January, Where did you go?

Hard to believe February is knocking down the door. I'm not even sure I got anything done in January. Typically the month to plan and dream, I was able to do some of that, including buying tickets for a trip to Italy and France. My travel buddies Sabrina and Sarajane (also sis-in-laws), and I have been talking about it for over a year and now it's right around the corner. (April 19-May 3) We've rounded out the trip with a fourth, another sis-in-law Kim. Our itinerary includes Venice, Florence, Tuscany, Rome and Paris. You will hear more about it as it comes.
NEW to the farm are four black kittens, 3 of which have tamed very nicely and #4 is slowly coming around. They pretty much look the same but I named them and can tell them apart even if no one else can. Tom is my favorite, very attentive, warm soft purring baby who loves to be held and petted. Bert is a little less desiring of attention but comes running when I step into the garage. Til lie, the only female is a ball of energy, always playing, always teasing the others and Art is the most reluctant to be tamed and has brought me the first mouse. And yes, I named them after my oldest aunt and uncles. I was thinking of groups of four names(3M/1F) and it popped into my head and stuck. They are for the purpose of ending the mouse population that continues to invade the garage and house. Wish me luck!
I've also been working on garden plans. Seeds need to be ordered NOW and even started if I want to get an early start. I am so excited to use my greenhouse this year for the first time. It will help especially with first crops, I am sure. As the seasons come along it will be a learning experience. I learned last year just how hot the greenhouse gets when I lost ALL of my tomato plants in the early stages of growth. Ended up with a bumper crop anyway, but had to buy some of the plants. If you are not familiar with our garden, we grow using organic practices. Each year since we started we've had multiple families share in the garden work with us co-op style and we have always shared with those less fortunate. We garden about an acre. +\- and grow from May through September. Our program is called Firstfruits Cooperative. Last year we did a much smaller garden with just our family because I had full time care of my then 1 year old granddaughter. We added a dozen chickens last year as well so my hands were full. This year will also see some changes. We are adding another dozen chickens to the henhouse, all layers, thus necessitating a venue for sales. My plan is to have a Saturday roadside stand to sell eggs and vegetables. This is how our name came about -HOPEWELL Farm, Helping Other People Eat Well. Can't wait to develop the plan.
Other plans and dreams included working on plans for an addition to the house. So there will be lots to talk about in the upcoming weeks. Hope you will come along for the ride. I'm hoping to figure out photos here soon. Things changed in my absence from the blogosphere.

So it's back to learning, learning, learning and dreaming and planning. Nothing new under the sun!

Happy New Year from HOPEWELL FARM

It seems kind of tacky to say, "I'm back," as it's been four years since my last post. That's a lot of water under the bridge and a LOT of changes. So, here I am starting over again. If you've found your way to this post you are either a friend of mine or you were intrigued by something I posted either on Facebook or Instagram. My goal is to post weekly about things pertaining to our little farm. The one we live on, not the one we have for vacations, but more about that later.
Currently on our 17 acres we have a large one acre garden, 11 chickens, 2 rabbits and 1 dog. Oh and maybe three kittens after this weekend. We work hard and play hard and want to share the learning and the fun with anyone who wants to listen or sample a taste.😉
New to us this year-we have named our farm; welcome to HOPEWELL FARM. The name is an acronym for Helping Other People Eat Well! Our mission is to impact our community with fresh organically grown fruits and vegetables, fresh eggs from free range chickens, fresh herbs in season and wonderful herb blends the rest of the year, and to be a resource to help those in need in our community. Our garden activities still fall under the name of Firstfruits Cooperative and new this year is our road side stand open every Saturday. More information to come.
We have lived here now for four years and people comment all the time about the many changes and improvements they see on this property. It is rewarding to hear that people notice, but really, things could not get much worse than they were when we arrived in January of 2013. God has been very kind to us and blessed the projects we've taken on. Scroll back and take look, and then follow along as we continue to grow the land we've been blessed to steward.

You can find us on Facebook and Instagram.

Hello world!

Sort of like spring, I feel that after a long hiatus of dormancy, I am bursting forth from the ground in new colors. In any event I have renewed my commitment to blogging and have so much to tell you about. Forget all of the reasons why I haven't blogged since Thanksgiving. It is April and all things are NEW

                                                                      a new view

I have a new address and yes, it is out in the country. In a small drive thru, one traffic light town called Catlett, we are now the owners of a 17 acre abandoned and abused farm and we are thrilled with the potential and the possibilities. But its gonna take a lot of work which means lots of stories to share with you.

I have a new home, which I have been working on making a "home" for the past 3 months. We officially moved in on Jan 2, and I think we've accomplished a lot since then.

 

the view from the back includes house, greenhouse and barn/silos

 

Most importantly I have a new garden - oh what fun it will be. With that garden came a new tiller - fun garden tools - I feel so industrious and I feel all sorts of blogs coming on as I begin yet another new adventure.

On Being Thankful

Please excuse my stream of consciousness ramblings - it's what I've got...

I've tried to keep my mind on gratefulness this month especially when all around me is in complete chaos. Boxes stacked along walls, some labeled, others still open and waiting for odds and ends, seem to be the decor of my home and my life at the moment. The scary part is we have to be out of this place in one week and the scarier part is we have no place to go. Our hands are tied. Banks and mortgage lenders do not care how urgent it is for them to move through quickly and apparently don't care about dates and deadlines either and so we sit at their mercy, awaiting the moment they claim to have checked off all the boxes and completed their end. Why do they get to break deadlines and say its our problem? It gets a little frustrating when the same request is made three times by three different people. I thought this electronic age was supposed to simplify this process. Well as a good friend reminded me last night. God's plans will not be thwarted by man. So I rest in gratefulness that He has this situation under control. I often send a silent prayer up during the days and sleepless nights with the simple plea - whatever you have planned please reveal to me. And although the answer has yet to come about He gives me peace.
And so I continue into the chaos of a move into a house in much need of rehab and a new job and the holiday season and I attempt to be grateful. And I am! Don't get me wrong, I have much to be thankful for and I am reminded of it especially today as we celebrate thanksgiving. I have a warm place to live, a roof over my head and I have no doubt at all that should we not be able to move into our new place for a few more weeks I will still have a roof over my head and a warm place to sleep at night. I have many standby offers waiting in line. I have a belly full of good food and a freezer full as well. (hmm that could be problematic) I have employment that I am getting used to and the extra hours will help with the costs incurred by a move and the season of giving that is upon us. I have a feeling that this season will be different for us this year. I hope so anyway; I hope we are learning a lesson about what is truly important and not getting caught up in all the poof of a materialistic holiday.
And so I am grateful! I listen to the song 10,000 Reasons over and over and am reminded that bottom line - I have it all, God's grace and God's care, and I am grateful, so very grateful.
And so I will continue to list things I am thankful for long past the Thanksgiving Holiday and I will do my best to trust and be at peace with the situation at hand

I am thankful that I am not homeless - a homeless lady approached me the other night and asked me to buy her a can of sterno so she could warm her hands. A poignant reminder that I am kept warm.
I am thankful that I have options, realizing that not everyone does.
I am thankful that my contractor remains on standby, ready to move the minute papers are signed.
I am thankful that even with our plans for today thwarted, we have an invitation to dinner - to be with family and be reminded of how blessed we are.
I am thankful for my family, even though we are not all together and will soon be separated by thousands of miles we are still close at heart and can text, write and call each other whenever we need a word of encouragement.
I am thankful for friends - who fill in the gaps as if they were family, who offer, fun, and refreshment when the going gets tough.
I am thankful for the gift of peace - in my heart and in our land.
I am thankful for the ability to work for a wage that helps cover the balance in tough economical times.
I am thankful for these things and many, many more, everyday not just today, and I am thankful that we have the opportunity to share with others - even if it is just a can of sterno.

Have a Blessed Thanksgiving!

A Place of Peace

My sister-in-law was visiting for the afternoon, and knowing her love of gardening and wanting to explore a place I'd read about, I suggested we go to see the Master Gardener's Teaching Garden in nearby Bristow. It's not such a great time of year to see a garden, but I figured the exploration in and of itself might be fun. I had no idea what we would stumble upon; certainly no idea that this treasure lay just around the corner.

The Teaching Garden itself wasn't all that exciting, although I imagine it could be during peak seasons. But what I found that spoke to me was the Benedictine Sisters Place of Peace. A delightful walking area for people of all faiths to come and find quiet. Perhaps it is my desperate need for quiet in this chaotic place in life I find myself, but I eagerly await the chance to go back and further explore for I learned that we hadn't even visited half of it. What we did see, aside from the teaching garden, was the labyrinth and the silos. The silos are open to the sky and have a stained glass insert running the complete length of the silo. To follow it with your eyes to the poofy white clouds that we had at that visit was like a refreshing shower for me, although it seemed to creep my guest out and was a tad claustrophobic, she admitted.The labyrinth has 11 circuits or 180 degree turns and if you walk it you will go from the outer edge to the center and back again to the outer edge, although we managed to mess up by "cheating. It is not a maze with wrong turns but somehow we managed to skip a turn and end up inside instead of outside. Those who know me well, I am sure this doesn't surprise you. With plenty of benches for sitting and the peace and quiet of the country, I knew that I would be back. Sister Pat was busy cleaning up the flower beds and was a wealth of information about the property. She recommended that we pick up a copy of the walking tour on our way out and then come back for the full experience. And we did.

Now I can't wait to go back. What we missed on that beautiful fall day was the Way of the Cross walking path. The walk is  through an ancient cedar grove that includes 16 stations of the cross. The brochure reads, "a prayer path that calls each of us to better understand forgiveness through the example of Christ's life and his suffering." Growing up in a tiny Presbyterian church, I did not experience much in the way of the art of the church. We don't have statues and icons, in fact pictures of Jesus were forbidden as a form of idolatry so it wasn't until in my adult life that I really began to discover and enjoy the beauty of worshiping God through art. Now perhaps I have it all wrong and the stations of the cross are not considered art but several years ago I recorded during my travels the rendering of several church's stations. All very old churches in Santa Fe and each one with very different renderings of the stations. (The stations are depictions of Christ's final hours, crucifixion, death and resurrection, if you are as ignorant as me) So I am particularly interested in seeing the Way of the Cross walking path because it appears in the brochure drawings that they are made from wood. I have a special fondness for walking in the woods and I am eagerly awaiting a few free hours when I can experience both the beauty of nature, the beauty of creative expression and the beauty of spiritual renewal.
All practically in my backyard! And next spring I shall explore the Master Gardener's Teaching Gardens.
For more info check it out here
http://www.pwcgov.org/government/dept/vce/Documents/Teaching%20Garden%20brochure-11.pdf

Family

Marco and Beena

 I wrote a truly melancholy post yesterday. It was so depressing it made me cry so it will probably stay in the draft folder and instead I will share some fun pictures of my extended family. One moth ago we gathered in Florida for the funeral of our brother-in-law Marc. Along with the mourning, grieving and hard times, we spent one evening at his favorite venue - the beach. We rushed from Tampa to Clearwater to make it in time for sunset. We threw flowers from a few of the funeral bouquets into the water and said goodbye and then spent time just being together on the beach - in the dark. It was good for all of us after a very hard day.

the gang

 Derrick was missing from this picture - because he took it and Lynnette had already left for her flight home
 

siblings in age order

 Mark, John, Ensign, Andrew, Sarajane, Luke, Nathaniel and Sabrina - what a good looking bunch of kids. Karla, the oldest sister, was not present.

the cute nieces and Uncle John (?)

sunset

Never underestimate the power of family. Whoever said that knew what they were talking about!

The New Farm

I've made noises over the last year about needing to move and looking for a new place to dream our dream of a small working farm and here we are six months later, with a new place to call home. "Lord willing and the creek don't rise", sometime in November we will own a 17 acre farm in Catlett, just 12 short miles from our current home but in a county that is friendly to the idea of owning a small business and running it on/from your own land. Not to be taken for granted because almost all surrounding counties do not permit you to do this. We are thankful, to say the least. With the current economy and the way business is struggling, it is not always possible to rent or own land that is zoned appropriately for our business - currently a million an acre to purchase where we currently rent. And even though Obama apparently built this business and not the blood, sweat and tears of the Aylestock and Underwood families, he won't help pay the rent! So we are off on a new adventure... 3058 Catlett Road...........

"Will you have to sell the other farm?" is the most frequently asked question we've heard since our plans were made known. "We don't know, yet." is our answer. While it seems silly to us to own two farms, the other property is hands down more beautiful than the new home. And with all the work this new adventure will bring, we have to be realistic about the upkeep of two places but also knowing we have a restful peace filled place to escape to has been what carried us along during this hard year. So who knows? and only time will tell, I guess. In the meantime here are a few pics and we'll share more of the adventure as it comes along.

the view from the house

A barn, 2 silos and a milk house await our labors

View from the barn - a good size pond is located where the dead tree stands tall

The milk house makes my creative juices flow. I see a small shop in my future.

LTC will be housed in the grove of trees

A lot of work awaits us; every stall is filled like this

Formerly a wholesale nursery was on the property

the remnants of the nursery

a small house also needing lots of rehab

there is more work here than meets the eye

the view from the back of the property

Now taking sign ups for volunteers to help empty the barn and greenhouse - she said grinning.....