Passing on our produce credit to another person 
who enjoys fresh goodies from our farmer friends. 

I think my favorite so far has been to insert a single, crisp dollar bill
into children's books at the public library.
We might have to repeat this one because it was so much fun.
It made me smile just to think about
some young child getting set to read, and finding a surprise.

This project is something we'll continue 
after our initial commitment is over.
I'm hoping that by Lil' Guy participating in these small practices,
he can feel a sense of having a positive impact on this world,
even in the humblest of ways.

~May God bless and keep those babies and their families.~








Little Homestead on the Hill

Homemade Living Series

Thanks for visiting us today for the second week in our series.

Be sure to pop over to these two blogs today
for more insights on living homemade:

Mary@Homegrown on the Hill

Tammy@Our Neck of the Woods

When I was much younger, going into a card store
and picking out a dozen or so greetings was fun.
Then they got expensive.
I figured I could do it myself 
and now I've been crafting them for years.

My friend KK who lives right here in the neighborhood 
is a card-making diva.

She has all the tools needed to make any type of card
for every occasion,
including loads of talent and creativity. 
She is a crafting phenomenon.
She's teaching me to knit and she also sews 
and is a formidable gardener.
Some people just "got it".

She was kind enough to teach me 
what she's learned about card making.

It all starts with the cardstock.
You gotta have the right paper so that the cards stand up 
to the many added embellishments.

A paper cutter helps to keep lines straight
and can be measured to virtually any size you might need.
Most cards have standard dimensions,
so they easily slip right into envelopes.

There are a myriad of stamps available for special holidays or themes.

Her collection includes these letter stamps,
which help with the personalization of cards.

This punch creates a beautiful edge on the bottom of the card.

It really adds a touch of elegance.

For those who lack imagination,
there are books on the subject of card making.

KK also uses her own photographs 
taken around her home and garden.

Most of the time though, 
she uses various patterned paper to fashion just the right look.
She even embelishes with glittery adornments.

One of her favorites is this cute note card with the bold green bow.
She often recycles parts of cards she's received
to use on her handiwork.

The cupcakes as well as the message on this card are actually stickers
that peel off and are easily adhered to the cardstock.

Here is an array of butterfly-themed creations.
The possibilities are really endless.

A woman after my own heart.
Completed cards are organized by color
and stored until needed.
(We both do this with the clothes in our closets too!)

Lest you think you need a lot of equipment to do this craft, 
it's not really necessary.
KK buys all of her supplies on sale and uses coupons to boot,
so she has accumulated a nice stash of tools.

Here are a couple of my attempts.
I use a lot of scraps of paper from my scrapbooking days 
and just decorate them using fancy scissors or a hole punch.
I try to send my mom a card each week,
since she lives down south now.

Recently, friends celebrated a big anniversary,

so I made this little ditty.

Making homemade cards is worth the time and effort.
It's a fun thing to do with friends
and it helps to stir up plenty of great ideas for designs.

When was the last time you sent a card to someone
just because?

These fine bloggers will be posting their creativity next Wednesday:

Amber@Making a Home

Meg@Bit of Life

Staci@Life at Cobble Hill Farm

Little Homestead on the Hill

Dreams Moving Forward

"All our dreams can come true, 
if we have the courage to pursue them."
-Walt Disney

If you've read daisy's dream just below our header,

you know that we've been itchin' to head for higher ground 
for some time.

We waited for a definitive sign.

Well, last week we got it.

Big K was up for a promotion at work.
He'd been doing the job already for a few months,
after his coworker retired.
We figured he had a good chance of getting it.
He already knew the job, and financially, it was a blessing.

 I had a feeling about it the day before we officially got the news.
Keeping in mind that we live in a deed-restricted HOA community,
ya know what happened?
On my morning walk, there was a chicken at the end of the block.
Yeah.
I'm not talkin' Perdue on a grill,
a real, live chicken mozying through one of my neighbor's front lawns.
That gave me a clue as to where we were headed.
I believe in signs...


He didn't get the promotion.
We've pondered why as he certainly deserved it
and proved that he could do the job.
He has a strong work ethic 
and always goes above and beyond to get the job done.
We considered fighting it,
but ultimately, we decided,
this was our chance to move on.

After years of talking about moving to North Carolina 

to start our homestead,

we finally have the ability to go for it.

So many times this intention has been written in my daily journal.

Our vision board is loaded with wishes, desires 

and hopes for the future.

Now we can get started on making them come true.

Although we have been talking about this plan for a while,

it didn't stop us from living our life.

To my way of thinking, God wants us to be happy,

no matter where we are.

We may not be in the location we yearn for,

but we can still make a good life as long as we're together.

That's what we've done.

Finding local pesticide-free produce 
and then being mentored by such an amazing couple of farmers
was preparing me to strike out on my own.
Starting this blog and learning so many helpful skills
will help us keep continuity in our lives during the changes.

One thing that's become apparent to me in the past few years,

is that the less you struggle with what comes your way,

the easier your life flows.

Once I realized this, so many things have gotten better.

Listen for God's whispers and do what feels right.

We are very excited to be able to begin this next phase of our lives.
We've never lived anywhere but Florida as a family,
and Big K and I have lived here most of our lives.
We know that it will be challenging,
especially for Lil' Guy, who has difficulty with change,
but overall, we feel strongly 
that this is the step we are destined to take.

I look forward to a more seasonal way of life,
enjoying the simple pleasures of a rural reality
while working on creating a superb quality of life for ourselves 
and helping others do the same.

Onward and upward!

What advice do you have 
for minimizing the daunting task of relocating?


"I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge -- myth is more potent than history 
-- dreams are more powerful than facts -- hope always triumphs over experience --
 laughter is the cure for grief -- love is stronger than death."
-Robert Fulghum









Little Homestead on the Hill

Farm School Summer Series Week Six

The summer is half over,
but Farm School is still going strong.

We're preparing for the fall garden.

Time to get to work.

The garden has slowed down quite a bit.

Although we've been blessed with an abundance of rain,

the heat, humidity and bugs have been destructive to summer crops.

Last week I looked for leaf rollers on the leafier crops.

This week, these cutworms were found under 

the plastic pot liners of some plants.

Sneaky little devils, they are.

This is the "slow-bolt" cilantro that was planted a few weeks ago.

We were disappointed that it didn't perform as we had hoped.

All but one plant bolted within 2 months.

Some of the okra has been pulled out,

due to its poor performance.

Even the cherry tomatoes are withering with the heat.

They were mighty good while they lasted!

We've had an unusual amount of rain the last few weeks.

You can see here that this beet seedling 

was all but pummeled to death.

We simply planted more.

Lynn's philosophy is that if something doesn't grow 

the way he expects, he just keeps on trying.

"Throw more seed on it and see what happens."

Why not?

Some of the eggplant is looking good,

although Lynn is not sure it is out of the woods just yet.

The parsley is amazing...

See anything interesting here?

We came home with about 30 of these babies.

I put them on Craig's List to see if other families might want to enjoy

the fabulous opportunity to witness the metamorphosis.

I got some takers and it gave me a great idea

that I will share at a later date.

Some of the newly-sown seeds are coming right along.

When asked why he direct sows some plants and uses flats for others,

Lynn said it's a matter of fragility.

Tomatoes especially are susceptible to a myriad of problems,

and must be handled with the utmost of care.

They are always started in trays.

Other crops, like eggplant, 

are sometimes direct sown as an experiment

to see if they can flourish without the extra step of seed starting.

Still others, like beans and peas, 

are always directly placed in their final growing spot.

I had time to clean up a few pots containing peppers.

The plastic disks keep most weeds at bay,

so the job goes quickly.

 

Skinks scatter through the aisles of pots playing tag.

Lynn spotted this new growth on one of their banana trees.

A fresh bunch like this will soon be emerging from the new shoot.

There was some fill work being done on the property.

Although things are slowing down with regard to harvesting,
the planning and sowing stages are revving up.
Won't be long before we are steeped in seed trays.

Until we meet up again...


The Farm School posts begin here.









Little Homestead on the Hill