Finding My Voice

I've struggled for awhile with what to write.
Nothing is wrong and we are all well.

Some of the struggle has been simply the full season of markets and sales.  Spare moments must be spent making product to sell.  That's the nature of it.

I've also taken this quiet season to be filling up my space with others' words.  I read quite a lot.  Book after book absorbed, dissected for everything from word choice and style how people put there words OUT THERE.  There's been a lot of deep content  as well requiring a lot of time, of thought, and the much taking of notes.

I've decided that I need a new place, a fresh start.  I'm working, planning and writing over there, but not ready to share it all yet.  When I am, I will link to it from here.  My goal is to launch it the end of January.

I hope there will still be readers.  I hope YOU will join me there.

Until then, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

~Kimberly

New Friends~

This has been a summer of new friendships.  And I've needed them.  Some of the women I now consider my friends I met shortly after moving back, but it's taken time to establish relationships and believe I can really call these my friends.  After so many, so very lonely, years I am simply grateful. Part of it is just the wonder that someone would want to be my friend.  So blessed.

One of the funny new friendships just happened.  We switched the schoolhouse into a guest house and put it on Air BnB a few months ago.  It's been great.  Sometimes, I am just really sick of more laundry and making up beds and scrubbing the bathroom I just scrubbed the day before.  That's true.

But overall, it has been simply wonderful.  We've met people from around the world, had guests I've not actually even seen as they came in late and left early, guests that have stayed for weeks, and everything in between.

This last week we had a family for three nights that had four kids, all the same or right around the ages of ours.  It was so fun.  We even just did dinner the second night all together, laughing and eating together on the front porch.

We talked late into the nights, kids playing together all around, and even spent one day at the lake together hiking around and fishing.  We talked a lot.  This post is for my new friend.  It's a list of links to many of the things we talked about.  We could still be talking, but they had to go home.  Here's to hoping this will be a friendship that lasts beyond the visit.

Homeschool Links:
I've really enjoyed Sarah's blog.  The link here is for her post on looping.  This is new for me and something I didn't really get until watching the video on the post.  I'm loving this.  We are adding different loops into our days slowly.  I had tried to figure out the things best to loop for us and finally felt a lot more clarity about it after having a great discussion with the kids.  I learn a lot from them.

Even though her kids are all grown now, Sally Clarkson has been instrumental in influencing how I see homeschooling beyond a school at home.  Her book (and Clay, her husband) Educating the WholeHearted Child is practical and inspiring.

I love Schole Sisters because I strongly believe in the need for us to continue to grow and learn as women.  And I don't mean just trying to keep a step ahead of the kids' lessons!

Pam links to a bunch of other posts on her Facebook page I wouldn't have otherwise known about, plus her memes make me laugh and that's always a good thing.

Skip Counting Charts & lots of other useful HS printables here.  I also use the Calendar Notebook printables.  I put them in a binder and laminated them for Dumpling & Pumpkin years ago and am now using them for Cupcake.  It works so well especially without room for a bulletin board.

Pretty Places I Like to Hang Out:
Pinterest
Bethany's
Ruth's


Random Things I Use to Preserve/Store Food
Dehydrator
Steamer Juicer
Reusable Canning Lids
Screw on Lids for Canning Jars

Movies:
Miss Potter
Wives & Daughters  (the others in the pack are favorites as well)

I'm out of time for now.  I'll be sure to do links to my favorite Permaculture books next.  :)  Leave a comment on whatever else I should include!

Still Alive!

I'm hoping to get back to regular posts soon.
All is well.

Such a fun afternoon!

A photo posted by Orchard House Farm (@orchardhousef) on Aug 15, 2016 at 3:28pm PDT

This was a fun pit stop last weekend.

springing into summer~

Spring ended at some point.  We finished up school for a bit and I've been busy at the Farmers Markets each weekend.  I have two more weeks and then a break until Autumn.  The extreme heat of Summer is too much for my Body Butters and various Balms.  They'll melt into puddles of oils that just aren't pretty.  ;)
I was beginning to think I would not be able to get back here to blog again.  With my personal accounts and my business accounts both on Google, they just don't play nice together. I've only got a moment, but wanted to say all is well.  Well, well enough.
The bulk of my spare time has been spent putting in the gardens.  It's a lot of work to start from scratch.  Story of my life, isn't it?  I've got two garden areas this year that I've put in.  One is a half circle across the front of the house.  There were huge evergreen bushes that went past the roof line.  They were torn out (thanks, Dad) just before we moved in.  We did nothing there last year except grow weeds.  Now, I've got weeds and flowers and herbs and veggies.
The other garden is a 32x32 square out back.  I'm trying to put all my permaculture reading to use, but it's hard to do without a master site plan and that's just not possible at this time.  I'm trying to start something that can be incorporated into whatever the future plan is.  And keep the deer and bears and weeds out until more permanent (read:  not so ugly) fencing can be done.
Anyway, between the Markets, the garden, and the kids' daily swim lessons, I'm outta time to write.  Hope all is well in your neck of the words.
What are you growing?