Homestead Update #23

hey friends! How are you? I'm doing good. I guess you could say I'm doing better. Things are settling down a little for me here in TN. I'm settling into a new routine, looking for a job, and hanging with the family (don't know what I'm talking about? Read this post). And while I'm no longer on a working homestead, I thought I would still share a weekly update with you. I'll eventually end up back on a homestead so why not continue my weekly updates? They'll look different for a while, but that's okay. Change isn't always a bad thing. LOL

Chickens

It may come as no surprise but I don't have chickens anymore. That was the beginning of the end, as far as I'm concerned. But I didn't get a chance to write down our final egg count. So, from 7/26-8/5/2021, I collected 57 eggs. I miss my chickens something fierce. They were given to some people that we know who don't have the best track record with poultry. I hope they do okay (I do know that Winifred passed away the day after they went to their new home). But I can't worry about it. I did the best I could and hindsight being what it is, not having chickens right now is the best thing for me. But one day I will have a place of my own and I will have all the chickens that I want. And they will be well cared for and there will be free ranging, roosters, and lots of treats. For now, I miss them and their daily antics.

Garden

Again, no garden right now. Of course, that's okay since we're heading into winter. I wasn't able to bring any of my houseplants either. Everything is kind of on hold for the next couple of months until I get settled. (I feel the need to clarify. My stuff is in storage back in PA until I am settled...hence no plants coming with me. The Mister is taking care of the them until I get settled in!). Then I'll be able to have plants and start thinking about future gardens. Although a full size garden will most definitely be on hold until I am completely settled. I'm thinking I will purchase a couple of houseplants for now. I am taking a knitting class at my local yarn shop and the owner of the shop was so sweet last week and snipped some of her lavender for me! I have it sitting in water next to my computer. It makes me smile every time I see it.

Speaking of gardens. I also wanted to say that I don't think I'll miss having a big garden, at least initially. There are so many farm markets near me and lots of farms. So I don't think I'll miss the actual garden. It's only one growing season that I'll be missing (although it's a much longer growing season down south, but still....it's just one season). I can always get some stuff into containers on the front porch if I feel the need to grow things.

Business End of Things

Needless to say, I've put my business on hold for the moment. I'll reconsider what I want to do in the spring, but for now, I'm taking some time to just be and to write and to take some pictures. I think once I've had a chance to really settle into this new space, I'll want to come back around to the business. But for now, I'll just be here in this space writing about my new life. I appreciate everyone's support and understanding!

One other thing that I've done is cleared out my social media. I know this is probably frowned upon and I do feel terribly guilty about it, but I felt it was a necessary step to having a clearer head and clearer focus. I love keeping up with everyone but there comes a point where I feel it is too much. Too overwhelming. And when I was in the thick of things, it's hard to keep a positive attitude when it looks like everyone else is living their best life and you're just over here barely hanging on! I know that that is my fault but I do feel much lighter knowing that my social media is less busy now. I don't even know if I'll continue with social media. I've been reading and listening to a lot of theories on how to be successful without social media! Imagine that. Sigh....anyway, stay tuned.

The Rest of the Story

This is where I'll spend the majority of my time today. Next week I hope the categories will look a little different (as I said above). This is our third week in our new space in TN. So far I've taken the time to get settled. I'm with my parents for the time being. It makes the most sense until I figure out our next move. I've been applying for jobs. There are so many fun opportunities here. That was one thing that was holding me back before...where do I apply for a job? What is my next career move? I knew that it was time to get a job outside of my little business but the opportunities were not so readily available to me there as they are here. So we'll see.

I've also enjoyed some family time. Anna Lee and I have been to a couple of ball games (the youngest nephew plays baseball and we were fortunate to get here when we did since the season is over this week!). Anna has been such a good sport. She's settling in better but I can still tell she's confused on what's going on. I thought I found a great walking spot for us, but she doesn't want anything to do with it. I'll look around for a different spot. She loves going on car rides though. And she played with my brother's puppy and wore herself out. She also climbed a down tree (that's a first for her!).

I've also been exploring the city. As I said, there are so many amazing opportunities here...not just for jobs, but also for doing things. I treated myself to a morning downtown this past weekend. I took my knitting (did I mention I'm taking a sock knitting class?!?) and hit the downtown farm market. Then I got my favorite pizza from a local place. Then I just walked around a little downtown exploring. How amazing are these murals in a back alley downtown? I don't know the story about them, but I'll find out and report back!

And I've been trying to take more pictures. I am fortunate to have some time right now that I can explore hobbies in more depth. One of those hobbies is photography. I really want to dive deeper into it and learn more about my camera. This is a great area for photography!

I think I'll end here for this week. My days are filled with exploring, knitting, yoga (twice per week for now), walking, and just being. I think that's a good place to be right now. I spent yesterday on the porch, listening to podcasts, and knitting. I've been listening to self-help podcasts so I can find a way forward. I also pulled some quotes from some of those podcasts and created some inspirational sayings to hang on my wall. I highly recommend this podcast. It really spoke to me and I pulled a couple of quotes from it.

I also treated myself to a mani and pedi. It was needed and I feel more human again. LOL. But now it's back to being on a cash spending budget. My brother and I sat down over the weekend and looked at my finances and how to best budget my money for the coming months. I hope to have a job by January so I won't be dipping too much into my savings for the next couple of months and a budget (and cash spending) really help keep me on track! Thanks brother for helping me out!

Okay. I think that's enough for this week. I'll get back into the groove of taking pictures and thinking about my week so I can report back next Monday. Or whatever day I was doing my updates on (I'll have to look back in the archives!). I hope you are doing well friends.

'til next time
-k
xoxo