week 23: around town

this week on the little dream farm

On Friday Chris asked me, “So where should we go this weekend for our adventure?” and I told him I didn’t want to go anywhere!

What I really wanted to do this weekend was hang out on the farm, run leisurely errands around our nearby towns, and soak in the cooler weather Saturday brought us and the rainy Sunday we’re expecting today.

We’ve finally crested the Hard Work part of the growing season…and now we’re in what we’re calling the Maintenance Phase.

Fences are mended. Pastures are mowed. Just about everything going into the ground this year is planted, we’re checking little projects off our list, and the farm looks and feels tidy…beautiful.

I can feel my mind finally slowing down from all the things that felt like they were on a tight timeline.

So I spent my Saturday morning having my coffee slowly while the sun came up. Chris and I popped down to our village’s annual hot air balloon festival, but sadly the morning takeoffs were cancelled due to some passing storms that came through in the early morning.

We used the cool early morning to tidy up the greenhouse I purchased last year from a local woman—even though we’re not using it this season we’re working on a few things to get it up and running possibly for next year.

Next up was weeding in what we call the Upper Garden and getting some tarps down in that area to suppress weeds—this is a space we don’t currently focus on so we’re maintaining it with tarps until we decide if we’d like to keep growing things there or maybe let it go.

We tied up a few other little odds and ends and then I took off for a morning of bopping around to a few local places to make some donations, make a few returns, and pick a few things up for the farm.

I popped into a nearby coffee shop and store I haven’t been to yet and made a new friend with the co-owner of the shop. Now I’ve got another coffee shop to add to my list of places I’ll go when I want to work outside of the house during the week.

I stopped back at the farm to pick Chris up and we drove out to a neighboring town to surprise a group of women who run an all-volunteer community cat rescue with a $500 surprise donation from our Mr. B’s Random Acts of Kindness campaign. They were hosting a plant sale to raise money for the rescue, so we thought what better way to honor them during their fundraiser than to surprise them with a donation from all the wonderful people who made the Mr. B’s RAK possible. They were thrilled and we left feeling so grateful for these women, all their volunteers, and their surrounding community who care so much about taking care of kitties. Since 2019 they’ve saved, TNR’d, vetted, adopted, or re-homed almost 1,200 cats! They’re amazing!

On our way back we made a stop at a local farm stand run by a new friend of ours we met last summer at a neighbor’s 4th of July party. She and two other women are running the most incredible farm stand operation, and while Chris and I are growing quite a bit in our garden at home, we’re planning to stop in there all season long (their plan is to be open until December which is incredible!) for all kinds of local fresh goodies.

One of the women who helps run this farm stand actually used to live on our farm with her husband and daughter while she was pregnant with their son. They made a deal with David and they’d set up a yurt back near the pond where they lived off grid and farmed this land. I’ll save that story for another time because it’s a good one and I’ve since become friends with the woman and Chris and I both had a chance to meet her husband and daughter today at the farm stand. What a fun connection to the LDF! I asked if they could share some photos with us from when they lived here and I’ve been collecting some of their stories, too.

Just before heading back to the farm we stopped into what will be a brand new (and the only) coffee shop in our village. Something Chris and I have said for a long time is that our village was missing a coffee shop of its own. Heck, I even tried to convince my sister to move here and start one at one point! But, thankfully this amazing woman finally got the opportunity to take an old building in our village that once in time was a general store, then a coffee shop, then a Mexican restaurant, and now can turn it into the coffee shop of her dreams. Today she opened the doors with some coffee, tea, and lemonade while the ballon festival is going on, just to give the village a peek at what’s in store. I’ve dreamed of this since we moved here so I can’t wait to hop in the car and pop down into the village to spend some quality time in her cozy cafe…I told her she may as well quote me a monthly rent for a seat in the shop!

I dropped Chris back at home and then had to run to the tire shop to pick up our zero turn tire—my second flat of the year already! On my way there, I came across a dog in the middle of a very busy road and pulled off to see if he was friendly and would come to me.

Roscoe was a super friendly guy and came right up to my car. Once I opened the door he hopped right in, jumped into the back seat, and laid down and was ready for wherever we were going! I grabbed the tag on his collar, called the number, and a man answered confused about the strange number. I told him I had Roscoe and he was stunned when I told him where I picked him up from—it was a few miles away from their house!

The man wasn’t home, but he gave me directions to drive Roscoe back home and drop him off to his father and brother. He said he’d never run off like that before, so thankfully I happened to be in the right place at the right time and Roscoe is back home safe with his family! He was such a sweet pup!

On my way back from grabbing the tire I popped into a new shop that just opened in another one of our neighboring towns. A mom, dad, son, and daughter spent four years renovating this old building that used to be a men’s suit shop back in the early 1900s, then it burned down, then it was rebuilt and turned into a general store, and then I think it was closed for many years. They had to do a heck of a lot of work to make the place look the way it does today, and they sell all kinds of goods from local farms and makers in the area as well as coffee and food and the place is just lovely—absolutely my kind of vibe (and another coffee shop for my list!).

Finally I got home and took a nice walk around part of the farm. Our neighbor Pop came by and mowed us a path the whole way around the perimeter of the farm and along all the hedgerows so I can still walk the farm while the pastures are grown up to my chest already!

This view ❤️

Every time I go up to the west side of our farm and look east to the Green Mountains in Vermont I just can’t believe this is where we live…that this is our farm…that we get to live this Little Dream Life.

So there’s a peek into our Saturday at home filled with all kinds of wonderful errands, new shops, new people, things to see and do, and a wonderful day spent on the farm and in our little villages and towns.

If you can believe it…we’ve got nothing on our agenda for today except to rest while it rains, and we’re going to take full advantage of it!

We’ll catch you next weekend, same time, same place, for your Weekly Farm Note!

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With my two current Air Force roles, I have quite a bit of travel coming up the remainder of this year. This week’s Sarah’s Favorites features some of the new and old travel finds I’m using and love!

1. I was in need of a new carry on and didn’t want or need anything fancy or expensive. This stylish simple carry on fits the bill and is currently $10 off. I got it in white!

2. I always used to throw a few Tylenol, Ibuprofen, and Turmeric (I typically try to take Turmeric before the other two for cramps, headaches, pain, etc.) capsules into a plastic baggie when I traveled, just in case I needed them. Now, I have this little travel pill case that fits them in there so nicely and I can just throw in my bag or purse whenever I need it. I love that it’s small enough to pack into anything but has enough space for multiple types of pills or meds.

3. Have you used compression packing cubes? Oh my heaven my world has changed! I’d ordered a few types to test some out but these were by far the best of them all and right now they’re 20% off.

4. I never travel without this water bottle (and I have this rubber bumper for the bottom of it!) or this coffee mug—they’re a must pack!

   *Note: Not all, but some of these links are affiliate links. That’s no matter to you, as it costs you nothing. However, if you make a purchase, we -may- receive a teeny weeny commission.

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