Weekly Update: 5.17.25
Dew drops soak through the sides of my shoes when I walk to the garden in the mornings, coffee and water bottle in hand. The sun is still low in the east, casting long shadows as we each hurry out after breakfast and morning chores. There is a stillness to cool mornings, and I relish in the weight of it as I work. Birds of every song are out now, and we ladies enjoy listening.
Most mornings this week, Grace and I have been joined in the garden by our sister-in-law Erin and our nieces and nephew. Bonnie-Jean usually gardens a bit later in the day, after caring for her puppies. We still have a long way to go to get all our plants in, but we made a good start this week. Our okra and cucumbers are in the ground, as well as half of our tomatoes. We have space for our melons and squash -- we just need to build some trellises before putting them out. Caring for plants and working in our garden has bookended my days, giving moments of joy in an otherwise chaotic season. Our blessings are abundant -- to the extent that some days I just don't know how to steward them all sufficiently. Still, I am thankful for so much to do.









This week dawned sunny and glorious, with a Saturday dedicated to outdoor tasks. I spent most of the day working on our empty beehives, cleaning them out and getting them ready for new inhabitants. After getting advice from a local bee expert, we decided to move our small apiary into a more sunny location. Grace spent most of Saturday clearing an area in our field, weed eating and moving brush. Our brother Levi helped us finish by bringing in a few wheel barrows full of gravel to make little level pads for the hives. In the evening, we moved our cleaned hives to their new location. The result was stunning.




While Grace and I worked on the apiary, Bonnie-Jean helped our brother Jeremiah finish the dog kennel. They built a large double gate from cattle panels and decking. Eventually, we want the kennel to be able to open into a larger dog yard.
For now, the kennel is a place to keep the pups, who seem to get bigger every day. This week, a couple came out and put a deposit down on the pup Bonnie-Jean has nicknamed Oreo. They will all be ready for their new homes in just a couple more weeks. It's hard to believe. Grace did a fresh photo shoot of them this week -- they are more adorable every day.







Monday was Mother's Day, and we enjoyed the opportunity to spoil our mom a little bit. We sisters made a big country breakfast -- biscuits, gravy, scrambled eggs, and hash browns -- all washed down with mimosas. My mom and I spent the afternoon working on family history. Genealogy has been a favorite shared pastime of ours for years, but we rarely make consistent time for it. It was a real treat to spend so long learning more about our roots, all of whom (on my mom's side) hail from the Ozarks.


During the first part of the week, Grace and I finished up the room we sisters will share. We installed trim in our storage loft, and we moved a bunch of totes up there. We went to install the rest of the flooring in the main room, and we discovered we hadn't made enough planks. Grace and I ran outside and grabbed a couple more strips of plywood and went to work finishing them. By the end of the day, we had two more finished planks, and we installed them the next morning. We trimmed out the rest of the room and were all done by Wednesday afternoon.
We planned to work on our bathrooms on Thursday, but as so often happens, our plans dissolved. We decided to go ahead and install the doggy door between we sisters' room and the kennel, as we wanted to be able to move the puppies easily in bad weather. I asked my dad to help me install it, and I was so glad I did. What should have taken maybe and hour turned into an all afternoon project, as we ended up having to take siding and trim off in our room and cut out a stud. The end result was worth all of our efforts.
On Friday, Grace and I enjoyed a slower pace -- we spent all afternoon working on applying spar urethane to bathroom components. I worked on our cedar planks for the shower, and Grace worked on the vanities. It was a slower-going project than we wanted, but we did enjoy the pseudo-downtime.
It was a well-rounded week, which I always find satisfying and fulfilling. There is something about working yourself to the point of exhaustion that is invigorating to the soul. I fell asleep early most nights, which made for earlier mornings with time for coffee and reading before the sun was even up. This is a good way to live -- even on the hard days. Life isn't easy. There are still as many downs as ups. Still, the richness of God's natural blessings is a balm I couldn't be more grateful for these days.