It’s been a while and so much has happened since my last update I thought I really need to catch up with everyone and then I want to share about some of our DIY projects. Also, I don’t know about where you live, but it’s been quite a warm and mild winter so far in North Carolina but occasionally we get a blast of arctic air. Hurricane Florence fortunately for us did not cause us to lose our home as many did and for that we are grateful, but Florence did spur numerous updates to our lil’ homestead.
We also celebrated the new year with friends and family and of course served up our famous Brunswick stew and luckily since my black eyed-peas did not turn out; a friend saved the day. There is no better way to start the new year than with folks with cheerful intentions. I also cooked up a new shellfish chowder, that was a big hit and our friend Dan brought his clam chowder and that was absolutely delicious as well. We had friends bring shrimp, sausages, cheese balls and more! The Viking in my life once again made two kegs of hard cider…YUM! It was quite the foodie extravaganza, but it was not all food either, we had the bonfire, giant jenga, and cornhole as well. I love to throw a good backyard soiree.
Our colonial raised bed gardens were completely saturated by Hurricane florence and my husband the Viking in my life decided to make lemons out of lemonade. Our new raised bed gardens were made by him from fallen trees from the hurricane and hurricane mitigation work. Below is a photo below of how they turned out. If you have not read my original post about our colonial raised bed gardens that are no more click here. I think they turned out amazing, but I’m partial to the project and the artisan. 😉
Our New Raised Bed Gardens
We also realized we were going to have to take the old greenhouse down and put a new one up. We built our original greenhouse on a shoestring budget, using recycled materials. To read about how we did it click here. The new greenhouse is almost done, but is not complete yet. I will definitely update you once we do. We are thinking about raising some fish and setting up an aquaponics system but nothing has been decided firmly about that. I have to tell you when I first decided to go back to school and put my blog on the back burner for a little while I had no idea how much time school would actually take up. Luckily, I’m now in the homestretch; I have three semesters left so I am glad I have persisted, but it’s definitely been a lifestyle change.
We also had to do repairs to our house and some of them have been exciting such as my new master closet redo which cost us under $125.00 and it was a fun project. I actually can fit so much more in my closet these days. That might be good, but it could be bad…lol. I have this project on my list to blog about more specifics and I cannot believe the amount of space this particular project has afforded us and I can find my clothes…it’s a miracle what some space organization, planning, and lighting can do.
The bees have been relocated to another location and we have partnered with a farm in Burgaw and I think the Viking in my life plans to go check on the hives soon, but that being said we had a very tiny honey harvest this year. We still sell our lip balms locally though and we have a lot of fun with that, along with bartering and gifting our elderberry syrup.
I wish you all a happy new year! Until next time…
Fondly,
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