week 44: a fresh new look and a new attitude

this week on the little dream farm

Welcome welcome welcome, beautiful friends, to a brand new, fresh-faced weekly Farm Note!

A spark of inspiration hit me mid-week to add some simple, personal touches to the Farm Note to make it a prettier, styled, and branded look…something a little more special for each of you special souls who join us each week for a recap of the goings on here on the Little Dream Farm. I have a few new fun sections in the works, too, and you’ll see those at the end of each Farm Note from week to week.

This Farm Note has been free since the beginning, but did you know that you can “pledge” support of the Farm Note? We’ve had a few dozen readers do just that—which blows my mind every time—and we’ve received the nicest comments in the world from those who’ve pledged support, which basically just lets us know that people are willing to pay to support this publication and what we’re doing on the farm.

Here are a few recent ones:

Chelsea, Kathy, and Lorel, THANK YOU! And to everyone else who has pledged support, thank you as well. I can’t tell you how much that’s meant to us. I debated for a really long time as to whether or not I was even going to proceed with the Farm Note, wondering if anyone would actually want to read it. Well, 43 (now 44) weeks later, we have readers in 46 states in the US and 31 countries around the globe and more than 1.1K weekly readers. This is so far beyond anything I’d ever dreamed for this little idea I had last December…so truly, thank you to all of you who’ve made showing up to a fresh new draft post and that blinking cursor each week so worthwhile.

Speaking of YOU…I wanted to tell you that since the Week 40 Farm Note where I shared the struggles of my full-time job contract not renewing, I’ve found myself with a fresh new attitude. It was coming here to the Farm Note and sharing my heart with all of you that changed the whole situation around for me. You see, for several weeks before writing that Farm Note, I’d really been struggling. Lots of fear of what would be next, lots of shame about what more I could have done to prevent ending up in this situation, and worry about the ripple effect of that news.

That Farm Note turned out to be our most read, most commented on, and highest new subscriber count since the very first week the Farm Note began. The stats aside, your comments, heartfelt support, and sharing your own personal experiences and advice gave me so much encouragement when I was really needing it. It has allowed me to navigate the weeks since with so much more confidence and grace with the mindset that everything will work out just fine.

Those of you who’ve been around for some time know that one of my all-time favorite quotes is:

What is for you will not pass you.

Earlier this week I saw another version of that:

I’ve applied to more than 60 jobs and either heard crickets or received a polite rejection letter. I’ve had a few opportunities pop up that didn’t pan out. Some roles I was considered for that didn’t end up being a good fit, two really neat surprise opportunities that came totally out of the blue…plus…y’all know I’m chalk full of lots of ideas and have a zillion projects in mind that I’d love to tackle.

It’s feeling a lot like the universe is saying it’s about time I got started on a few of those things I’ve been wanting so badly to do.

So! Just as the Farm Note got a new little makeover, so too did my attitude about this current season I’m navigating with my brand new mantra, What is best will be.

I don’t yet know what’s next, but I’ve arrived at the place of being absolutely ok with that. I’m trusting that I will know in time.

Now, in terms of what we’ve got going on here on the farm…this week was all-things Cut Flower Patch take down!

In all honesty, I’d been avoiding this for as long as possible. Just looking out from the dining area window would give me a wave of dread for how much work it was going to be to get the whole patch cleared out and everything packed away for the winter. I fully knew all of this going into planning the patch, but when it was sitting there in front of us waiting for our attention I was really having to talk myself into getting out there to get it done.

All 1500 plants had to be removed.
Then 66 t-posts had to be pulled out of the ground.
Then all the rocks had to be removed that were weighing down the landscape fabric.
Then all the landscape staples had to be removed from 11 rows of landscape fabric.
Then 11 rows of landscape fabric had to be pulled up, cleaned off, rolled up, and put away for future use.
Then all the drip irrigation had to be pulled up, bundled together, labeled, and stored. Then finally all the dahlias have to be dug up, the tubers dried, and stored for the winter. I haven’t gotten to the dahlias quite yet—we’re saving that for Sunday work.

It was a monstrous task, but thankfully Chris is the best teammate and has the most incredible “let’s get it done” mentality. When we broke it all down into its component parts and just went step by step by step, it didn’t take nearly as long as it seemed like it was going to, and with a couple of hours each over the course of three days and some real grit and elbow grease, the Cut Flower Patch is now back to bare ground and ready to rest for the winter…as are we!

I’ll report back to you on how the dahlia tuber digging, boxing, and storing goes once we’ve got that next step done. Thankfully my amazing friend Katie and her husband Andrew have a nice big heated unfinished basement they don’t use and they let me store all my dahlia tubers there each winter. We couldn’t continue to grow them if we didn’t have a place to store them for winter, so it means a lot that they lend us the space!

I mentioned a few different fun sections I’ll be adding to the Farm Note from week to week and this week I’ll share with you one of them that I’m so excited about…I’m calling it Sarah’s Favorites. I have been looking for a creative outlet for - y e a r s - to be able to share the things that I’m buying, using, loving, reading, seeing, or doing, and thinking others may love, want, or need, too. So! It might look different from week to week but will be some combination of my current faves! I hope you love this feature as much as I’m loving now having a space to create it! YAY!!

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1. I recently burned the electrical cord of our faithful old crockpot which required us to have to buy a new one. This is the one I ended up getting and it’s on mega sale—like save $32 kind of sale! If you’re in need of the perfect crockpot for all the winter soups and stews and slow cooking, snag this one while you can!

2. My mom’s birthday is coming up and when she was here earlier this year she remarked a few times at how much she loved our cookware. And believe me—I absolutely love it, too. Right now it also happens to be on sale—40% off plus an extra 15% off when you sign up for texts—that kind of sale never happens, so if you’re in the market for some new cookware and you want the best, you can’t go wrong with this set that we have, love, and use every single day multiple times a day. Just ordered the set for my mom, too!

3. My style has changed quite a bit since we moved to the farm but I’ve always gravitated towards practical staples that can be styled many ways so you can make the most of your wardrobe. Hands down, one of the BEST purchases I’ve made this year are these “beau”-style jeans. I have them in this wash and this wash and I wear them religiously. You can also find them in this wash. You can dress them up or down. They’re not super baggy, and they have the most flattering fit. If you’re looking for a few great pairs of go-to jeans, these are it, my friend. Bonus? They’re on sale: 50% off plus an extra 15% off at checkout. Thank me later!

4. Every Spring and every Fall my hands take an absolute beating from the garden…whether I wear gardening gloves at all times or not. Thankfully, my friend Katie (the one I store the dahlias with, she’s a farmer!) makes this incredible Shepherd’s Salve with the lanolin from her Icelandic Sheep and Calendula she grows on her farm. Y’all…I’ve tried a million things for my hands and THIS STUFF is the best. Be sure to grab yourself some and pick up a few extras as gifts for friends. I have the citrus scent and can’t get enough of how lovely it is!

5. I have a huge appreciation for little things that make life just that much better. During the colder months it sucks to undress in what feels like a cold bathroom to get in the shower and come out of a nice hot shower to a steamy, kind-of-cold bathroom. I picked up this little heater two weeks back and O M G this little tiny thing gives off SO much heat I swear it would heat a whole room. If you want to up your shower game or are in need of the most perfect space heater…this is THE ONE.

*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 very small commission.

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That’ll do it for this week’s Farm Note marking the 44th week of 2023. Hard to believe we’ve turned the clocks back and for those of you who do, I hope you took advantage of and enjoyed that extra hour of rest!!

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