One of the many great things to come out of quarantine is our morning routine. Every day, Isai wakes us up early and demands that Papa Bear open the window blinds. Now that Aaron has removed all of the bushes from the front of the house, the windows in our basement bedroom flood with the Eastern light. Isai makes sure …
The Irises
I often find myself thanking Lois for the small bits of magic all around the farm. Often, I run into something cute or quirky and immediately imagine that it must have been her idea instead of David’s. I have no idea if any of it is true – but I hope she’d be tickled to know she’s getting all the credit. …
A Snowball Story
Years ago, I owned a small Ranch house in Roeland Park, Kansas. It was the first house I’d every purchased and, while tiny, it packed a punch for insane stories. Next door, my 96-year-old neighbor Annebelle would swing on her front porch stoop. She’d wait for me to take Ogi on a walk or come bounding into the front yard …
We’re Fish Feeders Now
One of the funnest memories of my grandparents’ farm was feeding fish from the damn with Grandpa Ralph. He would take a bucket of fish food to the water’s edge and let us toss handfuls into the pond until fish gathered all around. It was basically a religion. Those fish knew him and knew what was coming when he was …
Dinner on the Deck
When we moved into our Kansas City house, we planned everything around dinners with family. We filled the huge dining room with a massive table and surrounded it with 10 chairs. To celebrate our marriage, we picked table settings for 12. We combined all of our cooking and serving ware into the cabinets and loaded the hall closet with board …
Our Great Big Dandelion Jelly Experiment
With the garden in the ground, we’re itching for something to harvest. Naturally, there’s very little ready for picking aside from a cluster of blue Irises and thousands of dandelions. Having seen Facebook friends post about dandelion jelly over the past few years, an idea came to mind. I asked around and ended up with this recipe for our very …
Day 48: Coronavirus Quarantine
Everything continues to be very odd. The most cliché phrases currently playing on repeat include references to “normal” – “the new normal,” “going back to normal” and “nothing will every be normal again.” To be honest, it was time for a change. I do love that the stay-at-home orders have spotlighted technology and remote work as valuable resources for companies. These …
The Front Shrubs are Gone
No doubt about it – the farm’s previous family took exceptional care of the property. The house, the out-buildings, the lawn, the pastures – every literal thing is in amazing shape. That being said, part of why we decided to buy the farm was the appeal of this “diamond in the rough.” While this place is stunning – there are a …
Home to Roost – Our Cozy Chicken Coop
Exactly a month ago, I bought the build plans for a chicken coop. Since then, Aaron has been building like a madman to create the most epic chicken cottage of all time. This week, we’re over the moon (and a bit relieved) to finally welcome the flock into their cozy new home. From start to finish, this coop has been …
The New Mower and the Pond
Last week, we added a much-needed Ferris zero-turn mower to the farm’s equipment line up. It was really a stunner. Shiny. Red. Keyword here: was. I mowed for about an hour with it on Sunday. Trimmed up the backyard with a swift jaunt across the lawn. So when Aaron jumped on to mow the orchard today, the mower had a …