week 29: a lovely day

this week on the little dream farm

Chris and I woke up to a 59 degree morning and we felt like we were in heaven! Finally the summer heat has knocked off just a bit and we’re remembering why we love summer so much again.

He had to hit the road early yesterday morning to head to the Bronx to go visit his mom in the hospital, who is doing ok but not great by any means, and then stayed overnight with a friend and will head back to visit her again this morning before coming home.

Meanwhile, back on the farm it was a windows open, breeze blowing through the house kind of day so I got to doing a quick full cleaning of our sweet little farm house and then lit some candles, turned on the pretty lights and lanterns in the house, put on some music, and just enjoyed the gorgeous morning.

Our weekly clean routine generally looks something like this:

• Wipe kitchen counters, appliances and surfaces

• Deep clean the stovetop and sink

• Wipe the surfaces in each room

• Sweep the house (with seven cats we do this 2-4x per week)

• Vacuum

• Fully clean the bathrooms (my mom always says scour the bathrooms…do you say that too??)

• Sweep the porch and walkway (since our hens love to hang out there and poop all over it!)

• Laundry (we each do our own)

• Remove cat hair from all surfaces—couches, chairs, rugs, beds

• Freshen up the litter and litter boxes

This week also included stripping all the beds and while the chore of washing all the bedding isn’t so fun, how good is the feeling of a freshly washed, freshly made bed? It’s such a pure joy! We use this laundry detergent and dryer sheets and it makes each bedroom smell so wonderful for days!

The one major benefit of a small house is how quickly we can clean it! Typically we do our weekly cleaning together and knock it out in under an hour.

And why am I telling you about cleaning our house, anyway? Well because it took us a while to create a good flow of how to make sure it all got done each week. The list used to include just a few small chores each day so that we didn’t have to get after it all at once, but I found that was somehow even harder to manage. Now, we just put our heads down and take on the whole lot together all at once and I find it’s a lot quicker and more enjoyable this way. This routine was born out of frustration so if you happen to be feeling that way I highly recommend an all-hands-on-deck weekly cleaning session!

As for me, I then headed off to a new market that recently opened in the next town over that carries a boat load of local goodies from farmers, bakers, makers, and artists. The store is owned by a husband and wife and their two grown kids and when you go in the store the family is there…it’s such a joy to see them all together and the mom was telling me yesterday how fun it has been for them to run a business with her kids—how cool.

Here’s this week’s local market haul that included a pizza from a local cheese farmer and some of their amazing cheddar, a fresh loaf of jalapeno cheddar sourdough bread, maple kettle corn, fresh pasta, masabacha (an Israeli hummus that is insanely good!), granola bar, a hand-poured candle, maple granola from a maple farm, a tea beverage, a fresh-made scone, lavender lemonade from a lavender farm, dried pork loin, upcycled crackers, and cookies.

Recently in one of our “Ask us Anything” Q&As on Instagram, someone asked if we ever eat junk food as a “cheat moment.” In my reply I said that we don’t, but that requires a caveat.

We absolutely have snacks and baked goods and ice cream and the like, the only difference, like I mentioned in last week’s Farm Note is that we always opt for foods with whole food ingredients and minimal processing, unlike a lot of what is known as ultra-processed foods (UPFs) we find in stores today.

The caveat for me is that we prefer to spend our money and use what I refer to as our “purchasing power” on brands, companies, artisans and makers who care about the planet and/or care about our human health. I like shopping with companies who think about ingredients and care about making products and goods with intention, understanding that cheap ingredients make for cheap products that often lack real nourishment. Plus, we like when what we eat makes us feel good (and we really try to steer clear of foods that don’t!) and so it’s like the best of all worlds.

I heard those of you loud and clear who said you’d like more information and resources on this topic, so be on the lookout for that here in the near future.

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Back to this lovely day—I made up a nice little lunch for myself at home from this haul, knocked out a few farm chores, and then our neighbors came to pick me up for a pizza and dance party at a nearby farm.

What was started by four founding couples as a hippie commune back in the 80s morphed into an incredibly unique round house, a chapel, a sauna, a barn, a maple house, a guest house, a bakery, two yurts, sprawling gardens, acres of woods and pasture, and a pond. While it still carries the vibe of its creators, the sole couple who live there now run a bakery, summer camps, workshops, host Airbnb guests, and throw fabulous parties.

Last night they had wood-fired pizzas going and an amazing band who played so many good 60s songs—grabbed a quick clip of one of my favorites to share with ya! The owners of the farm are the ones dancing together in the video…they’re the best.

The party, the pizza, the pond, the round house

I got home last night far past my bedtime and flopped into my freshly washed and freshly made bed and smiled.

Yesterday was an absolutely lovely country life and farm living day.

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I really needed this reminder this week and maybe it’ll resonate for you, too:

In the end only three things matter:
How much you loved
How gently you lived
And how gracefully you let go of the things that are not meant for you

—Jack Kornfield