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

January Letter || Flying V-S Farm

January 28, 2021

 

Hello dear friends,

  It has been far too long since I last wrote you. I send my sincerest apologies for this. 2020 seemed to take the wind out of my creative sails and found me spending an inordinate amount of time just scrolling through Instagram and Facebook- paying heed to the noise of the world more than I ought to have. I made the decision to take a hiatus from excess social media platforms to focus more time and energy to this blog and my channel over on YouTube. I do hope you will join me.

        Seeing as it has been a while, I will update you a bit on the main events of 2020. I will not mention beyond this point the Covid-19 Pandemic or the lockdowns, as we have all been affected by it. My Gran and I have stayed home as we need, seldom venturing out unless necessary. Much of what I will report is due to staying home and the many cancellations that have occurred this past year.

        Gran purchased a small chicken coop for the geriatric birds in my flock around the end of the summer. Finding this proved to be a challenge since it seemed that sourdough bread and raising backyard chickens suddenly became everyone’s past time. We managed to find the last our local store had in stock. It was quite a bit of fun to build and allowed us to spend some good quality time in each other’s company. The only glitch we found was what to call it. We have always referred to the existing structure as “the coop.” After some time had passed, we were re-watching a favourite film of ours, “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” which is about a home for the elderly in India. That was it! The smaller coop has thus been dubbed “The Marigold” and is now a home for aged birds. I plan to find some stencils this Spring/Summer that will lend an Indian flare to the rather drab exterior.

        The Marigold came into existence due to a need for more space for my other flock.  They had previously been residing in the greenhouse. When Snugs- aka Maxene- went broody and became determined to set a clutch of eggs, it was decided that they needed more room as they were about to get a few new members. They would move to the existing coop and we would build the smaller coop for the older girls and Bertram, who had been previously residing in the main coop. In the early part of July, Snugs hatched 9 chicks, one of which did not survive. I purchased an additional 6 chicks from our feed and tack store. The Coop now has a fine family of 21 living within its walls. They have remained snug through the winter months. Now that the days are beginning to lengthen. They have begun laying and provide a rainbow of eggs each day.

        With new housing for the birds, the greenhouse was now unoccupied which meant we could clean it out and use it to house our plants over the winter months along with one little bird who needed a little R&R before meeting her new family. I have enjoyed going out every morning to water the plants and harvest what is still going. I have begun formulating my plans to have a proper garden this year and will be starting seeds in the greenhouse here shortly. More on that to come.

        The sewing room has been a mess due to the lack of use. I am currently working to remedy that situation. I did add a new friend0 her name is Florence. She is a hand crank sewing machine that I purchased from a friend of mine. She in need of some repair and I am in the hope that she can be used.  I will be doing a more in-depth introduction of her at some point in the future.

        As I said at the beginning, this year was not at all creative in the way I had hoped that it would be. I am looking forward to 2021, as I feel the creativity has returned and the wind will once again begin to fill my sails. I have some sewing projects in the works, as well as gardening, cooking, etc. I hope to be more engaged with you all here as well as on my channel.

 

Yours Truly,

Ms. Rebecca