Sea Foam Candy And Other Goings On

Finally, sitting down where I think I will sleep tonight, on the couch... Homestead Rescue is on tv. I couldn't love this Alaskan family more if I tried. I learn so much from them. I am not alone. It was Marty Rainy, who taught Dr. Farmer Moomin, to cut down trees with a chain saw. They have sadly never come here, but there is so much you can pick up just watching them work on tv. So now that I am tired and done for the day, they are on my tv, and I am sitting here with the dog, who has been sleeping since she came home from the vet. She got spayed yesterday and spent the night at the vet. We collected her this morning. Thus far keeping her calm has been a non issue. So easy. She just lays on the couch and sleeps. I don't want to ask her to climb stairs which is why I will be on the sofa tonight. I also, can't leave her all alone. She hates being alone and she has been through so much in the last few hours... That she has been sleeping a lot has been useful though. We had time to start making christmas presents today. I made everyone on my list some vanilla sugar from dehydrated vanilla beans and sugar. I also did jars of our own special Wildflower Farm Hot Chocolate. And... I even had time to make some old fashioned Sea Foam candy covered in milk chocolate.

Dr. Farmer Moomin, and I are officially on Christmas vacation at this point... Though My vacation is just lots of sleeping and lots of cooking. Dr. Farmer Moomin, runs the odd errand, and helps out where he can. We like the Scandinavian, Hygge, tradition and do a good bit of it this time of year. In this region there is only so much else we can do, especially since the birth of stinky covid. I spend my time cleaning and messing the kitchen creating one insanity after another. Usually at least somewhat experimental. I always have fun and sometimes we even wind up with something wonderful for my efforts. Other times.... yeh, not so much.

At the vet, they put their biggest cone on Pikku after her surgery. The other reason I am on the couch tonight is because I want to keep an eye on her. This cone may be perfect for a big lab, but Pikku, is a great dane. She can still lick at it if she makes a concerted effort. Can't have that. Poor pupper is not in the best of moods. I can't wait till the next couple weeks are past for her. She is such a sensitive soul, this can't be easy for her at all. When I broke my pelvis in a horse fall, she supported me through every minute of it. She was just a pup back then. Potty training with a walker wasn't easy for me to do with her. But eventually she got it. She was my constant support and my best friend through it all. What would I be if I left her to sleep in my bed tonight when she needs my support? So though I am tired, it's the couch. So tired just getting up to clean up the mess in the kitchen is not happening tonight. It will commence tomorrow morning bright and early. Then I will be off to see Pete, the horse. Yep, he was with me when I broke my pelvis. He tried to lift me off the ground when I couldn't stand up myself, with his nose. When he couldn't get me up.... He started to scream. Someone came running and I went to the hospital and the rest is history. My relationship with animals has always been special to me. it isn't just Pikku. But she is the one who needs my support the most right now. So she will have it, and while she sleeps doped up, I will work on creating my little homestead presents for those on my list. Making things like sea foam candy and all kinds of other things.

Tomorrow I am thinking of maybe doing some cashew or almond brittle.... And after that, maybe some peppermint bark or attempting fudge. The clean up is a killer though. Constantly cleaning and we have outgrown this no proper pantry kitchen.... Which is proving highly problematic. Then we have no greenhouse to boot and the costs around here for food are rising.... Ugggh, so many important things to get done.

Still, I am amazed every time I look back. The city girl with big ambition to be as self sufficient as possible, who moved to the middle of nowhere when she got sick from food, has taken the long way maybe. But has grown over these past 7 years in this place in ways I never imagined she could... This place makes me a better person every day I am here. Just as I am grateful to Pikku, for her devotion, I am grateful to this little 5 acre plot of land. I still have massive homesteading mountains to climb and my skill set may still need work I have a lot left to learn. But I have come so very very far... I may be tired tonight from the workload... But I will spend my night next to one of my besties who needs me and in the morning I will get up and do my job. Making what we need and want and maintaining our existence.

When we first thought about moving out here, I was told by so many people what a bad idea it was. That I would come running back to the city in 6 months... I won't lie. There are days I wish I could. like tonight when my kitchen is trashed and I am exhausted, and I can't even grow my own vegetables through the winter... But then I look around... At what I have created here. the life I have built and sustained as hard as it can be sometimes, the gardens, the animals, the trees standing naked in the woods... I may eventually move even further out into the middle of nowhere. I will never be a city girl again. It has been 7 years. I still have no intention of going back. Hard as this is... I love it. I love watching the sunset through the trees. Love watching the goats play on the hill, love seeing my chicken eggs each morning when they are in season. Love walking the dogs all over the property, planting, sitting by the fire on cold nights... Being here, living this way, forces one to truly live a human existence. Something that is not to be found in a convenience city lifestyle. But living out here... It isn't easy. Surviving another day, having all your ducks in a row is a thing to be celebrated every evening, with the sun that sets pink and glowing through the trees, the again by the wood stove, when work is done... As if it is ever truly done. But burn out can be dangerous. So I have learned to take some time as needed. Such as now, to be there for my devoted best friend.

Please send Pikku, well wishes but don't pray for her, she is an atheist.
She is also a good girl.
Thank you for reading
Amanda of Wildflower Farm