week 4: a peek

this week on the little dream farm

Let’s take a little peek back through the week:

Monday

We were back at 100 percent manning with Chris back home on the farm so Monday was back to our usual routine—we came home from the gym in the morning to find all seven Furmers gathered around the fire in the living room while the sun was coming up and beaming into the front windows. They love napping here this time of year because they get the best morning warm sun while they sleep…oh to be a cat!

I live for seeing all seven of them together.

Tuesday

Tuesday we got a bit of snow and I can’t help but laugh and think of this video every single time we get snow. You’ll have to watch it so you can have a quick laugh…and now you’re never not going to think about it when you have bad weather! I recently shared it with my family and they could not stop laughing…every time it snows here they impersonate this woman and we all always have a good laugh. You’re welcome!

Wednesday

Sometimes y’all…it’s just the little things in life. We came home from the gym and I went to let the hens out and got to watch our hen Izzie lay her egg! It’s not often that I’m in the coop right at the moment one of the hens is laying her egg…but I happened to catch it this time around! It’s so cool to watch…they sit there forever and they make all kinds of cute noises and then they stand up and get sort of poofed up, make a little squat, and out comes their perfect, incredible egg. There is absolutely nothing like grabbing a freshly laid egg and heading straight inside to make some breakfast…such a pure joy of having hens. Thanks Izzie!

Thursday

It’s been two weeks and I can’t stop thinking about this dream I had. In it, I was on a Facebook messenger video call with my mom and I was at my house but of course in the dream it wasn’t our house or our farm…it was in a type of southern suburbia. So I was showing my mom the neighbor’s front yard flower garden when all of a sudden a hawk flew into view, landed on a very low tree branch right in front of me, about ten feet away, and looked me dead in the eyes. I said very nonchalantly, “Oh, a hawk,” and went right back to showing my mom the flowers. I keep thinking about its eyes and I can’t shake the feeling that the hawk was trying to tell me something.

Friday

We had lots of rain late in the week and temps in the high 30s and into the 40s, so by Friday the snow was mostly gone. Chris and I each wrapped up our work relatively early on Friday and ended the day by making this pull-apart pizza bread and I’m telling you, friends, we’re never going to make traditional pizza again. We made this on New Year’s Eve as well and it is out-of-this-world good! Two subs I make and a pro-tip: I use King Arthur Gluten Free measure-for-measure flour (and this no knead no rise dough recipe) and I add a 1/2 cup more mozzarella than what he calls for in the recipe. Also, pro-tip! Because the springform pan is not sealed tight on the bottom, make sure you set the pan onto a baking pan with sides or in a casserole dish when you put it in the oven so you don’t burn garlic butter all over the bottom of your oven…like we did. Thank me later…you’re gonna LOVE THIS!

I can’t say enough…this is insanely good (and I was able to make it gluten free!)

Saturday

I was looking out the back window filming about a dozen deer in the back pastures when they all went running into the hills…I figured something spooked them. I headed out to the Big Barn do the donkey’s chores for the night when I noticed three people and three dogs walking around our back pasture. That doesn’t happen often…so I walked out their way to see if I could make out who it was, thinking it was probably just some neighbors but wanting to make sure. Once I got close enough, I recognized who it was by my favorite pup, Tim-Tam! It was our neighbors who live up on the back side of our farm through our woods. You have to cross a few extra pastures, over a bunch of hills, and across a stream and through their woods to get to their place, but they have a self-built, totally off-grid wood plank home and small farmette that is the stuff of absolute dreams. So we got to talking a while up on our big back hill overlooking the farm, and then I walked them back through the pastures, over the hills, across the stream, through their woods while we caught up. As I walked myself home I couldn’t help but smile at all the ways this farm and this village has changed me into someone I deeply love. What a gift.

I saw two hawks…one as I was out walking perched high in a tree and one screeching as it soared over me on our farm. That hawk in my dreams was trying to tell me something. Maybe these were, too. What…I don’t yet know.

Way high in the tree, watching.

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And that brings us right here to Sunday morning, my friends.

We’ve got some wintery mix in the forecast and plans for a morning gym session, a good meal, and a farmhouse cleanup before the week begins.

I used to do a little bit of cleaning here and there throughout the week, but now we take an hour on Sunday and knock it all out together. The counters, sink, stove, and appliances all get wiped, as do all the surfaces around the house, we sweep, vacuum, mop, do laundry, wipe the bathrooms, freshen up our work spaces, de-hair all the places the cats sit and sleep, and organize ourselves for the week ahead.

Ahhh…it feels so good to start the week off with a freshly-cleaned house. Chris makes a fresh chores checklist and I spend a few minutes Sunday evening planning my schedule and our meals for the week ahead so that we begin the week from a place of peace, rest, and sanity. This routine makes this farm work like a steady drumbeat…its rhythm is something I’ve grown to love…and the way it grounds me.

That’ll do it for this week’s Farm Note…the fourth of the year!

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Sharing with you some words I wrote a few months back. Please feel free to share it with whomever comes to mind when you read it.

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1. Do you like ice cream? Chris and I are kind of obsessed. So when we found Adirondack Creamery Ice Cream right around the time we moved here, we knew we’d found our go-to pints. I recently had a chance to connect with the founder and now I just love them even more. Take a look at the ingredient list of the pints in the grocery store…most of them are chock full of garbage. Adirondack Creamery is different. They make their ice cream in small batches with fresh milk right from their Upstate New York dairy farm partner with the simplest ingredients and nothing more. Watch their story here and there’s no way you won’t fall in love with them. Head to their website here to see if you can find yourself a pint near you! I’d tell you my and Chris’ favorite flavors but it’s impossible to pick, we love every single flavor they make and we l i t e r a l l y have 12 pints in our freezer at the moment…with their amazing ingredients and super unique flavors, it’s a daily snack for us!

2. Y’all always seem to really love our cat recommendations so I’ve got another good one for you today. I just replaced this cat scratcher after our last one made it two and a half years. We keep this one by our kitchen table because the cats like to use it to climb up onto the table and it keeps them from scratching the fabric on the kitchen table chairs. It’s a must have in my opinion, and we’ll never not have one because all seven Furmers use it every single day. The moment I took it out of the box and set it up, Micro and Little Lady both immediately got their first climbs and scratches on it. I hope your kitty/kitties enjoy it!

3. I recently needed a new flat iron after the one I’ve had for about the last ten years started acting up. If you’re in the market for a new one, I’m really happy with the one I chose…it’s super affordable, has air vents which I love, works incredibly well on low heat settings so you don’t burn your hair, and has a super long cord. I’d buy it again, for sure.

*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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