Hi! I decided that it has been so long since I posted anything on my blog that maybe instead of just making the next post as if no time has passed, perhaps I should share an update on my life and business! So here’s the long and short of the past 3 years. . .
October 2020:
I got married! Just in case you missed it, James and I got married and are now living on the edge of the GTA (Greater Toronto Area), Ontario, Canada which is about 1.5 hours from where I used to live. Ivory has adjusted well to his new house and loves James too.
Christmas Break 2020:
We did a lot of sorting through things and unpacking more boxes of things that we hadn’t found spots for since moving my belongings at the end of October. Another lockdown started so not a lot happened over the next few months.
Summer 2021:
We turned a small flowerbed into our first garden! It was only about 7’ x 10’ but we grew a lot of produce in that space! Yellow cherry tomatoes, parsley, swiss chard, zucchini, etc. and it all thrived!
Christmas Break 2021:
We redecorated one bedroom in our house. Most of the bedrooms haven’t been updated since it was built about 50 years ago so it was nice to get a nice update done on one room!
Spring 2022:
I purchased a small hoop greenhouse and started tons more of my own seedlings for summer! We also expanded our garden to include about 10 new raised beds as well as space for a couple of 25’ rows of potatoes. My goal was to grow and preserve much more of our own food and herbs – in essence a form of urban homesteading!
Summer 2022:
Unfortunately, many of our plants and much of our harvest got destroyed by pests – namely, a combination of squirrels, raccoons, and mostly mice! However, I did acquire a pressure canner and a dehydrator so I dehydrated as many herbs as I had and canned over 150 jars of various types of foods that I was able to get at farmer’s markets and such. I also started making jams using Pomona’s Pectin which means I can make it with limited amounts of honey and maple syrup instead of massive amounts of sugar so I can actually eat jam again for the first time in years!
September 2022:
I was part of the first ever School of Traditional Skills Summit and loved it! In fact, I loved it so much that I signed up for a year of their membership and learned SO much! One of the things I appreciate most about the approach that Josh and Carolyn Thomas take is that they encourage everyone to just do what they’re capable of with what they have. They don’t have an exclusive definition of homesteading but just see it as people becoming more a part of the process of growing, raising, preserving and preparing their own food. As we live in-town and are definitely not planning to raise animals and such, I enjoy learning the skills that I can apply in our backyard and kitchen!
November 2022:
My in-laws from Florida were able to come visit us so we did an afternoon where we dressed up in our wedding attire again and took pictures with them. We also had a nice supper with the main meal from the place that catered our wedding reception as well as cupcakes from the gluten-free bakery that made our wedding cake. It was a fun day together and so neat to have a second set of wedding pictures!
Christmas Break 2022:
We redecorated our main floor half-bath – purple! Well, actually it was purple, but it was a faded purple and was in need of an update. So we made it a brighter purple and painted the baseboards white so it really pops now!
January 2023:
I finished writing the Joyfulnotes Level 1D book! Although I haven’t published or printed it yet, the book is done and just needs a couple of pages of (tidying up) completed and then will be ready to print. I can’t wait to get it printed and be able to add it to my shopping pages!
Spring 2023:
We spent several weeks building a new garden frame around the main in-ground garden bed and building in trellis systems that would be sturdy and lasting. We also covered it with hardware cloth to keep the animals out and it worked wonders! In addition, we pulled up our wooden garden beds and covered the bottoms in hardware cloth and then refilled them which kept the mice from digging up under them! Then we covered the tops with chicken wire which kept the squirrels from digging in them and had much better success with the overall garden this year!
September 2023:
This fall I canned almost enough tomato products for the entire year! I made stewed tomatoes, tomato sauce (plain strained tomatoes), spaghetti sauce, spaghetti sauce with meat, and pizza sauce! It was exciting to be able to prepare that much food ahead for the year and will save a lot of time and money from making it from scratch during the year or purchasing good quality pre-made foods.
October 2023:
That brings us to now! I’m also working on getting back to investing more time here into my business so I can see it grow and reach more people who need my products and services. It’s my belief that there are SO many of you out there who I have yet to meet who would benefit greatly from my resources for your family and I can’t wait to find you and serve you and your family! If you are not currently in a position where you need what I have to offer, I would love it if you would think of others you’re connected to who would find it useful and share it with them or consider purchasing products to donate to missionary families.
If you aren’t already on my email list, be sure to sign up here so that you don’t miss future updates, new products and relaunches of updated resources! Send me an email if I can be of service to you or your family and let me know how I can help. I look forward to getting to know you and supporting you as you teach your family valuable musical skills and how to grow in their relationship with God!