Merry Christmas

 

 

 Greetings dear one,

       It is almost the end of 2023. It’s hard to believe how quickly this year has gone by. I feel like we say that every year. It leads me to thinking about the things that I accomplished and the things that I let pass by- intended or not. This year has been a year of realization. Realizing what I have lost, left behind and need to begin. 2023 has been a year of healing as well. Allowing myself to recognize the hard truth about my mental health and the things I have neglected. It is something that I am sure has been the case for many others. We all go through a period like this. While 2023 has been a healing point, I look forward to 2024 being a year of rebuilding and discovery.

       One of the top highlights from 2023 is having found an incredible person to call my boyfriend. Here, I will simply refer to him as J. I may occasionally use his social media name, but most of the time he will be J. We met through another content creator’s Discord server, mainly due to a desire I had to get into playing Dungeons and Dragons. We started talking and bonded in what seemed like record time. As we continued to get to know one another, things gradually evolved into making the decision to date. The catch is- He is in Canada, and I am in the US. Our long-distance relationship has been a bit of an adjustment, but it has been incredible. I will share more from my perspective later in 2024. It is obvious that we are good for each other, especially when people I know in person have seen the difference in my countenance since we started dating back in June. He is super supportive and encouraging. Not to mention, he has gotten me into a game that I am enjoying immensely.

       Linus is doing well. He is now considered a “senior” dog. His recent vet visit had the vet amazed at how good he is doing for his age. He still acts like a puppy, despite being 11 years old. Even more now that we have Ella. She is a spirited thing who is roughly the same age as Linus. She belonged to a dear friend who made a move to the Midwest earlier in the year. She had set me up as a trustee in her will and when she decided not to take the dog with her, she asked if Gran and I wanted to take her. We said yes- little did we know about what we were getting into. They enjoy spending time doing zoomies around the yard together and napping the day away on the couch.

       The chickens have been well. Rosie, the little love that came from Ma a couple years ago, hatched out a chick that turned out to be a handsome black rooster. He is sticking around. Between their age and the weather, they have slowed down significantly. While the eggs are nice and the side hustle cash is helpful, they are pets more than anything. As they age, I will be letting my flock thin out naturally and will be settling in with a smaller number of chickens. I will be keeping my flock at a smaller number going forward. It is easier to care for them and give them all the attention they deserve as pets.

       Bella spends her days wandering the property, eating treats, and being loved on. She is like having another dog and will often hang out with Linus. There isn’t much else to say about her other than that she is a sweetheart and an absolute love.

         While the weather this year has been vastly different from last, it has been nice. We had a couple of wild storms in the early summer. One instance was a thunderstorm at the beginning of June that pummeled the house with pea sized hail for about an hour. A few other storms resulted in the same kind of weather. Recently, we have had some rain and a lot of fog. Its not likely that we will have a white Christmas, which is fine with me. I love the snow, but its much easier to function when it is nice.  

       I look forward to 2024 and all that it holds. I plan to re-launch my podcast after the first of the year along with a rebranded direction for my future. Some of you may have noticed that it has changed from the Flying V-S Farm to Hearth & Sickle. I will be sharing more details about this change in the new year. There will still be lifestyle content and it will include more creative content such as sewing and knitting along with some fantasy, D&D and more.

May 2024 be your year.

Cheers,

B

Hello There- A little Update

Greeting Dear Ones,

      It’s been a while since I last visited this blog- sadly coming close to a year since I last posted. I could make several excuses as to why I haven’t been active over this period of time- the foundation of why is that I have been at a loss over the months in 2023. I didn’t know what I wanted to do or where I was headed. I have done things that I am not proud of, and I have not done things that I should have. Either way, things are getting better and improving. With that said, I wanted to give you a little life update and share what has been going on with me and what is in store moving forward.

      The ending of 2022 was a little rough. I went through a massive spiral and was left in a dark place. The spiral was of my own making, and I should have seen it coming. It was one of those situations where I wanted to do something about it but just couldn’t… I stopped interacting with the world completely. I don’t know if it had anything to do with the fact that it was December and one of the roughest winters we have had or not. I stopped watering the plants in the greenhouse, stopped communicating with friends and felt like I was just going through the motions most days. And that was if I even bothered to get out of bed for any length of time. I was not doing well.
      This was still in effect in January of 2023- though not as bad granted. I was starting to come out of it a little bit more. I started getting back into sewing, finding friendships and the small flame still there was starting to blossom into a new flame fueled by some newfound passions. In January and February, I discovered a quickly growing new enjoyment of something that I had been thinking about getting into. And from there, I have had a new passion ignite. And while the struggles of finding my footing with rituals and routines, the community I have found is inspiring and kind- to things that I have discovered I needed.
      While these communities happen to be online and not in person, it hasn’t changed how I feel about the people I have met. Now, there are ups and downs, gains and losses in these communities as there would be in real life, which is a keen reminder that it isn’t some fantasy world as some may see it. There friends I have made in these spaces will last a lifetime. And its finally gotten me into Dungeons & Dragons, which is something that I had been considering for a while. One of these online spaces is a D&D based roleplay server- a space that has become a home away from home. And as it happens, is run by an incredible person I have the pleasure of calling my boyfriend.

      Yep- B has a boyfriend. Granted that he lives in Canada and our relationship is not only online, but long distance at that. It hasn't made me feel like it’s any less of a success. He is an incredible guy who sees the light peeking through the cracks and encourages me in so many ways. When people talk about finding someone you can be broken with, I feel like I got lucky. Maybe one day I will introduce him to this space, but for now- he will remain the mystery behind the scenes.
      Moving forward, things are going to look a little different. You may have noticed the name change. While I loved keeping the heritage going, I needed to find a name that could transition with me in both real life and the online spaces I inhabit. I will share more about the idea behind the name and what it will entail. I have been diving into sewing, which has become my main hobby as well as my knitting. And, while I always thought that I would share the homesteading, it is something that has kind of passed out of being my primary focus. I will instead be sharing more of my history bounding and cottage core simple living- which mirrors what I thought I wanted in the homesteading life. There will still be chickens and gardens and kitchen things, but I won’t be calling it homesteading or anything specific like that. I plan on returning to the podcast, recording more episodes in the coming months, and sharing more projects with you all. I will also be adding more fantasy and cosplay material to the mix along with some D&D content.
      I hope you will stick around and continue to travel with me on this journey as things change dear ones. I can’t wait to see what the future has in store and share it with all of you.

 

Cheers, B