Spring and Summer …..Bye

What has happened to 2024?  I feel like this year has flown by.  Blogging, unfortunately, has taken a backseat these first six months.

Al and I spent much of the winter working on the cabin and all its surroundings.

We spent an entire weekend cleaning up the outbuilding.  This had not been done since we moved here four years ago!  Most of the decor items are in bins and neatly stacked away but, the tools and machinery, were a whole other story!

BEFORE—

AFTER—-

The pictures do not do all our hard work justice!  It looks so much better now! And, I know Al feels so much better being able to find the things he needs at any given moment.  There is something to be said about being organized folks!  I preach that all the time!

We added a new member to the cabin. Meet Frankie the Stag.  I think he fits just perfectly over the fireplace!

The garden did well for us.  As you know, we purposefully planted only what we could eat this year. Our root cellar is full! I only plan on canning some cowboy candy and smoky BBQ sauce.  The syrup from the candy is used to make a smoky BBQ sauce. It’s so good and we have none left! And, well, we don’t grow the peanuts but, I will be canning some cajun peanuts in Fall.  I must admit it’s been nice not having the stress that comes from canning.  I literally have not even walked out to the garden this year.  Al has done all the planting and picking.  I have my little raised bed by the cabin that did well with radishes and lettuce.  That was enough for me. Next year we will pick back up on everything though.  We have some new plans for the gardenscape as well. Stay tuned.

Next month we will start some seedlings in the greenhouse. Mainly tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, etc. Just enough to get us through winter.

I made a few trips to Georgia this year.  One trip was for the birth of my granddaughter, Eden Elise. She’s so precious. My little namesake.

I managed to get my Spring decor up at a decent time this year!

Then, just like that, May arrived and the Americana decor went up!

My brother David came to visit us for the first time since we moved to Tennessee.  He lives in Brasil. It was a short visit but, it was so good to see him!

We experienced yet another storm!  We believe we had a tornado pass over as well.  It took several trees down and the top to our chimney!  The wind was so violent!  I’m just glad all the animals were ok.  It could have been much worse.

In March I became involved with “lives” on Instagram.  Thanks to my sister Edla for introducing me to them!  It has been a game changer for me!  I now spend the majority of my social media time on IG purchasing, (soon selling) and learning so much about vintage and antique items.  It also sparked my interest in getting a booth again and I did just that this past week! It is a bit different from the one I had in Georgia.  There will more vintage and antique items with some DIY stuff throw in there.  I still plan to continue creating items as creating is my jam.

In May we got to experience the northern lights up here!  According to Al they were beautiful.  I was not able to see color just variations in the lights.

We have added yet another member to the family.  Little T-90 showed up in our driveway one day.  She was in awful shape.  We got her cleaned up and to the vet and now she is thriving!  Not sure where she will end up .  Inside or outside.  It really depends on if she is able to defend herself enough. Her experience in the outside world was not a good one so who knows. Right now she lives in my office.  She has free reign.  It has taken about 3 weeks for her to warm up to me and trust me enough to pick her up and love on her.  She is still skittish and a bit feral but, with time, I’m sure she will come around. I’ve been super patient and slow with her. Letting me earn her trust.

Lys, Jared and Arya came to visit us the end of July. It was good getting to spend some time with them!  Arya loved playing with my wade collection!

Everyone is doing well here.  All cats and dogs are thriving.    We still have a donkey and some cows on a few pastures. All in all, it’s been a pretty decent and somewhat unpredictable summer but, I’m ready for Fall.  I’m ready for fires and hot cocoa.  Fall and winter are oddly enough my favorite seasons. There’s nothing like sitting in front of a warm fire. Come on Fall!

The day after Labor Day I am decorating for Fall and I cannot wait!

Stay tuned!

Thanks for reading!

XO,

Elisa