Farmstead Chronicles

Probably my favorite selfie to date Ages: 42 & 1 1/2 The middle's and the baby The oldest and the youngest (20 years difference) I'm 5 years older than him          Today is MY BIRTHDAY!! It's probably a little conceited to write a blog about myself on my birthday. I don't mean it to be that way at all, so I will call it self-reflection. In the last year I have given myself some pretty big goals to reach for. I listen to a lot of podcasts and self-help books (as you know) and I have decided that if I can dream it, then I can do it - or I'm going to give it a try anyway. So, I have put those goals in motion, I get frustrated when they don't happen as fast as I think they should, or I don't see the results I wanted in the time I thought. I have so much to be thankful for and another trip around the sun, as people call it, is at the top of my list.         I am learning to give myself some grace. I am learning to wak...

  Graduation day, June 1998 😐     I was out in the shed this past week getting out my Christmas decorations (don't judge) and I came across my tote of keepsakes. Charley was out there with me, so I took the time to open it up and stroll down memory lane with her. I was embarrassed and surprised at the amount of stuff I kept. There were keepsakes from when I was a little girl (apparently ceramics were a BIG thing in the 80's). There were stories I had written in my creative writing class that I had kept. One was titled "Grandparents" and I remember it so well. I read that story at my Granddaddy Hinkle's funeral when I was 15 years old. Charley started to read some of them, and we were both laughing. I showed her how we kept our papers together way back then without staples or paper clips. Do you remember folding the corners of the paper and then tearing a tiny square in the middle and folding it down? I'll have to take a picture of it for a visual for you some...

Saturday, 6:55 a.m.                Thursday morning, I got awake at around 3:00 a.m. Of course, I laid there trying to go back to sleep and finally at 4:15, I just got up. I put my Christmas tree up on Wednesday night (it's not decorated... yet) so the lights were on, and it was just so peaceful. I LOVE Christmas lights and the feeling the Christmas season brings. I know it sounds like some cheesy Hallmark movie, but I can't help it. I came out and made coffee, got my Bible, a book and my "daily to-do" notebook, turned on my oversized heating pad and sat on my couch in the glow of the Christmas lights. It was the most peaceful and serene moment(s) my soul needed. I did initially think, I will pay for this around 2:00, but to my surprise I felt really good the whole day! I made a goal to try to get up 1/2 an hour earlier than I needed too each day, just to sit and "be still."      We are in full swing of...

  "Momma's tree" as Janice calls it. The colors around the cemetery.     I cannot believe it has been a week since I last blogged. I apologize. I have had somewhat of a writer's block.  I think about writing to you all every day but want to write words that mean something.       I cannot believe it is November already. Where has 2023 gone? When I was younger someone once told me that the older you get the faster time goes. They were so right! Dr. Weber from Grey's Anatomy said in an episode (from a looong time ago) that one day you realize you don't have as many tomorrows as yesterdays. I didn't give it much thought then, but November is my birthday month. That's right, I celebrate the entire month 😁. I don't necessarily do anything to celebrate, just remind my family that it's my birthday month. I don't want them to forget, HAHA. At my age I realize I have lived half a life already. I have done a lot of living in almost 43 years. ...