I have been trying to publish a post for this blog since I posted the last one, but I could not hit the publish button. I have posts about chocolate chip cookies and pancakes ready to go, but it feels like posting things like this paints a picture that everything is perfect. I love to write and share all of the cool things that I find. Maybe that’s the reason why I like to look at other people’s blogs when I’m looking for a new recipe or idea and I love the sites that are beautiful and curated. It’s a nice little escape. I’m sure that I will be posting about pancakes and cookies soon because I do love to cook. I think that I just need to get this off my chest and I want people to know that it’s not all nice pictures here. Things have been just hard and not just this year in dealing with the pandemic, but it’s been hard for myself and family for a long time. I always feel bad when I say that out loud because I know there are many people and families that have it much harder than I do. Our hardships mostly deal with mental health and just health in general. I know that more and more people are talking about and are more accepting of mental health, but I still do feel like it’s a taboo topic. I used to try and talk about things because I think that sharing and making people more knowledgeable about this issue was the right thing to do. Maybe they have a similar circumstance and then they would know that they’re not alone because we felt very alone, especially in the beginning. We still feel alone. I’ve stopped talking about anything that isn’t just surface talk finding that when I’m explaining to someone what is going on that they either don’t know what to say, try to change the subject, or just say they’re sorry. I have learned to just put a smile on my face and say one word answers if some asks how are you or if I feel like I can’t do that then I just don’t meet up with anyone or call anyone. I know that might sound mean, but I only have so much in me. Needless to say, our sphere of people has shrunk over the years because our ability to do things is limited and I understand. Like I said I just needed to get that off my chest and I’ll be back to the regularly scheduled program soon because the cookies and pancakes are good and you need to make them. I have turned off comments because I’m not writing this for sympathy. Sometimes things are just hard and things just suck.
Thinking About Spring
Don’t get me wrong, I love Winter. Yes, I really do, especially when there’s a lot of snow, but I also love planning what we are going to grow in our garden. This year is the first year that we ordered seeds online (Sow True Seed) and will be starting all our plants ourselves. We have also bought some grow lights and are making a little area in the basement for all of the plants. Last year we revamped our entire garden and started from scratch. We had a major vole issue that we could not get rid of. We don’t use chemicals in our garden and all the ways you could get rid of them naturally didn’t work. Also some of the boards in the raised beds needed to be replaced, so we decided to take everything out. We wanted taller, metal raised beds so we ordered them from Metal Garden Beds. Before we filled them with dirt we put thick wire mesh underneath so there would be no chance that a vole would get through. Needless to say, by the time we (I really mean my husband) built the beds and filled them with dirt, we didn’t get things planted as early as I would have liked. Everything still turned out amazing and having the higher beds made everything so much easier. This year we are adding one more bed and then hopefully getting some rock to make the garden look finished. We would have loved to get all the beds last year, but there was only so much in the budget. My husband also wants to line the area behind our little above ground pool with sunflowers. Last year he grew the mammoth sunflowers and they were gorgeous. We will have some of those and we also bought some Autumn (they have shades of orange and red) and Teddy Bear (they are like puff balls) sunflowers. It will be fun to see all the sizes and colors. I will be documenting every step of the way. If you are inspired to start gardening or have a garden, Deanna from Homestead and Chill is so knowledgeable. Not only does she have an amazing garden, she has recipes to use all of your harvest. She also has sourdough recipes and how to make kombucha.
Welcome
Welcome to my little piece of the Internet. My name is Robin and I live at the Jersey Shore where we live on a small piece of property in a development. You will be seeing my husband, our two teenagers, a flock of chickens, our dog Ollie (an old English bulldog), our cats Xeno and Pixel, and my daughter’s guinea pigs Cinnamon Nutmeg, and Caramel. I love to cook, garden, knit, and sew. Through this blog, I plan to show you our garden, introduce you to our girls (chickens), share recipes, and highlight knitting or sewing projects that I’m working on. I’m always so inspired when I look at other blogs who live on many acres of land and have huge outdoor spaces. We have managed to do all of the things on our 1/4 acre of property. So I thought that the craziness we are up to here can inspire others too.
