December Update & Holiday Beginnings

 

Hello Hive friends,                                      

 Its officially December! It’s hard to believe how quickly this year seems to have flown by. Did that happen to anyone else or is it just me?

        December means winter- one of my favorite seasons. There always seems to be this shift in the air around this time of year. It’s one that I feel on the deepest level. The lights, the crispness, the spirits, and the charity along with the promise that the light will prevail when it returns. Over the years I have honed the traditions of Christmas and the solstice in my space, my heart, and in my life. And while I no longer live in the same house as my parents, many of the traditions from my childhood have stuck with me.

        This year I want to share these traditions, both old and new, with you. Throughout the month of December, I will be posting content on various platforms that will give you a glimpse into these traditions and maybe inspire you to start some of your own. There will be trees, decorations, baking, cooking, crafting and more.

There is a stark reality that counters this time of year for many. It can be hard for some souls in the real world, and I hope that we can celebrate together as the digital family that we are and will become. I wish with all my heart that it will bring a bit of light to the darkness and joy to your heart

 

Happy Holidays Hive! ~B

September Update

 

Hello Dear Ones.

It has been far too long since I have posted here. It’s hard to believe so much of 2024 has already passed. As September ends, I have been reflecting on the past few years and making changes in my life. This includes bringing some changes to how I share my life and my creative endeavors. I look forward to sharing my personal and creative endeavors through Hearth & Sickle, the new branding for all my platforms.
        After a couple of rough years, I am starting on the journey to rebuild my life and find my way forward. I am unsure about how detailed I will get with what has happened over the past 15 years. What I will say is that life choices and circumstances both in and out of my control have put me in a place that was as close, if not completely rock bottom for my life. During one of our conversations, my aunt reminded me that the second half of my life can be as amazing as the first. Her encouragement has been such a comfort as of late. And after meeting a new community of people and having someone come into my life that encourages me to swim up and break the surface then has been there to pull me back onto the boat. He has inspired me to pick up the pieces, to be creative again and start rebuilding my life.

        My hope on this blog (as well as my other socials) is to share my journey of living a simple and creative life. This will include the variety of creative endeavors I am embarking on along with the practical side of starting over and rebuilding one’s life at 34. I have a few ideas for topics to share including some fun fantasy-based characters that will be making an appearance to share the sewing projects I have planned and have completed. I am also looking at getting into some live streaming with both my creative process and gaming. There might even be a little Dungeons and Dragons tucked in here and there. I will also be reaching out on social media to see if there are any ideas from those who follow me to see what they would like me to share.

        Where did Hearth & Sickle come from? At first it was going to just be the name of the boarding house where my D&D character was going to reside, but it has turned into so much more. As I have said before, I am turning towards becoming more of a creative and lifestyle niche than the old fashioned and “homesteading” niche that I had started out with. While the Flying V-S Farm name served me well, it’s time to let it go. After some reflection, I came to realize that if things in my life took me away from a farm setting (which it highly likely to do) I wanted to have a brand that could move and grow with me.

As I was coming up with the name, I wanted something that would denote the multiple facets of my lifestyle. A hearth is often a place where friends and family would gather, cook, talk, and spend time with one another. In farming, a sickle is a handheld tool used in harvesting. While I probably should have picked something sewing related, I decided on sickle as an ode my past adventures and passions.

Look for new content to come out on Instagram, YouTube, this blog, Facebook, the podcast, and Threads. I hope you will come spend time with me there and join the Hearth & Sickle adventure. Welcome to the Hive.

Cheers ~ B

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