2014 Will Be A Good Year !!!!
As the last four and a half hours of 2013 tick away, I am excited to begin the New Year.
2013 was, in many ways, a transition year. I managed to be freed from an unsatisfactory living situation, grew the Chantelcer breed and business, learned much about gardening in not previously experienced conditions, added Icelandic Chickens, started this blog, and made some major progress in getting the barn transformed for Shops at Fayrehale which will open the end of May 2014.
Please note! (Those of you who many not know) The unsatisfactory living situation I was freed from did not involve my husband but rather an individual we had opened our home to, who had lived with and basically been supported by us for 18 months, who ended up leaving on a negative note, and who caused as much disruptive and negative social activity as possible. I did not realize how much I had shut down during these 18 months until I was freed from the oppression of the situation! It is over and done with. Life is moving forward again and unfortunately, I will take a good hard look before helping anyone get a new start again. That is too bad.
2013 ends white with snow and cold! We are experiencing a week of subzero nights and low digit days. I am hunkered down. Staying warm and taking care of self and critters. Preparing to do some painting for the shop in the kitchen, shelves, molding, letters for the front of the barn etc., as it is not practical to heat the barn to painting temperature during this cold.
12 hours apart – 11:30PM and 11:30AM this last storm
We lucked out and had rain and an inch of wet snow this last storm. It still snapped a section of a three trunk birch. I am tired of the weather hype! It is winter. Snow falls. 6,8,10,12 inches of snow is not news! It is winter. Let me know if we will be getting 2 or 3 feet in 24 hours! Then I can shovel once or twice as it happens.
Our World Here In Vermont Is Beautiful
I started this blog site February 4th, 2013. Since then there have been 8,234 visits by 6,503 people. Thus 20.9% have been repeat visitors and the rest visited once. Almost 1000 have been outside the United States. More than I would have expected have communicated with me about various areas represented here. While not large numbers compared to many sites, I am surprised.
It shows how one can live a life of elegant simplicity, on the edge of a small Vermont village and still connect to many, scattered all over, with similar interests and concerns. I am humbled to think the life we are living may be of interest and assistance to others.
We enter 2014 prepared to open the Shop in May, to breed and ship Chanteclers & Icelandics and to garden even more successfully than we did in 2013.
Remembering, as we hope you will too, to take time to stop and smell the roses.
Welcome 2014
James…..it has been great getting to meet you through FB and I, too, look forward to 2014 and a chance to meet you in person when the shop opens! I love any excuse I can find to visit your lovely state of Vermont. This year, I will have a particularly good reason….to meet my friend.
Look forward to meeting you and others too! Coffee/tea will be on and the umbrella table ready.
I share Donna’s thoughts! I can’t wait to come to the shop and meet my dear friend Jim. I have learned so much from your blog and appreciate all you have done to share this goodness with us. Here’s to a wonderful 2014!
Thank you Susan — and DITTO — you are and will continue to be an inspiration w/ your creativity and way with words!
All the best for a wonderful 2014! I can’t wait for my Chantecler and Icelandic chicks this spring! As to the one you tried to help, don’t regret it; somewhere down the line this individual may reflect on this experience with you and learn from it. Some years ago we had a couple of foreign exchange students, who were good teens, but not a good fit at all for us, and they moved on to other host families a month later. Huge relief! But one of them returned later that summer just to say “hi” to us, and it was a happy visit. Years before that, we helped a friend who lost everything to alcohol. We just gave him a refuge, and he had the fortitude to reclaim his life, get a good job, retire to FL, and remain sober until the end of his days. The good you did, and tried to do is not lost. Stay warm, and enjoy the seed catalogs!
Thanks!
Hi Jim, Et All
I know social media etc. tends to get negative press but as I read through the comments I am struck by the caring “community” Jim has cultivated, in part, through his blog and his business. That feels like a real positive to me. Happy New Year Everyone! Now to go play in the SNOW!!
Thanks Sandra. Nice to have you as part of the “community”.